I guess the day has come.
When I was growing up, I could almost always count on a man (or woman, rare as they were) in a police officer's uniform to be one of good guys. As long as I wasn't doing anything wrong, I had nothing to fear from them.
That is simply not the case today, although I have zero fear of cops.
I used to be one. I know how utterly unprepared they are for actual, real, explosive violence. I also know that one-on-one, or two/three-on-one against a prepared, trained individual, they are hopelessly ill-trained and ill-prepared.
And yes, even with their guns and tasers.
What brings up this threatening, ominous post today?
Maybe the fact that I'm fed up with incidents like this one that took place in Wisconsin.
Here is a Marine veteran being arrested for exercising his First Amendment RIGHT at a political rally. What's more, the fat police officer tells the Marine he's going to "get his ass kicked."
The Marine states to the officer that he took an OATH to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution. The First Amendment is a huge part of that Constitution. The cops who arrested this Marine took the same oath.
The difference is that one of the people involved in this incident defended the Constitution and did so in a far away land where people tried to kill him. The other person crapped on the Constitution right here at home and in an expression of one of our MOST precious freedoms--the right to protest.
Unfortunately, stories of modern-day law enforcement's gross abuse of power and authority are becoming far too common. It used to be almost scandalous if a story broke about a dirty cop or one who ran ramshod over someone's rights or got overly brutal.
Hell, now we have cops murdering citizens and the great majority of Americans don't even blink.
Typical of the sheep.
However, I know from the talk amongst my vet friends that a lot of former soldiers, sailors and airmen are getting fed up. More than fed up, we're getting mad.
Fighting mad. Fighting BACK mad.
I know what cops are taught at the academy. I know how cops are taught to shoot and how to fight in unarmed or hand-to-hand situations. I also know how U.S. servicemen are taught to shoot and taught hand-to-hand. There is a huge difference. We're not trained to restrain--we're trained to disable, to cripple, to kill. It was taught to us that if it ever came down to using our unarmed combat tactics, we were already dead and our mission was then to take whoever and however as many as we could with us.
Soldiers and sailors and airmen have a natural loathing of firing on the flag. Translation to civilians, that it is to say, we loathe the idea of having to wage war against our own citizens--and law enforcement is considered civilian citizens.
There is a difference between being a drunk sailor at a frog-hog bar in Little Creek or at a beach hangout in Coronado and having the local cops roust you for drunk and disorderly, opposed to having a group of sheriff's deputies bust in your door at 0300 on a no-knock warrant and then shoot you over a dozen times and kill you for being "non-compliant" as was the case in southern Arizona some time back.
Homeless vets getting rousted and roughed up is nothing new. David Morrell wrote a famous novel about it that turned into a movie you might recall, known as First Blood.
The big problem is that there are some righteous cops out there. There are even cops out there who are vets themselves and who saw hostilities in lands far away. However, I'm not reading any stories or reports about them desecrating the Oath they took or flagrantly crapping on people's rights.
But I'm also not reading or hearing about them raising hell with their alpha-hotel comrades who ARE.
That's where it has to start. Righteous cops who revere the Oath they swore speaking out against the bad element that is growing like an out-of-control cancer in their profession.
You can push the sheep of this nation around. They'll take it. But a whole bunch of veterans are starting to get really tired of it.
In Wisconsin, the cops arrested that Marine because he did not want to fire on the flag. Those two slobs with badges, had the Marine exercised his training and experience, would've stood exactly zero chance.
And if law enforcement decides to make war on America's veterans, then God help law enforcement.
You started it, not us.
4 comments:
Good article. I suggest you not drop any f-bombs and you will increase the impact of your essay to a larger group. In the future you may want to collect some of these excellent articles together and the intended audience may be turned against your valid points due to the language. I would like to cut and paste portions of your writings to various blogs but I would have to take the time to edit and I wouldn't feel comfortable editing another author's works. You also limit the opportunity for me to post links to your site. I truly hope you are not angry with me for stating my opinion about this.
Dick--Not angry whatsoever. Fixed it.
I've sworn the Oath on the military side and the civilian LE side. It literally makes me nauseous to see what has become of civilian law enforcement and when I read and hear of incidents such as what happened in Wisconsin, the paint starts peeling off the walls in my house and office.
Regardless, it's not appropriate, professional or respectful so your level-headed wisdom is always appreciated.
Best.
--AOA
I have the same problem when I'm angry and this incident makes me angry. My nephew was recently retired after 25 years as a deputy here in Florida. I'd relate these incidents to him and he would actually cringe. The sad part is that all the good cops know who the dirt bag cops are but won't pressure them to change their behavior. If they don't control themselves, they are begging for an outside agency to do the controlling for them. That is the last thing they need or want. Also, the union has NOT helped. Public unions are another topic that causes my wife to scream at my choice of words.
Prime example is the Denver Police Department. In the early 1960's, 71 sworn officers went to prison. The culture lives on and the decent cops keep their mouths shut. I know more than one adjacent county deputies that will not work on joint tasks forces, especially narcotics, with Denver PD.
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