Thought For Food © 2016
Good Cops and Bad Cops
Many people have asked why don’t good cops snitch on bad cops.
It’s a very good question. However, when you think about it, we make it hard for good cops to do that. We do this by lumping all police officers into a group and stereotyping all of them as bad cops. When we lump all police officers together, they band together for support as in “us against the world.” If we want good cops to snitch on bad cops, we have to distinguish the good cops from the bad cops. When cops are shot and killed as in Baton Rouge and in Dallas for no other reason than they were cops, clearly the shooters weren’t concern if they were shooting good cops or bad cops. If we don’t make the distinction between good cops and bad cops, we cannot expect good cops to snitch on bad cops.
How can some people defend a mass shooter?
Micah Johnson, the man who shot and killed police officers in Dallas, has been championed by some people, on the lunatic fringe, as a hero, even a martyr. But how can any one with a brain come to that conclusion?
What Johnson did was as heinous as what Dylann Roof did when he gunned down church members in a black church. How is Johnson’s actions any different? Are we so desperate for heroes we’ve lowered the standard to include mass murderers?
Saint Jesse Williams:
Jesse Williams made some very profound comments at the BET Awards show. Kudos to him for making a strong statement on racism. After his speech, Williams has been anointed to near saint status. But his comments about racism to a mostly black audience were like picking low-hanging fruit. Criticizing racism at a setting like that will always get a black person a standing ovation in the black community. That’s not a big stretch.
On the flip side, we rarely give speeches that makes us focus on what we’re doing to each other, how we can maximize our economy power, or how our self-inflicted wounds are destroying us. Speeches about racists and racism are never in short supply.
Childhood Aspirations
Many children have dreams or aspirations to become a teacher, lawyer, doctor, social worker, manager, musician, or an artist. But what makes a child want to go rogue? What makes a child want to be a thug or a terrorist?
Hillary’s Emails
Republicans have made a stink about Hillary Clinton’s emails for months. You would think Ms. Clinton committed treason or sold secrets to a foreign government. But you would be wrong. The flap over Clinton’s emails is minor league stuff compared to Trump’s lies and flip-flops on the issues. If the issue is one of trust, Hillary by all measures, is much more trustworthy than Trump.
Rights and Responsibilities
Since we’ve been knee high, most of us have been taught about our rights. We’ve been taught about our Civil Rights and our Constitutional Rights. But people are rarely taught that rights have responsibilities. Was former British PM Cameron right or wrong when he said the following?
“I have said before that there is a major problem in our society with children growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong. This is not about poverty, it’s about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities. In too many cases, the parents of these children—if they are still around—don’t care where their children are or who they are with, let along what they are doing.”
Good Cops and Bad Cops
Many people have asked why don’t good cops snitch on bad cops.
It’s a very good question. However, when you think about it, we make it hard for good cops to do that. We do this by lumping all police officers into a group and stereotyping all of them as bad cops. When we lump all police officers together, they band together for support as in “us against the world.” If we want good cops to snitch on bad cops, we have to distinguish the good cops from the bad cops. When cops are shot and killed as in Baton Rouge and in Dallas for no other reason than they were cops, clearly the shooters weren’t concern if they were shooting good cops or bad cops. If we don’t make the distinction between good cops and bad cops, we cannot expect good cops to snitch on bad cops.
How can some people defend a mass shooter?
Micah Johnson, the man who shot and killed police officers in Dallas, has been championed by some people, on the lunatic fringe, as a hero, even a martyr. But how can any one with a brain come to that conclusion?
What Johnson did was as heinous as what Dylann Roof did when he gunned down church members in a black church. How is Johnson’s actions any different? Are we so desperate for heroes we’ve lowered the standard to include mass murderers?
Saint Jesse Williams:
Jesse Williams made some very profound comments at the BET Awards show. Kudos to him for making a strong statement on racism. After his speech, Williams has been anointed to near saint status. But his comments about racism to a mostly black audience were like picking low-hanging fruit. Criticizing racism at a setting like that will always get a black person a standing ovation in the black community. That’s not a big stretch.
On the flip side, we rarely give speeches that makes us focus on what we’re doing to each other, how we can maximize our economy power, or how our self-inflicted wounds are destroying us. Speeches about racists and racism are never in short supply.
Childhood Aspirations
Many children have dreams or aspirations to become a teacher, lawyer, doctor, social worker, manager, musician, or an artist. But what makes a child want to go rogue? What makes a child want to be a thug or a terrorist?
Hillary’s Emails
Republicans have made a stink about Hillary Clinton’s emails for months. You would think Ms. Clinton committed treason or sold secrets to a foreign government. But you would be wrong. The flap over Clinton’s emails is minor league stuff compared to Trump’s lies and flip-flops on the issues. If the issue is one of trust, Hillary by all measures, is much more trustworthy than Trump.
Rights and Responsibilities
Since we’ve been knee high, most of us have been taught about our rights. We’ve been taught about our Civil Rights and our Constitutional Rights. But people are rarely taught that rights have responsibilities. Was former British PM Cameron right or wrong when he said the following?
“I have said before that there is a major problem in our society with children growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong. This is not about poverty, it’s about culture. A culture that glorifies violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities. In too many cases, the parents of these children—if they are still around—don’t care where their children are or who they are with, let along what they are doing.”