Only Liberals Riot?

I've been seeing a lot of memes, comments, tweets and posts about how only liberals riot, that conservatives are all so gosh darn good - and employed - that they never do.

I checked this out, and yes, it is true that conservatives do not protest the same way the Left does.  And to give credit where credit is due, a lot of it is because of upbringing, that is, conservatives tend to have been raised in more faith-based conservative homes.

However, there are four things to note on this.

1.  There were a lot of  conservative individual or small group protests in the wake of President Obama's winning the election.  Both times.  Beatings of minorities, church burnings, hanging Obama in effigy, etc.  So a crucial difference about protests is not in "who" but in "how".

2.  Conservatives tend to be in power positions up and down the police and military hierarchy, so their angry responses are usually in the form of putting down those they dislike with truncheons, gas and dogs.  A liberal man might throw a rock.  A conservative policeman - or a "conservative establishment's policeman" - can smash his face with a water cannon.

3.  Typically a people have to be in poverty in order to take to the streets and risk arrest.  In this nation, the "poor" are typically the young and the minorities.  At least more of them are poor percentage wise.  Better off citizens, with more to lose, are apt to take a quieter route - like the individual violence in point one - or to use the system to vent their rage - like mentioned in point two.

If you doubt this, note that it is NOT really "liberals" rioting.  It is "poor liberals" and "young liberals". Good luck seeing Rosie or Meryl throwing bricks or setting fires.

Probably a liberal.  Probably not Michael Moore.

4.  Conservative protesters get treated substantially more "gently" than liberal protesters.  Be it Montana Freemen or the Oregon protesters, law enforcement will generally "wait them out" and endlessly negotiate.

As opposed to if liberals or minorities had took over federal property.  There is no one reading this that thinks the FBI, ATF or US Marshalls would have waited 40 plus days for a group of armed Black Panthers to give up.

That's all.  Just my thoughts on it.

Rule of Law?

Dear Elizabeth "Fauxcohontas" Warren,

I hear you are drafting a bill that would call for the enforcing of the law against emoluments described in the Constitution.  At which time then you may, months later, be able to ask that such be enforced.  Which would then let you offer encouragement to your fellow lawmakers to impeach the President who has now been violating the Constitution since he took the oath.

I'm about to go and rob a bank.  When I'm done, please tell the police to hold off on arresting me, and the DA to hold off on calling a Grand Jury until you can introduce a bill into Congress calling for the enforcement of that law against bank robbery.

After that law goes through all the various committees, and eventually gets passed, then use that as a tool to then offer encouragement to local courts and police to consider the possibility of bringing some action upon me.

Of course, the President would probably sign that law, so there'd be a great chance that I'd be brought to justice eventually, if only very slowly.

And of course, there is no chance that the Republican Congress will let your bill out of committee any time soon, or at all, or that the very President the bill is against will sign it into law, so there is absolutely no chance of him getting justice, fast or slow.

"Ow! Trump kicks hard!"

So as it will stand, my crime will be acted upon at once, without the police or courts waiting upon your futile efforts, and the President will NEVER have his crime acted upon because instead of calling for impeachment now - as you are supposed to - you'll just grandstand so that your liberal constituency can feel that you're doing something.

And you and your buddies on the Left and the Right wonder why the masses have no more respect for "the process".

Dean "Amicable Anarchist" West

Celebrate the Process?

Are we truly being told that we should at least celebrate "the peaceful transition of power"?

Really?

Because all that means is that there is no violence on the stage, and that's a darn low bar for us to then be celebrating,

Most every transfer of power is peaceful.  The picture displayed is Hitler receiving power from President von Hindenburg.  Looks pretty peaceful to me.

"I promise to make Germany great again!"
(Yes, that's actually what he promised.)

Does this mean I say Donald is Adolf?  Oh, not at all.  For one, I think Adolf was more sincere.  For two, Adolf wasn't a misogynistic adulterer.  For three, Adolf made it on his own, without money from his dad.  For four, Adolf actually served in the military.

Of course, Adolf did fail at many ventures before unexpectedly snagging a position no one thought he could attain, so there's at least that commonality.

But no, my point is only to show that citing a celebration of a "peaceful transition of power" is naive at best.  There is nothing to celebrate, per se, in a transfer of power, UNLESS it is going from what one believes is worse hands into better hands.

In other words, it can only be a celebration of the man involved, the process - be it in Germany, the United States, Great Britain, France or Sri Lanka - can only be a neutral process, and wholly unworthy of celebration.

If now you then wish to celebrate having a man with the morals of an alley cat (sorry, alley cats) and brains so lacking that if they were dynamite he could not blow his nose, then you have at it.

That's freedom.  He states he wishes to ditch our treaty obligations, build a Berlin Wall to keep us in - er, keep others out - and to round up those who think and look different than him, but hey, he has panache and he's not Hillary, so there's that, huh?

But don't go on about "celebrating the process".  You will note - or perhaps you'll avoid noting - that 8 years ago, no one was speaking of celebrating "the process".

No, for better or worse, they were openly and honestly celebrating the man.  Which is all that a presence there ever means.  Which is all that celebrating it can ever mean.

And all it can ever mean.

(However, that said, those elected officials making a big show of sitting it out can get over themselves.  Donald is the result of the same system that put them in power, so they need to go welcome their mental and spiritual brother.  Because from where I'm sitting, their own swearing in ceremonies were no cause of celebration either.)

Race and Justice

I marvel at the difference race makes.

Four white officers beat down an unarmed black guy and my feed blows up with various conservative and pro-LEO memes, comments and posts like:

"We should not rush to judgment!"

"That criminal probably had a history of this, that and the other!"

"Let's wait till they investigate themselves!"

"The important thing is that the black clad, armored, militarized warriorcops got home safely."

"Because we're so delicate."

And if pressed into the corner, when the guilt is proved five thousand times beyond all reasonable doubt...

"Well, this is just a few bad apples, and I still don't see how you think race had anything to do with it."

But lately four African Americans have beat down a white person. And those African Americans were not wearing badges, so have no immunity from brutality.

And my feed blows up from the same people who so love to leap to the defense of any cop who kills any kid.

"This is clearly a hate crime!" (Probably, but this is said in the first minutes of the observing of the crime.)

"It doesn't matter what that poor guy did, nothing excuses this!" (True, nothing ever does excuse brutality - not even a badge.)

"They should be executed now!" (Before any investigation, let alone trial, let alone guilty verdict.)

Any stuff about those four getting home safely or how they are just some few bad apples, well, you know I heard nothing about that. The implication being, "See? This is how 'they' are, thank heavens for the police that protect us from these savages!"

What a service then those four have done for law enforcement. Law enforcement as it is in America, not law enforcement as many wish to make out that it is.

The truth?

Yeah, those four are as clearly guilty (by that video) as any cop beating up an unarmed black teen (by those videos). And they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, as opposed to the paid vacation most cops get for similar crimes. And no, I do not think the investigation should be left to them, any more than I find it appropriate for cops to investigate themselves.

(In an aside, none of us are asking or wondering if the DA will choose to take this to a Grand Jury, are we? Of course not. Grand Jury indictments are automatic for citizens without badges.)

And I could care less about how badly either these people or cops desire to get home.

And since none of the conservative sites care to mention it, yes, these four African Americans actually are a "few bad apples" and should not be used so gleefully, or have their crime trumpeted so joyously, in a pathetically transparent attempt to tarnish an entire race.

Oh, not that any who have posted all these memes and links of outrage would ever claim that this is how African Americans are! That they give the clear implication that such "types" need to be responded to with overwhelming police force is sufficient for them.

What a service then these four have done for the police. And what a disservice to their own race, and the poor who are similarly treated as rightless animals by cops.

And liberals? You aren't getting a free pass on this. As angry as you are at any cop who beats a minority, be as mad now over these four beating a white.

Or stand revealed as foolishly, bigoted and partisan as any conservative cop lover.

Are cops heroes?

When I first drove a patrol car as a new, young policeman, I guess that in spite of the training and what they try and explain to you at the academy that I was still expecting it to be T.J. Hooker, Adam 12 and CHiPs all rolled into one.

But it's a lot like security work. You have a given number of buildings and property to check on and you drive up to Office A, cruise through, see that there are no broken windows, no flashlights dancing about inside, all chains and locks still on the fences, etc.

You mark it down in your book. Time. Location. All clear.

Move on. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Is that all there is to it?

No, there are traffic violations. Which while yes, can be ruled by "quotas" are also sometimes ruled by reverse quotas. A goofy stickler cop can get a whole sector in an uproar if he's going to camp out waiting to ticket every one who rolls through a stop sign - which is pretty much 98% of the populace.

What you pray for by night three is the two mainstays of a cop's life. Drunk drivers and domestic abusers. Each one alike enough that you can learn what you're to do. Each one different enough that it's kind of fresh each time.

The DUIs are mostly less comedic than you'd think, though of course you do get some funny stories.

The domestics are all sad. Sometimes Jerry Springer-y, more often just tired. "Tired" in the emotional/spiritual sense of the word. True, like they say, there can be danger in these, the wife will often side with her husband for the great reason that after he's arrested, who's going to pay the rent?

But the biggest danger - in spite there being a possibility of a knife or a thrown pot or pan - is to your ears. Cursings. Yellings. Screechings.

Actual danger in any of these situations? Mostly none. Most cops will even admit that the job is 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror.

And some cops - or former cops like me - will admit that the percentage of "sheer terror" is greatly exaggerated. Maybe one in one thousand "incidents" in your average town are going to generate "terror". Probably even less than that.

Given the vast difference between "surprise" and "terror".

You see, cops aren't dumb. The situations that have risks of danger are already well known. This is why it's never one cop responding to a domestic, but several. The "overwhelming force" approach is due to it making it more likely that no one will try anything.

(That and the other cops are dying of boredom and glad to come and stand around and glare at the abusive husband - as if cops are not THE leading profession when it comes to wife-beating.)

Bank robberies? Hostage situations? One finds oneself praying for such things, with no malice, but just more for a natural desire to be able to "prove oneself". It's normal, in youth anyway. Older cops grow out of that. No one truly wants that, it's just the idle thoughts of youths trying to excel, trying to prove their valor.

And that chance rarely comes.

For if those situations or any other truly dangerous situation arises, then the "overwhelming force" brought to play truly is overwhelming. You'll then be one cop out of dozens. Even in tiny towns and rural hamlets, for the truly dangerous situations there'll be a variety of other law enforcement agencies dog piling in to aid.

Watch out, brave warriors! He's "coming at" you!

So no real terror in those cases. One of the reasons why cops are so often mean is simply out of boredom. They wish to make excitement where there is none. Can they goad this dumb drunk into taking a swing? That would sure be more entertaining than most nights where apprehending a drunk just means cleaning vomit out of the back seat.

Can they goad this guy walking down the street into a chance to display their "courage" in putting him down with the aid of four of their fellow cops? Sure more exciting than doing the next check of Randall's Pharmacy on the corner of Boring Avenue and Snoozy Street.

Other times the meanness is due to cowardice. Some cops seem to truly believe that every traffic stop is a possible serial killer with a kid in the trunk. Possible? Sure, like a dino-killing asteroid hitting us before I finish writing this is possible. Probable? No, as the tens of thousands of retired cops who never once had that happen could attest to.

But they'll make the guy pulled over act like a mindlessly obeying boot licking robot under pain of macing or tazing or a beating all the same. And express pained offense if he in any way objects to this demeaning treatment, and then pour it on the more. And be violently over-responsive if the citizen being emotionally ground into the dirt in any way responds with the least hint of aggression. "Aggression" in cop-world being "finger pointing", "glaring", "within ten feet of the cop's personal space" or just "not cringing enough".

Understand that in each case, out of boredom or cowardice or both, every cop has enough animal cunning and plain old self interest to not pull this stuff on the "real" people. You know, the white and upper middle class people. Or the clearly well off minority. And the elderly - mostly - get a pass.

This 90 year old was caught feeding the homeless.
Watch out for the spork,Officer Hero!

They save that kind of "entertainment" for those who can't do anything about it. The poor and the minorities. And nowadays, if you're not upper-middle class, you're "poor". In cop-world.

Policing could be good and honorable work. But it's not the heroic thing most make it out to be. It's not really all that dangerous except when they're deliberately attempting to provoke a reaction - a reaction that they are well trained for and know to expect.

And if they're truly following all established protocol, then even the case of the serial killer with the kid in the trunk will be no danger to the cop who is wearing his vest, observing everything carefully, and who called in ahead of getting out of the vehicle.

In short, it's (possibly) a necessary job, but it's by no stretch a heroic job. It's just a job. It's less dangerous than the guy cutting down trees, or working on a fishing boat or driving a taxi. It's mostly boring. Until they abuse their power to give themselves excitement.

The great acts of "heroism" so trumpeted are no greater or lesser a percent than those who leap to aid others on oil rigs or rush in to save an office worker in a fire.

Cops aren't the heroes or gods they're made out to be. They're the guys who were more on the ball than those working mall security, but not bright enough to make detective. They're just regular working joes working a trade that is remarkable for how great an amount of unearned prestige they get for how little an amount of effort.