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Monday, January 26, 2015

Getting Rubbed The Wrong Way

Before I start with my frothy rant, watch this -

We hear from police officers asking us to not, "Paint all of the good cops with the same brush as the bad cops."  On its face, I agree 100%.

Most of the LEOs I've come in contact with are good, honorable and just individuals.  No doubt.  The VAST majority.

But I've also run into my share of turds - most shockingly when one was a witness in a drug case in which I was a juror ("Losing Trust and Respect").

I have no idea what punishment, if any, was meted out to that "officer", but I'm guessing it was little to none.  You or I would have been arrested for perjury and jailed.

That's part of "the rub" with what's going on with all of the Ferguson, NY City, Oakland and other protests going on around the country.  People are getting sick and tired of seeing the law broken by LEOs and them getting little more than a slap on the wrist.

One set of laws and punishment for them, another set for us.

Ferguson, in my opinion, was a 100% justified shooting.  I can say with certainty, that if I were in the same circumstances, I would have done the exact same thing the LEO did.  Actually, I would have likely shot him BEFORE he punched me.

While the trumped-up "racist shooting" meme was full of crap, the deep, deep mistrust of many LEOs is not.

More and more, it's not just minorities that feel this way.


The second part of "the rub" has to do with what was in the video.  How the Supreme Court is blatantly and egregiously, disregarding and discarding the Constitution.

For a second, remember the primary purpose of the Constitution:  To LIMIT the power of government over the citizenry.

In every example given in the video, the Supreme Court has granted LEOs across the entire country a valid, "legal" excuse for performing unconstitutional acts.

To reiterate, acts which would land non-LEOs in jail.

Now, many LEOs may say, "Well, just because we're allowed to do it doesn't mean we WILL do it."

Sure.  Just like we were told the paramilitary SWAT teams wouldn't be used for anything other than hostage and active shooter situations.

That's a pile of crap, and everyone knows it.  It's human nature to "push the envelope" - to go right up to the line of what's acceptable.

Well, the line's apparently been erased.  All nice and legal like.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  All flavors of government had better get their shit together.  When you have crossed the line so far that regular, non-criminal, corn-fed, God-fearing, peace-loving Americans are saying you've gone too far, you've gone too far.

Look at the faces of those that are in these protests.

Retirees, Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen-Xers.  White, black, brown and tan.  Men, women and children.  Rich, poor and middle class.

Kinda looks like America, don't it?  That's a whole lot of pissed off people.

I just don't think this will end well...



Adam said...

I'm surprised the USSC allowed that traffic stop. You still have to have Reasonable Suspicion to conduct a traffic stop. Now, did I pull people over for having a brake light out? Yep. I was stupid because I didn't know the law, which is not an excuse. Once I realized it (because I looked at the statute), I apologized and let them go, even though I had found other violations. If the initial traffic stop doesn't hold up, then everything else is "fruit of the poisonous tree."

But not every cop will do that. I think that's a bad ruling by the SC.

And yes, the Ferguson shooting was justified. But you are right, it brings up some much deeper suspicious roots. That is causing major problems. It doesn't help when things like the Stingray are brought up, etc. But that carries it's own problems. Only a select few know exactly how it works. I never knew it sucked up all the phone calls around it. I thought it only pinged the targeted phone (which you have a court order to target).

We definitely need true transparency in government.

Chief Instructor said...

Adam, I just don't know how they can possibly say any of that crap is Constitutional. A fifth grader could point out the flaws in that argument.

The Stinger thing is stunning. I heard one of the talking-heads for one agency say to the effect, "If you're outdoors, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy."

OK, I can ALMOST see some logic being applied. What about the people living in homes and apartments that are using their phones, and getting their calls "sniffed" as well? Collateral damage?

It's gonna get fugly!