GET YOUR MOUTH SHUT: In an article about ongoing teen riots in Paris, French "Equal Opportunities Minister" Azouz Begag has this to say:

"It is by fighting the discriminations of which young people are victims that we will re-establish order, the order of equality. Not by bringing out more CRS (riot police)," Begag told the newspaper Liberation in an interview.

My reaction, in reading that quote, says everything about where my politics are today, versus where they were even five years ago.

Five years ago I would have been right with him, I bet. Root causes. Oppression. Che Guevara! Billy Bragg!

Now I just look at that quote and think, Bulllllll-shit. There are always some idiots looking for a reason to flip over cars and light shit on fire. NBA Championship. Social ills. Mad at the president. You name it. Bottom line is that idiots who are lighting cars on fire are idiots. Put me in the Zero Tolerance camp. Bring on the riot cops!

BTW, the title of this post is a direct quote once uttered by Mike Ditka to a reporter. I love it.