Old Style Police Work

 

I’m going to relate a story which I heard well over 30 years ago when I was a working cop.  Whether or not it’s fact based or just somebody’s idea of a good “yarn” really doesn’t matter; the reason for sharing this story has to do with how it was received 30 years ago and how it falls into “unacceptable” now.

It seems a burglary suspect was brought before the judge to have his official Miranda Warning read to him; but before the judge began reading the suspect interrupted and wanted to complain on the arresting officer for excessive force.  The judge observed that the fellow did indeed look like he’d been taken behind the woodshed; blood dripping from an open wound on his arms, nose and a cut over his right eye.

The judge got up from behind the bench and walked around to inspect the suspect’s injuries.  It was then that the judge commenced beating the living day lights out of the suspect.  He jumped on him, kicked him and put a knuckle sandwich in his mouth before stopping, walking back around the bench and sitting down to complete his duties as judge.

“Now young man, if that’s what the officer did to you then you might have a good case against him; but if you’re smart you’ll shut up and just go to prison and be glad I wasn’t the one who caught you first.”  (or something very close…remember, this story is from quite a while back.)

As a young police officer sitting in Traffic Court one afternoon, I actually got to observe something similar.  An officer pushed open the doors of the courtroom while dragging a bloodied handcuffed prisoner towards the bench.  Everyone, and I mean everyone took notice as the courtroom became deafeningly quiet; all except an on going exchange between the suspect and the arresting officer who keep telling him to shut up. 

The judge, a little perturbed, asked what was going on.  The officer was about to speak when the suspect shouted, “He stabbed me with my own knife!”  Sure enough you could see where there were puncture marks on the suspect’s arms and some blood seeping on the sides of his shirt just above his belt line.

The officer was calm and collected as he explained how during the course of arresting this fellow for his particular crime (*) the suspect pulled a knife on him and that, yes, he did have to wrestle the knife away from the suspect.  He never denied stabbing the suspect; simply explained that any damage done was part defending himself and completing the arrest.  (I couldn’t say what that crime (*) was as this happened back in the early to mid seventies; but it was either Robbery or Burglary). 

There was a time when there were 2 levels of justice.  Most of us, if/when we got in trouble at school got a swat with the paddle; but the real punishment came later when we got home and our parents read the note we were required to show them.  Our parents reinforced a level of expected social performance.  As children we knew what those levels were and learned to act accordingly or suffer the consequences of our actions.

That same kind of process used to exist without much public furor if a criminal happened to get his butt whipped during the process of being arrested.  If the suspect resisted in any way, shape or form cops had every reason to believe that doing what was necessary to affect an arrest would be okay with the Department as well as the general public.  Sure there were cops who went over the top and beat folks just because they enjoyed hurting people.  Bad apples have existed in the past and will continue to be rooted out and dealt with; but there has been a shift in public attitude which goes in a direction that reeks of hypocrisy.  The noisiest portion of our society would rather defend the actions of our criminals over those of law enforcement officers.

We expect cops to be robotic, lacking any trace of emotion during those few brief moments of an arrest when their adrenaline is running at peak levels.  We expect them to turn off that rush of energy within half a second of containing the situation and to somehow recognize that moment as if they too had instant replay, slow motion and the benefit of watching their own arrest as a third party observer.  Now we point our fingers, reprimand, demand removal and file criminal charges on police officers who’ve scuffled with a suspect during an arrest for what we considered a few seconds too long.

I’m sorry if this old time cop mentality offends your delicate senses; but that old judge had it right, “Now young man, if that’s what the officer did to you then you might have a good case against him; but if you’re smart you’ll shut up and just go to prison and be glad I wasn’t the one who caught you first.” 

This article (will be) cross posted (once the site is back up) to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Freeways and Freeloaders

Freeways are not free; they are very expensive to build and maintain.  For that matter, neighborhood streets, connecting roads and all of what we now take for granted to get us from point A to B have come at a staggering cost and the up-keep requires considerable resolve. 

Many states are coming to the realization they don’t have sufficient funding, or as we say around our house, “there isn’t enough money at the end of the month”, as they try to scrounge through the sofa looking for spare change.  According to an article by Dan X. McGraw, some states are considering a “Tax by the Mile” levy on drivers.

“Politicians are struggling to figure out a way to adequately fund state and federal road and bridge repairs for the future. The federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents hasn’t been increased in nearly two decades, and few politicians seem eager to increase it.”

{…}

“As the (national vehicle) fleet becomes more fuel efficient…we’re going to lose a lot of revenue from the gas tax,” he (Josh Schank, president of the non-partisan ENO Center for Transportation) told the newspaper. “If it’s not replaced, we’re going to see our transportation infrastructure deteriorate.”

{…}

“Some states are exploring using the car’s onboard technology to remotely send the data to officials or using a pre-pay or unlimited mileage system. James Whitty, a manager at the Oregon Department of Transportation, said wrote in a Bloomberg column that officials must do something to fund future infrastructure.”

Before I jump on board of any new fuel tax or increased levy system on drivers to pay for road building and repair, wouldn’t it be better to find out how much is being brought in and then find out where that money is being spent?  There’s more information supplied by Zahira Torres from the El Paso Times, Austin Bureau, explaining how Texas legislatures are coming up short in their transportation budget.

“Since 1991, Texans have paid a 20-cent state tax per gallon every time they fill up their cars. Five cents goes to help pay for public education and the remainder, about $2.2 billion annually, helps finance the state’s transportation system. An increase of a penny would provide $115 million a year toward transportation and $38 million for public education. If the increase goes solely to transportation, it would provide $153 million annually.” 

{…}

“Another suggestion is to increase vehicle registration fees.

Drivers in the state pay different registration fees based on a vehicle’s age. Registering a new car costs about $59, excluding county, road and bridge fees. Drivers of cars that are at least 7 years old pay about $41.”

States are looking for ways to match spending with income.  Actually, since we’re talking about government, they’re looking for ways to bring in additional taxes so they can figure out ways to spend it all and then some; but that’s just how government works.  Why not figure out how to spend less on some budget items that are less productive and divert that money towards the infrastructure which we all depend upon?

The next part made my head hurt trying to make the figures work; but my math skills have always been a bit lacking.  That said here’s what State Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso said regarding Texas roads.

“An estimated $487 billion would be needed to continue meeting the state’s highway needs for the next 20 years, according to a report by the 2030 Transportation Committee.”

Okay, I’m with him so far; that means we’ll be spending $24.35 Billion each year for the next 20 years if my calculator can be trusted.

“Texas’ two-year budget for transportation is about $16 billion but will go down by about $2 billion in the state's proposed 2012-13 budget.” 

Hold on there, Partner; that doesn’t add up.  I thought he said it would cost around $24.35 Billion per year; then how come the two-year budget for transportation is listed at only $16 Billion?  Then it will go down by $2 Billion for the following 2 years; how can that be?  Folks in government would call this “fuzzy math”; but when I was in school they circled the answer with a red pencil and told me to improve.

Let’s put funding for our transportation infrastructure on hold and venture off on a tangent and see if it is related.  Joel Nagel wrote an article explaining how the government can now restrict your ability to travel if you happen to owe them back taxes.  I’ll keep this short so go read his article; basically his last line summed it up:

“The Government beginning with the Passport Act of 1926 considers travel a “privilege” not a right.” 

   

All that money you’ve been paying at the gas pump in taxes along with your vehicle registration fees which are intended to help pay for road building and maintenance; all that money you paid does not “automatically” entitle you to use those roads, provided you have a driver’s license.  Travel is a privilege, not a right.

While we’re talking about money that should go toward transportation, how about we consider Food Stamps?  Nobody is “entitled to” or has a “right” to Food Stamps, just like Travel is not a right.  Nicholas Ballasy’s article, Sessions: Food stamp spending up 100 percent since Obama tookoffice, happens to bring up a comparison of spending tax money on Transportation with Food Stamps.

“The vast majority of federal spending in the Senate farm bill, which is estimated to cost over $100 billion annually, is going toward food stamps, representing a 100 percent increase since President Barack Obama took office, according to Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

“The legislation will spend $82 billion on food stamps next year…we will spend next year $40 billion on the federal highway program,” said Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

“Food stamp spending has more than quadrupled, four times, it’s increased fourfold since the year 2001. It has increased 100 percent since President Obama took office,” he said.”

You mean to tell me we’re spending more on Freeloaders than on Freeways?  We just increased spending on Food Stamps in the past three years by 100 percent; how much more good could that money have been used on restoring, upgrading and improving our transportation infrastructure.  The government has more than enough tax revenue if they’d quit wasting it.  We could forget about increasing the gasoline tax, forget about raising vehicle registration fees and toss that Draconian idea of taxing motorists by the number of miles they drive if we changed the direction of spending.  Get rid of the freeloaders first and we could take care of the freeways in short order.

This article (will be) cross posted (once the site is back up) to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Texas Mandate Tuition Set Asides

If you weren’t aware, students attending institutions of higher learning in the State of Texas have a portion of their tuition fees set aside in order to comply with federal student aid (FAFSA) requirements.  This is enumerated under the Texas Education Code, Section 56.011, 56.012, 56.095 and 56.465 and applies to all students.

My daughter received her notification explaining how her $ 351.65 “donation” is helping provide money to some poor student via mandated wealth redistribution.  I find that remarkable since my daughter had to take out a student loan in order to complete her senior year; the poorest among us are digging deeper into debt in order to finance an entitlement program; only America!

This serves as a wake up call, “Welcome to the system”, as she is now taxed simply because the government can get away with it; gouged like roughly 50% of America’s responsible tax payers while letting the other 50% skate. 

My daughter graduates this year, having completed the requirements of a “four year” Mechanical Engineering degree with its accompanied two and a half years of “co-ops” working at NASA and applying what she’d learned.  She’s well prepared to jump into the deep end of the pool and be a full fledged tax payer with a long list of responsibilities. Paying for her own tuition and this “included” mandated expense, she can lay claim to having lent a helping hand to an illegal alien who gets attend our universities at a greatly reduced price.  Don’t you know how proud and thrilled my daughter is to have helped a needy fellow student?

This reminds me of the fellow who lost a ten dollar bill and was physically sick about it.  One of his friends tried to console him, “Just think, some needy person probably found it”.  After hearing this, the fellow replied, “Yea, but I’m the needy person who needs to find ten dollars!”

Students are being asked, scratch that, students are forced to pay for their fellow student’s education while many of them are trying to keep their own heads above the water line; what does that say for the folks who wrote such a mandate?   I’m proud of my daughter’s accomplishments and determination to achieve her goals.  Let’s hope she makes enough as a mechanical engineer to support many more undeserving individuals, just like the rest of us.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Florida was Settled by Criminals

In American History they taught that Florida was a depository for European criminals; but how long does it take to purge them from the voter rolls?  It would appear Republican Gov. Rick Scott has been doing his part to make voter rolls match up with eligible voters; even asking Janet Napolitano’s Homeland Security Department to assist in this effort.  So why are the feds, specifically Eric Holder’s Justice Department, telling Florida to cease and desist cleaning up the mess?

“In a move that comes just months before the state could play a pivotal role in the 2012 presidential election, the U.S. Department of Justice contends that the state is violating federal law in its effort to identify and remove ineligible voters.”

You’d think the Justice Department would be in favor of removing ineligible voters; but you’d be wrong considering how corrupt these top law enforcement officers appear to be based on their recent past, failing to do anything about the New Black Panthers harassment of voters in Philadelphia, and let’s not forget the Fast & Furious gun running fiasco in which our own federal agents placed automatic weapons in the hands of Mexico’s drug cartels and got at least one Boarder Guard killed with one of those weapons. 

“Federal officials said that the procedures the state is using to identify non-U.S. citizens has not been reviewed to make sure they are not discriminatory. Florida must get approval for changes in voting procedures because five counties are still covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

So, why haven’t the procedures been reviewed?  This would be like a gas station owner watching a fresh delivery of fuels being directed to the wrong storage tank, say thousands of gallons of Diesel fuel being poured into the Regular gasoline underground tanks.  Rather than stop the delivery and clean out the Diesel fuel prior to customers filling up and damaging their fuel systems; according to the way the Feds operate it would be safer to wait until they knew for sure that Diesel fuel actually damaged gasoline engines; insanity or criminal negligence, either way the damage is done.

“A Department of Homeland Security official said Thursday that the federal agency is aware of Florida's request but that there a "number of legal and operational challenges" to granting the state access.”

Let me get this straight, Homeland Security can’t help validate or cooperate with the State of Florida’s request to eliminate ineligible voters, primarily illegal aliens living in the State of Florida because of “legal and operational challenges”.  Is that the same as saying the Department of Homeland Security would be unable to help because our current administration is so corrupt that it would be in our best interests to have illegal aliens continue to vote and cancel out actual American voters who want to cleanse the State of Florida and the United States of America and set things right?

Why hasn’t Eric Holder been thrown out on the street; better yet, why hasn’t he been indicted and sent off to prison?  I’ll tell you why; spineless members of the “old guard” GOP, that’s why.  They are so afraid of doing what is necessary that they’d rather just “get along” with the devil himself.   Why isn’t Speaker of the House John Boehner demanding investigations; oh, I forgot, he’s out playing golf with Obama.  These nasty pieces of business are better left to unimportant folks, expendable members of the GOP less likely to have support like California Rep. Darrell Issa. 

When the government fails to represent “We The People” bad things eventually happen.  Tyranny is a poor substitute for our constitutional republic and yet that is what we have when the rule of law is exchanged for corrupted politicians who’d rather remain in office than do their jobs.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Define Military Service

I sometimes wonder if six years in the Army Reserves counts the same as folks who got drafted and served full time for a couple of years.  In the long run it probably doesn’t much matter; but then why does the question remain in the back of my mind? 

I joined the Army Reserves while attending college at Sam Houston State University during the Viet-Nam War era.  There had been a draft number drawing which pretty much made the odds of my being drafted nil; something close to the end of the list of possible candidates, so why did I voluntarily submit to military service? 

My answer boiled down to a sense of community responsibility in spite of my not having any faith in our nation’s leadership.  I saw the Viet-Nam conflict as contrary to common sense; it violated my sense of right and wrong.  We had troops on the ground but had no intention of “winning”.  Young men were dying; for what, so we could look like we were against communism and oppression?   No, I intended to serve my country; just not necessarily by going into a war zone I didn’t support.  Shouldn’t that be important; dying for something you believe in?  Buffalo Springfield had a tune that comes to mind, Stop, Hey What’s That Sound.

“There’s something happinin’ here
what it is aint exactly clear
there’s a man with a gun over there
tellin’ me I got to beware

I think it’s time we stop, children
what’s that sound
everybody look what’s goin’ down

There’s battle lines being drawn
nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
young people speakin’ their minds
getting so much resistance far behind

It’s time we stop,
hey what’s that sound
everybody look what’s goin’ down…”

I took off for boot camp in the middle of winter; Ft. Jackson, South Carolina was a cold and dreary place.  I was sick from some kind of “upper respiratory infection” almost from the first day.  We all had to wear some kind of silly jock strap looking mask over our faces at all times; probably how I caught what ever it was that got into my chest.  The time passed slowly, my not seeing much in the Army that suited my personality didn’t help. 

In spite of having a URI, my physical body was in excellent shape, having been involved in gymnastics at the university, so the rigors of the Army’s “PT” fell considerably short of my regular workouts.  I got together with another fellow in for the short haul and worked out, a track man from some college in Florida.  We noticed that we could score quite well on the PT test, enough to make our Drill Sgt consider placing bets with his peers in other squads.  Our end of the deal was to win those bets by coming in first while the pay off was we’d get to ride instead of marching to where ever the squad was headed; that was a fairly good return since my feet and the army boots never were a good fit either.  Let’s just say I didn’t have to do much marching while in the Army; life was good.

Somewhere in the middle of my short active duty stint was a two month stay at Ft. Gordon, Georgia for Military Police training.  That turned out to be the best two months I ever invested as it opened a door back in Houston when I signed up to be a police officer.  Maybe my service to the country was more along the lines of twenty years; fighting bad guys in a blue uniform or fatigues, not much difference.

Here’s a snap shot my dad took in front of his house back in 1971; a lean mean fighting machine, all hundred and thirty eight pounds of me.   I could eat all day long and never gain any weight back then.   I had to gain two pounds to pass “belt line” for the Houston Police Department; now that was tough, eating banana splits just before going off to bed, a complete blueberry pie, extra pieces of chocolate cake and the list went on and on. 

I stand proudly when the American Flag is displayed and can’t make it through singing America the Beautiful without my voice getting knotted up.  Sometimes the tear begin flowing when I consider the wonderful message even before standing while other times I can make it all the way to the third stanza.

“…O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America ! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!...”

May we live our lives worthy of such sentiments; earn the blessings of liberty for which so many have sacrificed their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.  These words should cause your chest to burn as you contemplate your heritage as an American citizen this Memorial Day. 

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Memorial Day with a Twist

Twice in the same week I was looking in the Book of Mormon and came upon the same scripture.  Thursday evening while I had a few moments I randomly opened to the Book of Alma, chapter 46 and began reading in verse 9 about a conflict which had divided the people of the land. 

“Yea, and we also see the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men.

 Yea, we see that Amalickiah, because he was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake.” 

An interesting and troubling comparison came to mind; that I could substitute Obama’s name for Amalickiah’s in the verse as if they were the same.  I tried to dismiss the thought; the idea that we had someone who intentionally would attack the predominant religion of the people while at the same time doing his best to undermine individual liberties would make such a person treasonous and worthy of our deepest scorn. 

And yet…isn’t Christianity under attack by the Obama administration at this very moment; specifically the Catholic Church and freedom of religion as it applies to each of us individually?   An article by Jack Cafferty on CNN’s website brought up the issue of Obamacare and the Catholic Church.

“The Catholic Church is suing President Obama for violating the freedom of religion that is guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

In what’s being called the largest legal action of its kind, 43 separate Catholic institutions filed lawsuits in a dozen different federal courts this week.” 

Then I thought about the racial tensions that have exploded in the past couple of years, racial tensions which were healing in large part to our nation working to make Martin Luther King’s “Dream Speech” come to fruition.  Isn’t it amazing “the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men”; a reference to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the influence he had on Barrack Obama over 20 years teaching Black Theology under the guise of preaching Christianity.

“Around mid-March in 2008, some of Wright’s more extreme statements began circulating in the news, including him referring to the United States as the “U.S. of K.K.K. A.” and arguing that the September 11 terrorist attacks stemmed from America’s corrupted foreign policy, the New York Times reported.” 

Then there was Obama’s Harvard Law school mentor, Professor Derrick Bell to consider.  Bell was praised for, “…pursuit of racial and social justice and his dogged critique of liberal incrementalism in universities and elsewhere was like a persistent wind that changed the landscape of law schools and influenced the larger academic world as well,” wrote Harvard law professor Lani Guinier.

“Bell was a founder of critical race theory, which examined the intersection of race, power and law in a harsh portrayal of American society as one dominated by class and racial conflict.” 

Critical race theory isn’t any different then Black theology; it segregates rather than integrates, divides and blames rather than heals our nation.  Martin Luther King is rolling over in his grave at the so called advances in race relations under the Obama administration; but I’m getting off target a bit.

This morning I was thinking about Memorial Day and our reverence for those who died in battle defending our liberties.  I had recently read a reference to the “Banner of Liberty” which Captain Moroni made from a piece of clothing, a flag hoisted up for all to see as they battled against evil as related in Alma 46, starting in verse 12:

“And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land --” 

Oh to have a righteous leader in troubled times; hopefully, a prayer that resides in our hearts.  Memorial Day is upon us; our honored dead have flowers placed at their grave markers across the country and scattered cemeteries in distant lands.  It is a sacred day intended to rekindle our foundational priorities.

“Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.”  Alma 46:20 

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Badge Happy Cops

This should be fun, a retired cop writing about a badge happy cop running rough shod over the general citizenry.  Yesterday I was driving around in my little green BMW Z-3 Coupe taking care of business when I got pulled over by a motorcycle officer for an “unknown” reason; my goodness that was an un-Pleasant experience.

We’d both made a left turn, the motorcycle cop in the far left lane while I was a car length behind in the next lane over; one of those two lane option set ups.  The truck in front of me went straight which opened up a clear lane while completing my turn which I gladly accepted, throttling up to fill the void.

Apparently my waving at the motorcycle cop as I pulled up even with him annoyed his sense of fair play; he motioned for me to pull over while putting on his emergency lights.  I rolled my window down as he approached and asked what violation I’d been pulled over for; but doing so violated protocol, cops ask the questions and citizens are to remain quiet.

“I heard your tires; have you ever been written up for reckless driving?”  My odd sense of humor wondered if he must have meant “wreck less” since I hadn’t been involved in an accident. 

“All the time, Officer…”  I should have known better than to answer such a stupid question, a question intended to identify myself as a road hazard.  “Exactly how does accelerating up to 30mph qualify as reckless?”  

He wasn’t impressed with my attitude and had me step out of my hot looking sports car.  I managed to remove my wallet during this exchange of pleasantries; locating my driver’s license, proof of insurance and Houston Police Department identification card which also serves as my concealed handgun permit.

The motorcycle officer switched to a different gear after seeing my retired HPD identification.  “You shouldn’t draw attention to yourself.  You could have lost control, flipped your car and, being a cop, you should know about drawing attention to yourself.” 

I could also have been hit by a flying saucer, fell into a chasm created during a freak earthquake or been overcome by fumes from a volcano spewing ash into the atmosphere; but a reality check being in order, that wasn’t likely accelerating up to 30mph in mid curve as a clear piece of asphalt presented itself. 

Badge happy: a dangerous character disorder associated with some police officers who elevate their importance above law enforcement to a level of superiority in which their personal likes or dislikes rather than the rule of law determine how to select individual citizens for chastisement, ridicule or humiliation.

I guess he didn’t like my spiffy green BMW Z-3 Coupe; washed, polished to the 9’s and worth a speeding ticket even when parked.  There should be a misdemeanor crime, “Failure to turn heads with a sweat ride because you were too lazy to polish the fenders”; but that’s another issue and this motorcycle cop was already in trouble as he hadn’t kept his bike polished, at least that was my observation.

“I’ve never written a ticket to another cop before, but you might be my first.”  He kept babbling about my driving stunt, making a left turn and speeding up to 30mph being a danger to the rest of the world. 

“So what law did I violate, Officer?”  I pressed him to identify my crime.  

“You know…”, having to hesitate since the average citizen wouldn’t test the merits of such a traffic stop, “…most officers would have had sense enough to just say, “Yes, Sir” and be glad they didn’t get a ticket; but here you are jibber jabbering your jaws at me.  That’s the problem today, HPD officers don’t know how to shut up and just say, Yes, Sir, Thank you for not writing me a ticket”.  

The more this motorcycle cop went on the more I had to wonder how he treated the rest of the citizenry.   I finally figured it out, the motorcycle cop was annoyed because someone had dared to drive up along side of him, (changed the wording to keep it civil) annoyed because I had a clear lane to speed up while he’d gotten trapped behind a slow poke; that and waving to him as I pulled up even must have been more than his badge happy character could handle.

He still hadn’t identified any traffic law I’d broken; but I was a menace to society, a regular hot rod junkie hell bent on taking out the north side of town.  “I’d write you a ticket; but don’t have time to call a supervisor.  I’ve never written another cop before; but you could be my first.”

I’d already heard that line a few minutes earlier, “What traffic violation, tell me; I’d like to know?” 

“There ya’ go again”, as he gestured with his hands that I was running my mouth off when I should have been fearful of his all powerful uniform, nodding in gratitude for his magnanimous gesture of not writing me a ticket for violations real or imagined, “…that’s your problem, no respect for uniformed officers; you HPD guys think you own the streets.”  Did I mention he wore a Harris County Sherriff’s Department uniform?

I really did want to deck the jerk, put him in his place; again, I’ve altered my vocabulary for the sake of the general public who might be offended should other common articulations spill over.   I should have reminded the motorcycle cop that I’d never written a formal complaint against a fellow police officer; but I might make an exception for him.  What a self absorbed badge happy bully!

This is one of the earmarks of a police state, uniformed officers who believe they have the state’s permission to arbitrarily bully and impugn the citizenry with a total disregard for the rule of law.  Most folks would sit quietly and hope the moment passed; but is that a wise avenue of action?    

We already have the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA setting up random check stations, unconstitutional violations of the 4^th Amendment under the guise of protecting the public from terrorist activities; do we really want traffic cops enforcing their personal interpretations of right or wrong?

Most police officers are just trying to do their job and get home safe to their families; but, there are a few cops driving around looking for petty wars to start, unjustified tickets to write and citizens to aggravate.  Ah, life goes on; not much has changed.  Ya’ll drive friendly, ya’ hear! 

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Defending Your Rights in a Sporting Manner

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society never seems to go away; it keeps on destroying America a little at a time.  Take for example the 1968 Gun Control Act (GCA), a knee jerk reaction intended to limit the general citizenry from obtaining “assault rifles” like the kind used to assassinate John F. Kennedy; recently the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms wants to limit ownership to “sportsman” shotguns as opposed to assault type shotguns.  Supposedly the ATF is looking for public input prior to rendering a final decision; yea and they listen to the public all the time.

“The 1968 Gun Control Act added a “sporting purpose” test which barred imports of military surplus rifles (a goal of many domestic gun makers) and a “points system” for imported handguns which barred from importation handguns based on penalizing features (short barrels, small caliber, short overall length or height, non-adjustable sights, etc.) believed to define the Saturday night special class of handgun.”   

The progressive minded in positions of power have been working to write the 2^nd Amendment out of existence, or at least relegate it to a meaningless scrawl at each turn of the screw.  They see individuals with the ability to own and bear weapons as a threat to the safety of the collective.  Often you hear these very same folks bemoaning conservatives as clinging to God and Guns as if there was a diminished mindset, even a form of instability worthy of concern for anyone who actually believes the Constitution was intended for our day.

“[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens.” -- The Federalist, No. 29 - Alexander Hamilton 

If you think about what Alexander Hamilton proposed, it is exactly the opposite of the intent of 1968 Gun Control Act.  Citizens should have at their disposal weapons equal to those of a standing army which would be used against them.  In Hamilton’s day that would have been the long gun or musket; but today that would mean average everyday citizens having access to fully automatic assault weapons, weapons just as deadly as those carried by the military. 

 

“Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth”    George Washington 

It boils down to the 2^nd Amendment; does it really mean what it says or has it evaporated down the rabbit hole of history.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

It has taken nearly two hundred years for our Supreme Court to validate the 2^nd Amendment and clarify our founder’s intentions; that Individuals have the right to own and bear arms; that this right was not singularly for those serving as militia members.  That ruling did not specify ownership depended on whether or not the weapon was to be used for “sporting purposes”.

“Prior to the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the courts had yet to definitively state what right the Second Amendment protected. The opposing theories, perhaps oversimplified, were (1) an “individual rights” approach, whereby the Amendment protected individuals’ rights to firearm ownership, possession, and transportation; and (2) a “states’ rights” approach, under which the Amendment only protected the right to keep and bear arms in connection with organized state militia units. Moreover, it was generally believed that the Amendment was only a bar to federal action, not to state or municipal restraints.

However, the Supreme Court has now definitively held that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that weapon for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. Moreover, this right applies not just to the federal government, but to states and municipalities as well.”

It’s time to tell the ATF where to stick their interpretation of the 2^nd Amendment and the types of weapons the general citizenry may own.  Shucks, the next thing you know the ATF will begin restricting how much enhanced uranium we can put in our home made nuclear devices.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Trial by Media and Chaos

This new age of civil rights; is it a step forward or two steps back?  The Houston Chronicle presented coverage of a trial in which a police officer was found not guilty after having been accused of official oppression for alleged use of excessive force while arresting a felony suspect based on a few seconds of raw video footage taken during the arrest. 

“After State District Judge Ruben Guerrero announced the jury’s decision about 11:30 a.m., Quanell X and other activists from the National Black United Front and the New Black Panther Party exploded in anger and expletives in the hallway outside the courtroom. They hammered prosecutors and the all-white jury – two women and four men – for racism. Blomberg is white; the beating victim, Chad Holley, is black.”

Race baiters stood at the front of the line pointing their fingers, “He’s guilty”; but don’t let the facts presented to the jury get in the way.  “We saw the video, that’s all we needed to see, he’s guilty”, a choir of angry protesters shouted, their voices echoed off the court house walls.

“What they did today is send a message to black people, to all of us, that our lives aren’t worth a damn in this city,” Quanell X said.”

Well, I wasn’t there during the arrest and neither were you Quanell.  Isn’t that why we have a trial, to find out all the facts rather than base our final judgment on a few seconds of video splashed across the television screen during the ten o’clock news? 

Folks like Quanell X don’t give a damn about facts; they want to stir up the Black community, increase racial tension so the next opportunity might actually break the back of civilized society and bring about the long awaited triumph of the ever persecuted Black race.  Isn’t that what’s being foisted upon us, all in the name of bringing about justice?

Guilt by accusation and trial by media have become the bully pulpit for an insidious force that moves freely among us; a force which presumes to take the place of “innocent until proven guilty” and a judicial system which acts to review the merits of each case brought before it.  It’s so much easier to take a few moments from a video clip and pretend those few moments represent the entire incident, especially if those moments match with your agenda to racially divide and incite riot.

Quanell hammered our racist society, “There is no way an all-white jury could provide justice in this case, he said. “That was not a jury of our peers, Chad’s peers, or the city’s peers.”

There was a jury pool which had a diverse cross section of possible jurors and included several Black individuals.  In fact, but you won’t hear Quanell X mention it, three Black people were presented as possible jury members for this trial; but were dismissed from the jury pool because they had already determined the guilt of the accused based on having observed a newscast presentation of the video clip, a video clip which was played over and over again covering the space of several days. 

I watched that same video clip and my stomach tightened as damning “evidence” was presented; but at the same time I’m aware that a few seconds of video doesn’t constitute “evidence”, only a portion of what may or may not be evidence in the legal sense. 

Evidence is determined by the court, not the media and not the public at large.  This is important if we are to live under the rule of law.  Are we civilized enough to live under the rule of law is the next question; either that or admit we would rather be savages who have no rules, no laws or social order; chaos is a poor alternative to the rule of law.

Trial by media is a dangerous substitute for the justice system we depend on.  Trial by media depends on knee jerk reactions rather than a reasoned thought process. 

It’s so much better for ratings if your viewers grab torches and march on the court house square demanding justice.  That isn’t to say there aren’t flaws within the justice system; but hysteria induced lynch mob mentality is a step backwards, not forward.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, pointing to a printed clip of the original video clip before the camera, pandered to her constituents, “Every citizen deserves due process and their right to a trial by a jury, but also every victim deserves a thorough review of their case to determine if justice has truly been rendered,”

Every citizen except the police officer, isn’t that what you meant to say Congresswoman Lee?  Every victim deserves a thorough review of their case, except this police officer; we only needed to watch a few seconds of a video to know he was guilty.  The double edged sword of hypocrisy cuts deep if you turn their words around on these race pimps.

What have we learned, that three possible black jurists might have served had they not been prejudiced by a video clip which was widely circulated among most of the local news media?  No, I don’t have a good feeling about any of this as we go toward the summer months.  There’s still the Trayvon Martin mess to deal with in Florida; a mess which has been intentionally distorted from the very first moment by these very same race pimps.

What purpose does it serve to throw a nation into chaos based on racial tension, real or imagined?  My gut feeling comes from a very dark place, the kind of feeling that leaves a bad taste in your mouth even before you say it. 

If you connect the dots then we are being driven towards a particular end, that being the destruction of the rule of law and our constitutional republic.  There are those among us who would prefer we abandon everything civilization has achieved in favor of their notion of social justice regardless of right or wrong; victory at any cost, even if it means total chaos.

Race baiting is nothing new; but add to their arsenal instant video taken by cell phones or random camera placements around the city combined with repeated media hype and we are one step closer to chaos.  If we permit information presented on the television, radio or internet to take the place of  “evidence” or “proof” without following time tested judicial protocols then we also must accept that we no longer live under the rule of law and in its stead have become a society which favors trial by media.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Progressives Don’t Believe in America

The title could easily have read, Progressives Don’t Believe in American Individual’s God Given Rights as Protected by the Bill of Rights; but that would be too long and wouldn’t fit on one line.  Our left leaning elitists in Congress believe the average citizen isn’t trustworthy, has a penchant for violating the rights of his/her fellow citizens and certainly can’t be trusted with a gun.  Kurt Nimmo in his article, Congressional Democrats Introduce Amendment to Outlaw SelfDefense, explained how they plan to deny states funding unless citizens are put in their place.

“The Congressional Progressive Caucus has announced it will introduce legislation designed to strip Americans of the right to defend themselves. Called “Stop Shoot First Laws,” the amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill under consideration in the House would deny states federal funding allocated under section 505 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 if they continue to allow citizens to defend themselves.”

Progressives, Socialists, Communists or Totalitarians; call them whatever you want, have similar goals; to deny individuals their God given inalienable or Natural Rights.  The unwashed masses should be ruled over as opposed to self governed.  In other words, progressives don’t believe in America.

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficient... The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”   Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Hollywood pushes the leftist progressive agenda in much of their so called entertainment; sometimes done in such subtlety as to be almost invisible.  The American President, a Rob Reiner film (1995), was one of their best examples; a dyed in the wool conservative tea party movement guy like me bought the DVD so it could be enjoyed over and over. 

The movie is about gun control along with environmental issues up for vote in a divided Congress, one of the best examples of modern day progressive propaganda ever recorded on film, the President struggles to get his crime bill passed. In the end he changed the bill and says that, and I quote; “You cannot address crime-prevention without getting rid of assault-weapons and handguns.  I consider them a treat to national society (security?) (..) and I’m gonna’ get the guns!”  (read the linked article; but be prepared for an assault on reasoned thought, not to mention grammar and spelling)

Progressives fail to recognize they live in America, not some back water third world dictatorship.  America is a land where its people recognize man’s relationship with our Creator, God, Lord and Savior.  His hand touched the minds, the very souls of our Founding Fathers as they were inspired to write the most articulate and nearly perfect documents in the history of the world.  Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are the foundations upon which the Great American Experiment springs from. 

His hand guides us in our daily successes and are often times referred to as Providence; that power which made it possible for a handful of farmers and a rag-tag army to defeat the most powerful military force in all the world.   This is a people who are defined by their moral and religious integrity and yet progressives deny the existence of God by their thoughts and actions.  The Constitution should have been scrapped a long time ago; nothing but a burdensome hodge-podge of gobbledygook that keeps government from being able to properly rule the people; isn’t that how progressives view things?

Thomas Jefferson stated, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”. 

When you hear folks like The Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Institute for Policy Studies, MoveOn.org, the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, Hip Hop Caucus, and other liberal and so-called “progressive” organizations clamoring to abolish 2^nd Amendment rights, red flags should alert you to stand up and do battle with them.  The red flags you see are your God given inalienable rights being threatened and once lost these rights are only retrieved through the shedding of much blood.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Is the American Dream Dead?

While going through Facebook contacts this afternoon one entry caught my attention over all the others.  The Federalist Papers asked, “Is the American dream alive or dead? Do you expect that your children will be better off than you are?”

It’s not an easy set of questions to answer, and it certainly deserved more than a casual, “Like” button hit; but here goes…  The first part asked, “Is the American dream alive or dead?” 

Define the American dream or we could be talking about apples and oranges; something we should be careful not to mix, causes gas.  Is the American dream home ownership, a new car in every drive way, minimum wage with 2 weeks vacation and health insurance coverage thrown in as we have been led to believe or is the American dream something else?  

No, the American dream has more to do with how we live our lives with a clear understanding of individual liberties and rights as protected by our Constitution than with the amenities of life.  At one time we lived in a small apartment and never once felt as if our American dream was linked directly to size of our dwelling.  Sure, owning a home was on our “bucket list”; but if that never happened then enjoying what we could afford didn’t diminish our accumulated success.  The opportunity to work hard, or better yet, work smarter provides and sustains my American dream; no the American dream lives and will always live as long as my heart beats within my chest.

The second part of that general question points toward the amenities of life, “Do you expect that your children will be better off than you are?”  I want my children to have as many blessings of “the good life” as are available.  Their righteous desires coupled with their willingness to earn these amenities through honest efforts along with a reasonable return for those efforts are not favorable.  Our current economic climate casts a dark cloud on such a future for them.  America’s downward spiral towards imposed socialism under totalitarian rule disregards individual efforts in favor of the collective and the stage is set for imposed austerity.

For years we have been told to limit our use of energy consumption, learn to accept less use of air conditioning in the warmer months and to put on a blanket in the colder months rather than turning the thermostat up to a comfortable temperature.  Smaller more efficient cars are being foisted on the public as a means of avoiding environmental Armageddon; supposedly we just can’t afford the luxury of gas guzzling muscle cars.  I’ll throw in those compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFEs) that are mandated to replace incandescent bulbs; it’s all part of eliminating individual choice and has little if anything to do with improving the quality of life.

If the U.N. has their way, and they have been marginally successful already, implementation of Agenda 21 will force folks to live in metropolitan areas, limit miles driven on our extensive and hard to maintain road systems and permanently alter individual freedom in favor of Sustainable Development.  Instead of leaving such decisions up to the individual based on his/her ability to pay the State will determine the size of your dwelling, where it should be located, the use of nearly every aspect of the human condition will be through permission of the collective and the needs of your community; it’s called “communitarianism” (spell check doesn’t recognize this new word in our vocabulary; either that or spell check prefers the old America and has a dream of its own).  

Dismal as it may sound, the economic future of America isn’t something to look forward to.  I hope my children are made of sturdy stock because the yoke of imposed serfdom we are placing on their backs will tax them physically and spiritually.  Debt is a terrible task master that never sleeps and that is what we have bequeathed future generations. 

I didn’t say that my children would forfeit their opportunity to experience the American dream, only the likelihood of their being able to enjoy creature comforts that are greater than I have been blessed to enjoy in the form of amenities.  Prosperity and the idea of perpetual growth does not fit with our declining Dollar and a steady attack on the free market system in favor of “Social Justice”, wealth redistribution and socialism imposed by a totalitarian government which has turned a blind eye to God given inalienable rights and our constitutional republic.  (I love an occasional run on sentence; serves my high school English teachers a just reward for their efforts to contain my exuberance)

God grant us the courage to face the realities before us with integrity and resolve that we restore this nation in favor of the Great Experiment envisioned by our Founding Fathers.  May the American dream live eternally is the desire of my heart and the prayer on my lips.  In the name of our Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.