LIBERTARIAN SUS: A Tale of Two Sentences

Susan Ryder does something the media forgot to do: comparing the sentences handed down to two high-profile criminals.

The local news was full of reports last Friday on the sentencing of two New Zealand men for the respective deaths of two New Zealand children.

Both were high-profile cases on which much has been written and said.  Both occurred in the North Island. Both caused shock and outrage within the population at large. And both men have received almost identical sentences.

The first case concerns 51 year-old Bruce Emery, found guilty of the manslaughter of Pihema Cameron, aged 15. Thirteen months ago, Cameron and a friend decided to deface Emery’s garage in Manurewa. Armed with a knife, Emery attempted to disrupt their activities and in the ensuing fracas, Cameron was killed.

The second case concerns 49 year-old William Curtis, found guilty for his role in the death of Nia Glassie in Rotorua, aged 3. Little more than a baby when she died, Nia had the fatal misfortune to be born into the wrong family, six of whom are now in prison for her death.

So there we have the essence of each case. Let’s now look at them a little more closely.

Bruce Emery personifies the Kiwi who’s just had enough.

1. Had enough of tolerating teens who don’t give a damn for anyone else or anyone else’s property.
2. Had enough of paying for people who think they have the right to live off others for nothing in return.
3. Had enough of the endless excuses trotted out by apologists for the actions of those same people.
4. Had enough of police who never come when you call them and seldom treat this sort of property crime seriously when they do.
5. Had enough of politicians who bleat about how they are going to “get tough” on crime prior to every election – and then do sweet bugger all afterward.

So a family man, a complete stranger to law-breaking, spots a couple of teenage vandals, grabs a knife in self-defence (so he said) and, at the end of his tether, his actions result in the fatal stabbing of one of the perpetrators.

Convicted last December, he, via his lawyer, reportedly asked the Cameron family for forgiveness. Based on the very public reaction by the Camerons to his sentencing last Friday, he will be waiting some time. Described by Herald columnist Tapu Misa as “bitter and intemperate”, the family, all sporting t-shirts bearing the deceased’s image, were visibly angry and disgusted with the sentence of four years and three months.

That the Cameron family has lost a loved member cannot be denied. That a teenager has lost his life as a result of tagging somebody’s garage is undeniably harsh. But nowhere have the Camerons acknowledged that Pihema died as a result of committing a crime, as a result of his actions. Had he been at home, or anywhere else that evening, supervised and minding his own business, he might still be alive. Had he been by Bruce Emery’s garage and not defaced it, he would not have died in the manner he did. Wailing about his loss while wearing t-shirts bearing his picture is all very well and good for ratings-mindful media and head-shaking do-gooders, but sadly, it’s a bit like shutting the door after the horse has bolted.

On to the second case where six people have been convicted and sentenced for the death of Nia Glassie, William Curtis being the sixth. Let’s re-cap what he did to his tiny de facto step-granddaughter:

1. Tied a scarf around her neck and lifted her by it until she went purple in the face.
2. Slapped her with such force that her face would bleed.
3. Shouted and swore at her to shut up or he would stomp on her head.

The terror to which that child was subjected is beyond comprehension. She lived with that monster – that subhuman – for four months. And he was one of six – six – adults responsible for the terror, two of whom (his sons) are serving sentences for her murder. It has been noted that Curtis remains unremorseful for his actions.

Unlike Pihema Cameron, Nia’s mother was not outside court last Friday morning wailing and wearing a t-shirt bearing her daughter’s image. Lisa Kuka is already in prison, being found guilty on two charges of the manslaughter of her own daughter. Unlike Pihema Cameron, wee Nia Glassie never had a chance.

Tapu Misa has the temerity to say that Pihema Cameron was killed “over a bit of paint.”  Fellow columnist Brian Rudman – another stranger to the concept of personal responsibility – calls the overwhelming pro-Emery public reaction “lacking in common decency and civility.” And Maori party co-leader Tariana Turia describes taggers as a “misunderstood sub-culture of artists.” The race card has turned up with yawning predictability, as have comparisons with the longer sentence handed down to (then 12 year old) Bailey Junior Kurariki for his part in the murder of Michael Choy seven years ago, whilst ignoring the premeditated nature of the latter crime. Welcome to glaring examples of point three, as above.

And so to last Friday’s sentencing. Bruce Emery received four years and three months for the manslaughter of Pihema Cameron. William Curtis received four years for his role in the death of Nia Glassie.

Perhaps those expressing shock and outrage over “unjust” or “pathetic” sentencing might like to ponder that.

* * Read Libertarian Sus every Tuesday here at NOT PC * *

The DPB: A failed experiment

Another gem from Libertarian Sus:

You almost don't know where to start, do you. Looking at the pieces of filth charged with the murder and assault of wee Nia Glassie, I just knew I was looking at subhumans. Everything about them, their demeanour, their detachment from what was going on around them, and yes, their complete lack of remorse or comprehension, even as to their actions, pointed to absolute uselessness. These cretins literally are a waste of space.  They're oxygen thieves.

We've been here before -- many times -- going right back to little Delcelia Witika and James Whakaruru, both tortured to death by family and de facto family. Then there was Baby Lillybing and the Kahui infants, whose killer or killers still walk free. What a bloody disgrace. There are many more in between whose names, I'm ashamed to say, escape me.

I've never had any time for hand-wringing. I'm not a wailing socialist. And it doesn't take a Philadelphian lawyer to point to the common denominator of unfettered social welfare ... in particular, that misguided experiment called the DPB which allows:

1. loser dads to bugger off and leave Mum with the kids, knowing that the poor old taxpayer - again - picks the tab, and

2. loser blokes to move in with single-Mum-with-kids-on-DPB, to be fed and screwed on demand, and

3. young women to screw anything with no personal regard for future consequences, ending up with children they really don't want, who are treated accordingly.

The DPB is at the heart of this misery, paying people to have babies they neither want, nor care for properly. And every govt for 30+ years has supported and promoted it, rather than have the guts to call it for what it is: a failed experiment.

Sorry?

I have to confess, my own knowledge of the history behind today's apology by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is sketchy, but as Tim Blair suggests, I have to suspect "the effect of the apology on those it’s aimed at is a secondary concern. This is more about smug white folks feeling nice about themselves. That’s why, despite it being an apology for allegedly terrible events, everybody is smiling."  Whatever the truth of historical claims, this is people apologising for things they didn't do to people to whom those things weren't done.  That always makes me suspicious.

On the face of it the whole act is backward looking, and likely to engender the same backward-looking sense of entitlement engendered here in New Zealand by our own indigenous grievance industry.  Tim quotes John Howard's favourite aboriginal Noel Pearson, who makes good sense when he says,

One of my misgivings about the apology has been my belief that nothing good will come from viewing ourselves, and making our case on the basis of our status, as victims.

We have been—and the people who lost their families certainly were—victimised in history, but we must stop the politics of victimhood. We lose power when we adopt this psychology. Whatever moral power we might gain over white Australia from presenting ourselves as victims, we lose in ourselves.

My worry is this apology will sanction a view of history that cements a detrimental psychology of victimhood, rather than a stronger one of defiance, survival and agency.

I think that's true whatever the actual history is-- and while I do take note of historians I admire like Keith Windschuttle, who suggests much of the 'stolen generation' history is fabricated, I note too that despite the many gaps in my knowledge I am aware that the history of European settlement in Australia is far less benign than it has been in New Zealand -- for all sorts of reasons, many of which remain to this day.  Despite that, to paraphrase Thomas Bowden, "today's Aboriginals, to whom this apology is directed, enjoy a capacity for generating health, wealth, and happiness that their Stone Age ancestors could never have conceived.  From a historical perspective, the proper response to such a gift is not resentment but gratitude."

That the apology offered today was brought about by resentment and likely only to engender victimhood is telling.  As Ayn Rand liked to say, don't bother to examine an obvious folly, ask only what it is designed to bring about.  In this case, expect visions of taxpayer dollar bills to begin floating in front of those apologised to very soon, and the rumble of "compensation" to begin.

UPDATE: I like this comment on Leighton Smith's show:

Who would be saying sorry now if someone in New Zealand had stolen the Kahui twins from their parents.  Or Nia Glassie.  Or Lillybing.

Makes you think, huh.

Child abuse: "Not my problem, not my fault."

Child abuse, says Blair at Mulholland Drive is "not my problem, not my fault." A very good piece.

If I hear the word WE again with regard to the Nia Glassie debacle, I am going to stick some people in a clothes dryer myself.

Take your royal WE and piss off. I have never abused a child. I have never hit a child. I have never stood by and allowed anyone to beat up on the innocent and defenceless. I did not cause you to act like a monster and beat a toddler to death. That would have been, oh, there's a word for it... YOU! To quote Johnny Rotten, there's a problem, but the problem is YOU.

So what you gonna do?