Travis, you need to rethink that.
One of the things (maybe) which separates us from tyranny is that our military personnel are taught that they must not engage our citizens on our own soil.
Cops are becoming different.
They could refuse if they wanted to do so.
Cops are becoming different.
They could refuse if they wanted to do so."
Our Soldiers could also refuse orders that they don't agree with. That would not necessarily make them virtuous. When the rank and file start concerning themselves with the way that things ought to be and acting upon those impulses, rather than acting upon lawful orders of those appointed over them, that is when we're really screwed. What separates us from tyranny is not just that our military personnel are legally forbidden from engaging citizens on our own soil, but that they are led by professionals who recognize their subservience to that law and to their civilian masters. Take away the professionalism of our military leaders and then you have the potential for problems because that is when posse comitatus is worth no more than the paper it is written on.
Likewise, the rank and file police officers do not make their own rules. They follow the procedures within their departments. When they abandon their professional ethic and start acting upon their own impulses, which are obviously going to be skewed by their day in and day out dealings with the lowest dregs of our society, then that is when abuse of power and outrages really begin.