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Tuesday, November 24, 1998
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Davy Crockett, Statistics & Galina Just when you think there are still somethings that you can
count on, here comes Davy  On
Saturday, the residents of St. Petersburg (old Leningrad) gathered
by the hundreds of thousands, to say goodbye to to Galina V.
Starovoitova, a very popular contender to succeed Boris Yelsten
and people's champion of democracy. She was stepping out of her
apartment in St. Petersburg, when an attractive young couple
stepped up and opened fire with two handguns. Galina was killed
and her companion, Rusian Linkos, 27, is said to be recovering
from extensive wounds. Galina was a founder of the Russian Democracy
movement and a consistent friend of progressive government. Previously
she had received death threats three times but never stopped
her activities or changed her schedule. She is the first woman
to be assassinated in blood-soaked Russian politics. Imagine
what it might have been like to have her running Russia: intelligent,
honest, healthy, loved throughout her country, respected worldwide,
and a true humanitarian devoted to democracy and the free market.
But, hey, now she's dead. Just another gunning in the former
Soviet Union. You know that old saying, "All it takes for
evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing"? Sometimes,
even when good people do something evil seems to prosper. But
don't be so sure. Witness the people assembled on a cold winter
Russian morning: hundreds of thousands remembering her, honoring
her. Somewhere in the crowd a little nine-year-old girl hears
the words, "A great woman. A great leader." Something
sparks in the back of her mind, "Maybe I could be like her..."
Also in the crowd, an attractive young woman who can remember,
remember, remember the crack of the gunshot and the look on Galina's
face. As she turns to the young attractive man beside her, his
hand feels cold and they embrace, but the warmth doesn't come.In the strangest and most mysterious ways we move along. Have faith in the future.  And finally
we come to the crime statistics. We are nearing an all-time low,
for the past 30 years, if you can believe the statistics. You
remember the saying? "There are lies. There are goddamn
lies. And then, there are statistics," right? But with more
than 17,000 police departments reporting, murder went down another
2%. The greatest drop was in the Northeast and in cities. But
in the suburbs it rose slightly for the fifth year in a row.
So, now instead of 4,923 crimes per 100,000 residents it's 98.46
crimes less per the same number of people. I feel safer, don't
you? Except out here in the suburbs, its up by more than it's
down in the cities. What's going on? Things going a little dry
downtown? Of the 2% (now pay attention), 4% represented a drop
in violent crime. What would 4% of 2% be, anyway? 8 one hundredths
of a percent. Whew... we dodged a bullet there. (No pun intended).
And, here comes the really, really good news: Only 18,209 people
were murdered in 1997. That does not take into account those
who were still being treated for their wounds or slowly recovering
to levels that will still leave them with totally devastated
lives. And, listen to what statistician James Alan Fox says about
these "greatly reassuring numbers" (Rudy Gulliani's
acceptance speech). "The homicide figures are misleading
because not every group in the population is at a 30-low. What
does that mean? Adult murders are down, but teenage murders are
still up from 10 years ago, and the teen population is rising."So if you live in a city, it's better. But if you're young and live in suburbs, the statistics are coming your way. By the way... the courts are years behind schedule, the prisons are full to twice the planned capacity, police manning is generally back to the 1960's levels, and fewer and fewer successful, educated, parents (and women) are running for office. More and more, it's professional politicians who are assuming local and state offices. Now, that's a scary statistic. |
Crocker,
King of the Wild Frontier. In a recently-released diary by a
Mexican Army officer that apparently is as authentic as it gets,
Crockett's execution is described in believable detail, after
the battle of the Alamo in 1836. "Though tortured before
they were killed, these unfortunates died without complaining
and without humiliating themselves before their torturers."
Legend has it that Davy died fighting off the Mexican attackers.
With his ammunition gone, he went to his famous Bowie knife and
fought on, killing courageously, until finally shot in the back
by the dastardly bad guys. He fell into the dust of American
mythology, lying there beside Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan
until the diary was made public. John Wayne is turning in his
grave. Who's next? Santa Claus, er, well he's sort of gone already.
Well, then who? Thomas Jefferson, er, well... JFK, er... Einstein?,
er... his treatment of his wife was ... well, wait, wait, wait...
There he is: Jimmy Carter. He still stands tall. (He only lusted
in his heart.) But look out, here comes another diary... DUCK!
Oh, wait, it was just Monica's new book ($3.5 million) on another
view of the American Presidency. Whew! That was close. Gees,
leave Mount Rushmore alone!See you next time?
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