People behave badly

I apologize for my lack of speech...

Now that the bruhaha has started to simmer down after the Police shootings and the shootings of Police, I would like to discuss something that I fear has been ignored.

The Police are being stereotyped by the media and our elitists.

No seriously they are people, and sometimes in a free society they behave like idiots, just like the rest of us behave (sometimes).  That behaving like idiots is part and parcel of what go America into the shape it is in today.  Someone behave likes an idiot, and gets jailed for it, enough people get caught and laws get passed.  Laws today aren't written in a way to promote individual liberty, they are there to promote the power of the state. This is the same process that has been used to demonize gun owners, promote the Feminist agenda and denigrate the traditional bastions of our nation.

"oh surely Ichabob, you don't believe the police are completely not to blame in any of this?"  I wouldn't say that.  I would say that in any group of people (and I saw a 2008 statistic of 1/2 Million Police in the USA) there are always going to be some bad apples.  There are going to be people that want to genuinely help others, and there are others that will behave like little tin gods when they think they can get away with it.  We call those kind of people "bully's" and they have always been drawn into roles where they can push their authority.

Another thing,

I fear that the officer worn video cameras his royalness is promoting is just another example of where something done with the intention of doing the "right thing" will suddenly go wrong.  I forsee a day soon, when those cameras will be used (in some way) to violate the rights of citizens, will be deleted when convenient, and will be used to blackmail citizens by some portion of police-dom.  Say it couldn't happened?  Say "You are cracked Crane?"  Just a quick search of Google turned out a few issues here recently.

Saratoga Deputy behaving badly, and there is a second article as well.

Nevada Deputy behaving badly.

Not to mention that 50,000 cameras /  500,000 police officers means that this will only cover one in ten policemen on the street.  Sure you can say that the 500,000 officers are spread over 14 to 21 shifts per week, and that will cover it.  Maybe it will, maybe your math will work better than mine, but do remember the article points out that this requires matching money from the local areas to implement.
Frankly, I have always thought of myself as being pro-police.  There have been several incidents over the past few years that have caused me to move from being pro-police to "Wary and Cautious".  I am sure you can go and look for examples where police have tried to bully people into illegal searches, faked warrants to searches, and other abrogations of the rights of citizens.

One more thing and then I can quit for the evening, part of the checks and balances worked into our system was the idea of a grand jury.  My understanding, and realize I am not a lawyer, is that the grand jury was meant to act as filter to ensure that cases that had a chance of success were passed to the petit (or trial) juries.  The idea was that if the prosecutor could show enough evidence to warrant a trial, then the Grand Jury would "true bill" the defendant, if not then "no true bill" would be released.   In the case of the Ferguson shooting, my understanding is that the prosecutor and presented evidence intended to exonerate the police shooter.  When there are two sets of rules, then the people that don't get the "best" treatment tend to resent the others.

Is that what we have going on here?

Gun Experts and other liars...

Me thinks this guy has to be a fraud, but still....




DEA agent shoots self in foot, teaching gun safety...

Mr Dorian Johnson speaking about Mike Brown Shooting...

Somethings worth recording...

http://ronkulas.proboards.com/thread/274/review-comparison-gun-care-products

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152029234996863&set=a.153665376862.126203.18943096862&type=1

http://www.recoilweb.com/ms-clean-magazine-shaped-cleaning-kit-28399.html

If I was in charge...

If I was in charge of the anti-Obama party, be it Republican or a flavor of Conservatism, there are a number of things I would tell the troops.

1) Fighting against "gay marriage" was doomed to start, and is the wrong side of history to be on.  You might be opposed to Homosexuality, it isn't my thing but I don't like the government telling people what to do, but that fight is over.  Need to man up and say "This is a triumph of the person over the state".

2) Snowden and the NSA.  A senator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed suit against the NSA and administration for their crimes against the American people.  Frankly, if the senior senator from Kentucky showed that kind of leadership, he would be far more likely to be reelected for another term.  Say what you want about the need to have a modern surveillance state, but a surveillance state isn't American.  From the Aliens and Sedition act to the internment of Japanese - Americans during the 2nd World War and to the Communist Witch hunts post war, the infringements of the rights of Americans to be free to exercise their constitutional rights is never "good", and rarely rewards in the end.

3) Obama care is the law of the land, don't think you are going to get rid of it unless something else drops that will cause the American people to suddenly wake up.  Keep focusing on the lawless actions of the President unilaterally saying what the law is and isn't.  You aren't going to win, the Democrats control the senate, the President's man is the Attorney General, and unless the supreme's decide to wake up and do something, there isn't anything to be done.  Now after the mid-terms...

4) Gun Control, my first two points are about the power of the person over that of the state.  You know, the nation where the rights of the one are more important than the wants of the many? Fighting against Gun Control isn't about guns, it's the fight of the power of the individual to face the power of the state.  It's the classic fight of individualism vs statism.  Ultimately, the comparison of a republic vs that of a socialist state.

Make no mistake, by any definition of the word, our current president is a socialist.   Perhaps not the classic Marxist's proletariat socialist, maybe not a communist, but a genuine socialist none the less.

Socialism and communism are alike in that both are systems of production for use based on public ownership of the means of production and centralized planning. Socialism grows directly out of capitalism; it is the first form of the new society. Communism is a further development or "higher stage" of socialism.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds (socialism). From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs (communism).

The socialist principle of distribution according to deeds— that is, for quality and quantity of work performed, is immediately possible and practical. On the other hand, the communist principle of distribution according to needs is not immediately possible and practical—it is an ultimate goal.