A Local Hero – and the Rest of Us
By Jim
Smith
When Paul Banke got on the bus in
Venice on the morning of Oct. 3, he wasn’t thinking of acting heroically.
He was just setting out to find some day labor on a construction
project.
But at a bus stop on Pico Blvd., Paul
noticed a big thug get on the bus. At six feet tall with bulging muscles, he was
nearly twice as big as either Paul or the bus driver. He would have been a
heavyweight had he been a boxer. He was still wearing his bracelet from county
jail.
The big man didn’t take a
seat, but began arguing with the bus driver, then he began slapping the driver.
This wasn’t a private dispute. The bus was full of people who were
depending on the bus driver.
Paul acted
without thinking. He walked to the front of the bus and decked the attacker with
one punch. Paul dragged the gangster out of the bus and on to the sidewalk where
he sat watching birds and stars circle his
head.
When Paul climbed back on the
bus, he was applauded by everyone. The elderly ladies got up to hug and kiss
him. The border brothers (undocumented workers) in the back of the bus smiled
but kept their seats, always afraid an immigration officer would notice
them.
It wasn’t the first heroic
act for Paul Banke. In the early 90s, Paul won the World Super Bantamweight
boxing title (under 122 pounds). In his boxing days, Paul was called The Real
Paul Banke because of his courage. In the face of a barrage of punches from his
opponent, Paul would just keep on coming, until he wore the other fighter
down.
In 1995, Paul began a lifelong
battle with a far more dangerous opponent, AIDS. Yet, even against this deadly
virus, Paul fought courageously. As new, more effective, drug
“cocktails” were developed, Paul was again able to work, as he did
on that October day.
Paul’s
courage against the thug stands in stark contrast to the sheep-like behavior
that too many of us exhibits. In today’s America Paul Banke’s
heroism seems to be as rare as hen’s teeth.
There is the strange case of Andrew
Meyer, a University of Florida student, who had the temerity to ask Sen. John
Kerry a question at a campus forum on Sept. 17.
Kerry took Meyer’s rambling
question about fake elections, impeachment and Iraq in stride, and was in the
midst of answering it when police came up behind Meyer, pulled him away from the
microphone, wrestled him down the aisle and shot him with a Taser gun. Everyone
in the hall, except apparently Kerry who droned on, was aware of what was
happening. Meyer’s terror was quite apparent as he screamed, “Help
me! Help! What are you doing! Get off of me! Don’t Taser me, bro! Oh my
God! Oh my God!”
All in a
day’s work for U of F’s finest, who were reportedly incensed about
some of Meyer’s questions to Kerry: “Though Sen. Kerry directed that
Meyer be allowed to ask his question, police reported that Meyer did not ask any
specific question and instead “badgered” the senator, and at one
point said something about President Clinton being impeached over a sexual act.
At that point, police reported that University of Florida administrator, Max
Tyroler, turned off Meyer’s microphone and asked police to escort him out
of the auditorium, saying, “He had said enough,” according to
Officer Mallo’s report.
What
should be troubling about this incident is not Kerry’s obliviousness (we
know him too well to be bothered by that), but the reaction of the audience of
university students. There was no reaction (see photo).
In the video of the incident, not one
spectator can be seen speaking out or rising in their seats to protest the
gestapo tactics of the police, let alone going to his assistance (as Paul Banke
probably would have done). Instead, they seem to be anesthetized.
Coincidentally, on the victim’s
website - theandrewmeyer.com - is an essay entitled: A disorganized diatribe
involving the desensitization of the American people and the irresponsibility of
the American press. Did Meyer have a premonition that his
“sensitization” would bring him to the attention of the
police?
Meyer’s essay is about
America’s desensitization to the massive body count in Iraq. A point well
taken when considering the poor turnout of national and local protests over the
illegal invasion and occupation. On Oct. 27, barely 2,000 people turned out for
what was billed as a major anti-war march and rally in downtown L.A.
Even in Venice, where opposition to
the war is nearly unanimous it is hard to get more than a handful of Venetians
to turn out to protest. When pressed, people may say that “it
doesn’t do any good to protest,” or “I’m too busy doing
_____” (fill in the blank). But both of these and other rationalizations
are more evidence of mass
desensitization.
Protesting the war is
not the only time we have the opportunity to have a full human existence. Have
you ever seen an act of violence - or even an act of harassment - and done
nothing? Sure, speaking up can be dangerous, as Andrew Meyer found out. But
isn’t the alternative - doing nothing - even more dangerous, both
personally and socially, in the long run? What would you have done if you had
been in that Florida audience when Meyer was attacked? What would you do
tomorrow if you saw a defenseless person being attacked? Would you have helped
the bus driver who was confronted by a thug? Your response might well determine
what kind of person you really are down deep - under the dark glasses and
designer clothes.
How have we all
become so desensitized? It might make an interesting seminar at the University
of Florida, or the University of Venice. The answer is no doubt important. Is it
mindless TV viewing, video games, spectator sports, sensory overload,
work-related stress, some additive in our food, or in the air? This list is
endless.
Whatever the reason, the mass
desensitization of the population is arguably more dangerous to the future of
the country than a passel of Bushes. Any tyrant can be opposed, and ultimately
brought down, by an aroused citizenry. But if the body public is infected with a
generalized anesthesia, then we are, indeed, in trouble.
Posted: Thu - November 1, 2007 at 01:58 PM