some rants I left on the interwebz
Excerpts from stuff I wrote today, which are kind of bony and gristly. I need to really find the meat of what is bothering me:
I am watching the funeral service for the police officers killed here last weekend. There are tens of thousands of officers at the Tacoma Dome right now, from all over the state, all over the country... and even a huge contingent of Canadian Mounties (by the way, Canadians march funny) who have come to observe it. I'm affected by this more than I thought I would be, which surprises me. Being a progressive liberal often by default puts me at odds with political conservatives regarding ideas about military actions and law enforcement. Twenty years ago I was a punk rock teenager talking all kinds of anarchist smack, and it took me a long time to realize that just because people are different than I am and believe in different things, or prioritize some things over others, doesn't mean they are bad, or that I am any better than they are. To my former idealistic, naive self, and my current anarchist friends, I say, sure, there are bad cops, just like there are bad people among any profession. They are particularly offensive when they are corrupt law enforcement because they are abusing their authority and the public trust. But it is ridiculous, selfish and short-sighted to distrust or dismiss the law enforcement community outright because of those unfortunate rogue police. I mean, who are you going to call when someone tries to hurt you? The anarchists? Will they be able to get to you in time and subdue the bad guys using their powerful black hoodies, Nine Inch Nails patches and safety pins? Of course not. Our society is huge and we have a centralized government. As long as those are the facts, the police are necessary in our society, and they aren't going away. We can't have random assholes walking into coffee shops and slaughtering them. I would probably feel really prickly and uncomfortable around all those cops if I were in the Tacoma Dome. I'm more comfortable here at home waiting for the legalization of marijuana. But I am watching this funeral, and it's making me say a lot of things.
Sometimes, in an uber-liberal community like Seattle, it almost feels uncomfortable letting my liberal friends know how this affects me. Not that they don't also feel badly about it, but I think the fact that they were police officers changes the way people feel about it, or talk about it, or something.
I am watching the funeral service for the police officers killed here last weekend. There are tens of thousands of officers at the Tacoma Dome right now, from all over the state, all over the country... and even a huge contingent of Canadian Mounties (by the way, Canadians march funny) who have come to observe it. I'm affected by this more than I thought I would be, which surprises me. Being a progressive liberal often by default puts me at odds with political conservatives regarding ideas about military actions and law enforcement. Twenty years ago I was a punk rock teenager talking all kinds of anarchist smack, and it took me a long time to realize that just because people are different than I am and believe in different things, or prioritize some things over others, doesn't mean they are bad, or that I am any better than they are. To my former idealistic, naive self, and my current anarchist friends, I say, sure, there are bad cops, just like there are bad people among any profession. They are particularly offensive when they are corrupt law enforcement because they are abusing their authority and the public trust. But it is ridiculous, selfish and short-sighted to distrust or dismiss the law enforcement community outright because of those unfortunate rogue police. I mean, who are you going to call when someone tries to hurt you? The anarchists? Will they be able to get to you in time and subdue the bad guys using their powerful black hoodies, Nine Inch Nails patches and safety pins? Of course not. Our society is huge and we have a centralized government. As long as those are the facts, the police are necessary in our society, and they aren't going away. We can't have random assholes walking into coffee shops and slaughtering them. I would probably feel really prickly and uncomfortable around all those cops if I were in the Tacoma Dome. I'm more comfortable here at home waiting for the legalization of marijuana. But I am watching this funeral, and it's making me say a lot of things.
Sometimes, in an uber-liberal community like Seattle, it almost feels uncomfortable letting my liberal friends know how this affects me. Not that they don't also feel badly about it, but I think the fact that they were police officers changes the way people feel about it, or talk about it, or something.