tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post9076123663892365300..comments2024-03-28T10:10:38.940-04:00Comments on Politics and its Discontents: A Shameful ExploitationLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-67507245958656557062016-04-16T10:19:56.084-04:002016-04-16T10:19:56.084-04:00Point taken, BM, but your retired Mountie can tell...Point taken, BM, but your retired Mountie can tell you that the RCMP was always considered a paramilitary force. I heard that often enough from my late father-in-law, a Mountie from the pre-war dog sled days.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-40609133725636532712016-04-16T08:15:17.018-04:002016-04-16T08:15:17.018-04:00An excellent point that that likely hasn't oc...An excellent point that that likely hasn't occurred to very many people (including me), BM.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-86008552080847940542016-04-15T23:37:28.728-04:002016-04-15T23:37:28.728-04:00Unfortunately, I believe you have unwittingly fall...Unfortunately, I believe you have unwittingly fallen into a word trap, calling the general public "civilians", Mound.<br /><br />The police are civilians too, unless you believe we don't have Armed Forces. The Toronto Police do indeed call members of the general public "civilians", and I strenuously object to the use of the term by those idiots.<br /><br />It's like calling accidental injuries "wounds". The two terms are not synonymous unless you are a blinkered journalist searching for zippy copy, and have no idea of the proper use of the language. Much as leaders mulling decisions, a practice normally reserved for wine. One mulls over a decision, and says "as far as weather is concerned", not "as far as weather".<br /><br />Sorry if I'm picky on the civilian point, but if you start using Toronto Police terms, you have already lost a philosophical talking point to the armed force they think they are. And my pal the retired Mountie agrees with me.<br /><br />Screw the us versus them mentality many city police forces espouse. Just google "are police civilians too".<br /><br />BM<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-47964316669040539482016-04-15T21:14:51.134-04:002016-04-15T21:14:51.134-04:00Until governing bodies such as police services boa...Until governing bodies such as police services boards and provincial governments find the political courage to stand up to these thugs, Mounds, I see little reason for optimism.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-37274350668454891032016-04-15T17:57:37.657-04:002016-04-15T17:57:37.657-04:00I think some police communities have gone to an &q...I think some police communities have gone to an "us versus them" approach to the entire civilian population. Some of them are hostile to all civilians and when they see us all as potential threats they're far more likely to create the Sammy Yatim scenario resorting to excessive, even lethal force, without justification. That spills over to the civilian side that can come to see police not as their protectors but as feral aggressors.<br /><br />A number of years ago I read of the political dynamics of the Toronto Police Association and the group came across as hyper-belligerent and thuggish. Neither the police board nor the city council - for that matter even the province - seemed to have any effective control over them. It was like the military defying civilian control. You simply cannot tolerate that. It's gone much too far.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com