a death in london

My co-blogger and I have a running joke when discussing suicides in the news. We always say that the person killed himself by shooting himself, five times, in the back of the head, while shaving. Pretty hilarious, eh? But it's not so funny when it happens for real. At the Huffington Post, Richard Bradley notes that in the recent police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, that Mr. Menezes was shot five times in the back of the head and neck.

The rationale that the police give for the shooting is that if Menezes was a bomber and had succeeded, many more may have died. But isn't this a rationale for shooting anyone, any time, no questions asked? It's so depressing seeing the constant excuse-making for governments, the unquestioning support of handing ever-more consequence-free power to the State.