Don't let politicians degrade our officers

I watched with a heavy heart the unfolding tragedy in Baton Rouge, La., where for the second time in a week several law enforcement officers have been killed in an ambush. It’s an unspeakable tragedy when the people who place their lives on the line daily to protect the public are targeted by radical criminal elements of the population. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those affected, and they also go out to our own North Idaho law enforcement community and first responders.

The direction of things is clearly toward anarchy, and it is the predictable result of having a community activist in the White House at a time when a broad swath of Congress also has this mindset. My interpretation of these leaders is they desire fast social change that favors the masses who want something for nothing, because the American system of capitalism that rewards achievement is too high a bar for them. The USA’s system is the world’s envy for economic opportunity. These leaders don’t believe in it, and instead of helping “their” people understand it and succeed within it, they desire to bring it down to the lowest common denominator — a socialist system. The goals of an anarchy movement have always included the insertion of like-minded people into the political system, the judicial system, and law enforcement, so that when they have fomented enough discontent and anger for violence to break out, the people who caused it are in key positions to benefit. Lets look at each of these in turn.

The political system is easy — just promise the population you will give them money from the public coffers when you get in office and you will win elections. It’s a danger of our democracy identified 200 years ago by our Founders and has been going on for the last few decades to win elections. Examples of this strategy include members of Congress arguing publicly that “the system” is not working for “their” people, and candidates promising free this, free that, and more funding for social programs to get elected. As a result, Congress has split along deep divides, and now every bill is evaluated not on whether it is good for the country, but only whether it is good for each side. Obama appears delighted with his progress, almost monthly repeating these mantras from his teleprompter.

The judicial system also falls easily to this strategy because many categories of the highest judges are appointed by politicians, and many of the remaining elected jurists are easily influenced by politicians using their bully pulpit to influence judicial elections. When key decisions are in the court system, political leaders even call these judges and place pressure on them in violation of the Constitution, which clearly set each government branch up with its own independence.

Don’t let me imply that during this process the solid politicians who want law and order and who play by the rules don’t have their influence and opportunity to balance things as a democracy is intended. They do. But the process suddenly became unfair. In a working democracy, all leaders — politicians, city leaders and law enforcement — must overtly and consistently support the rule of law as it currently exists. These groups are supposed to support the USA’s existing legal process, its law enforcement, and its rules and laws. Changes only go through the democratic process of debate in Congress, because however tedious, this process means change takes place in an orderly fashion that reflects the population of an organized society. Indeed, these leaders take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution when taking office. The result, as our Founding Fathers designed it, is an excellent system with a balanced tension where the public wants change and the leaders work as one to address those needs.

But the “hope and change” politicians have ignored this important principle and nobody’s talking about it. A large group of elected leaders both at the national and local levels have now violated this trust and Constitutional duty, by taking sides with the public rather than bringing the public’s views to Congress. This is dangerous because the message to radical members of the public is that they have the direct support of a group of the country’s leaders to cause change, rather than the support of a proven 240-year-old system to consider change. These radical political leaders are even telling them from microphones that they support their anger and accept destruction of public and private property. It is a subversion of the U.S.’s Constitutional duty when an elected leader encourages the public to make changes through violent protest. As an elected leader, they are supposed to create change in the halls of Congress ONLY.

I have never been on the debate floor in Washington, D.C., but based on the incoherence of many of these leaders’ arguments on TV, I suspect they are simply incompetent at debate and effective discourse — unfit for the office they were elected to. Not a week goes by that I don’t cock my head sideways at the TV and say aloud “What? Did he just say that? Does he not understand simple math, and grasp that what he said is demonstrably incorrect?” So they have resorted to using the bully pulpit in violation of their oath because they do not have logic and reason to bring to the debate floor of our government.

Many of the “hope and change” crowd might say “but the system isn’t working for me.” Well, understand that people on the other side of these many issues would say the same thing! The U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, a medical system the envy of the world being destroyed by Presidential fiat, senseless regulations and far more things to get angry over. But they are not out in the street breaking windows and assaulting fellow citizens over it because they are at work generating tax revenue so the other side can hit the streets in protest all day. Many of the “hope and change” crowd will claim that their situation is dire and this justifies the anger.

First, nothing justifies physical violence in an organized society except defense. Second, the standard of living and opportunities for education and training of an American on welfare has risen steadily to the point this lifestyle is the envy of most of the world — look it up yourself. There is no “urgency” that would justify violence. Only a desire for more, which has become the new battle cry thanks to unscrupulous leaders.

Let’s circle back to the last national organization the anarchists need to control — law enforcement.

Law enforcement is a tough nut for anarchists to crack, because this last line of defense is dedicated men and women who are professionally trained and who follow specific rules they believe in. More importantly, they consider their occupation a deep honor, and are solidly motivated by an unshakeable dedication to protecting the public safety, and to serving the community. These intelligent and capable professionals are not swayed by misguided agendas and see the world accurately and realistically as a struggle between good and evil. You cannot sway this group with irrational emotional appeal, and they are smart enough to understand where anarchy takes us.

There is one effective way to pressure law enforcement, and it’s right out of the anarchist’s handbook. If politicians can paint police officers as evil, biased, and unfair, they know the public will rise up. They know there are enough thugs, bullies and outlaws among “their” people that eventually they will be emboldened to openly attack. That is where we find ourselves today. The next few months will be tough ones as the summer heat traditionally brings urban unrest, and Obama will do as little as he can to solve the problem he and his ideologues have created. They will sit back chuckling at how easy it was to bring America nearly to its knees in pursuit of transforming us into the dream socialist society they once read about in liberal textbooks.

Obama’s people are counting on law enforcement having to escalate their interactions with the public in response. No longer will they be able to walk up to people on the street and engage in casual banter. The anarchists hope the police will have to draw guns in routine traffic stops, carry long guns in the streets, and cuff people to engage in casual banter. They hope for this because it will drive a wedge between these professionals and the people they serve, which the anarchist will further capitalize upon. We have all seen the apocalyptic movies where the police drive armored vehicles and keep a boot on the neck of the public. That is the anarchist’s dream — to create a world where the public sees law enforcement not as a helpful public servant, but as a jackbooted thug with a badge.

Happily, before America’s knees hit the ground, the thin blue line of law enforcement will be there to support us. I urge you all to understand this insidious plan as it dies with Obama’s reign, and the role law enforcement professionals will play in getting us through last few months of a reign of leadership vacuum America has never seen before. Our police officers and first responders must resist being pushed into a paramilitary posture by the emboldened thugs in our society. They must be allowed the leeway to continue to treat us kindly and use their judgment. We cannot allow them to be forced to issue a speeding ticket on the side of the road to Ward and June Cleaver with guns drawn. That’s the world Obama wanted desperately to create.

I have been politely waving to our local law enforcement ever since I wrote about it in the CDA Press years ago. I would encourage all of you to do the same. This is a moment of truth and I think it’s high time we let them know how much we appreciate their dedicated service to our safety. Won’t you lift a few fingers off your steering wheel the next time you pass a police car? They are here to protect and serve. Protect us. Serve us. Give ’em a wave!

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Doug Miller is a Hayden resident.