"Law enforcement personnel"...?
Y'know, not too long ago, most people seeing this juxtaposition of word and image would have presumed that an editor had grabbed the wrong photo. These guys sure don't look like cops to me.
Yesterday, we noted that it's hard to laugh at anti-gummint wingnuts when the authorities do things that make those nuts look not-so-nutty. Here we go again. During the Dubya era, Republicans routinely accused Democrats of treating terrorism as a criminal matter, not as a military matter. That may be a distinction without a difference.
Back in 1994, I saw cops respond to a hostage situation that erupted not many blocks away from my home. Although heavily armed officers swarmed all over the place, the scene didn't look like a frame capture from Platoon.
All of that said, the situation which caused these "cops" to show up in their Army fatigues is, of course, extremely worrisome and depressing. We've seen a rash of recent incidents in which paranoid men have grabbed guns to commit horrors; a later post may offer summaries of these episodes. For now, consider the paradox: Jimmy Lee Dykes, a "prepper" who (presumably) despises government overreach, has created a situation designed to make his worst nightmare seem to come true.
3 comments:
Is there no one who will put the horse before the cart?
Ever since Reagan started tossing the mentally impaired into the street, we have neglected mental health in this country. Are these incidents related to the proliferation of firearms, or our democratic 'experiment'? Could this guy have accomplished the same result from the use of a knife? I think the answer is, yes. But we shouldn't allow that fact to derail the opportunity, should we?
Ben
I was decrying the Militarization of the Police in the '80s.
Gates had came up with the concept of SWAT out in LA, and Police departments around the country started dressing and arming their police officers like soldiers.
I visited New York back in 2004 and the police there looked like German soldiers from WWII, what with the their pant legs stuffed inside combat boots, earflap helmets and full automatic weapons.
The uniform one wears not only affects how people perceive you, it also affects how you perceive yourself.
I would guess the guys in the photo view themselves more as soldiers than policemen.
The difference being policemen view people as law breakers, soldiers view people as the enemy.
I know the guy they are trying deal with is nuts and armed, and has a hostage, but does it take an army to deal with this situation?
As mentioned in the post, given the psychology and fears of the person they are dealing with, it seems to me to be exactly the wrong approach.
I read there was TV in the bunker, so more than likely has seen what is going on out there.
I hope it works out well in the end.
When I was a boy, I enjoyed playing soldier too, but I wasn't allowed to shoot people and kill them with impunity like our police are now able to do. And I didn't have the hardware to taser unarmed teenagers or decrepit old men or pregnant women, all of which has been done repeatedly in the US. I couldn't handcuff a 7 year old child and leave him that way for hours like the NYPD did this week. These pigs are preparing for war, and to paraphrase what Dan said, everybody who isn't in uniform looks like the enemy to them.
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