This is what happens when the Thin Blue Line is hijacked and turned in to a Maginot Line between law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to serve:
A nurse in Salt Lake City was aggressively arrested for obeying hospital policy and refusing to allow a police detective to draw blood from a severely injured patient, according to several reports.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nurse-sobs-help-me-while-getting-arrested-for-simply-doing-her-job_us_59a98902e4b0b5e530fe51d2?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
When The Gadfly saw this video, and the way that that cop got very scarily aggressive in an instant and manhandled that nurse, all he could think of was wow --- is this really America in the 21st century? Is this America, the bastion of democracy and freedom and justice? How do the police explain this one away? The Gadfly knows how they explain away the shooting of unarmed minorities, but this one? .... this should be interesting.
The Gadfly works in the health care industry. The co-workers that he sees in hospitals and clinics every day are the utmost of professionals and they take their responsibilities and their commitments to their patients welfare and privacy with almost zealous seriousness. That Salt Lake City nurse's actions were heroic in the face of the state sponsored thuggery that she was being confronted with from that police detective and the detective's superiors.
Listen - The Gadfly knows how stressful the job of a police officer can be. That however, is absolutely no justification for abusing the law enforcement powers at your disposal, like this cop did, to justify the means to an end that he was in pursuit of. And as far as this idea of respecting the police goes, it's one thing to respect what they do and the services they provide to our society, but if there are bad actors in their ranks, why should those individual corrupt and lawless actors be respected? Think about that.
But then again we now have watch commander Drumpf in charge of the nation -- someone who has a penchant for exhorting aggressive behavior out of people who identify with his brain sickened ideology and world views, including unfortunately some law enforcement officials:
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump received applause on Friday when he endorsed police brutality while delivering a speech to law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York.
The president suggested that officers should hit suspects’ heads on the doors of their police cars.
“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice,’” Trump said.
“Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody, don’t hit their head, I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’” he added.
His remarks received significant applause.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-police-brutality_us_597b840fe4b02a8434b6575a
When the leader of the free world is encouraging police brutality against his own citizenry, however slyly, and directly to the police themselves mind you, and the very same police who are the recipients of that messaging are applauding those words of encouragement, then the thin blue line hasn't just been stretched to the breaking point, it's been smeared and smudged, and mangled and has become an unrecognizable, muddled mess -- not to mention a clear and present liability to a civilized, freedom worshiping society.
And just to further underscore the venality of the cops applauding Drumpf's goading of them to violence in their ranks -- that is a major fucking problem there The Gadfly would say. The cops jobs aren't to be judges, juries and executioners. Those actions are the sole responsibility of the civilian citizenry and their justice system. The police are there to impartially enforce the law and protect society from the lawbreakers. To serve and protect. Not to serve, protect and mete out selective, extrajudicial punishment whenever the urge fancies them.
Every cop in that Salt Lake City force's line of command that was involved in the decision making process to manhandle and illegally arrest that nurse should be handed their fucking pink slips immediately and never be allowed to work in law enforcement again. That is the only feasible action that can be taken that will have any positive impact on getting the message across that rogue and bullying policing of the citizenry will not be tolerated or excused.
Now if we can only get the good cops, for The Gadfly is certain there are more of them than bad ones, to demonstrate some moral courage by standing up and be counted applauding that kind of message, then perhaps there is hope that we can make some progress on improving relations between a lot of our communities and our traditionally paternalistic police forces. So far though, all that The Gadfly sees from the vast majority of police is an entrenchment among themselves, the shutting of doors to open and constructive dialogue, and that troubling, tribal mindset of protecting your own even when you know some of your own are dirty and rotten to the core.
And so likely, nothing will change until that whole police/civilian population relationship dynamic is fleshed out, thoughtfully analyzed, and rationally and fairly reformed by serious adults on both sides who collectively have the powers to effect lasting and transformational change. And let there be no mistaking --- Donald Drumpf is most certainly not to be considered as being one of those serious adults nor should he be allowed to participate in that vitally important national conversation in any way shape or form.
----TFG
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