July 5th, 2011
It’s like Riggs vs. Mr. Benjamin. Only, neither of them is an albino.
This episode highlights why so many conservatives instinctively take the side of the police whenever they get in trouble for behaving badly. Because the guy who the cop in the video beats on is a complete jackass who deserves, in the cosmic sense of things, to get beat on.
The only problem is that this punk is acting on his own dime and the cop is getting paid. (By the taxpayers.) Part of what he’s paid to do is keep the peace. Part of it is to prevent crime. Part of it is to help people in distress. And part of it is to tolerate jackasses who are not committing criminal acts.
I have tons of sympathy for the superhuman levels of tolerance it must take to do this last bit. But, on the other hand, that’s part of the job.
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You can’t even see the beatdown — I want better footage next time Last (that was your cell phone wasn’t it?)
This post is spot on — cops need to “tolerate jackasses” and if they can’t, they shouldn’t be cops. On the other hand, that whole situation looked bad from the get go — why didn’t other cops step in to stop that from escalating?
We need better policing so that we can fight the bad guys effectively, because the bad guys really are bad. So consider me sold on your little project to professionalize big city police forces.
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Years ago, the husband and I attended the Taste of Chicago, in Grant Park, and watched the fireworks on the 4th of July over Lake Michigan. Once it was over, we left. All half million of us. If the Chicago Cops can handle that situation simply by leaning back on the cars and just watching, you’d think the DC cops could do the same. Don’t get me wrong: if there was trouble, they would have been there to put the kaibosh on it instantly, but there wasn’t. Hence they just leaned back against their squad cars, watched, let people pass by, and didn’t take the bait when some jerk started throwing around insults of the porcine variety. This cop in the video? Well, it sort of speaks for itself.
You have two types of cops nowadays: those who have been around the block a few times, and those to whom Eric Cartman’s “Respect My Authoritah!” shtick is Gospel truth. I have nothing but respect for the former, because they’ve earned it, but the latter seems to think that respect comes with the job, and is not something that one has to earn. Is this emblematic of the problems with our society as a whole?
Yup.
Jason O. July 7, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Sorry to nitpick, but isn’t Busey’s character “Mr. Joshua” or am I missing something?
Do you want a shot at the title?