Dorner: A Real American Hero? (Nobody Wins)

The plot of the upcoming "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" involves the framed "Joe" members
(like Roadblock, pictured above) who have to clear their name.

"The question is, what would you do to clear your name?"
--Christopher Dorner

I wanted to say a few words about the Christopher Dorner situation.

It's very interesting to me that some of the public is so hungry for a hero that now Dorner -- who has allegedly shot up LAPD and their relations & is now on the run -- has now been adopted as such. By both public and media. He now has several Facebook appreciation pages and many supporters.

Apparently tossing in some good words for certain parties (Anonymous, Charlie Sheen, POTUS, etc.) in his 20-page manifesto gave some people the "OK" sign that this guy was a true and legit "anti-hero" on the run, in the mold of Billy Jack, Rambo, and etc. You know: "Fuck the NRA," but love "The Hangover" and Christoph Waltz. I mean, it's fucking adorable almost, right?

A collage of Chrisopher Dorner pics

This is not to minimize his points regarding racism and corruption in the LAPD -- whistleblowers are indeed treated like crap and discredited, and this particular police force has had a terrible rep for many decades. I truly understand his frustration with such a scenario, such corruption unfortunately being the warp and weft of much of our current society.

But the cult that has now formed around him is of the same basic cloth as cults that have built around "right wing" killers such as Tim McVeigh, WTF shooters such as Columbine and James Holmes, and etc. "Folk Heroes"? "Real American Heroes"?

To put it in terms of the popular parlance: is Dorner Bane or Batman?

Doesn't matter, because in the end we all still lose.

Dorner's "Manifesto" is indeed a compelling read, but also quite contradictory. He talks at length about how we should have gun control, but also uses this "Patriot" verbage and quotage that is classic "Tea Party"/Alex Jones:

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"

Dorner says he is not using this against the U.S. Government, but his talk of righteous vengeance against "dirtbags" (and their families) mirrors a similar viewpoint that members of the extreme "right" fringe express. How is this different than McVeigh bombing a government building, killing not just govt. workers but their children?

"Superhero": Rambo

But regardless of being on the Left or the Right, everybody wants a superhero -- they want a figure to believe in.

And so this isn't a post saying people who support Chris Dorner are idiots. I understand the primal mechanism to find figures to venerate, who represent one's own frustrations & do the things that one can never do.

It's just that Right or Left, we're fighting against each other -- flinging names across the barrier -- and not really looking at the important issues. We want drama and superheroes and saviors too much. And in an oft-dreary world, maybe this constant turnover of such figures -- whether they are made-up or real or "real" or who the fuck knows -- is needed as a catharsis, a palate cleanser, a release valve, a shot of Prozac, something.

Monica Quan, allegedly shot to death by Christopher Dorner

Lost in the media and social media clutter is the fact that a 28-year-old woman has been murdered -- who, according to said Dorner manifesto, "deserved" to die:

" I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I’m terminating yours."

Praise for Dorner

And so the "Dorner Manifesto" accomplishes two seemingly disparate goals:

1) Discredit OWS/Anonymous movements by goading them into backing a person who, under scrutiny, really shouldn't be backed or emulated.

2) Discredit NRA/"gun nuts" by making a strong argument for tight gun control laws -- not just by example of violence but actually making a premeditated, long, specific argument in the manifesto itself for said laws.

That's strange and contradictory to me, but that's the nature of Dorner's manifesto. In the end, it's playing both sides against each other. Surely a smart guy like Alex Jones can figure that one out.

Really, if you were writing a movie -- or purposely manipulating the public -- you could not do better than this story of a "modern day Rambo". It is media GOLD.

Dorner sends what is essentially a "PR Package" to Anderson Cooper

Of course, Dorner himself is just being used -- whether as a devil to the Right, or a "hero" to the Left. Being used to sell papers and running up web hits. Used by Charlie Sheen to sell his own fucking movie, a movie that just happens to come out at the same time he makes a public appeal to Dorner to contact him and "talk it out."

And, just as in the James Holmes case and so many others, Dorner's "rise to fame" will doubtless be an example for other unstable people.

Dorner is just another "celebrity" in this TMZ promo montage

And maybe that explains so many references to movie stars and other celebrities in Dorner's manifesto. In the end, not only does the public (feeling helpless and nondescript) "need" a hero -- but individual persons (feeling helpless and nondescript) need to feel popular. Need to feel heard -- but more than heard, need to feel like they are themselves celebrities.

Speaking of which, another sullen "Joker" has turned up causing trouble, this time at Applebees. Hasn't anyone told him of the "New Hotness?" Is this literal clown joining Beyonce with being "behind the curve" on the new zeitgeist?

"Old Hotness":  Jokers

For shame.

Lastly, here's a video from Stench of Truth talking about how the public gets distracted by shit like this and then turns on each other:

"It’s kind of sad I won’t be around to view and enjoy The Hangover III. What an awesome trilogy."
--Christopher Dorner