WARNING: Explicit lyrics ("Killing in the Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine) The number of UK police, whose abuse brought on the rioting, is tripled to deal with the country's worst unrest since the 1980s, adding gasoline to the fire. More
Meanwhile, in the US, Orange County begins to brew.
Protect and Serve (Themselves)
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)
Good thing our police do not abuse us in America. Our officers may be racist, sexist, and poorly educated, but they would never harm the most vulnerable members of our affluent society. Oh wait, unless such members are mentally disabled and helpless. Police can break laws, commit felonies on a routine basis, murder, execute, assault, and rape -- all under "color of law"?
But if abuse were ever the answer, the police would be right. And rioters should join the police force. The answer to all questions is compassion.
The wrongs police do are doubly wrong because they are done under color of law. A criminal act of mayhem is more reprehensible when six "officers" beat and electrocute a homeless and disabled man than when two sports fans beat a rival fan. The police were not satisfied to beat the face, Taser, and torment their victim; they thought it would be a good idea to kill him and then lie about it on official reports (a serious crime unto itself). But all of Los Angeles was in an uproar to find the assailant in the horrible Dodger Stadium beating. Now the same sort of crime that has sparked England, which twice before set off mass rioting in Los Angeles (most recently due to the abuse of Rodney King), threatens Southern California again.
It's good to "know your enemy." Most Americans watching riot footage on TV mistakenly assume that police protect citizens. The fact is they criminally abuse some of them.
But where will peace of mind and a serene heart be found? In a war zone? On the streets? During a riot? These things are of course found within and nowhere else. Paramilitary police forces cannot take them away even if they concentrate us in FEMA camps.
Having returned from the horrors of Afghanistan and Iraq, where do most soldiers want to show off their savage training? In police agencies around the country. It's the new world order -- force fighting force until nothing but force consumes the country.
Meanwhile, in the US, Orange County begins to brew.
Protect and Serve (Themselves)
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)
Good thing our police do not abuse us in America. Our officers may be racist, sexist, and poorly educated, but they would never harm the most vulnerable members of our affluent society. Oh wait, unless such members are mentally disabled and helpless. Police can break laws, commit felonies on a routine basis, murder, execute, assault, and rape -- all under "color of law"?
But if abuse were ever the answer, the police would be right. And rioters should join the police force. The answer to all questions is compassion.
The wrongs police do are doubly wrong because they are done under color of law. A criminal act of mayhem is more reprehensible when six "officers" beat and electrocute a homeless and disabled man than when two sports fans beat a rival fan. The police were not satisfied to beat the face, Taser, and torment their victim; they thought it would be a good idea to kill him and then lie about it on official reports (a serious crime unto itself). But all of Los Angeles was in an uproar to find the assailant in the horrible Dodger Stadium beating. Now the same sort of crime that has sparked England, which twice before set off mass rioting in Los Angeles (most recently due to the abuse of Rodney King), threatens Southern California again.It's good to "know your enemy." Most Americans watching riot footage on TV mistakenly assume that police protect citizens. The fact is they criminally abuse some of them.
But where will peace of mind and a serene heart be found? In a war zone? On the streets? During a riot? These things are of course found within and nowhere else. Paramilitary police forces cannot take them away even if they concentrate us in FEMA camps.Having returned from the horrors of Afghanistan and Iraq, where do most soldiers want to show off their savage training? In police agencies around the country. It's the new world order -- force fighting force until nothing but force consumes the country.
