Eight cops have been shot and killed this month. And February, 2016, ain’t even half over. Already, on my social media stream, I see my cop friends blaming Obama.
Well, you must remember December, 2003 when seven cops were shot and killed? Republican George W Bush was president. August of that year? Nine cops were shot and killed. April? Ten cops shot and killed.
Or maybe it was better when Reagan was president and this country “was great”? In July, 1982, eight cops were shot and killed. August: ten. September: eleven. October: eight.
Ronald Reagan? 37 cops shot and killed in four months!
Under the Obama administration, you have to go back to May of last year to get 37 cops shot and killed. (That’s nine months, for those lacking in certain skills.)
Do I think the president is to be blamed for dead cops? No. And that’s my point. But maybe you just hate Obama so much that you don’t remember any of that. That’s fine. Honestly, I had to look up those old figures. But you conservative Obama-hating motherf*ckers said you’d “never forget.” But you have.
If you want to judge presidents by the number of cops shot and killed, Obama has been the most pro-cop president ever. And if your conservative ideology is more important to you than dead cops? Well, then, fuck you.
Peter, I can understand your disgust, but I must strongly urge you, as I’ve urged various of your commenters (e.g. John M.), to ease up on the rhetoric. Hopefully you understand, given the extent of my participation on your site, that I’ve a ton of respect for you.
I understand why people hate Obama, as I understand why people hate Reagan. I hate neither, and view both as pathetic pawns in an out-of-control system, which is a subject too long to address here.
As I understand it, the most articulate Obama haters blame him for his allies’ (e.g. Sharpton’s) anti-cop rhetoric (Reagan never went there, e.g. he ran like hell from David Duke).
Once Obama was seen as rolling the red carpet out for Sharpton, he was presumed to be implying that the cops in most of the recent headline cases were way out of line. But you yourself here have made a good case that the differences between, say, the Baltimore 6, and, say, Encinia, and esp. Van Dyke, are hugely different.
Once Obama got himself tarred with the Sharpton bandwagon,(over 60 W.H. visits since '09!)he needed to been seen to be really trying to muffle his allies’ worst excesses.
As the first black President, he figured to benefit from getting a unique amount of slack from black folk, similar to the mood in Indy in April '68, when "ni**er-lover" Bobby Kennedy urged his audience there to ease up, despite the crushing news just breaking that MLK had been killed.
Don't be upset with foul and false informations, simply ignore them probably better than educating them. He/she hates Obama? Who cares? He/she is a HeShe? Definitely no one cares… The he/she is spreading propagandas? Good for him/her, hope he/she gets a raise from his/her owner/master/breeder/whatever.
Peter, to clarify some of my drift:
Yeah, most Righties can be exasperating, but so can most Lefties. Since cops start from similar bases of experience, it’s esp. important for them to use that basis to do better at more than “touching base” with each other. If cops, at least on this site, can do better at setting an example of how they talk to each other (and, by implication, to the general public), everyone involved might learn key stuff, incl. about how to think and communicate more clearly.
Venting is tempting, but, in due course, it just brings blowback.
You're probably right about blowback and tone. But sometimes you gotta vent. And I certainly go after lefty BS, too.
Here's the thing: I wouldn't vent about *my* ideology; I'm venting about *their* ideology. I want to take police officers at their own word. I'm not against conservatives, even when I think they're wrong. I learned from conservative cops. And this is what taught me back in the dark ages of conservative Republican supremacy: "Respect the office!" "Don't politicize the killing of police officers!"
But it turns out those same good people who preached those values don't believe in them. They make political statements at police funerals (turning their back on elected officials) and disrespect the office of president. It's not just the ideology; it's the hypocritical ideology. I feel a bit betrayed. Because damnit, they were right: you *shouldn't* politicize the death of police officers.
…so you're trying to make a point about respecting the office by calling a former US president a cocksucker?
Good point. You got me there. That was venting getting the better of me.
Sorry. I edited that out, just for people reading this now.
Peter, yeah, when they politicize the killing of police officers, that’s rather brutal. I’m glad that you’ve now put your finger on the part of this that was really eating you, and which would’ve served you well to have been the thrust of this post.
On your wanting to take police officers at their own word, I can’t say I concur, about the word of cops, politicians, or any other humans. As Lord Acton famously said, “power corrupts.…” And as Jack Kennedy said, “sincerity is always subject to proof”.
Indeed, it’s a common (admittedly exaggerated) aphorism in some cop circles, that you believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see. Esp. since, when folks are venting, they’re often expressing more of a mood than a program or conscientious account of reality. Trouble is, it’s sometimes hard to tell when folks are really venting, vs. when they’re being conscientious.
Well, all my posts can't be gems. Thanks for your comments and critique.
Of course, you’re most welcome. Most of us aren’t always at the top of our game, so keep up the good work.
Your policy of letting all comers have their say makes your site clearly the best cop site around.
Hypocrisy and lack of humility are things that frustrate me and bring me to screaming rage frequently. Unfortunately in our political life and our social media life (which have become more and more merged) those things are on display more and more. Nothing is above political comment. Not the deaths of police, not anything. To blame the President for the deaths of police is nonsense. It is not surprising, however, the President Obama, who has been very involved in commenting on things regarding police ever since the Gates affair and "Beer Summit" continuing through Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, etc. is a lightning rod for this kind of blame.
In the past few days I have watched many of my more liberal friends literally squeal with joy at the death of Antonin Scalia–friends who would be harshly condemning the same joy at the death or downfall of someone they admired. Hypocrisy is no more the sole domain of the right than of the left. Nor is lack of civility or tact. The reason I read your blog so avidly, Peter, is that you tend to exhibit MORE civility and tact, and less hypocrisy, than most others. That is what makes your work more interesting to me. I totally understand the venting. Honestly, anymore, I find almost all of what I see online tiring and exasperating, no matter who is posting it.