UNITING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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     "We need to temper our words and open our hearts."

     Expressing deep sympathy and sorrow...following the tragic assassinations of three Baton Rouge, Louisiana police officers...President Barack Obama - on Sunday, July 17th, 2016 - delivered his second speech to the nation in ten days as the U.S.A.'s "Consoler-In-Chief."  The murders came on the heels of the shooting deaths of five policemen in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, July 7th.

     What are we going to do?  What is our country going to do?  We cannot continue to have brave, heroic police officers senselessly slaughtered by sick-minded slayers.  And I fear that Dallas and Baton Rouge are only the beginning.  I shudder to think how many evil and cold-blooded copycats are, at this moment, planning - in various areas of our homeland - to ambush other "men or women in blue" and to steal their lives in similar horrifying ways.

     My column today avoids Campaign 2016...or any Washington, DC politics.  But instead...is a tribute to pay homage to the victims that have been killed as a result of revenge, hate, bigotry and prejudice.

     More than one-million police officers...in about 18-thousand departments nationwide..."protect and serve" Americans everyday...and they do everything they possibly can to keep the people of their communities safe.  And when these courageous cops leave their homes...after kissing their loved ones goodbye...they do so with the express intention of returning after their shifts.  They take to the streets to help others...to patrol the front-lines of America's cities, towns and villages...to risk their lives every time they put on their uniforms.  And when they strap on and holster their service weapon - their revolver - the average police officer does not want to draw that gun...or to shoot it.

     This is not a time to point fingers of blame at one political party or another...or at "the bushel of bad apples" in the "orchard of cops"...who seem to have an agenda that is different from the vast majority of most police officers.

     It is a time, however, for each and every one of us - no matter our political points of view - to join forces...to do everything humanly possible...to get guns out of the hostile hands of people who should not have them.

     We in America are in a crisis.  We in America need to heal.  Hate is an utterly unreasonable and illogical emotion.  The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is quoted as saying, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness...only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate...only love can do that."  And there is a biblical reference that "hate cannot overpower love."  

     President Obama articulated at the Tuesday, July 12th memorial for the Dallas police officers..."I firmly believe that America is not as divided as some have suggested."  As regular readers of The Controversy surely know...I usually agree with the President.  But with due respect to Mr. Obama...our nation is so polarized...so divided...and - in many cases - so full of hate... because of race...because of politics...because of beliefs in general...I wonder if ALL Americans...will ever live in harmony with each other.  I certainly hope and pray that we can...but in light of recent events...and the violence over this last year...I sometimes doubt it.

     The citizens of the United States must come together as one.  Democrats and Republicans...whether our skin color is white, black, brown, yellow or red...we must become "united"...as the United States of America.

     At a period when our planet is spinning off its axis...when our world is in turbulent turmoil...we honor eight slain policemen from Dallas and Baton Rouge...and our hearts go out to their families...and the families of 49 other souls...whose lives were taken by a deranged gunman...who went on a rampage - Sunday, June 12th - in an Orlando nightclub.  And in the wake of those losses...we also mourn the three Americans and eighty-one people from countries elsewhere on Earth...who were mowed down by a 20-ton truck...in a gruesome terrorist attack in Nice, France...as they celebrated Bastille Day on Thursday, July 14th.  Two-hundred-two others were injured...52 critically.

     The unfathomable reason for the fatal shootings of five policemen in Dallas and three officers in Baton Rouge were presumably out of revenge...following the deaths of two African-American men...through the actions of white policemen in Baton Rouge and in Falcon Heights, Minnesota near Saint Paul.  And there always seems to be the same discussion...the same conversation about race...only after something so horrible...so horrendous...wrenches our hearts...and brings us to tears.

     But talk is cheap.  Dialogue is spoken and shared following catastrophic carnage...but we don't accomplish the goal...and that is to stop the deaths of innocent citizens...and innocent cops.  What will it take before something constructive...and something positive...gets done?

     People are shamefully judging people...because of skin color.  And it's happening too often...too much...too many times.

     Police encounter very dangerous people everyday...all across the country.  And when an officer believes that his life may be in jeopardy...by someone black, white or any other pigmentation...that officer must defend himself or herself.  But sometimes...certain lawmen - especially certain white policemen - take the possibility of a threat...as a way to engage in an unnecessary use of deadly force against black men.  No one will ever convince me that race, prejudice and bigotry have nothing to do with those killings.

     We have twice elected a black President.  But the hatred of African-Americans...by too many Caucasians...is worse than Americans overall...will recognize or admit.

     All cops are not bad.  All cops are not killers.  All cops are not racists.  The overwhelming amount of cops are good, decent individuals...who Americans should revere...for being there when we need them.   But unfortunately, we have seen - over the last several years - too many black men being shot or beaten to death by white policemen...unjustifiably...despite investigations and trials that seem to prove otherwise.  But for a routine traffic stop...because of a broken automobile taillight...or for selling CDs outside a convenience store...nobody should die.  Why must police officers shoot to kill...and shoot repeatedly?  One serious, but not fatal bullet wound...could easily defuse a situation...but still keep a person alive.

     I am not rushing to judgment about Baton Rouge and suburban Saint Paul...but generally speaking...police chiefs need to hold "bad cops" accountable.  Most police officers rightfully wear their badges so they can help people.  A fraction of cops use that tin emblem as a wrongful sign of power.

     Being a policeman or policewoman is a noble and needed profession.  But it is essential...for our law enforcement officers to be trained better.  They must be prepared...and competent...to alleviate an alarming or potentially menacing situation...with limited or no force...and with no fatalities.

     In an episode from Season 4 of the CBS hit drama, Blue Bloods - titled "Custody Battle"...with an original air date of Friday, April 25th, 2014 - Tom Selleck as New York Police Department Commissioner Frank Reagan...terminated one of his officers...after the cop used unjustifiable force on a suspect, which caused the man to die.  And although a grand jury decided not to indict the officer on any criminal charges...Commissioner Reagan determined...and came to the conclusion...that he did not want that kind of cop...wearing the NYPD shield.  So...the Commissioner gave the following speech.

     "We get paid to keep the peace with restraint and good judgment...even when our lives are on the line.  This job is not about being strong enough to use force.  It's about being strong enough...not to."

     I can only hope that real life will imitate art.  That real life police officers will perform their duties...as is demanded by the fictional Commissioner Reagan.  For most real life police officers...thankfully...they do.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits: myhughesnet.com, vam.synacor.com and whitehouse.gov (President Barack Obama #1), abc7chicago.com (The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), dailybreeze.com, smugmug.com and whitehouse.gov (President Barack Obama #2) and worldmag.com, Panda Productions and CBS Productions (Tom Selleck from Blue Bloods)

Writer's credit for quote from Blue Bloods: Executive Producer Ian Biederman
 
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