[Box]

I've had very little confidence in Law Enforcement for most of my adult life.

Not that CONFIDENCE is my biggest worry anyway. My issues are TRUST and FEAR.

-I don't have CONFIDENCE that the Cubbies will win back to back World Series during my lifetime...
...but I still like the Cubbies.

No sir, my problem isn't a lack of confidence with law enforcement. In fact, I have plenty of confidence in law enforcement:
-confidence that we will continue to see them botch traffic stops and swing halligan tools at the pasenger window because the passenger wouldn't show ID or roll the window down
-confidence that we will continue to see them shoot WILDLY at a van load of kids
-confidence that they will pick up money from a convenience store counter and then LATER only after they've been called on it, claim they were going to give it back
-confidence that they will continue to ABUSE the use of "no-knock" warrants
-confidence that they will continue to get away with it facing no accountability whatsoever
-confident that I could go on and on with examples

How much confidence can you have in what is being advertised anyway...
...hell even as a kid, I remember thinking, "officer friendly is such a really cool dude, but he sure is a fat donut eating pudgy little fuck.

Nope. My problem is a complete lack of TRUST in law enforcement. I don't TRUST officer friendly any more.
-I don't have confidence in the Cubbies taking two back to back world series titles...
...but I do TRUST that they are giving it all they've got: Heart and Soul

I FEAR seeing a cop in my neighborhood more than I fear seeing a stranger. I can deal with a stranger on MY OWN terms and if he becomes surprisingly violent, I can retaliate in kind as I see fit. I can even run away if I want and face no penalty.
It's that absolute fear that in a time of crisis even the best of modern law enforcement officers will choose to bring harm upon me when given a choice between "protecting me" or advancing some faceless politicians law enforcement political agenda. For that matter, I don't even "trust" that a good cop will stand up and shine the light of justice on his fellow officer if he were to bear witness to my untimely demise at the hands of a shitty cop. Nope, I even FEAR that the "good" cops will turn their back on me if forced to choose between me and a bad cop.
Oh, and I also AIN'T the least bit afraid that the Cubbies starting lineup is going to appear at my house in the middle of the night and murder my fucking wife and kids because someone told them I might have a collection of St Louis Cardinals memorobilia in my house.
That Route-66 rivalry is pretty damned serious you know...
-I don't have CONFIDENCE in the Cubbies taking two back to back world series titles...
...but I am not afraid of the Cubbies bumbling through the process of violently robbing my family of their civil rights and freedoms.


Rudy Ridge and Waco didn't just happen last year. The easy way to digest the frivolity that is modern American law enforcement is to pretend that "it all started on 9/11". I hear that a lot these days, "Since 9/11 we have over militarized American law enforcement.". What about Waco? What about Ruby Ridge? Are we still not ready to call that "over-militarization" of feral law enforcement?
Sorry... I meant feDEral law enforcement

What about a guy named Lon Horiuchi?
...in 1992 he shot and killed an unarmed woman that was holding a baby. It took 5 years to get that case into court, and even then, his case was dismissed. Oddly, it was the 9th Circus that dismessed his case...
Sorry, I meant 9th CIRCUIT court - you know the one that even the Supreme Court of The United States of America has complained about...
Go figure, psssibly the most liberal appeals court in the nation dismissed a firearms related manslaughter charge...
...well, it WAS a government employee shooting at rednecks. CASE DISMISSED, because, well, because fuck you - we're the government and we can do what we want.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Then of course there is all that time away from home MANY of us spent during the 1990's doing those super awesome "JTF-6" rotations. That was a pretty good effort at militarizing federal law enforcement, and it sure as hell didn't happen after 9/11. Most of them couldn't shoot worth a blind fuck. Their observation skills where almost as good as what you'd expect from Stevie Wonder after a night of hard drinking, and the collective attitude about how fucking cool they were, was pure jackassery a good 5-8 years BEFORE 9/11. Yet, we spent a lot of time and effort playing into their desires. They talked a big fucking game, but even back then, they wore their thigh holsters down around the knees of their BDU style black SWAT fatigues, lose as fuck with all of the outward demeanor of Barney Fife trying to make someone move a double parked car in downtown Mayberry. JTF-6 back in the 90's was when also the first time I heard a cop levy the statement "blue is for kissing ass, black is for kicking ass", of course now all of these warrior studs wear mulitcam instead...
...because you know, black tactical gear is sooo 1990's


I never did figure out why every fucking government agency under the sun needs to have a "tactical" team for law enforcement and even though most of us thought they were clowns, we still had to go out and play army with them. No sireebob... this has been going on since WAAAAAY before 9/11 and the end is no where in sight.


I sure do hope the Cubs have better luck next year.