Topic Tuesday: Back the Blue

I have made it a policy or rule of mine to keep politics out of my Topic Tuesday posts. And I plan to keep it that way. However, this may be the first one that I post that there are clearly opposing views. With that being said, my views are my views. They are not for debate on this platform. I welcome comments and feedback, as long as they are constructive.

The volatile atmosphere against all law enforcement officers and correction officers is dangerous and fueled by mob rule. And who loves anarchy, chaos, and fuels hate the most? The media. Very few news articles are reported about the great things that law enforcement do for communities, such as community involvement, preventative patrolling, and maintaining civilization when needed. Of course there are rogue officers out there that have a disregard for the code of civility that most officers follow, but doesn’t that exist in every profession? Teaching, politics, religion, car dealers, lawyers, healthcare? If that is true, and it is, then shouldn’t the focus be on routing out those that are not following protocols or have too many complaints against them?

I find that the media loves to report despair, lawlessness, and feed fears, as long as it suits their needs, their ratings. For instance, networks on all sides revel in reporting the awful toll that the Covid-19 virus has taken on businesses, education, and world-wide health. This should have been a fight that united people, but instead media stories polarize people with politics and mandates closing businesses and mandating face coverings. It’s all we heard about for months!

And then…the awful incident with George Floyd happened. My husband and I watched the videos of the barbaric police officer kneeling on George Floyd and were appalled. It was clear to us that the officer involved was not following any kind of police protocol that we could think of and must have previous abuse of power complaints against him. This officer in no way represents the majority of police officer conduct, no matter what community you live in. The outrage that followed was at first understandable, but quickly became outrageous, fueled by slanted media coverage and then the involvement of the anarchist group Black Lives Matter. All of a sudden, the virus that was supposed to keep us all separate suddenly disappeared and did not matter. Social gatherings were guised as protests, but could not be tolerate when citizens wanted to gather to pray or to celebrate graduations or mourn funerals, unless you were attending George Floyd’s.

The sudden attack on law enforcement officers and corrections should have been denounced by the media, but it was not. It was instead encourage. Chanted over and over again…Defund the Police! and Pigs in a blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon and F— the Police! are played for millions to hear and copy. Local anti police protests have popped up in my area and it infuriates me. While I accept that people have the right to peacefully protest anything, protesting the group of people who are protecting your very right to protest seems hypocritical and ungrateful. Without police, who will respond to the car accident, or the break-in, or the domestic abuse, or suicidal subject, or hostage situation, or the identity theft, or the rape, or the mob looting your store? Will you call a social worker, or your local town hall, or the fire department, or garbage collector? There isn’t a Ghostbusters in my town and I don’t think that they handle this kind of scary.

There are many theories I have about where and who is orchestrating this mess, but I believe that there is an inherent fear of law enforcement. And maybe there should be a little fear of police. I used to fear my parents, and they were good people, and they used this fear to keep my sister and me in line. We never disrespected an adult for fear of our parent’s response to us. It gave us a sense of what is right and what is civilized behavior as opposed to what is unacceptable. Police enforce the laws that the officials we have elected into office have put into place. They are the enforcers or guardians, not the real enemy, if there is one at all. Seems more like misplaced anger, justified or not.

I will end on a quote that I found which I hope explains why so many want to get rid of police, aka the sheepdog.

“The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give the traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray himself white, and go “BAA”. Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries to hide desperately behind one lonely sheepdog.” – Ltc. Dave Grossman