FYI: no criticizing of the government allowed

FYI: no criticizing of the government allowed

by digby

The police are the government. And they have the guns and the uniforms and the power to take away your liberty and your property. And apparently, according to some of their spokespeople, you are not allowed to criticize them:

Michael Brown and Eric Garner died resisting arrest. Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu died doing their job. It is a very important distinction. Michael Brown and Eric Garner were committing crimes. Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were protecting all the citizens of New York City.

The national dialogue on proper and effective policing has been totally distorted. Activists purporting to represent the majority of the black community have been bolstered by a 24 hour news cycle that gives them unwarranted credibility. I do not believe for one minute that Al Sharpton represents the feelings of most hardworking, law abiding black American families. I know through dozens of community meetings during my time as NYC Police Commissioner that what the black community wants most is what we all want—a safe environment in which to live their lives.

There are 18,000 police departments in the United States. They interact millions of times with the public, and make hundreds of thousands of arrests. Very few result in a suspect’s death or injury. We do not have police forces out of control as the media and the Sharptons of the world would have us believe. Does that mean that there are not serious incidents of police abuse or misjudgment? Of course there are. When they take place we should investigate them thoroughly and prosecute and punish those who committed the wrong doing. We should not burn down buildings and murder police officers.

When Ismaaiyl Abdulah Brinsley brutally executed Officers Ramos and Liu he did so in an atmosphere of permissiveness and anti-police rhetoric unlike any that I have seen in 45 years in law enforcement. The rhetoric this time is not from the usual suspects, but from the Mayor of New York City, the Attorney General of the United States, and even the President. It emboldens criminals and sends a message that every encounter a black person has with a police officer is one to be feared. Nothing could be further from the truth. We will never know what was in the mind of Brinsley when he shot officers Ramos and Liu. However we do know that he has seen nothing but police bashing from some of the highest officials in the land.

So we are to understand that the problem is that if you protest the killing of unarmed black citizens you are sending a message to the police that black people are out to get them? How far down the rabbit hole do we have to go for that to make sense?

But this just sounds like blackmail to me:

We should all be concerned about the reaction our police officers will have. I have seen times when police bashing has resulted in officers doing the minimum necessary to complete their tours and go home safely to their families.

Those officers need to find other jobs. If they are unable to act in a professional manner, "keep calm and carry on" in the face of criticism then they really are far too delicate to be cops. Imagine how agitated and flustered they must get in dangerous situations?

This very much reminds me of the CI and NSA whining constantly that if they have to follow laws, rules and norms and submit themselves to any kind of accountability they will be so reluctant to do their jobs we'll all be killed in our beds and it will be our own fault. Again, blackmail --- either let us do whatever we want and don't ask us any questions or the country gets it.

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