Lakers win, thugs embarrass us

I was enthralled that the Lakers won last night, especially considering the effort required to come from behind after Boston dominated the first half. (I've been paying close attention to the Lakers since the late 1960s, when they had West and Baylor and that gritty little Bruin Gail Goodrich and could beat anybody but Boston, so I'm not a Willy-come-lately.) I was less than thrilled, however, that a few thugs and drunks thought it would be cool to run riot, burn a taxi, make some efforts at looting and generally embarrass all of Southern California. Such idiots provide justification for a heavy police presence and feed the impression that without the police out in full riot-gear force, chaos and disorder are ever-present dangers. A moment's thought would confirm that the government creates much more chaos and disorder than it prevents; indeed, the announcement that the police would be out in force, as well as the media coverage, may have fed the appetite of the idiots.