Throwing stones at police

  Last Friday was Peace Officer’s Memorial Day and last week was National Police Week – too often, an ignored holiday, this year was different.

One reason the media paid attention was the civil unrest surrounding recent police officer shootings. Then there was the recently released report showing that police officer deaths had soared over the past year while ambush style attacks, such as the recent shooting of two New York City police officers, reached the highest total since 1995.

However, what really excited the media was that some of the officers attending the national memorial service had promised to turn their backs on the President’s speech in protest.

They did not do it, but it would have been justified.

The complaint from police is not only the increased number of police deaths. It has been worse before and probably will be again. Instead, what has the officers so disgruntled is the way politicians willingly throw them under the bus for political expediency.

And it starts with the President.

Remember early in his tenure when President, Obama called the Cambridge Police stupid for arresting his friend, a Harvard professor, in 2009. Obama later admitted that he spoke without knowing all the facts, but it was for many the first time they had seen how our community organizer President really felt about the cops.

Today, his speeches always seem to have an anti-law-enforcement addendum. Here is a typical statement, supposedly praising the police:

The vast majority of law enforcement officers are doing a really tough job, and most of them are doing it well and are trying to do the right thing. But a combination of bad training, in some cases; a combination in some cases of departments that really are not trying to root out biases, or tolerate sloppy police work; a combination in some cases of folks just not knowing any better, and in a lot of cases, some conscious fear of folks who look different – all of this contributes to a national problem that’s going to require a national solution.

This is praise … really?

The President has gotten better over the years at hiding his true feelings. However, Michelle apparently still misses the good old days.  In a recent speech to graduates at the Tuskegee University, she compared the race struggles of the current graduating class to those of the original Tuskegee Airmen in WWII.

Racism will always exist. But it no longer is acceptable in most of America today – nor is it legal as it was for the Airman. Michelle needs to catch up.

Speeches such as hers are probably why a recent CNN poll found that only 15 percent of Americans believe that race relations have improved under Obama, while 40 percent say they have worsened.

And it works its way down the liberal line.

It should be no surprise to anyone that Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, was quick to throw the police under the bus when his city had Ferguson like problems. After all, de Blasio had promised during his campaign for mayor to rein in the overreaching police department. The results, according to Police Commissioner William Bratton, are that de Blasio has “brought this department to its knees.”

Have no fear, however, the feds are already planning the rescue.

The Justice Department recently announced that it will select six cities to test and deploy federal programs for local police that they say will create better procedures to reduce racial bias and regain citizen trust.

Isn’t it comforting to know that Obama’s Justice Department is willing to leave D.C. long enough to share their wealth of knowledge on local law enforcement?

The fact is that the “National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice” will use taxpayer dollars to regulate and mandate local police procedures – a responsibility traditionally and constitutionally the job of state government.

Don’t believe me? Here is what Obama said last fall:

We can’t just leave this to the police. I think there are police departments that have to do some soul-searching. I think there are some communities that have to do some soul-searching. But I think we as a country have to do some soul-searching.

And all of these need is based on the false assumption that the violence was caused by bad policing. But that’s another column for another day.

It’s the same old liberal tactics, create the problem, decry the problem, then move the feds in to fix it.

The brave men and women, who serve on the front line in police agencies across the country, deserve our thanks and support – not demonization for political purposes.

Are there bad cops? Of course. There always will be as long as we use human beings to protect our streets. However, the vast majority do their best to protect and serve, just like they did just a few days ago when local police faced down multiple biker gangs in Waco.

Maybe some of these complainers should go a few days without police, or better yet, with a demoralized, inefficient police department run by the feds.  It would make Ferguson look like a church picnic.

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Why we hate politics

Admit it, you hate politics.

Even if you are like me, and you feel a certain obligation as an American citizen to keep track of things, politics can have some really ugly moments that nobody wants to see. It’s kinda like visiting a sausage factory … not a good idea if you want to continue enjoying your weekend treat of sausage and eggs.

So I thought with the apparent kickoff of the presidential election season maybe I should delve into some of the things about politics that bug me most. It’s a short list, but the principles, or lack thereof, behind each incident are the types of things that make normal people cringe.

Take for example the debate in the Virginia Senate this year over the new anticorruption law. I was listening to news of the debate while driving home when one senator (I can’t remember his name -I really wish I could) said to the interviewer something like this, “This is a bad bill. I’m completely against it. But if I don’t vote for it the media will crucify me.”

I felt like someone was scratching their fingernails on a blackboard in the back seat of my car. If I’d been driving near bridge I would have driven off just to end the agony.

Now I am not naïve enough to believe that senators don’t vote much of the time in their best political interests. However, do they have to whine about it on public radio? Can’t they leave us to our fantasies where state senators actually vote according to the best interests of the state – not what the media might do to them?

Maybe weak politicians are all you get when you live in one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation – another reason people hate politics. One article ranked Virginia fifth worst in the nation. If you follow state politics (regardless of the bad taste it leaves in your mouth), you know that federal courts have ruled that our congressional map violates the 14^th amendment and have directed the state to redraw the boundaries.

Then there is the joy of election season.

I think I will become physically ill if another politician invites me to attend a big meeting next month to discover his or her decision on a presidential run. Do they really believe that it’s a mystery if they have gone to the trouble of organizing a major media event, renting a huge hallway, and inviting the entire population of America to either tune in or visit?

Either way they are running. Either for president, or from the angry crowd that showed up at an event where they announce nothing.

And then there’s the fake meetings with the common folk. I want to gag when an elitist politician, one I have been watching for 25 years, suddenly tries to become a person of the people.

Here’s something that doesn’t bother me as much as the media wishes it would – flip-flopping politicians. I actually like a politician flexible enough to change their mind when the situation changes. What I hate is when the only reason they ever change their mind is when the politics (as in their chances of being re-elected) move against them.

Or, what’s even worse, is the politician (and right now this includes almost every politician in both parties) who refuses to do the right thing due to misplaced, hyper- partisan loyalty, regardless of the harm it does to our country and the people’s faith in the political process.

You may have noticed that I did not mention a single name in this column. But I’ll bet some names came to mind. Nor did I mention a single political party. There was no need. Everyone on both sides of the isle hate politics for the same reasons – they just like to pin the tail on a different donkey… or elephant, whatever the case may be.

But before we blame the politicians alone, look in the mirror. It’s the electorate that demands a horse race and partisan bickering. The media and politicians just feed on the drama.

So stop being a drama queen. There are too many serious issues right now to be playing silly games. I know it’s distasteful. I know you sometimes get physically ill watching politics being made. Get over it. Take some Pepto-Bismol. There are only 19 months and then we can take a short break.

I wish I hadn’t said that… Is there bridge nearby?

 

 

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