… long version appended for e-mail recipients …. See continuing thread at:
http://www.eaglesup.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/000084.html
I am just heartsick over some events that happened this past week ... no, I don't think I'm going to go into the whole story. It may be required to be brought up sometime in the future.
I’ve taken awhile writing this - quite a few starts and stops …. wishing to convey certain thoughts to the members of TRT and perhaps more importantly, to our listening members of the law enforcement community - reasonably & explain my position to them as much as any.
I have had a few phone conversations with some local LEOs (Law Enforcement Officer for the uninitiate)/mostly local SWAT in the past coupla days, regarding the nature of personal privacy concerns.
At least one LEO had (obviously) been in this site (no question that we are monitored for their "intel") and mentioned that we had some pretty radical info posts here - one of which being (almost certainly) this Dear Officer post as he referenced the "100 million ... " and that it insinuated the killing of police.
After doing the search, I believe this to be the post which is unsettling.
I couldn't respond properly at the time - I did tell him that if I found the post to actually insinuate the killing of LEOs, I would delete the post.
Now that I know what the post is, and have reread it, I won't delete it.
Explanations are required.
For one thing, this same post has been made on several other sites and been forwarded, through e-mail, to several thousands already, if not millions. Deleting the post here would serve to little purpose. It would censure an item (to no point), I personally do not find to be offensive - except for reasons below.
What I do find offensive is that we have come to such a state of affairs in this country that someone (who appears by all accounts to be quite an intelligent, reasoned person with a good command of the vernacular) felt that this letter need be written in the first place. I see this letter as mainly a cry to please, please! stop this nonsense before it goes way too far. I suspect that if you are an LEO and don’t read exactly what is stated, rather than allow your own feelings to color what you thought you read, you would be offended. One should read for content rather than presuppose what you think is written.
In another thread, I made mention that two occurrences need be to have the state in which we live; the politicians who pass such laws and the enforcement of same. Many of these laws are felt to be clearly unconstitutional by many, and we take huge offence to same. That they are passed is an affront. That they are enforced is an equal affront - perhaps moreso.
Clearly, there are those who commit crimes against others. As clear to me, those who do commit offenses against their fellow citizens should be investigated and punished according to certain laws.
However, in our time, many "new offenses" have been created which are not. Just because someone takes offense does not mean that we should have a new law to further control another’s behavior or what they may possess.
Too and specifically, the laws surrounding the control of certain items, is felt by many, many individuals to be the attempted control of the owners rather than the items themselves. We law-abiding citizens hugely resent this. And rightfully so.
Among our many cherished rights is that of privacy. So much so that our Bill of Rights clearly has, at the least, two Amendments defining such. I would expect my privacy to be honored as much within my own community as it would be in the law enforcement community. The sharing of private information on a law-abiding citizen goes beyond the pale. In the law enforcement community this private information is called intel and is shared at will without any thought whatsoever that anyone, perhaps, might be doing something wrong; or that one would take offence. That the "right or wrong" question apparently never crossed anyone’s mind in the LEO community is stunning to me. I am apparently, extremely naïve.
Back to topic.
The Dear Officer letter states that the author never wishes to cause any harm to any law enforcement officer. It states emphatically that he would assist LEOs at every turn, that we, the law-abiding (and staunch supporters of LEOs) are the very fabric of this society - the very ones who all LEOs swore an oath to "protect and serve."
It is not a call to arms. It is a plea for sanity.
The relationship between us and them should be so symbiotic as to be totally undistinguishable. Sadly, we two groups are becoming more disenfranchised - one group from another in many aspects. That there even is an "us & them" mentality causes me a great amount of unease.
How could such events come to such a pass?
Politicians pass ill-conceived laws and by definition of the job description, LEOs are tasked to and do carry out those "orders." At one TRT demonstration, there was a "designated First Amendment area." The irony was lost on most LEOs in attendance.
LEOs have special privileges that we, as mere citizens, are not allowed. As in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, "all animals are equal, some are just more equal than others."
Any who would think that we would sit idly by while our rights are restricted, curtailed or fully stripped without speaking out or becoming outraged has not gone through the thought process
As with the Nuremberg Trials, the excuse of "I was just following orders" doesn’t wash.
The letter does state rather clearly that many of us are very expert in our use of arms and in our own gathering of private information (intel) and at some point, each may have to be put to use.
Pray God that never comes to pass.
The members of the law enforcement community should reevaluate their thinking - at the very least, attempt to understand what it is that is actually being said - rather than only seeing the non-existent "call to action."
By merely pointing out this most obvious fact, perhaps I am again, being overly naïve.
Two telling points in closing.
We, the law-abiding did not start this. We have paid our taxes, we have supported LEOs at most every turn, we have shown remarkable restraint while our privacies, very lives and all that we hold dear has been violated.
Yes, those of you in the Law Enforcement community are being set up - but not by us. You are being set up by the politicians who pass these ill-conceived laws. You are being set up by your Chiefs of Police. You are being set up by your city Mayors.
While they sit in their own protected enclaves and watch what happens, you put your lives, and those of your families, on the line every day, to enforce these ill-conceived laws..
No, Sir! We did not start this. Your bosses did.
The last reason why this will not be deleted is that this letter did not originate from some "right-wing wack-o." It came from a Law Enforcement Officer who was so disgusted with what is happening within his own rank and file that he could no longer remain silent.
I am,
Alan Albertus/labgrade
Tyranny Response Team
(for any LEO comments - you do have the number)
) & stick it up anyway.
