I know I don't blog very often; however I feel like I need to say this in something more than a short tweet comment. It requires a more verbose approach than the venue that twitter maintains.
First a little background; you have to understand my father was a police officer for most of my childhood, first in the Air Force as an SP (the Air Force equivalent to the MP's, the Security Police). This was because in the 70's when my father decided to try to be a cop in Michigan, they wouldn't let him because they had a vision restriction (he has glasses). The Air Force did not, so he enlisted. He served his term, as an SP guarding missile silos in the god-forsaken hinterlands of Wyoming. This resulted in him becoming a cop for the City of Cheyenne after he left the Air Force.
Now my dad and I are on relatively opposite ends of the spectrum politically, at least these days. He has broken for the Tea Party on most things; I am much more aligned with the 'shit's fucked up' avenue of the OWS guys. But there is one thing both groups agree on: Money has corrupted Politics, possibly irrevocably. This is why Ron Paul (as off the wall as he is on some issues) has not discredited the Occupy movement out of hand; he sees that they are a populist movement with some common goals. Some people are calling him opportunistic. That may be, (he is a politician after all) but I think he is probably more human and realistic than that. Disclaimer: Do NOT mistake my candor as a ringing endorsement of Ron Paul; I disagree with him fundamentally on quite a few things (like the Austrian School of economics, his desired withdrawal from NATO, and his stance on Women's right to choose. It will be a cold day in hell before I vote for him because of those deal breakers.
But that is all color and background for what my topic is today: Police militarization and their totally inappropriate response to these protests. They have been heavy handed, coordinated and disrespectful. These police departments feel justified and protected by the many years of being propped up by the DHS. The FBI has been weakened and disenfranchised by the DHS. Federal policing is supposed to be their exclusive territory (with the exception of escaped convicts, which weirdly is exclusively the purview of the Marshall's office I believe).
My father taught me that his belief was that a police officer was meant to Serve and Protect the public, regardless of how the officer felt about the individual in question. He was meant to use force only when it was necessary to protect them from themselves, or when they had demonstrated a 'clear intention of harming others'. It is clear to me that these police officers are not engaged in honest police work; they are scared men and women. I am sure that many of them are just like the people they are facing: scared of losing their jobs, their homes. Like everyone they are just doing what their bosses tell them because they are afraid. America is now in a culture of fear, and has been living there since, 9-11-01. Five days before my wedding. The maid of honor was on one of the first flights into my airport.
An interesting thing about fear though; it excuses all manner of behavior. It is the fundamental weapon in a propagandists war chest. It's also worth noting that Propaganda and Marketing are EXACTLY the same thing. They use the same methods, the same tools, the same psychologies.
Fear is what Hitler used to come to power. Fear is what Stalin used. Fear. Those are the obvious ones; how about some others shall we?
Nixon
Kennedy (The Russians will get to space FIRST!!!!)
The Boston Tea Party
Fear based marketing is commonplace as well; it is commonplace in Insurance commercials obviously, the Allstate 'Mayhem' series is a great example. However less obvious is stuff like Oil of Olay commercials. They play on your fear of aging, getting old, and dying.
Fear based propaganda/marketing (I will forever read them as the same thing), appeals to our hindbrain, skipping the logical part altogether. One of the problems with the Occupy movement is also one of it's beauties; it is attempting to appeal to your HUMAN brain, your thinking mind. Not the fear riddled, hiding in a cave animal instinct side. The one that lashes out at perceived interlopers.
I had a point, I really did. And to sum it up it is this: Police need to stop being afraid. We, as citizens look up to you to NOT be afraid. It is your job to not show fear, to be the best of us. I implore you as a Public Servant to do what you signed up to do, and to Protect and Serve ALL the citizens, regardless of race, creed, gender or religion. If your captain is telling you to do something out of fear, you need to tell him to stop being afraid. Tell him, these people are not a threat, they are CITIZENS.
