Last week we commented on the road ahead from the Kelly Thomas case and it’s aftermath. We said that the issue behind this case was the right that Kelly Thomas was denied, that it was the most basic of rights, the right to life. We said it was the most basic right because it could not be exchanged for any other right.
This is the right that Tony Rackauckas was referring to when he said “…citizens have a right to self-defense, even against the police…”. Or, in the immortal words of The Clash, “You have the right not to be killed.”
There are still some people who would disagree. We heard reports from train passengers of a man striding around the memorial site at the buss station saying, “So this is what happens when you break into cars, huh?” We should point out that there has not been any evidence release indicating that Kelly Thomas broke into a car. Also, the death penalty is not a sentence for breaking into cars or resisting arrest.
So it is probably the fundamental nature of the right involved in the Kelly Thomas case, and other similar cases, that is causing a surprising trend. The left side of the political spectrum and the right side are coming together and agreeing on something. This is surprising because elsewhere in political discourse the two political wings are spreading farther apart. The division between those who want freer markets and those who want more government control is getting so strident that the phrase “class warfare” has been openly discussed on the nightly news.
But here in Fullerton, and in select other places, the right and left sides of politics have been talking to each other, civilly. It may have started with Steven Baxter’s open letter on FullertonsFuture.org, but soon we heard Bruce Whitaker calling for cross-aisle discourse.
Similarly but elsewhere we have seen left-wing trailblazer Ralph Nader praising Sarah Palin and talking to Ron Paul.
At a recent Artwalk one patron summed it all up nicely when she heard two people talking about about Kelly Thomas and rights she said, “I think I know what you mean. Because when I saw that picture I just instantly knew it was wrong.”
Maybe we can discard these artificial sides we’ve drawn and focus on what is more important in life. Maybe we can meet on Common Ground.
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