From CNN: “Police: 4 more bodies found at rapist’s Ohio home; total now 10.”
From ABC News: “Somer Thompson’s killer may be serial child predator.”
From the Associated Press: “Seattle cop is assassinated but his partner survives.”
And, when this happens, the side of me that isn’t all that “politically correct” shows up.
Tonight’s one of those times.
The first headline refers to a case in Cleveland, Ohio, wherein a convicted rapist has been charged with multiple counts of murder, rape, assault and kidnapping after police found several women’s decomposing bodies in his home.
The second has to do with last month’s kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old child who was walking home from school in Orange Park, Florida.
The last headlined one of the stories regarding the assassination of Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton.
And these three were merely the ones I’d caught over the past two weeks or so.
I’ve come to believe that many of us truly do not understand that there are monsters wandering amongst us. That they can pass themselves off as normal. That they can blend in. That they don’t come wrapped in black capes or show fangs when they smile.
Then, there are the times when we catch these monsters and I simply shake my head at what we do in the name of “not lowering ourselves to their level.”
I cringe at how we plea bargain horrendous crimes down to a lower offense. At how we convince ourselves that many of these individuals have been “rehabilitated” and can safely rejoin society. At how we ignore the history of many who’ve returned to the streets only to begin their carnage again.
What I think is that many of us overlook or, even, ignore the fact that, in any society, there are individuals who are wired so differently from the rest of us that we cannot even begin to understand what drives them.
How can any human being rape and murder women and then store their bodies in his home?
How can any human being kidnap and then murder - I don’t want to contemplate what may have happened in between those two actions - a 7-year-old girl?
How can any human drive up to a parked patrol car and assassinate a sitting police officer?
To me, the answer is that what we consider a human being can’t but that these individuals are different. They may be part of the species, but they aren’t anything like what we are.
True human beings have certain common feelings, tenets, and beliefs.
Rape and murder aren’t among them. Kidnapping and killing children aren’t among them. The assassination of a police officer isn’t among them.
All of these acts are direct attacks on us as individuals and on society in general. And, believe me, reading about them, as noted, brings out my dark side - the one that says: “Fine, stud. If that’s the way you want to play, then maybe we’ll take certain measures to ensure that you never harm us again.”
If a disease threatens us, we eliminate it as quickly and as completely as possible.
If a rabid animal attacks us, we put it down before it can do further harm.
The problem is that if a monster who happens to resemble us is caught these days, it’s almost as if we don’t know what to do.
We may have already captured individual responsible for the murders in Ohio. I hope that we capture the individual who kidnapped and killed Somer Thompson and the individual who killed Officer Timothy Brenton.
I know that I’m supposed to be compassionate and I think that I am.
I know that I’m supposed to care and think that I do.
But those feelings are reserved for the victims and their families. What I feel for the perpetrators of these crimes is something else altogether.
Many of us believe in an ultimate accounting for our deeds.
When these types of individuals are captured and, then, tried and convicted in a court of law, I think we should arrange for them to attend that accounting - as quickly as possible.
And were we to start doing that, I wouldn’t even blink because, at the very least, there would be that many fewer of these monsters to worry about.
Cover
•
Commentary
•
Books & Reviews
•
Climate Change
•
Site Links
•
Feedback
