Cox emphasized that Bikers for Trump weren’t looking for trouble at the convention. “Veterans are the backbone of the biker community,” Cox continued. “We are patriots and unlike Black Lives Matter and the other leftist idiots, we love our cops. You won’t find one biker in Cleveland jumping on cars, lighting fires, or doing any of the other stupid things we’ve gotten used to seeing on TV the last few months.”The police are having a difficult moment right now. I have a lot of concerns about the way we train police, and the way we equip them, and the way we deploy them. However, my intent in fielding these criticisms is to come to a place in which we have a better civilization. Police and other citizens aren't natural enemies, and it's strange in a way that we've gotten to this place. In another way, it's not so strange: it serves the interest of powers on both sides.
Nevertheless, I find Chris Cox's reaction puzzling. It's true that Vets are the backbone of the biker community. It's also true that lots of cops are also Vets. It is generally true that bikers are very strong patriots. It does not therefore follow that bikers love cops. A few bikers aren't just outlaws, they're criminals who have reason to fear the police. Among those who are outlaws in the sense of "Outlaw Country," police are often used to harass and extract money from them at gunpoint. Cops are often deployed against them by some of those powerful interests, and the police go along with it. It is, after all, their job to work for the bosses elected over them. In a corrupt system, and many of our localities are quite corrupt, the orders of the bosses are often bad. A friend of mine who was a long-time Chicago cop used to say that, in his opinion, the police were just the best-armed gang in that city given that the government itself was just another, bigger racket.
Even understanding the difficulty of the moment, I can't help but notice how strong the reactions have been. Cox isn't alone in overstating the case in spite of obvious counterexamples. The other day Nick Palmisciano of Ranger Up posted a criticism of two individual police officers -- the two from the Baton Rouge video. It was based on his experience as a military officer, and was both heartfelt and honest -- as well as detailed. I think it's been erased since then.
No wonder it has been. There's been a furious reaction against him by police. This is a guy who has a whole section of his store devoted to pro-police "Blue Line" merchandise. Nick Palmisciano really does love his cops. In spite of that, his criticizing one event featuring two individuals is being taken as proof of something akin to treason.
Nick will forgive them, if he hasn't already. Sometimes we'd see things like this during the heat of the Iraq war, when a bad call by a unit would lead to international headlines. We'd do our best to hold our own accountable, while trying not to lose it with those who were assuming the worst of all fighting men and preaching that the military was an evil bunch of baby-killers. So I get it. I do. I think a citizen has to take these issues seriously and deploy honest criticism, but I'm not insensitive to the pain the police must be feeling in the wake of Dallas.
I think a citizen has to take these issues seriously and deploy honest criticism, but I'm not insensitive to the pain the police must be feeling in the wake of Dallas.
ReplyDeleteNot an excuse. Possibly an explanation for the vociferousness, but not an excuse.
And it's not a reaction that's new since the murders of police in Dallas, either. Police have for quite a while now been famous or infamous for circling the wagons and defending any and all cops, good or bad. And that's toxic. It's particularly toxic in a situation where most people no longer trust cops, for good reason. Attacking people who criticize police - given the impunity police enjoy - is close to being a threat. Many people will take it as a threat.
When police can accept criticism of the worse of their number without taking it as "someting akin to treason", we'll have made progress. When cops develop a zero-tolerance attitude for bad cops - and I don't just mean griping among themselves about bad cops, I mean refusing to ride with them, refusing to hire them, reporting their crimes (if the "bad" reaches actual criminality), testifying against them, and all with the sense that this is exactly what a cop is supposed to do, not some sort of "treason to the blue" - then we may reach a reasonable state.
For civil society to survive, it has to be possible to defend the police on grounds other than tribal loyalty. Defending them is a difficult task as long as they won't police their own ranks and actively take down the bad cops themselves, and it's pretty much impossible if they won't let anyone else do it either.
In a corrupt system, and many of our localities are quite corrupt, the orders of the bosses are often bad. A friend of mine who was a long-time Chicago cop used to say that, in his opinion, the police were just the best-armed gang in that city given that the government itself was just another, bigger racket.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you are finally getting to this point in the logic chain, what I call "connecting the dots", but why so long? I blame it on your sources, Grim, as they have led you astray. The NYTimes. Other Leftist websites Leftists use. So on.
Police have for quite a while now been famous or infamous for circling the wagons and defending any and all cops, good or bad.
ReplyDeleteThat's because the last few times a "cop" got out and whistle blew and got out of the circle, the "cop" would go after some crim and call for backup, cause he was shot or under fire.
4 hours later, no backup. Cop is now Dead or Maimed.
Hah, serves him right for standing up to the "Boss" right.
Problem solved.