It's a Really Bizarro World...

Yes friends, there DOES come a time when you sit back and wonder what the hell planet you're on.
At least the weather is behaving itself for the time being, and will be pretty much a rerun of yesterday.
But everything else...is a crapshoot.
There are so many things going on that are truly unbelievable at best, and totally insane at worst.
And we'll be tackling SOME of those items in a bit...
*** First up today, the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT quote:
"A people that values it's privileges above it's principles soon loses both."

This was spoken by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, first inaugural address, 20 January 1953
The source link can be found HERE:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres54.html
I would suggest you give the entire address a read - then, you can see what a Presidency is SUPPOSED to look and sound like.
Meanwhile, back at the podium...
*** I started this post with the Bizarro World reference again, and any reader of DC comic books from the silver age knows precisely what I mean by this.

When you think of Bizarro World, think of EVERYTHING and everyone being exactly OPPOSITE from what you've come to know.
And much of that seems to me, anyway the sum total of today's world.

It becomes harder to disseminate TRUTH from falsehoods, especially when those we used to be able to trust can no longer BE trusted to either say the right thing, or (especially) do the right thing.
That's where the obfuscation begins...things that are meant to divert our attention from what we just heard, or happened to witness.
And with all this going on, we, the people are still supposed to be able (and ready) to separate the wheat from all this chaff being laid about us.
A daunting task for the faint-of-spirit.
But, it's not impossible, thank God.
We just have to apply ourselves in a more diligent manner; be willing to place our fear aside, and become emboldened to speak our mind and say what needs to be said. And that requires a modicum of work on our part.
We'll come back to this in a moment, because we've some examples of behavior that would work out fine on the real Bizarro World.
*** FWPD chief weighs in on recent bank robberies.
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Police-Chief-One-Group-Responsible-For-Half-Of-Citys-Bank-Robberies-183254972.html

Well, there seems to be ONE, organized group responsible for at least HALF of the bank robberies (as well as other robberies) in Ft. Wayne.
So says our chief...take from that what you will.
He states: "they've had experience in armed robbery". Not hard to pull off in THIS city - all you really HAVE to do is hand over a NOTE to a teller, and PRESTO - INSTANT CASH. (better than the freaking lottery and even faster than an ATM, right?)
Which would explain THIS most recent bank robbery at the PNC branch at Coventry:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/police-possible-robbery-at-pnc-bank-at-coventry-lane?ref=scroller&categoryId=20000&status=true

Hmm, seems this robbery might be a bit more UNrelated to those Rusty is talking about.
Now, the robbery at the ProFed Credit Union, where THREE people came in, trussed up the female employees and got away seem MORE organized.

Does this mean that the police department CANNOT PROPERLY COPE with such "organization"?
Well, the department IS twenty-one officers DOWN from the staffing totals.
That would send a huge message to those wanting to rob damn near ANYTHING in this city, would it not?
Speaking of being "organized", what about ALL the house fires that are cropping up on the SE side of town, and would appear to be the work of some sort of repeat arsonist?
Guess HE is organized as well?
An organization of ONE, as it were?
Perhaps he's responsible for THIS latest fire this morning in the 2500 block of Marcy Lane:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/crews-battle-fire-on-marcy-lane
As to the OTHER half of the robberies, how organized are THOSE perps, and why haven't any of THEM been captured either?

Are we at a point in Ft. Wayne where the CRIMINALS can outpace the POLICE?
In larger cities, that IS often the case, and that's NOT to say the po-po isn't doing their job. Far from it, depending on the definition of "the job".
It's just that you have LOTS MORE (neophyte) criminals, and it's not due to the economy...it's because of the EASE of execution OF the crimes.
Take the police all but AWAY from being proactive through PATROLLING certain hot-spots in a city, and keep them chasing the radio, and you give the keys to the candy shop TO the criminals.
It's that simple.
*** And speaking of candy (ass robbers), there's THIS:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/workers-at-an-auto-dealership-prevent-an-armed-robbery

Remember, when you're WAITING for the police to show up, YOU CAN effect a capture and hold the perp for when the police DO show up, as evidenced by the auto dealer's employees that chased down a 60-year old man (my age?) for an attempted robbery.
Why not just shove him into a plate glass door and stop him right THERE?
Men my age shouldn't be doing sh*t like that anyway.
Rodney Gray, 60, of Ft. Wayne will be enjoying the holidays at the Allen County lockup, thanks to some dumbass decisions.
There ARE some people out there who ARE getting damn sick and tired of becoming victims or targets to the criminal element, and I say good for them!
Pin a damn MEDAL on such people.
And, of course, this robbery attempt occurred on the city's...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE.
*** And now, we return you to our previously-scheduled post topic - Bizarro World.

You look at things like this, and you SHOULD be asking some serious questions.
In years past, we haven't seen such brazen behavior, such violent behavior, or such stupid behavior.
Now, it seems all the rage, as it were.

Much of this can be tracked back to the whole "entitlement" mentality...the whole "well, I deserve this", or "I expect someone else to GIVE me this" mindset.
Well, you can expect all you want...life's not always about what YOU expect, UNLESS it's a repayment for services or work-related tasks.
You WORK a day, and then EXPECT to receive a day's pay FOR that work...pretty easy to skull out, right?
That's the way we've operated for a long time, and that's been the best way to compensate those who have toiled and labored.

But, when you remove THAT aspect, the work aspect, you leave a gaping hole, ripe to be filled with criminal activity...which you get in spades, if you're not careful.
I keep thinking of that Woody Allen movie: Take the money and Run, where he tries to rob a bank, and the note he passes to the teller is SO damn illegible, that the manager (and several tellers) can't even read it..."I have a GUB? What's a GUB, anyway?"
Here in Ft. Wayne, Allen would have NO problem at all with getting the cash.
Initially, when the FBI "task force" came to town, we DID see a decrease in bank robberies, and when there was a FWPD officer AT a location, there was never a robbery (like the bank branch near the old Target site on the SE side)...so why the turnaround?

Shouldn't such tactics become the DETERRENT they are for the criminals?
Apparently not. The crims are doing the exact OPPOSITE...robbing MORE banks.
Everywhere you look these days, it's the same thing...what we USED to remember as being "the law of the land", such as simple things like parking in the correct direction on a street, or having a vehicle with a working MUFFLER, or even the act of being civil towards another human being are fast disappearing.
Anyplace is fine for a fight (or crime) these days, too.

Anyplace where a crowd gathers, especially one permeated with leftists and progressives becomes a staging ground for some form of violence, and yet it's those same progressives who are the for the sole purpose of staying in power.
Now THAT is totally back-asswards to me.
America should not be as turned-around as it has become. If anything, we SHOULD be moving forward in the same manner we once enjoyed when this nation was at the "top of the heap". We are fast losing that status in the world in every respect.
I'm all for equality, but I detest "fairness", and this perverse sense OF that fairness is what's hurting this country.

On Bizarro World, everyone does everything wrong (as we come to know), but to THEM, it's perfectly normal, and that seems to be the course we're charting HERE...
We really need to stop sitting on the sidelines, or warming the bench.
Those who oppose what America stands for need to be called out, and we, instead of just ignoring them, need to speak the hell up and tell THEM the hell off for a change.
We stand today as a divided nation that needs to nip this in the bud before it becomes more than any of us can handle.

We can all still get along, and we can still all remain equal, but to have some folks made MORE equal than others portrays a vast INequality that, if left unchecked, brings the wrong people to power with agendas that will change the face of this nation in ways we can't even perceive.
I'm sure our Founding Fathers would have something to say about THAT.
(as soon as they stop rolling over in their graves)

Bizarro World might be a nice place to view at a discreet distance, but we should never want or become content to LIVE there.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.