50 bullets

My friend asked me if I heard about the shooting in Queens. I did not, I told her. I suppose I tune out what I think is often sensationalized news, if it is news at all. People are shot all the time, you'd be horrified if every shooting was in print, every rape, every domestic violence occurrence, child abuse -we'd all explode from the overload. People are being extinguished in Darfur but it's too far for the average joe to care? What we think about the world is shaped by those folks who have the power to write about events in print - do you know how many people think if it's printed, it's true? I contended. She challenged me. She said it was important because it raised her awareness of police violence, unwarranted brutality and wielding of power with the badge and the gun. She was concerned about the response from the the bloomberg administration vs the way guiliani used to do or not do things. She was mystified about how some group could unload 50 bullets into a person. Having dated a cop and knowing a little more about guns, gunfire and police protocol than I cared to know - I asked her if she knew how long it took to unload a clip of 16 bullets. If even 4 guys do it, it can take less than 10-15 seconds. None of it was the point of course.
I don't really think it takes 50 bullets to stop a person with a gun (which i guess he didn't have) and I bet there could be some underlining racism involved, overuse of power or even scared cops firing because the others were and they were covering for them. Who knows, I wasn't there and I will never believe I'm getting the truth from the paper. This is going to make it hard for the good cops, the ones who get lost amongst the mix of the fuckers who do wield the power of the shield. In the end, that guy is dead and while it should be an investigation, thorough and done by the book, bringing things into alignment - it will likely fall prey to politicization and leave everyone feeling angry and unsatisfied. Just what the city needs, dammit.
So what do we do? Here is this horrifying event that will polarize communities and be talked about, like ripples in a pond. Perhaps it is the chatter that pisses me off. Sure, we can't do something every time a horrible thing happens, but stirring the pot seems dumb too. I hope that the people who want to have direct impact on this, will become involved. I hope rest of the folks who give a rip make it a point to bring something good into this world, because I don't care who you are, while we may not be able to personally eradicate all the violence and hate, we can at least be good, decent and generous human beings to try and balance all this shit out. Ja?