Posted on 12/03/2013 9:18:59 AM PST by stevie_d_64
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/02/the-police-industrialente_n_4372272.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
In my book on police militarization, I have a section on the role pop culture has played in blurring the line between cops and soldiers, particularly with the onset of reality(ish) shows like A&E's Dallas SWAT or Spike TV's DEA. Over at the blog Gun Culture 2.0, sociologist David Yamane looks at a bizarre new reality competition on the Outdoor Channel called Elite Tactical Unit: S.W.A.T., which features SWAT teams from across the country competing in a number of SWAT-like competitions for a $100,000 prize. As Yamane describes it, "ETU is basically 'Survivor' set in the world of police special forces."
Of particular interest is the show's sponsorship by the Swiss gun manufacturer SIG Sauer. Yahame points to this commercial which apparently often airs during the show, and makes no effort whatsoever to distinguish cops from soldiers, or the police from the military.
A commercial trying to sell viewers a gun is expected to take the time to distinguish between cops, soldiers and civilians? Why?
I agree but I don’t think a TV commercial trying to sell a product is supposed to be blamed for whatever. It was a silly addition to the article.
Police exist to protect and to serve the state. You are taxed for that protection. You pay for it. The solution is an obvious one: defund the police. They are the standing Army the founders feared.
I truly believe that most police are not interested in being part of the bigger complex, but may be forced into service for the complex as they will perceive it as their duty.
Entertainment is a slave to the larger corporations that own it. They report what they are told and create shows that promote the vision of the elite which is almost always that government is wonderful and people should not question anything, but be glad they are cared for and protected.
It boils down to the Military-Industrial Complex of which Eisenhower spoke. Don't forget that the military is part of the government. With Obama in office, the military is continually being politicized for its future use as a means of control over the American people. That doesn't mean those efforts will work, but they may.
Finally, both the Tea Party and the Occupy people are right, at least in part. The Government is the problem and the Corporations/Banks are the problem because they are one and the same. They currently work in such a seamless, synergistic fashion that they cannot honestly be considered as anything but one mechanism of total control.
The increasing militarization, the increasing firepower, the refusal to face the very weapons they present to us when demanding our compliance.
The deification of these so-called “first responders” has gone beyond nauseating. They are not willing to “put it all on the line” to protect the very citizenry they are ostensibly supposed to serve. A shining example of this was the police who waited 1/4 mile away before attempting to enter Sandy Hook Elementary while those children died at the hands of a madman.
As you say, it is time to defund these police agencies, and sheriff’s deputies and the state police orgainizations. I was never of the opinioin that the brit were right about the “bobby’s” being unarmed except with a nightstick, yet it seems that it is the proper approach for them now.
The M-4’s the MRAPS, SWAT teams to serve warrants, has gone beyond the scope of police.
In most cases they are simply revenue enhancement officers.
I had a discussion with a nephew who is a policeman here in Iowa. His dept was returning a lot of the weapons given to them because the regulations and paper work was too much.
I have little need or desire for police services. Until folks start showing up at budget meetings and demanding cuts, the situation will stay the same.
A gun that may be of a configuration that is unlawful, per some state laws, to aquire, posess, operate by the evferyday citizery...
Unless you jump through the hoops, and make yourself a target for future scrutiny and audits at anytime they choose...
Why do you think they recruit from the ranks of recently discharged combat veterans???
Some will bite at the chance to re-live the “jazz” they got when outside the wire...
That is what is filling up the ranks of these “police” SWAT units...They have the background, the mentality, and the skills to drive, and coordinate their response to any situation based upon the graphic military training and de-sensitizing which is indicative of those police forces, or what they want to eventually become...
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