Contradictions. "They have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing."
"Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yossarian shouted at her in bewildered, furious protest. "How did you know it was Catch-22? Who the hell told you it was Catch-22?"
"The soldiers with the hard white hats and clubs. The girls were crying. 'Did we do anything wrong?' they said. The men said no and pushed them away out the door with the ends of their clubs. 'Then why are you chasing us out?' the girls said. 'Catch 22,' the men said. All they kept saying was 'Catch-22, Catch-22. What does it mean, Catch 22? What is Catch-22?"
"Didn't they show it to you?" Yossarian demanded, stamping about in anger and distress. "Didn't you even make them read it?"
"They don't have to show us Catch-22," the old woman answered. "The law says they don't have to."
"What law says they don't have to?"
"Catch-22".
-- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
No one likes a hypocrite – which helps to explain why thinking people increasingly tend to dislike cops. They routinely ignore or violate the laws they spend their days forcing us to obey. Everyone, for example, has seen cops insolently ignoring the posted speed limit. Frequently, while not wearing their “safety” belt. Insolently, because they are well-aware that they can do both with impunity, since we have no legal power to pull them over.
7 comments:
I'm not going to defend the heavy handed tactics cops use. After all, I still recall vividly ole Buford T Pusser, a big beer bellied local LEO in Virginia pulling his revolver when I went into the glove box for the registration after he pulled me over for the egregious offense of drive 61 MPH on 'his' 55 MPH interstate. Still really pisses me off when I think about it! That cop was belligerent and argumentative for no reason. And then there was the GA state cop, who along with his local sheriff buddy tried to strong arm me to pay a fine in cash....That too pisses me off when I think about it.
Anyway, that said, it is without debate that cops deal with the scum of humanity (minus traffic cops I would say) as a rule and that would tend to put them on edge and to expect the worst when confronting someone. It's not an easy fix and I don't know how they can train for it.
I've asked before and I'll ask again: What qualifies as a reason to go on the offensive?
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Every day cops of every stripe beat and kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent (as well as guilty) U.S. inhabitants for little or no reason, and get away with it.
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Every day a story is published about some police department or other receiving an MRAP and other military hardware. Every day I see articles and opinion pieces about the militarization of the police forces.
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The moral high ground is a good idea, except when you're killed trying to maintain it. Then it just becomes a grave with a nice view.
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Who has to die, or how many, before we are justified?
It's not yet time to take up arms against the policing force of this country. First, the courts must face a sea of rights abuse cases - the BEST outcome of which is forcing the legislatures and judiciary to STRIP this "qualified immunity" garbage once and for all.
That's the thing that has cops feeling entitled to get away with well murder. That's meant literally AND figuratively. When THEY KNOW they are indeed on the hook PERSONALLY for their actions, this title of nobility action will come to an end and we will never have to fire a shot at "them" in malice.
Get cameras and voice recorders on every cop - that record EVERY SECOND that they are on the clock. Strip qualified immunity entirely. And most importantly, incorporate the right to trial by jury in ALL courts- along with the RIGHT to representation within them ALL.
That solution will upend the lawlessness going on too to bottom. Now, getting politicians, who were mostly lawyers, to bite the lawyering profession is indeed a monumental task.
Ever wonder why "lawyer" sounds so much like LIAR??
I wish I could believe that video recording of police would make a difference. The problem is that police already get caught on camera committing felonious assault and even murder, yet they are rarely held accountable. On the few occasions when the "Just Us" system throws a criminal cop under the bus for the sake of PR, he is punished as mildly as possible. Thus, I fear that having police wear cameras everywhere will do amount to little but another blow to citizen privacy.
We are in DEEP crap. Tyranny isn't something that might happen in the future. It's here NOW. And it's only going to get worse.
The Bill of Rights is in the toilet. There is one law for those in government and another law for the rest of us. From James Clapper's blatant perjury before Congress to widespread police thuggery that goes unpunished, it's abundantly clear that "some animals are more equal than others."
Is there a political solution? Possibly, but I'm not sure what it is. The mainstream media simply reads from a script written by government propagandists. Candidates in all major elections are carefully screened for loyalty to the status quo; the few exceptions (such as Ron Paul) are either ridiculed or demonized in the state media for speaking the truth.
Much of the fault for this debacle rests with the American people -- the military in particular, who took a solemn oath to defend the Constitution but have chosen the much safer and easier path of obeying orders and fighting against poorly-armed third world enemies. In fact, rather than protect the Bill of Rights, the standing army poses the greatest danger to those rights. The only difference today between the military and the police lies in their respective areas of operation. One group enforces the will of the ruling class at home, while the other does the same abroad (and at home, if called upon).
The other problem lies in the creeping obsolescence of the arms available to civilians. If I had to go into combat against modern forces today, I'd feel under-armed with anything less than a .308 with AP rounds. Thanks to America's endless wars, it has become very profitable for "defense" manufacturers to come up with new weapons, personal armor, and equipment for use by soldiers and police against guerrillas. Thanks to the "War on Terror," if civilians (in any country) ever need to rise up and take back their freedom, it will be MUCH harder than it was 15 years ago. In another 15 years or even less, it might be impossible.
When it comes to law and crime the general rule is this: nothing is illegal unless you are successfully prosecuted. That principle applies to you and me equally as to the cops. Since cops know they will never be charged for most of the things they do to abuse their office, the small-souled ones take advantage of their position in small - and often not so small - ways. They have power. Power (inevitably?) corrupts. So far as I can tell, no one is incorruptible. Having the power to kill with little-to-no personal cost is a very great power. It should come as no surprise that those wielding such power are corrupted by it. I see no reason to believe that those in power have any desire to rein in their bully boys. Until and unless some of us "take the law into our own hands" (as the progs are so fond of saying) and meet out to the members of the world's largest criminal street gang the reward they truly have earned, Kurt Hofmann's maxim will continue to prevail.
T Paine, I think you are conflating the corrupt film character, Buford T Justice, with the very real hero lawman, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser. You need to do a tad bit of research before besmirching the name of a true American hero. Then you can publicly apologize for your calumny. Rent the videos of the 3 "Walking Tall" films (or at least the first one) and see what you think of Buford Pusser.
It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me so much; it's that cops think they can stick their noses in everybody's business. Even so-called "good cops" do that.
I saw video of a "wood carver" shot to death by a Portland Oregon police officer.
You can actually see the man's wounds on the video, shot in the right side and reportedly also the back, the officer many feet away, covering the body until back up arrived. The man/suspect was also deaf in one ear. Apparently he didn't get rid of the knife quick enough to suit the officer and the officer proceeded to shoot him multiple times 4 maybe five shots.
The officer was found to have been incorrect in his assessment of the situation and his subsequent actions to the extent that he is no longer a police officer, anywhere.
The officer was not prosecuted for ANY CRIME that an ordinary person would have been.
Why?
Because "they" need officers to continue to kill people without consequences or reservations in order to ensure their allegiance and to keep themselves in power in their little fiefdoms.
This is explained in the media as "protecting the safety of citizens."
This is very much a society that is becoming a police state and there are no consequences for that state or any of it's members as long as they go along or the politically powerful, don't need to throw them under the bus because their asses are on the line.
This is what happens when you can ignore your constitution and bill of rights because all the judges and bureaucrats are in your pocket.
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