Posted on 08/20/2014 12:01:34 AM PDT by chessplayer
As we watch the turmoil in Ferguson where protests and police crackdowns raged for a week in the wake of a police shooting of an unarmed black teenager many Americans have been forced to reassess their views on the duty and tactics of the police. But we conservatives with our dueling affinity for law-and-order institutions like the police and our libertarian-inspired opposition to abuses of government power are perhaps the most torn.
Over at the Federalist, Hans Fiene notes, "For many conservatives, especially those of us living in nice, comfy suburbs, it's hard to apply the 'power corrupts' doctrine to law enforcement because we've never seen corrupted enforcers of the law." But now we're all seeing it.
In recent years, conservative opinion leaders have been more willing to question authority. They're more skeptical of the police and the military, and don't just accept everything these institutions do as being in service of their "protect and serve" purposes.
As Red State's Erick Erickson writes, "It is perfectly fine to think Mr. Brown was no saint, the rioters should be punished, and in addition to both of those, to think the police in Ferguson, Missouri, behaved badly too. Before rioting even began the police in Ferguson decided to behave like soldiers instead of police."
He's right. And the adoption of a "Warrior Cop" persona might be the symbolic turning point.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
lol
Baloney.
arrrgh
militarization— the latest scapegoat for violent black criminal behavior
(previous scapegoats—racism, slavery, poverty, profiling etc.)
see tagline
Here's a Ferguson I could get behind...Hannah Ferguson
Dog shootings, wrong address SWAT raids, backyard intrusions while "pursuing" a suspect that results in dog shootings...
And then on top of that the warrior cop.
I am not as tolerant of the warrior cop as others seem to be, especially those who dress up in desert camouflage fatigues in the middle of a downtown city street where the camo is out of place.
It's all about a mentality of invincibility that is misplaced.
First, an invincibility that comes from the disproportionate equipment.
And second, an invincibility that comes from the thought that they are protected from the consequences of their actions, no matter how damaging to the people and families that they harm.
-PJ
Whut?
“Faith in the police”? as in the police being god?
Liberals never miss an opportunity to blaspheme.
Utter nonsense. What I am tired of and find more troubling is the media desire to make police look bad.....just like they do anytime thugs and looters want to destroy neighborhoods
I do have an issue with the riot control later. One of the things I thought was inappropriate was the cop laying on top of one of the larger armored vehicles pointing his automatic weapon at the peaceful crowed in the middle of the day. He should not be pointing his weapon at people in that situation.
We do not believe they should be shooting dogs or breaking into the wrong homes.
nope.
In Wisconsin the law is that if police are involved in a shooting, the incident has to be investigated by another police department in a different jurisdiction. It stems from a case in Kenosha where a young man was handcuffed and shot in the temple by a cop. It was ruled a “justified” shooting by Kenosha police. They (the family)did some research and found that all of the police shootings in the country (over 400) were ruled “justified”. So, they made this law and I don’t think it goes far enough. They all belong to same union.
But - speaking personally - I have totally lost faith in the political coalition between Libertarians and Conservatives.
I am not anti-Police, I am not anti-NSA, I am not anti-Israel, and I am not pro-Amnesty.
And I will never support any candidate who is.
Barf alert
Hey, they aren’t abusing power. It’s not like they broke into someone’s house and shot their Golden Retriever. The death of that thug is merely the “Yute” excuse to loot, maim, and kill. The cops are welcome to restore some semblance of order by tear gassing the whole city, if need be.
Shooting the family dog goes much farther to undermine my faith in the police than does taking out the trash in Ferguson, Missouri.
Most police have very little education. I don’t mean college, I mean having done enough reading to have a feel and understanding about what this country is about and what being an American really means.
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