The sleeping policeman

That’s why we are necessary; we are the only force that can get into people’s business.

If the world were a classroom, America is the star quarterback who’s also the 4.0 class president. He’s not the back-row stoner riding an endless case of senioritis. He’s the kid who gets others involved, by going first. Always going first.

If you want to prevent a fight, you show up with your mates. Strength in numbers, as the saying goes. We’re the only country who can get everyone together, and put on the same jackets, and show up in that alley, ready to do what’s necessary. Which is whatever it takes to guarantee respect for the dead and justice for their families.

But if we don’t get up early, make the calls, and show up, no one else will. And what you’re left with is a field of death, whose stench might never reach your nostrils. Until it does.