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Sam Holbrooks
Uvalde Revisited
By now most of us have seen the painfully long real-time video of the unfolding drama at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, from the inside. Back on May 24, we pondered how so many law enforcement officers -- 376 by one count -- could find so little to do in such a time of immediate crisis.
There were school cops, Uvalde cops, Uvalde County deputies, state DPS, Texas Rangers, border patrol, and federal agents. I would never diminish the critical work that these people do, but fair or not, with the world watching, this Uvalde group set the image of Texas law enforcement back 20 years.
For the sake of those of you who do that work, and especially for the others who have given it all, each of those 376 should be subject to a performance review to determine whether he did the job that he was sent there to do, whether it was securing a perimeter, evacuating students, or breaching a classroom. Some did, but those who didn’t should find another line of work.
But just a reminder to those of us who preach gun rights. We shouldn’t expect a different mindset of the police than we would require of ourselves because they won’t always be there. With rights come responsibilities, and it’s at least a violation of the spirit of the 2nd Amendment if we’re not willing to go into the abyss to protect the innocent.
Rather than to jump to conclusions back in May, I withheld judgment, truly believing that there had to be more going on inside that building. “I know who these people are,” I thought. “They wouldn’t do this.”
I thought of the legacy of those fearless old Texas Rangers, in defense of the settlers, battling the equally fearsome Comanches. “That’s who we are,” I thought. “That’s who we’ve always been.”
Remember the freakin’ Alamo, and all that.
As the facts began to unfold, I adjusted, deciding it wasn’t cowardice that caused the failure, but a tragic lack of command and control. Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo dropped the ball and left no one in charge. Children died while he stalled, looking for a key that he didn’t need.
That leaves everybody waiting for orders. A sort of groupthink sets in, and subconsciously, no one wants to jeopardize his job or his pension by going rogue and getting something wrong -- somebody else is gonna do it. I shudder to think of any possibility that, under those circumstances, I could fall under the same spell.
But maybe I was rudely awakened to the same fact that a lot of law enforcement guys were. If waiting was ever an option, it isn’t anymore.
Because the video showed us what nothing looks like. Nothing but all those officers, standing around with enough weaponry to invade Poland. They sure did look snappy, with those starched shirts and creased pants, and shiny badges. Summer straw hats and helmets with night scopes, and ballistic shields, by god.
And nothing. Nothing but infuriating silence, after the first three minutes when most of these kids had likely perished. But some hadn’t.
We saw the first three guys racing toward the classroom door. But with a couple of rounds from the shooter, they ran for it, clearly outgunned. That killed their momentum, and he turned his attention back to his helpless prey.
Two officers were said to have “grazing wounds”, but I suspect two guys in two positions just don’t get that lucky in a half-second that a guy is shooting at targets he can’t see. Probably shrapnel, wood and/or drywall from rounds that penetrated the walls. They couldn’t have known the difference right away.
But then the heavier artillery showed up. Or at least people carrying it showed up, for another agonizing hour before they finally breached the classroom. Someone should have taken a shield and tested the door. Officer Plaid did grab some hand sanitizer, quickly eliminating any germ threat.
Just armchair quarterbacking here, but the highest ranking officer in every agency there should have immediately taken inventory of his men and their specialties. Then each should have met with the others near the hallway and established a command post. After advising Arredondo, somebody else takes charge.
Arredondo should have known it was never simply a “barricaded” shooter. Some are bleeding out, and even a clever fourth grader can fake dead to buy some time. And some did.
What must they have thought of those adults on the outside, who they had been taught to trust, who never came?
The door’s locked, or it isn’t. Now it’s done on the fly. There will be some guesswork, but take the shooter’s attention away from the kids and trust yourself to guess right. This is your time.
To avoid crossfire from too many, two of you take the shields and handguns, maybe three others have the long guns. A few paces back, a couple more shooters are there to step up in case things go south. Still further back, a few others are crouched, ready to drag any wounded away.
And you go.
Of course you’ll feel the fear, but you’ll stay a half-step ahead of it.
And you’ll pray like you’ve never prayed before.
Texas Comes Up Short on “Woman of the Year”
It was about last March when the satirical Babylon Bee got thrown into the Twitter doghouse for congratulating the transgender assistant secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dr.Richard/Rachel Levine for being chosen the USA Today “Woman of the Year” and their own “Man of the Year” to boot.
Apparently, the editors at the BB were looking beyond Levine’s blonde wig with tongue in cheek. But Twitter didn’t think it was funny.
I do remember one thing about the good doctor. He was running Pennsylvania’s response to COVID back in 2020. While admitting “stable” coronavirus patients into the facility, he ignored department policy and took his mother out to get her away from all those other old folks who might give her something nasty.
In the current environment, where a growing number of former males are taking over women’s everything -- I’m anticipating a Miss Universe with a five-o’clock shadow within a year or two -- D.C. nominee Dr. Levine was going to get it. They could have just mailed it in.
But there was just one problem. While Ron/ Rachel checked the most important box to the `woke’ mob, he’s still hopelessly white. USA Today didn’t make fully a third of their 64 state and national nominees black, and another third Latinas and “other,” just for chuckles. So they resolved that by selecting some “co-Women of the Year.”
That’s like giving the Super Bowl trophy to the four NFL teams who make the playoffs.
The other three “winners” were Kamala Harris, no doubt for her gift of brilliant, riveting oratory; Melinda Gates, for having a lot of ex-husband Bill Gates’ money with which to dabble in the global pandemic business; and Houston Olympian Simone Biles, a great kid and my personal favorite.
Kamala also gets USA Today’s accolades for dramatically “shattering the glass ceiling” in the White House. It pains me to say it, but that shattering work really was actually pulled off by another old white guy. He was her accused “racist” during the Democrat debates, which may explain how he remembered her name.
About a third of the nominees came from some background in health care, and at least half of those were related to the COVID-19 thing. Others were a little goofy, like Arizona lawyer Roopali Desai, whose claim to fame was “defending” Joe Biden’s 2020 election win (successfully, I would assume) and starting a “recreational marijuana program” in her state.
Signs and wonders.
Not to quibble, but I knew folks who were starting recreational marijuana programs 40 years ago. And don’t even get me started on those recreational beer programs.
Maine is small, so forgive them if the best they could do is Michele Meyer, who started a Facebook group for those isolated by the pandemic. Noble I suppose, but not exactly labor-intensive, or sweat-inducing.
Personally, I like Mississippi nominee Dr. Aileen Stingley, who’s spent 30 years helping the rural poor gain access to dental care. Now that’s working in the trenches, Doc, though it may not compare to Kamala’s masterful management of the southern border.
Aside from a `nationally’ recognized Texan, Biles, the Lone Star State’s own nominee was Dallas state rep. Jessica Gonzalez who, in addition to somehow “protecting LBGTQ+ and other marginalized communities”, claims to have battled Texas’ “voter suppression” laws by demanding mail-in ballots and drive-by voting.
That is, before she and her fellow Texas Democrats chartered a jet out of the state in protest of reasonable voting laws and, as USA Today glowingly put it, “paralyzed the Legislature for 38 days.” Yes, in these parts we’re proud of politicians who we pay to throw hissy fits and “paralyze” things, requiring three special sessions to unparalyze things.
USA Today lauded Gonzalez for her “breach of decorum” when she hurled some mild obscenities around the statehouse when she didn’t get her way. Color me impressed.
Not sure exactly how Rep. Gonzalez “protects” Texas transgender folks, but I’ve yet to hear of a single minority voter in Texas complain that any law prevented him or her from casting a ballot. In fact, Texas voting laws are more liberal than those in Joe Biden’s Delaware.
But better luck next year Texas. Maybe you could start with the 15-year-old from Beaumont who travelled with her Daddy to Alabama and won a scholastic bass fishing tournament with 236 other rigs in the water, picking up a cool $180,000 scholarship.
Now that’s a dang good start.
