Cute Kitties and Fluffy Bunnies

Awww, how sweet! Lawdog made some new friends. *gigglesnort*

I wanted to post a comment on LD's blog, but it ended up being too long, and I didn't want to be a blog-hog.

Yes, these people have a valid point spotlighting LEOs who've tarnished the badge. No, an all out flame and bitch fest is not the way to go about it. There is so much potential for that forum to do some good for everyone on both sides of the 'blue line', but it was immediately lost when the first flame post showed up.

What was that one trigger that set these people against all cops? Where was the perceived slight? Was the cop having a bad day when he/she pulled them over? Were they having an even crappier day when the blue lights started flashing in their rearview mirror? Was their 'knowledge' of the law and police procedure not up to snuff? Or, did they just get caught in the act?

Something tells me it was one of the latter two. Even I have learned to never tell a cop his job, even if he is your friend. They went to the academy, they took the tests and passed, and they are the ones who go to that job and do it everyday. I don't do their job. I haven't taken any criminal justice classes. I don't know what they are looking for when they pull me over (well, I was speeding the last time they pulled me over - I knew then!).

Now, if these guys were caught in the act, I have no sympathy for them. Why play the pity card? Man up and take your lumps like the rest of the world. The police catch you doing something you weren't supposed to be doing, give you a hard time about it, you go away feeling violated and humiliated. So what's the problem? I'd be mad as hell, sure, but I'd get over it after I came to the realization that my actions were the root cause of police interaction.

There may be something else to this forum and some of these people on it. I haven't been through the entire website, but from what I've seen, these guys are ANGRY. They are pissed at the world in general for the slightest affronts to their fragile egos and are taking it out on the closest link to authority they can find.

These are the people who have a snit if you miss one pebble of a dog turd after Fido craps on their lawn. You did your best to police the area, but they call Johnny Law just the same. He shows up to take a report four hours later after chasing down a drunk driver, throwing down with a wife-beater in violation of a TRO, and holding little Susie's hand while firefighters extract her broken body from a hit and run. Of course he's going to be indifferent to your little problem.

This piddly little dog squatting squabble could best be resolved by putting a "No Dogs on the Lawn" sign on display in your yard. John Law is tired and doesn't want to hear you recite the HOA code about dog crap and government taxes for the third time because it isn't a law or regulation or ordinance he is sworn to uphold. While these guys are busy ranting and raving and demanding taxpayer justice be meted out, the police officer is doing his level best not to whip out his ASP baton and go to work. The neighborhood grouch has drawn a crowd by now, and Mr. Law has come to the realization that this guy is a crackpot and not going to be happy until someone is arrested or shot.

Once the nice police officer talks the grouch off the high horse and promises to 'do something about it,' the grouch retreats to his hovel and dons his tinfoil hat. He starts beating on the jungle drums and getting the word out. Officer so-and-so refuses to do his job, he must be fired. It doesn't stop there. There is a snowball effect in place. He reads about a police officer busted for taking sexual bribes in lieu of speeding tickets on the news website. He calls the press to complain. His local constabulary is installing red light cameras at the intersection by his house. He starts running lights to challenge the constitutionality of the law.

This behavior goes on and on and perpetuates a cycle of . . . Gawd I don't know what it perpetuates, but it isn't healthy. These people are so angry at the slightest perceived insult to their way of thinking.

I've come to the realization long ago that the police are not there to protect me 100% 24/7/365. For the most part, they are only going to show up when I need them the least. That is to say, they are only going to be there to write the report and draw the chalk outline of the guy Joe Horn just ventilated. I'm okay with that. I'd rather be responsible for mine and my family's safety and well-being. I am not angry with law enforcement for doing their job, but I do have a beef with some of the people and some of the policies they have.

Just remember, folks, not everyone is cut out to be a police officer, g-man, revenooer, or meter maid. For every LawDog, Wyatt Earp, Mas Ayoob, and the others who follow in their footsteps there are many others behind the badge who are the complete opposite. Those are the ones we see in the evening news more often than not because the story they have to tell is more sensational than pulling a little girl from a fire, or stopping a man from jumping off a bridge during a psychotic break, or having to arrest the vagrant because that is the ONLY way to get him off the streets on the coldest of winter nights where he's surely to freeze.

The crime and corruption is left to the six o'clock news to sensationalize and irritate the people who so villified people like LawDog in their forum. For the rest of us, we know the truth. We see behind all the hype. We also pay more attention to the good that happens around us.

We go to bed at night hoping that tomorrow is a better day. For many of us, it is.