Posted on 08/20/2014 7:13:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
It has been nearly a quarter of a century since the bloody “Rodney King” riots ripped through Los Angeles. In the years since those horrific events in 1991, police departments across the country have been faced with numerous racially-charged altercations – including many involving police shootings of civilian suspects. During that same time, American taxpayers at all levels of government have seen hundreds of billions of their dollars spent to improve law enforcement training, procedures, and equipment. But, have we learned anything?
If what is unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri following the August 9th fatal shooting of unarmed, black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer is any indication, all that training, money and equipment has been utterly wasted.
In less than one week, Ferguson transformed from a small and largely unknown St. Louis suburb into an occupied territory in the middle of a raging warzone. The act that initially sparked this unfortunate series of events -- the shooting death of Brown – was quickly overtaken by an embarrassing series of missteps by political and law enforcement officials. The manner in which these bumbling officials issued conflicting and inconsistent statements and took similarly indecisive actions, serves as a lesson in how not to handle such an incident.
One of these factors, of course, is the danger posed by the over-militarization of civilian law enforcement. This highly problematic process moved into high gear with the 1993 ATF-Branch Davidian confrontation outside Waco, Texas, and accelerated rapidly after the 911 terror attacks. In recent days, many commentators and experts have focused on this very real and continuing threat to our civil liberties (I have written in the past about this alarming problem). Still, the infatuation many local and state law enforcement agencies have with whiz-bang military firepower, vehicles, clothing and mindset shows little sign of abating.
As serious as is the problem with over-militarizing domestic law enforcement in 21st Century America, in a broader sense it is a merely a symptom of an even more fundamental disease plaguing law enforcement organizations across the country and at all levels of government: the failure to understand, remember, and act upon the foundational principles on which our constitutionally-based federal republic was formed. These First Principles include, among others of course, that: ultimate authority in America resides in the citizenry, not government agents; government exists to serve the People, not vice versa; the Bill of Rights provides checks on government power rather than serving as a road map for government to erode individual liberty; and, federal government powers are defined and limited.
Occasional lapses in such understandings can be tolerated, but when married to the utter incompetence such as displayed by those involved in trying to control the discord in Ferguson, it is a situation guaranteed to worsen, to spread, and ultimately to feed precedent for further mischief by those always sniffing around for such opportunities.
When elected and appointed officials forget the Constitution and what it stands for, bad situations turn worse. The cast of characters reflecting this phenomenon now includes (among others) the mayor and police chief in Ferguson, and the U.S. Attorney General with his heavy-handed and premature move to seize control of the local situation.
It is said that “nature abhors a vacuum.” The modern corollary to that time-tested truism, however, is “government loves a vacuum” because it provides opportunity to step in and assert or take control. This is what happens time and again in these situations; Ferguson is but the latest example.
When local and state officials exhibited indecision and vacillation in their statements and actions in the immediate aftermath of Brown’s death, it created a vacuum. The national media, of course, rushed in to define and hype the situation to its benefit. This was followed closely by the usual “civil rights” champions elbowing their way to the camera banks -- the Revs. Jackson and Sharpton, and the “New” Black Panthers. The unraveling of the situation accelerated quickly thereafter.
Even after it became obvious to even casual observers that initial comments and actions responding to the Brown shooting were mishandled, those same local and state officials continued to bungle their statements and actions; wavering between toughness and choruses of “Kumbaya,” and between detachment and forceful engagement. Not surprisingly, Uncle Sam recognized an opportunity to take control, and strode in with new directives, more “observers,” dozens of FBI agents, and the Attorney General himself. The feds claim to have taken the high moral ground; and, in so doing have once again diminished and pushed aside that authority which under our constitutional framework is supposed to be paramount – state and local government.
If we the People allow this inversion of constitutional power and federalism again to stand, it will confirm that we, too, have learned nothing in the past generation.
Well, we’ve learned that the DemocRATS preach that violence, looting, stealing and burning down buildings and cars is an acceptable form of protest in a liberal DemocRAT Amerika.
We have learned that police officers cannot shoot blacks, not even in self defense.
It’s still OK to shoot whites.
Just another politician trying to blame everyone but the people responsible.
There have been so many riots. Yes, Watts in 1965. Detroit had terrible riots in 1967, from which parts of that city still have not recovered. Then dozens of cities experienced riots in 1968 after Martin Luther King was shot.
In all these cases, the liberals excuse the violence due to some perceived injustice, due to outrage which we are supposed to understand.
Nothing will ever change until the mores of the inner city change. How that will happen is beyond me. The criminal weirdness has been going on for over 50 years now.
My concern is that ordinary Americans - law abiding, middle-class Americans - are getting swatted each and every day - from forgetting to pay a parking ticket to having a dog off the leash. And I’m concerned about cops constantly shooting poodles - not shooting arrogant thieves high on PCP.
“What I thought then hasn’t changed - &%$@ the mainstream news media.”
Precisely.
If you recall, the MSM showed a tightly edited clip of King getting beat with nightsticks, and then looped it endlessly on every available network.
Of course, what led up to that action was intentionally left out, a combative King refusing to cooperate and fighting the police. The cops finally let him have it. The image of King being beaten was seared into everyone’s memory, not so much Reginald Denny getting pulled from his truck and having his head smashed in as “revenge”.
The media likes to pick sides right off the bat, and stokes the embers until there are flames, to get the dramatic result they desire. Then they stand back and say “oh, what an unfortunate situation...”
Hypocrites all, with blood dripping from their fangs.
We learned that you just can’t beat any sense into Rodney King!
Yes ive learned something
The white race in this country has to be the weakest of any descended from the Steppes
That has ever existed from whence my ancestors moved west and eventually crossed the big lake to claim their destiny from the Washington Redskins
Its like mental illness on a mass scale
Say what you will about the militarization of our local LEO’s, but one thing is clear here.
The Feguson PD (along with St. Louis County) and their tanks, tear gas and military gear has better control over the riots than the State Troopers AND the National Guard.
Once the State and NG stepped in - things got worse. I can’t think of one thing, nor have I read of any one thing the Ferguson PD did wrong.
Only that many politicians, the media as well as many others, have a desire to keep the race issue a constant issue. It gives such, prestige, power and money. Sad, but true.
This stuff happens because the powers that be WANT IT TO HAPPEN! Make no mistake about that.
the whole point of the civil rights was to treat people the same.
We still have not come far.
Affirmative action, give a job based on color , give a promotion based on color and if you don’t then you are racist.
Defend yourself and you are racist.
They get cheaper payments and interest on mortgages, loans etc.
Pull them over for a crime then you are racist.
Build boys and girls club , swimming pools, give out more free lunches, breakfast, dinners to the areas, build more parks etc.
I’m sick and tired of this crap.
We should be all the same , treated the same but if one speaks out then you are racist for pointing out all of this, and it doesn’t help when white guilt fools defend this or even give them excuses like cops are military, racial profiling, or they are down trodden.
How th ehell can they be down trodden when they get much more based on color.
So much for MLK saying judge on character not color
Yes if you left wing loons are reading this then wake the hell up as you are not helping the community, but I guess you don’t really want to as votes would be taken away form your party
Nice posting....havent seen u before I can recall
But be careful
Some here will work for your zot....trust me on this.
They just cant resist the impulse to call someone racist
I got plenty of bolt burns myself.
That is the kind of guy you want to hire for $8 hr to cut/haul firewood.
10 face-cords a day easy.
The Ferguson show is NOT Rodney King. The video of a police man beating an unarmed man who was already on the floor was appalling.
The Ferguson Show is simply a response to Obama’s troubled popularity among blacks. We live in world where nothing is what it seems, the media is controlled, and we are NOT free. At least that much is clear. I don’t trust Townhall anymore, numerous conservatives accounts are banned on their site, and there is something wrong with that.
The media doesn’t dare report that last month there were reports of how the black community, which was already very disappointed with Obama, was furious about Obama’s recent bizarre concern about the Central American “children”, by helping them leave their families to come to the US. It was disturbing for most people, but Obama admin certainly can’t have appearance of black community straying from the farm.
3/2014-Poll: Just 11% of blacks say life under Obama is better for young African-Americans
7/2014-Although the MSM didn’t dare report the following, the Obama Administration knows even the black community sees beyond the rhetoric.
Sharpton and Jackson are the usual charlatans, who bring their circus to town and start an entertaining horror show, presented by the enabling media. Nothing whips the peasants back into shape like chaos and fear. It is the same abusive dynamic of a pimp “protecting” his ladies by using and abusing them. It works.
The problem isn’t Obama. The enemy is the entity hiding behind the curtains that funded this fraud. We have to thank Obama for making the truth painfully obvious to all of us. This didn’t start with ObamaThe media is controlled, and we are NOT free.
Ditto. You just cut through the over analyzed bunk like Alexander through the Gordian Knot.
Let me add that the powers that be are also actively ENCOURAGING & ASSISTING the violence.
and the white people who front for them as they preen before the cameras oozing moral authority and condemnation of everyone else. Their membership in the conspiracy against the public which is wire-service journalism empowers them to dominate the public discourse - and they use that position to promote the conceit that they are "not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." (Luke 18:11)
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