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The Value Of An Apology, At Least From A Republican's Perspective!!
"Neil Harrington" wrote in message ... "tony cooper" wrote in message ... On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 13:14:07 +0100, Chris H wrote: I do understand but having seem FOX news and many others the same pictures with slightly different words can portray a very different scene. I recall during the floods in New Orleans there was a comment that there were gangs of black criminals looting and white vigilantes trying to keep the peace and get supplies for people. I don't believe this either. The meaning of the word "vigilantes" would be understood by any professional journalist, and not used to describe "keeping the peace". A description using "vigilantes" would be as negative as a description using "looters". Not necessarily. "Vigilantes" implies a group of citizens that "take the law into their own hands," to use the common phrase. Sometimes that is the necessary and proper thing to do. Do you know where and when the term got started? In the mid-19th century, San Francisco, then a relatively small town, was much troubled by crime and violence. Honest men and women were attacked and robbed, businesses were too, streets and homes were unsafe, and the local judges and peace officers were worse than useless -- basically the local law was in cahoots with the criminals. Eventually the local citizens got fed up with this and formed what they called a "vigilance committee." (This of course is where "vigilante" comes from.) One day the committee rounded up a number of the most notorious crooks, including some of the local "law" I believe, gave them a speedy trial and hanged them. The effect on San Francisco was salutory. Criminals and corrupt law officers alike fled the city post haste, and it became (for a while) a peaceful, law-abiding and orderly town. As I recollect, the citizens of San Francisco had to do that twice, and on one occasion federal troops were called in to protect the corrupt local law, with mixed results. These very interesting and even instructive events are extensively covered in the book "The Barbary Coast," by Herbert Asbury, published in 1933 -- about five years after his better known book, "Gangs of New York." The latter of course was what the silly movie of that title with Leonardo DiCaprio was supposedly based on -- though to even suggest that there's any similarity between the book and the movie should be made a criminal offense. Both books are an excellent read and may still be available -- I have facsimile reprints of both, haven't read them for many years but must do so again soon. In other words gang warfare but the very subtle differences in the words portrayed one group as criminals and the other as upholding the law The word "vigilantes" does not mean upholding the law. Vigilantes operate outside of the law and contrary to the law. Any use of "vigilante" has negative meaning and negative connotation. It has that meaning and connotation for you, because of the way it is generally used and because you presumably don't know how the term originated.. But when there is no law organization doing the job the law is supposed to do, and peaceful, honest citizens are being attacked, robbed and worse -- as obviously was the case in New Orleans -- then the vigilante in one form or another becomes necessary. What else can people do to protect themselves? Remember that in New Orleans during Katrina, many of the police fled the city (two of them stole a police cruiser and were arrested in Texas) and the mayor fled also. Whatever police remained seem to have been absolutely useless. Long before Katrina, the New Orleans Police Department was well known for its corruption...... |
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