by
John Brennan

Recently
by John Brennan: Obama’s
Latest Speech

The United
States has done a remarkable job over the years convincing you that
the folks in law enforcement are here for no other reason then to
“protect and serve.” The words sound honorable and are
meant to instill trust and confidence. You see this worn out, duplicitous
motto emblazoned across every squad car in every small town across
America. But it has become just another slogan that means nothing
at all any longer.

In an earlier
essay I wrote about buzzwords; words politicians like to spew out
when speaking to the people. We’ve heard liberty, freedom and democracy
so often , they have become nothing but empty, meaningless, over-used
words, just like the slogan, “protect and serve.” Perhaps
they never did mean anything, but we – the American people
– were brainwashed into believing that somehow they meant something
important. We’ve been duped into thinking that the people of law
enforcement are here to actually protect us and to serve us as humble,
appreciative public servants. But as I have come to realize, this
is really not the case at all. In fact, their ultimate end purpose
may prove to be far more sinister as time goes on. Maybe law enforcement’s
new motto should be “subdue and enslave”, because this
is what their mission now seems to be.

Growing up,
I was taught to respect the men in law enforcement. I was told that
you could trust men in uniform and they were people of integrity.
I say only men, because when I was a kid you didn’t see any women-men
like you do today. What’s a woman-man you ask? I think you know
what I mean. Rough gals. You see them everywhere in law enforcement;
females out to prove something to somebody. Maybe they feel cheated
because they were born without a ……..Well, you know what I’m saying.
They are the unattractive, masculine creatures you see acting like
tough guys . Just like the type of men now attracted to law enforcement;
genetically short-changed . The type we made fun of as kids. They
were the misfits, the bullies and the weirdoes and they now are
the ones wearing the uniforms. Maybe its always been this way, but
I seem to notice it more today than ever before. This is the type
of personality I see on all levels of law enforcement ; angry people
who have some insatiable need to control others . This is the new
small-minded, tough guy breed now attracted to police work. They
saw how those in uniform were revered after 9/11 and they ,too,
wanted in on this new hero business.

Everyday I
read stories about police abusing their authority: unnecessary beatings,
questionable shootings, and torturous tazings. It is not my imagination,
it seems to be happening everywhere. In small towns in the rural
Midwest to the big cities of New York and Los Angeles, and all points
in between, cops are abusing and killing people at an alarming rate.
I know there are bad guys out there and some of these cases are
justified, but too often, it is the cops who are guilty of escalating
the situation into something more violent. With cellular technology,
we are now able to see what has been going on for years. Go to Youtube.com
and see for yourself. Type in “police brutality” and watch
what comes up. You can see actual footage of a particular event,
allowing you be the judge. Something has gone terribly wrong in
America. You see it in their surly attitude and cocky demeanor and
blatant disregard for civil liberties. They no longer see themselves
as public servants, but instead as overseers of an unruly public;
all of us to be treated accordingly; with a heavy hand.

And it is
scary how military-like they have become; not only in appearance
but in attitude. Every small force in every one-horse town across
the country is now run like some independent army unit, with an
overweight police chief pompously displaying his four silver stars
on his collar. Make no mistake about it, police across America now
see the general public as the new enemy, and themselves as the frontline
soldiers in a war against the people. 9/11 has allowed them to unleash
their aggression under the guise of fighting terrorism. This perverse
approach to policing will only attract a strange crowd; mentally
troubled individuals desperate to prove how tough they are.

What kind
of person tazes an 80-year-old woman? What kind of cowardly man
beats an unarmed, mentally ill homeless man to death? What kind
of human being shoots a sleeping baby through a plate glass window?
What kind of chickenshit weakling feels so threatened by a 15-year-old
girl holding a screwdriver 30 feet away that he opens fire, killing
her? The answer to all four questions is simple: Cops! And they
are doing it more frequently than ever before. They have truly been
given a license to kill and in many cases, using that license to
full advantage.

Let me focus
on one case; the Kelly Thomas murder here in Fullerton, California.
Six cops beat a 30-year-old, unarmed, mentally ill homeless man
to death. They beat him into a coma and he died five days later.
They broke ribs, fractured facial bones and broke his thorax which
eventually caused his death. Hospital pictures show the face of
a human being beaten beyond recognition. All this because of an
anonymous call to 911 saying a man was looking into car windows
and pulling on door handles. The officers responding to the call
knew Kelly and demanded to search his backpack. Frightened and confused,
he took off running, leaving the backpack behind. The cops caught
up to him and began their deadly assault. A young man is now dead
because of an anonymous report of someone looking into car windows.
Hardly seems worth killing a man over, but they did. How does this
happen?

Of the six
officers involved only two have been charged. The other four are
on administrative leave. I’m amazed the District Attorney even filed
against the two. Most of the time in cases like these, the police
department involved will claim the incident was justified and tell
the public it is under investigation and then you never hear about
it ever again. But the real question here is where does this form
of brutal policing stem from? What kind of twisted, sick human being
could beat a man to death in front of approximately 100 witnesses
and think he can get away with it? A man who has been given tacit
approval from higher up, that’s who. And this is the problem. The
cover-up began right away and started with the chief himself. All
the officers involved remained on duty for four weeks after Kelly’s
death. If it hadn’t been for public outcry, I’m sure these officers
would still be on duty today, protecting and serving the citizens
of Fullerton. Which tells me this type of behavior is tolerated
if not encouraged by superiors. Testimony revealed that one of the
officers later boasted about, “f—–g up a homeless guy”,
as if he had performed some noble task. Incidents like this seem
to be much more prevalent since 9/11.

Have you grown
tired of the word “hero”? I sure have. The traditional
definition of “hero” was rewritten after 9/11. We now
are constantly reminded of how those in uniform gave their lives
helping others .But isn’t this what they signed on to do? I have
no doubt that some involved in the rescue effort during the attack
on the World Trade Center acted in a heroic manner. However, they
were merely doing what they were hired to do. Simply doing your
job doesn’t make everyone who died in uniform a hero. Have you ever
noticed when the events of 9/11 are mentioned in the media, the
word “hero” is used only when referring to those first
responders who died that morning in the tragic attack? You never
hear the term used when referring to all the other victims who died
performing their duty on that same day. What about the secretary
who also reported to work that morning? The computer programmer
sitting at his desk? And the janitor in uniform performing his duty
when the attack occurred, isn’t he just as much of a hero? Apparently
not. Only the policemen and firemen are heroes, and no one else.
This new concept of “hero” has trickled down to the street
cops patrolling our towns across America; causing them to lose sight
of what they are really here for; “to protect and serve”
the American public.

Something
really ugly has happened to my country. 9/11 seems to have given
police the green light on aggressive, unlawful behavior. Malevolent
policing has become par for the course. Police now have a tremendous
lack of respect for the very people they were sworn to “protect
and serve”. I don’t know how much the American people are willing
to tolerate before fighting back, or if they even will. Any organized
movement will be quickly squashed as we saw with the Occupy Wall
Street attempt. The slogan “protect and serve” will mean
even less in the future as the creatures of law enforcement abuse
the rights of citizens. In order for the government to really clamp
down on civil liberties, they need soldiers on the street willing
to carry out the orders. They will need thugs to implement their
plans. Are they concerned? No. The creatures of law enforcement
are already in place and are more than willing to start cracking
heads; anxious to be recognized as the new “heroes” in
the war against the American people.

December 21, 2011

John
Brennan [send him mail]
is a freelance writer living in Mexico and will
respond to any comments.

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© 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in
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