It's crime story, not a drugs story

The Meatriarchy has a round-up of bloggish reactions to the murder of four Mounties in Alberta. But he missed Colby Cosh, who I think has the most relevant observation to the nature of the psycho who did it and the backwards way this story is being spun:

Roszko was running a chop-shop for stolen cars, but this has been completely forgotten in less than 24 hours; our Minister of Public Safety certainly isn't making a spectacle of herself yapping about how "dangerous" property crimes are and how the judiciary should be cracking down. (Maybe someone should ask the former Justice Minister just who picks these goddamn lenient judges?)

In fact, Roszko seems to have committed a nearly endless list of actual violent crimes against the person; a Globe report yesterday that he was convicted of sexual assault in 2000 seems to have been misplaced in the wash. Maybe if we had a seven-year minimum for sex crimes, Roszko wouldn't have been at home on Wednesday.

He also quotes Stephen Harper, who seems to have too much sense to belong to our Parliament:

"Yesterday's deaths are, of course, a painful reminder that law enforcement is a dangerous business, that these people put their lives on the line every single day so that Canadians can live in a high degree of security and safety," Mr. Harper told a press conference in Ottawa on Friday...

The truth is, he said, there is no real way to protect people from every possible situation if a dangerous or disturbed individual lashes out. "We can't just run out on the basis of a single tragedy and make up a bunch of laws."

I was certain as soon as I heard that the killer was running a grow-op that people would use this tragedy to press for the legalization of marijuana (which I have no serious objections to.) But if marijuana was legal, this guy would have a crystal meth lab. He was a violent criminal -- a different legal environment for one of his chosen trades wouldn't have changed that.

Posted by Bruce Gottfred at March 5, 2005 05:50 PM | TrackBack