Two Hunters in the woods.
One Hunter turns to the other and asks if they encounter a bear, could they outrun it.
The second and older hunter replies;
I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.
That old joke passed through my mind during some news coverage about Daniel Penny.
I’m not sure exactly why.
Perhaps it’s because if both hunters worked together they would be able to defeat the bear. But if they break and run then the bear is likely to get at least one of them.
Daniel Penny and two other men stood up to one bear in the subway car. I don’t believe for an instant Mr. Penny thought to kill anyone.
I’ve heard of, and actually seen on one occasion Marines goofing around choking each other out. They seem to consider it kind of harmless play. Indeed, most of the time, in most situations it seems to be harmless. Among Marines.
They’re fit, strong, and in the prime of their lives. (At least they’re supposed to be.) So they’ll lose consciousness, their buddies will draw a dick on their forehead and when they wake up everyone laughs and the recently unconscious guy is handed a beer. It’s a weird bonding, an expression of comradeship and nothing is thought of it.
Or wasn’t back when all my best friends were Marines. Granted, that was a decade or two (or three) ago. Things may have changed and the Marines might have gotten a little more pussified than they used to be.
Everything is going “Woke”. There may have been some recruits that couldn’t cut it, who sued because BOOT was too hard, and their feelings got hurt.
I wasn’t in the military. I broke bones as a teenager and the surgery to fix it disqualified me. I should have gone military. Looking back, I wish I had been able to, I’d like to have been pushed up against my limits. I’d have either gotten a lot out of the experience or I’d have spent my time in the brig or stockade. Whichever, I’d have learned a lot.
I suppose my experience with Marines colors my opinion. Every Marine I knew was goofy, funny, dirty minded, rough & tumble, honorable, kind, and when the shit hit the fan, deadly serious. In an instant, they focused on everyone getting out of the situation in one piece. None of them put up with threats, intimidation, or the strong picking on the weak. In my experience two Marines could hate each other’s guts, but they’d join forces instantly to protect someone who couldn’t protect themselves. It’s like somehow all of this is hardwired into Marine DNA.
I was honored to be counted among them, and honored again when they said I was scrappy in a fight but needed some training, then showed me how to fight better. I appreciated knowing they had my back as I had theirs. There was a rule that a lot of folks didn’t get… if you ran your mouth in a bar or wherever and deserved an ass whipping you’d get one.
They’d stand by and let you and whoever you offended duke it out, but you weren’t gonna die. They’d make sure your well deserved ass whipping didn’t go too far in either direction. Win or lose, they’d take ya home clean ya up and critique your style while doing it.
It’s a weird mix. I guess it would confuse the hell out of people who’d never hung with any group of military folks. The group dynamic is different from any other group I’ve ever seen. Maybe a large family would come close. You and your brothers might fight like you’re going to kill each other but God help anyone who sucker punched a brother.
I miss those guys a lot.
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I guess all of this went through my mind as I was processing the news outlet reporting.
One conservative commentator got away with pointing out that the general media wouldn’t have made a big deal about it, if both participants were black, or if the person who died was white and the Marine in question was black. Or if both participants were white.
But because the Marine was white and the person who died was black, the media is in the promised land. Likewise we wouldn’t have all the protests and discussion about homelessness or all the rest. It would be just another white guy dead on the subway… Big Deal!
The problem is The Bear we all have to worry about now is the Bear of the mob, of the preconceived notions, the Bear of our spineless pandering leaders.
We’ve spent the last few years ignoring the mob, and all the stupid reasons for protests or razing of city blocks. We’ve watched politician after politician cave in to bad behavior and tacitly approve of escalating violence. At the same time police forces around the country are bleeding officers from their ranks.
This inevitably will lead to people standing up to defend those who cannot defend themselves, today we call it vigilantism, in centuries past we called it guardians of the community or village. The warriors who stood between the village and marauding hoards.
Woe be unto those who cause a warrior to put down his plow and pick up his sword. They will not survive the encounter. Real warriors value peace, home and hearth above all, but they understand war and the necessity to sometimes fight. When they go to war, they go to win.
New York and other large cities better brace for what’s coming next. If the people don’t feel safe going about their daily lives, Vigilantes will fill the vacuum left by the dismantling of police forces. When prosecution isn’t an option for career criminals in these cities, summary street execution will be. Vendetta will be the norm and innocent people will be caught in the crossfire.