Two-Wheeled Trutherism (& a Doggie Update)

If you read my motorcycle posts you know I’m a biker truther. That’s what they’re calling members of the motorcycling community who are beginning to question police and media accounts of what happened in Waco, Texas last Sunday, when nine bikers were killed by gunfire and another eighteen injured during an alleged shootout between rival gang members.

Word is bubbling up through the biker community that the shootout was more one-sided than initially portrayed by law enforcement and the media; that all nine of the dead bikers and most of those injured by gunfire were shot by the police. The non-motorcycling media … CBS, MSNBC, newspapers, etc … are so far merely parroting what the authorities are telling them, which isn’t much (although, to be fair, the police have now admitted that some of the dead bikers may have been shot by law enforcement officers).

Yes, MC gang members are violent. Rival gang members fight with and occasionally kill one another. Big MC gangs are heavily involved in organized crime, and as far as I know minor-league feeder gangs are criminal enterprises too. I steer well clear of those guys: I don’t want them in my town any more than the good citizens of Waco or Hollister want them in theirs; I hate it that their bad reputation sticks to me and the motorcycling community at large.

I know, too, that what happened in Waco last Sunday is nothing compared to the injustice of continual police killings of unarmed black men and boys all across the nation. No one cares much about the bikers in Waco, who really are a pack of violent assholes: there’s no denying they went at each other with knives, brass knuckles, chains, and guns in a busy restaurant full of innocent customers.

For good or ill, though, I identify with my tribe. Knowing how the police view MC gangs and gang members, I’m inclined to believe the rumors I’m hearing from Waco; I likewise believe the bikers in New York City who say the SUV driver they beat up in November 2013 started the fight by swerving into their lane, colliding with one biker and causing him to crash, then speeding away. When bikers tell me about the outrageous things cagers do to them, I believe them. When bikers tell me police in Waco are cracking down by imposing martial law on motorcyclists, even forcing the local Harley-Davidson dealership to keep its doors closed, I believe them.

I’m a biker truther. And I wish the media would do their job and start asking questions.

I know everyone wants a Schatzi update, so here she is, our little football:

I’m taking her in later this morning to have her stitches removed. How’s she doing? She’s her old self again, although still a bit wobbly on her back legs. I’ll ask the vet about that, praying the answer will be “This is normal, it takes them awhile to fully recover.”

Meanwhile, we’ve set up a ramp to the couch and I’m trying to train the girls to use it all the time. They like using the ramp to get on the couch, but if someone comes to the door they forget it’s there and try to jump to the floor. Schatzi jumped down from the couch last night before I could restrain her, and I nearly had a heart attack. Worse than toddlers, these dogs … you have to watch them every second!

I’ll keep you all posted on Schatzi’s progress.