tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post778947706149756448..comments2024-03-28T22:02:16.520-04:00Comments on Politics and its Discontents: The Police State Edges CloserLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-30335895012100879432016-05-24T12:37:59.733-04:002016-05-24T12:37:59.733-04:00I completely concur, Mound. Unfortunately, with la...I completely concur, Mound. Unfortunately, with laws like the one passed in Louisiana, the responsibility that police officers have to be accountable gets lost in the rhetoric of heroism, etc. A cheap ploy to distract the masses from what is really happening, in my view.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-30592919187374843362016-05-24T12:22:08.271-04:002016-05-24T12:22:08.271-04:00His praetorian guard awaits his arrival, Owen.His praetorian guard awaits his arrival, Owen.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-53450876883985081082016-05-24T11:52:04.329-04:002016-05-24T11:52:04.329-04:00As we're witnessing, virtually on a daily basi...As we're witnessing, virtually on a daily basis, what police are lacking today isn't additional protection but basic accountability.<br /><br />In officer school (60s) I wrote an essay about William Calley and the My Lai massacre in which I argued that Calley should have been sentenced to death. My argument was that he was an officer, not some draftee. He had chosen to seek a commission and the privileges and responsibilities that entailed, including the power to order his men to use lethal force. The responsibility to restrain such force was also his. The men who acted on his orders deserved a term of imprisonment but Calley, the directing force, was in a distinct category. He needed to be held to a higher standard and for the sake of discipline in an increasingly unruly and murderous military force that required that he be put to death.<br /><br />I feel that police officers must also be held to a much higher standard. They seek the position. They seek and accept the power and responsibility that goes with it, including the power to use lethal force. When they wrongly use that force it's much worse than any other shooting because they do it in our name. They have a higher responsibility to their force, their community and even their victim. If that isn't true and won't be upheld, we should never entrust them with lethal weapons.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-67053767293392980482016-05-24T11:12:10.872-04:002016-05-24T11:12:10.872-04:00The perfect environment for a President Trump.The perfect environment for a President Trump.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.com