Has a Corner Been Turned?, or the Inevitable Begins to Happen.
For years, there has been a debate in America about what would happen if tyrannical minded politicians were able to grab the reigns of power and use the police/law enforcement as a domestic military force.
Now, outside of local natural disasters, we have an idea playing out on a national scale.
Our prediction has long been that as the social construct begins to fall apart, the police would end up in the cross hairs even more than the politicians who dictate what the police focus on, as wrong as that is. That's not a threat, promise, or any vindictive motivation, it's a forecast, a prediction, a reading of the metaphorical chicken bones and tea leaves.
We've received much negative criticism for this over the years as if we have prognosticated such action when that is the opposite of what we want. It's a prediction followed by a solution... police yourself.
Sadly, with each natural disaster (think Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans), the police become more bold in executing draconian action. Some who pin on the badge want to minimize the militarization of the police as documented by Balko. Sadly, while I hold the same wishes as them, I don't hold the same conclusion, that it's not an issue and that no action is require3d. Neither of us want it to happen, but it has happened all the same.
The latest round of disaster - COVID-19 - has shown cops willing to lead mothers pushing their kids on swing sets and loners paddle boarding in the Pacific off in hand cuffs. The officers who would not do those things are sadly excusing such action. There's a problem - the public is not that nuanced. The pubic will paint everyone with a badge with the same brush. You may not wish it to be that way, but it's the way these things work.
If the Good Cops don't police themselves and control those who see their badge as a symbol of social superiority, society will be fed up with ALL police.
Let me be perfectly clear: there are many good cops out there. But, as with any profession, if they allow abhorrent behavior within their own ranks, all will be seen as being under the same umbrella. The huge problem here is that unlike other professions, the government sanctions what this particular group of men and women choose to do by giving them a badge, gun, and the presumption of innocence. That last isn't written into the law anywhere, but those who follow such things are painfully aware of it's unspoken existence..
The crust of civility is beginning to crumble. Recently, a mother in Idaho was led away in cuffs because she dared push her kids on a publicly funded swing set in a local park. The result? People protested, not only at city hall but AT THE COPS OWN HOME. Yes, blame is being put where it belongs, at the individual level by the public, though the left wing press is playing every card they have, including that the woman arrested was an "anti-vaxxer". Oooh, scary when your vaccines only work when everyone has them. Uh huh.
The significance of this protest at an individual's house cannot be underplayed. Officers should be protected from misconduct and frivolous law suits which are the result of sour grapes as well as being protected because they represent the government as a whole and most often such lawsuits are about the general government, but when very obvious Constitutional lines are crossed, the Public has deemed that individuals are responsible when human rights are at stake.
If I were a cop, this would chill me to the bone. But, note, this would not have happened if the police actually patrolled their own ranks in years past and people saw restraint and justice coming out of police and sheriff's departments. Instead they've seen a wave of hardened criminals going unmolested and easy marks such as speeders getting jacked up.
Just today I saw an Instagram post buy the US Marshals' Service about a special task force put together to go after career violent offenders. Thoughts of the decades old LAPD SIS came to mind. But, no, this was only a two week gig which resulted in less than $12K in drug taken off the street (less than $12K in two weeks over how many man hours? Pathetic). How many man hours went into such a farce? If it's worth doing, it's worth studying departments like NYPD, LAPD, and HPD (Houston) for felony task forces which had or have great records of taking the worst of the worst off the street.
It reminds me of a sting the FBI put into place in New Orleans. Over the course of six months they managed to nab two prostitutes. That's it. The reason for the operation wasn't even prostitution and yet all they could find in New Orleans were two prostitutes. An outside observer noted that if you can only find two prostitutes in New Orleans you must be deaf, dumb, and blind.
Is this what the pinnacle of US "law enforcement" is?
Recognizing the collective incompetence of American policing at all levels (despite some very dedicated individuals, no doubt, but the machine as a whole is broken) is a very scary first, but needed, step in protesting the totalitarian movement in America. Idaho is one of the freest states out there, it's also one of the first who will not tolerate such behavior from fellow citizens who swore to protect, not terrorize, the community.
All of those tensions which existed before COVID-19 have been put on a shelf while we wait out the contagion. But, they are still there, to be taken down one at a time and mulled over by the public at large as to what the response will be, now nuanced by what they have been told needed to be done during the pandemic.
Protesting in front of an individual cop's house may seem "unfair," but we must remember that, "I was just following orders", are five of the most chilling words known to man. Some protection doesn't mean absolute protection.
There was no violence this time, thank God... and I'm sure the cop whose house was protested was armed to the teeth as cops and intelligent civilians are want to be, and so where the cops who responded to "protect" their brother's house. Where were such responders when Tucker Carlson needed them???
Selective response is a natural human instinct. It's also one which will breed contempt and distrust.
If people had been protesting a person who flipped off a Hell's Angles member, would the police show up in force to protect the impulsive home owner? No, and why not? Because the protested isn't a cop and the rest of the cops don't want to clash with a potentially violent force such as a biker gang. That's a lot of assumptions, and yet, it's been played out in reality.
Today, a line was crossed. An individual officer was held accountable by the public for the action he took. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn would have understood.
This on the heels of the WHO wanting to enter private homes and remove individual family members... a significant portion of the public is girding themselves for violence from all quarters. Now, I know that there are those who (no pun intended) are backpedaling for The Who saying, "they didn't really mean it." Sorry, Sister, when a powerful organization says it wants to rip my family apart, I have no choice but to take them at their word. I would be foolish and irresponsible if I didn't.
Thousands of convicted criminals including child murderers and sexual predators have been released from jail in the name of saving them from COVID-19 (wonder where that appears in the penal code?), and then we have police leading mothers away from children, while an amorphous global power threatens to enter our homes and tear families apart. Is it any wonder that March 2020 saw the largest single March of federal background checks to ever purchase firearms, by a landslide? And, that doesn't include private purchases and those with firearms permits who don't need to undergo a background check.
America is arming up despite Bloomberg's single handed funding of the anti-gun movement. Deep down, America is a gloriously rebellious society who will eventually throw off the yoke of federal oversight. It won't be pretty, but the tree of liberty will be watered sooner or later.
Who is America arming itself against, you may ask? MS13 has been a threat for years. Burglary and home invasions are nothing new, though one could legitimately expect a rise in them during times of monetary turbulence and supply drought. But, that's not the concern. The biggest motivator is that of the Federal Government overreaching their bounds. If it weren't so, we wouldn't have seen runs on guns before the Trump/Clinton vote. Many people say Obama was the best gun salesman ever as people reacted to each speech by going out and buying guns while they could.
Gun control activism in this country is universally funded by one man, Michael Bloomberg. The pro Second Amendment (2A) activism is led by grass roots organizations, of which the NRA is only the most famous and not nearly as powerful as it's opponents like to pretend.
Bottom line, we are turning a corner in this country, and it's not a pleasant or good one. The loud mouth fascists who claim the cops are evil are seeing their ignorant rhetoric come home to roost and expand with every pet dog shot and every warrant served on the wrong address.
Combine that with frivolous enforcement of laws which break fundamental rights, and it just stirs up the public. The Bundy Ranch standoff was a watershed moment. The picketing of the house of an Idaho cop for basically being a jerk is another, interestingly enough attended by a Bundy.
Sooner or later, it's not going to be only the innocent civilians who catch bullets, and there have been plenty, both historically and recently. I don't want that. I don't advocate for that. But, I see it on the horizon. And, it's not going to be selective. Those who won't violate the Constitution are not going to be separated out from those who would. A badge will be a badge. The time to weed out traitors from the law enforcement midst is quickly coming to a close. Anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see will understand what is coming.
Sadly, the middle ground is dissolving. I say sadly because that is where sane resolution lies. The battle fronts are forming whether we know it or not. The more stressors on the situation, the more accelerated the process.
Our heroes and villains are being made to look alike and are being mixed together. If only the heroes would renounce the devils, publicly and by name, and there might be a chance for less bloodshed.
It's a republic, if we can keep it.
Now, outside of local natural disasters, we have an idea playing out on a national scale.
Our prediction has long been that as the social construct begins to fall apart, the police would end up in the cross hairs even more than the politicians who dictate what the police focus on, as wrong as that is. That's not a threat, promise, or any vindictive motivation, it's a forecast, a prediction, a reading of the metaphorical chicken bones and tea leaves.
We've received much negative criticism for this over the years as if we have prognosticated such action when that is the opposite of what we want. It's a prediction followed by a solution... police yourself.
Sadly, with each natural disaster (think Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans), the police become more bold in executing draconian action. Some who pin on the badge want to minimize the militarization of the police as documented by Balko. Sadly, while I hold the same wishes as them, I don't hold the same conclusion, that it's not an issue and that no action is require3d. Neither of us want it to happen, but it has happened all the same.
The latest round of disaster - COVID-19 - has shown cops willing to lead mothers pushing their kids on swing sets and loners paddle boarding in the Pacific off in hand cuffs. The officers who would not do those things are sadly excusing such action. There's a problem - the public is not that nuanced. The pubic will paint everyone with a badge with the same brush. You may not wish it to be that way, but it's the way these things work.
If the Good Cops don't police themselves and control those who see their badge as a symbol of social superiority, society will be fed up with ALL police.
Let me be perfectly clear: there are many good cops out there. But, as with any profession, if they allow abhorrent behavior within their own ranks, all will be seen as being under the same umbrella. The huge problem here is that unlike other professions, the government sanctions what this particular group of men and women choose to do by giving them a badge, gun, and the presumption of innocence. That last isn't written into the law anywhere, but those who follow such things are painfully aware of it's unspoken existence..
The crust of civility is beginning to crumble. Recently, a mother in Idaho was led away in cuffs because she dared push her kids on a publicly funded swing set in a local park. The result? People protested, not only at city hall but AT THE COPS OWN HOME. Yes, blame is being put where it belongs, at the individual level by the public, though the left wing press is playing every card they have, including that the woman arrested was an "anti-vaxxer". Oooh, scary when your vaccines only work when everyone has them. Uh huh.
The significance of this protest at an individual's house cannot be underplayed. Officers should be protected from misconduct and frivolous law suits which are the result of sour grapes as well as being protected because they represent the government as a whole and most often such lawsuits are about the general government, but when very obvious Constitutional lines are crossed, the Public has deemed that individuals are responsible when human rights are at stake.
If I were a cop, this would chill me to the bone. But, note, this would not have happened if the police actually patrolled their own ranks in years past and people saw restraint and justice coming out of police and sheriff's departments. Instead they've seen a wave of hardened criminals going unmolested and easy marks such as speeders getting jacked up.
Just today I saw an Instagram post buy the US Marshals' Service about a special task force put together to go after career violent offenders. Thoughts of the decades old LAPD SIS came to mind. But, no, this was only a two week gig which resulted in less than $12K in drug taken off the street (less than $12K in two weeks over how many man hours? Pathetic). How many man hours went into such a farce? If it's worth doing, it's worth studying departments like NYPD, LAPD, and HPD (Houston) for felony task forces which had or have great records of taking the worst of the worst off the street.
It reminds me of a sting the FBI put into place in New Orleans. Over the course of six months they managed to nab two prostitutes. That's it. The reason for the operation wasn't even prostitution and yet all they could find in New Orleans were two prostitutes. An outside observer noted that if you can only find two prostitutes in New Orleans you must be deaf, dumb, and blind.
Is this what the pinnacle of US "law enforcement" is?
Recognizing the collective incompetence of American policing at all levels (despite some very dedicated individuals, no doubt, but the machine as a whole is broken) is a very scary first, but needed, step in protesting the totalitarian movement in America. Idaho is one of the freest states out there, it's also one of the first who will not tolerate such behavior from fellow citizens who swore to protect, not terrorize, the community.
All of those tensions which existed before COVID-19 have been put on a shelf while we wait out the contagion. But, they are still there, to be taken down one at a time and mulled over by the public at large as to what the response will be, now nuanced by what they have been told needed to be done during the pandemic.
Protesting in front of an individual cop's house may seem "unfair," but we must remember that, "I was just following orders", are five of the most chilling words known to man. Some protection doesn't mean absolute protection.
There was no violence this time, thank God... and I'm sure the cop whose house was protested was armed to the teeth as cops and intelligent civilians are want to be, and so where the cops who responded to "protect" their brother's house. Where were such responders when Tucker Carlson needed them???
Selective response is a natural human instinct. It's also one which will breed contempt and distrust.
If people had been protesting a person who flipped off a Hell's Angles member, would the police show up in force to protect the impulsive home owner? No, and why not? Because the protested isn't a cop and the rest of the cops don't want to clash with a potentially violent force such as a biker gang. That's a lot of assumptions, and yet, it's been played out in reality.
Today, a line was crossed. An individual officer was held accountable by the public for the action he took. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn would have understood.
This on the heels of the WHO wanting to enter private homes and remove individual family members... a significant portion of the public is girding themselves for violence from all quarters. Now, I know that there are those who (no pun intended) are backpedaling for The Who saying, "they didn't really mean it." Sorry, Sister, when a powerful organization says it wants to rip my family apart, I have no choice but to take them at their word. I would be foolish and irresponsible if I didn't.
Thousands of convicted criminals including child murderers and sexual predators have been released from jail in the name of saving them from COVID-19 (wonder where that appears in the penal code?), and then we have police leading mothers away from children, while an amorphous global power threatens to enter our homes and tear families apart. Is it any wonder that March 2020 saw the largest single March of federal background checks to ever purchase firearms, by a landslide? And, that doesn't include private purchases and those with firearms permits who don't need to undergo a background check.
America is arming up despite Bloomberg's single handed funding of the anti-gun movement. Deep down, America is a gloriously rebellious society who will eventually throw off the yoke of federal oversight. It won't be pretty, but the tree of liberty will be watered sooner or later.
Gun control activism in this country is universally funded by one man, Michael Bloomberg. The pro Second Amendment (2A) activism is led by grass roots organizations, of which the NRA is only the most famous and not nearly as powerful as it's opponents like to pretend.
Bottom line, we are turning a corner in this country, and it's not a pleasant or good one. The loud mouth fascists who claim the cops are evil are seeing their ignorant rhetoric come home to roost and expand with every pet dog shot and every warrant served on the wrong address.
Combine that with frivolous enforcement of laws which break fundamental rights, and it just stirs up the public. The Bundy Ranch standoff was a watershed moment. The picketing of the house of an Idaho cop for basically being a jerk is another, interestingly enough attended by a Bundy.
Sooner or later, it's not going to be only the innocent civilians who catch bullets, and there have been plenty, both historically and recently. I don't want that. I don't advocate for that. But, I see it on the horizon. And, it's not going to be selective. Those who won't violate the Constitution are not going to be separated out from those who would. A badge will be a badge. The time to weed out traitors from the law enforcement midst is quickly coming to a close. Anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see will understand what is coming.
Sadly, the middle ground is dissolving. I say sadly because that is where sane resolution lies. The battle fronts are forming whether we know it or not. The more stressors on the situation, the more accelerated the process.
Our heroes and villains are being made to look alike and are being mixed together. If only the heroes would renounce the devils, publicly and by name, and there might be a chance for less bloodshed.
It's a republic, if we can keep it.
