Harmless Vagrant?

21 July 09 Harmless vagrants? From a friend in NM: "For twelve years, our local sheriff's office has repeatedly assured those in our neighborhood that this vagrant, and occasional B&E/assault suspect, was 'harmless' and represented no threat to anyone. The sesame-street image was promoted in the face of dozens burglaries, most involving violent entry, of which he was suspected. He verbally threatened to shoot at least two homeowners when he encountered them during break-ins. Local media laughingly labeled him 'The Cookie Bandit,' owing to his proclivity for stealing food, as well as other, more valuable, items. Last week, he finally shot someone, fatally, one or our deputies who approached him, pursuant to yet another complaint. Both the officer and the suspect were fatally shot during an exchange of gunfire. It was only a matter of time! Subsequently, NM State Police have identified this "Cookie Bandit." He is a murder suspect who has been wanted since 1972 for a double-homicide in Canada and is suspected of a number of other murders in CA, WA, and OR. It looks as if our 'harmless vagrant' was actually a serial murderer!" Comment: No good comes from naively converting violent criminals into amiable cartoon characters! "World's Dumbest Crooks," and other media-generated sewage, hardly qualifying as "news," but concocted solely to increase ratings, encourage potential victims of violent crime to look upon VCAs as benignant morons who don' t represent any real threat. Only fools believe that, and only fools willfully decline to honestly confront the vicious, wanton brutality of which these habitual criminals are capable. Ignorance can be cured. Conversely, willful naivety is a sign of an unstable mind! "A sound mind can be neither bought nor borrowed, yet unsound ones are bought and sold every day!" /John