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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Rude Pundit - Cop Protests and Protesting Cops
Believe it or not, it's possible to believe a couple of things at once. It's possible, for instance, to swear off tequila because of one wonderful and terrible evening in a Cuernavaca shack where you won a drinking contest but lost so very much afterward, yet you can still think it's great to drink straight liquor. It's possible to give up on fucking twenty year-olds because, god bless 'em, they mostly don't know who the Ramones are, yet not give up on fucking altogether. One is not mutually exclusive of the other.
Yet the argument used by people who are pissed off about protests by people who are pissed off at cops killing unarmed people goes something like "Yeah, you'd be screwed if there were no cops." What the fuck is that? How is that an argument? The Rude Pundit has been to protests, he's read tons of shit written by people upset with the cops, and not a single angry person has said, "Hey, you know what'd be cool as shit? Let's just get rid of the police and see how that plays out."
In other words, and, really, we're a fucking stupid society where this needs to be said, you can want racist, violent cops prosecuted when they murder someone but still be glad that the cops are around when some dickhead tries to break into your apartment. In fact, when some dickhead tried to break into the Rude Pundit's apartment a couple of years ago, the cops and, later, the detectives he dealt with were polite, sympathetic, and helpful. Oh, and they caught the dickhead. Yeah, they found him from some video surveillance, knew who he was, followed him until he actually broke into a house, and then arrested him. The Rude Pundit can compliment those cops, he can be happy about how they did their jobs, and, watch this, he can still call out the motherfucker cops for fucking their mothers.
To state it as simply as possible, you can hate some cops and not hate the cops.
There will always be extremists in every ideology. So, sure, fucked-up, damaged people like Ismaaiyl Brinsley are out there. Tell you what, though. If we don't treat the Tea Party differently after the Las Vegas cop killings, let's stop acting like Brinsley is in any way representative of the justice and adherence to civil rights being sought by the post-Garner/post-Brown non-indictment marchers, even if those marchers include Al Sharpton.
Still, though, large numbers of New York City cops are acting like jerk-offs, turning their backs on their boss (and, yeah, Mayor Bill de Blasio is their boss whether they like it or not) and using funerals to protest like a bunch of "God Hates Fags" zealots. This sustained fit at de Blasio not giving the NYPD a reacharound in his remarks after the Garner decision is looking less like a free-speech exercise and more like the beginning of a coup.
Interestingly, one hilarious bit of protest, a slow down in ticketing and minor offense policing, has, if anything, made people aware of just how much bullshit fake policing they were forced to put up with as the cost of living in New York City. So...well done?
Let's put this in context: Imagine that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has outright called teachers and their union "thugs" and worse, was going to speak to at the funeral of a teacher who was murdered in her classroom. Imagine that the gathered teachers, prompted by the head of their union, turned their backs on Christie as he eulogized the educator. Can you feel that anxiety welling in you? Yeah, it's because you know that the right-wing media would have a rage-induced orgasm of hatred directed at the teachers. There would be calls for them to be fired. There would be non-stop discussion of their disrespect.
But it's cops, so we're just supposed to shut the fuck up and let them do what they want. No matter what they do.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2015/01/cop-protests-and-protesting-cops.html
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)His Rudeness always hits the nail on the head.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)and it's so sad that this even needs to be said.
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)>The Rude Pundit has been to protests, he's read tons of shit written by people upset with the cops, and not a single angry person has said, "Hey, you know what'd be cool as shit? Let's just get rid of the police and see how that plays out."
I have seen this sentiment expressed on DU, albeit not frequently.
> To state it as simply as possible, you can hate some cops and not hate the cops.
Totally true, but a great many DUers do the latter, not the former.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,164 posts)The percent of DUers who advocate having no police at all is probably less than 1% and are probably confused as to the site they belong to. ie.. one with members who advocate a role for government and public services.
The percent of DUers who say or insinuate they hate cops, as in ALL cops, is maybe higher, but not by much and is an obvious exaggeration and most likely based on a particularly bad experience with a few of them.
So no, those responses are not worth making at all.
Jim Beard
(2,535 posts)I agree
bullwinkle428
(20,628 posts)nxylas
(6,440 posts)It may require setting up a keystroke macro, though.
Neon Gods
(222 posts)...that the vast majority of cops who turned their back are: white, and are out-spoken right-wingers who get their news (and marching orders) from Fox. How do I know? Because the extreme right always, Always!, acts like spoiled children who pout and cry and throw massive tantrums when they don't get their way. They spent eight years throwing tantrums and trashing Bill Clinton when he beat them in 2002 and 2006, and they've bedeviled Obama with the same childish actions (No! We refuse to support anything an adult wants for America!).
Leith
(7,808 posts)Good points, excellent column. As usual.
staggerleem
(469 posts)Quickly, now - Which TWO American groups have lately become well-known for protesting at funerals?
1) The NYC Police.
2) The Westboro Baptist Church.
All that's left to add is - "We are known by the company we keep."
Jim Beard
(2,535 posts)http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0105/Protesters-disrupt-ceremony-for-100-year-old-Navy-vet.-Is-uncivil-disobedience-rising[link:http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0105/Protesters-disrupt-ceremony-for-100-year-old-Navy-vet.-Is-uncivil-disobedience-rising|
[link:http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0105/Protesters-disrupt-ceremony-for-100-year-old-Navy-vet.-Is-uncivil-disobedience-rising|
Protesters disrupt ceremony for 100-year old Navy vet. Is 'uncivil' disobedience rising?
On Saturday, a ceremony honoring US Navy veteran Dario Raschio was held up for 15-minutes after more than 100 protesters burst into the room shouting "hands-up, don't shoot!"
vlakitti
(401 posts)One of the greatest US cultural icons.
riverbendviewgal
(4,252 posts)I just saw this today. Prosecutors also said they did not see this video at first.
New Jersey Man Escapes 5 Year Sentence After Dash Cam Footage Clears Him, Indicts Cops
Ino
(3,366 posts)that with the reportedly large majority of cops who are good people, that at least one of the three cops involved in this would be a good one, wouldn't you?!
marble falls
(57,013 posts)stevenleser
(32,886 posts)Response to meegbear (Original post)
ncjustice80 This message was self-deleted by its author.