So the Ferguson protests have given rise to a whole new menace across the country known as “Don’t Shoot…” insert name of major metropolis here. These are the same folks who started the oh so lovely BlackBrunch movement that originated in Oakland, CA. Somehow I think the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. would be horrified at the national hissy fit that was sparked by the Michael Brown shooting. Even the liberal New York Post has had it up to its frittata with these petulant protestors who turn up at pricey eateries in affluent areas of the city to interrupt the noshing of the “indigenous liberal people of Brooklyn” as Todd Starnes refers to them.

The Ferguson shooting has inspired these “social justice warriors” to make general pains in the tail of themselves all over our nation, but in liberal cities they are doing something far more dangerous. Now we have members of the “Don’t Shoot” movement in Portland, OR asking the liberal mayor how he will “give African-American men a second chance when they have have felonies that prevent them from advancing professionally”. Now, before I move on to the mayor’s response let me explain the premise here. The “Don’t Shoot” movement sprang up in protest of the Michael Brown (Ferguson) and Eric Garner (NY, Long Island) deaths at the hands of non-minority police officers. Now, this movement does NOTHING to distinguish between these cases.

For those who don’t remember, or who were living under a rock at the end of last year, let me refresh your memories of both incidents. Michael Brown was a known thug and a violent 18 year old man who had robbed a convenience store and was walking down the middle of a street in the St. Louis suburb when he was approached by Officer Darren Wilson who requested that Mr. Brown walk on the sidewalk instead of the road. Officer Wilson attempted to get out of his car after Moore and his compatriot refused to comply with the officer’s request, Mr. Brown violently shut the door of the officer’s car. Officer Wilson responded by getting out of the car and Mr. Moore’s response was to bum rush the officer, throwing him into his car and attempt to grab his gun. In the tussle, Mr. Brown was shot multiple times including through his hand which supports Officer Wilson’s description of events. Mr. Brown caused his own death by attacking a peace officer and attempting to grab his gun.

Eric Garner was a low level offender who was known to officers in his New York neighborhood for selling loose cigarette’s that were therefore un-taxable. He was not presenting a threat to the multiple officers who were circling him to arrest him and ended up being choked to death by an overzealous cop who jumped on him and used a banned choke hold to immobilize and arrest him. Mr. Garner was guilty of depriving the state of their tax revenue, in this bloggers humble opinion, and therefore was truly a casualty of statism.

Now, we have a mayor of a major West Coast city saying that the City has “banned the box” on their applications that require felons to explain the circumstances of their convictions. In the blog posting by Michael Strickland at Progressives Today titled “$10,000 Tax Credit To Hire Ex Cons”, Mayor Hales espouses the same be done by all businesses in the city and continues to say that he would like to emulate the Philadelphia model of rewarding businesses with a $10,000 tax credit for each “returning citizen” they hire. That’s a nice way of saying “convicted felon”. So in other words, hire someone with no criminal record and you realize no tax advantage, but hire someone who has committed a felony and we will pay you $10,000. I have friends who messed up very badly by committing felonies when they were younger. A few have served time in notorious prisons as a result, but they paid their debt to society and are now hard working citizens. They also took responsibility for their actions by revealing their pasts to their employers as part of the application process. That is all I can ask people to do. Take responsibility for your actions, if you lose a job opportunity then so be it, someone else will give you that break. I think it is, however, the worst kind of crime to enable dangerous people who could hide their pasts and gain employment and possibly have access to a new victim. For example, a janitor who is a convicted child molestor who molests the boy who is in the bathroom at City Hall by himself or the convicted robber who mugs a woman as she returns to her car late at night in a City owned parking garage. What about the rights of citizens to be protected from people who might seek to do them harm by our elected officials?!! What about that right?

To all those who espouse these “brilliant” ideas of how to “level the playing field” I say this-take responsibility and clean up your own segment of society. Teach men to be fathers, not sperm donors. Teach girls to respect themselves enough to say “No” or demand that their partners use birth control during sex. Teach both genders to aspire to be productive citizens who contribute to their society, instead of taking from others in it. What a concept! Maybe, just maybe if everyone did that we would have fewer Michael Brown’s and the social justice types could enjoy brunch instead of ruining it for others.