In November of 1985, singer songwriter John Mellencamp released an album with this track on it. A double entendre of sorts about the aftermath of a breakup and the byproduct of what happens to a nation when it loses its way.
He was singing about America, and now, almost thirty years later, the question remains: Without justice, are we truly an independent nation? Have we lost our way?
If the answer to that question were posed in light of the recent grand jury investigation verdict of the death of a man at the hands of the New York Police Department in Staten Island, one would be hard pressed not to wonder if the answer was predisposed by those other than the governed.
The governed in this country, who by proclamation and definition, give consent to its government, including its police, to do anything and everything that they do – with their permission.
I don’t know about you, but I did not give my government consent to choke someone to death for an alleged minor infraction.
In a weeks time, we have gone from blaming cigars to blaming cigarettes for the impetus behind the wholly rapacious abuse of power granted and entrusted to the authority given to our law enforcement.
And before you say it, let me just cut you off right now. I do not give a shit if they have a tough and dangerous job. They signed up for it and they are given the public trust as a result. Wearing that badge and gun increases their responsibility and accountability. It does not and should not abdicate it. Ever.
It is understood that grand jury investigations, as well as prosecuting attorneys, must determine the probability of a conviction if an indictment is brought forth. And in both the Ferguson and Staten Island cases, it was determined, under extremely auspicious circumstances, that it would not be possible to get a conviction. This is to say, that it is possible under the letter of the law, that the decisions in both cases were the right ones. But they were also, according to legal authorities, un-winable.
But, either way, were they just?
When the governed live under an assumed protection that their consent to the government involves that justice is at the forefront, the profound level of assumed trust cannot be underscored.
What is readily apparent in both the afor mentioned cases, was that the situations escalated quickly and the officers were aggressors.
Both suspects are dead for, again, less than lethal offenses. Put another way, they received the death penalty for their cigar and cigarette offenses, and if that is not ridiculous enough, they were killed at the hands of men sworn to serve and protect within constitutional limits. In this case the deceased were given no charges, no trial, and no jury. Instead they got executioners who hide behind the authority and autonomy a badge grants them and it’s a telling lack of character and courage to admit they did wrong.
And where the hell is the rest of law enforcement on this? Is there not one officer in the police ranks who will step up and call bullshit?
Not likely in Washington County I’ll wager. One only needs to go a few years back to the taser death of a mentally ill man to know that the wagon circling here goes as deep as any city in America.
If in fact, as the officers involved in these deaths claim, the use of such force was warranted and was in line with their training, perhaps it is time we dial it back some and retrain them. Perhaps prosecute a few of them. Definitely fire a lot of them. They have been given too much power and they are abusing it. Period.
I defy you to intelligently disagree.
See you out there.
