It’s been a remarkable past few days, hasn’t it?
Two young men were shot to death by police officers; one in Baton Rouge, La., the other in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb. Their deaths prompted demonstrations and marches around the country.
One of those marches occurred in Dallas, where Black Lives Matter organizers managed to stage a peaceful event through the city’s downtown. Police officers were mugging with protestors taking selfies of themselves and the men and women in blue.
Then a sniper opened fire, killing five of those officers. The nation was shattered by the violence.
We heard politicians of all stripes speaking essentially in unison: This has to stop; the killing of police officers is unacceptable; we pray for the officers’ families and for the city has been stricken.
Then came the words from Texas Lt. Gov.Ā Dan Patrick …
He shows up on “Fox and Friends” and says the protestors who fled the shooting were “hypocrites” because they sought protection from the very people whose conduct in those earlier events they were protesting.
Patrick then blamed Black Lives Matter and — of course! — the media for the senseless carnage in Dallas. I guess Patrick doesn’t understand that the shooter’s action were diametrically opposed toĀ the messageĀ Black Lives Matter was seeking to convey. Oh, and Black Lives Matter protestors also were being shot at.
I was appalled when Texans elected this guy lieutenant governor in 2014. To hear him spew such garbage in the wake of this national tragedy, when circumstances compel politicians to use good judgment and circumspection in their public remarks, only reinforces my disgust in this individual.
Patrick’s idiotic rant doesn’t diminish the outpouring of good will that has come from around the country toward Texas’s third-largest city. Indeed, Dallas has been through even more profound national tragedy before and I have every confidence it will bounce back. It will recover emotionally. That recovery won’t happen overnight.
Facilitating the city’s return to normal, though, requires the type of political leadership we’veĀ witnessed from the likes of Gov. Greg Abbott, Dallas Mayor Michael Rawlings, from President Barack Obama, from Dallas Police Chief David Brown, from spiritual leaders of all faithsĀ and from members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle.
The city does not need the kind of lunacy that came out of the mouth of Dan Patrick, who should be ashamed of himself. I do not, however, expect him to exhibit any such shame.
