Death by Political Correctness

Jack Dunphy (nom de cyber of a Los Angeles police officer who does not use his real name on National Review Online) talks about the price some people are willing to pay to promote political correctness:

Is there no situation so grave that it cannot be rendered into farce through the timely recitation of politically correct drivel? Recall Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta’s laughable assertion, put forth even as the rubble of the World Trade Center smoldered, that the flying public and America at large are threatened equally by 75-year-old white women and 25-year-old Arab men. Following in this sorry tradition is Paul Howard, district attorney for Fulton County, Ga.

Facing reporters after Brian Nichols’s homicidal rampage and escape from the Fulton County Courthouse, Howard was asked about the wisdom in having a lone female deputy sheriff escorting a large man accused of a violent sex crime. A sensible question, certainly, what with three people freshly murdered (a fourth soon would follow) and a madman now running loose on the streets of Atlanta. The gathered reporters and anyone watching on television might have anticipated a reasoned, thoughtful response, perhaps to include a call for the reevaluation of the relevant courthouse policies. Alas, no such response was forthcoming.

“I think that women are capable of doing anything that men are capable of doing,” Howard said. “And I don’t think it’s the weight, I think it’s the heart, the training, and the ability. I don’t think the weight has a whole lot to do with it.” In other words, if it were up to Mr. Howard, men accused of violent crimes would continue to be escorted through the courthouse hallways by female deputies half their size and twice their age. This is what passes for enlightened thinking in downtown Atlanta, where results, no matter how disastrous, count for less than one’s lofty intentions. Let the gutters run with blood, but we dare not show a lack of faith in our diminutive female police officers.

Let us now depart from the utopian fantasies of Paul Howard and turn our attention to the real world, where the typical man is stronger than the typical woman, and where no 100-pound woman, no matter how big her heart, how advanced her training, or how superior her ability, can go to Fist City with a 200-pound man and come out on top.

I wondered back when this first happened if anyone would question the use of a single female deputy to escort a guy like this. With the exception of this article, there have been precious few people willing to touch this subject.

Dunphy also wonders why another easy solution, which is used in Los Angeles, wasn't used in Atlanta:

True, the Supreme Court has held that a defendant’s rights are violated if the jurors in his case see him bound in shackles or even dressed in his jailhouse garb. (Nichols was changing into his court clothes when he overpowered the deputy.) The solution to this is simple, and is practiced here in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Simply bring the shackled defendants into court while the jurors wait in the jury room. Once seated, the defendants can be secured with devices that immobilize them without being visible to jurors. When the jury enters, all they see is a meek and mild man holding a Bible and wearing in ill-fitting suit, not the snarling beast who has to be chained up to keep him from eating anyone who gets too close. For those especially stroppy types, there are even remotely operated stun belts that can be activated if the defendant starts to bare his fangs or come out of his chair.

Do you think any constructive changes will come out of this mess? Not if the politically correct crowd is making the decisions.