American Unrest: Officers Shot, Killed in Dallas

15 Comments

8 July 2016

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Many veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and other such wars, likely view this news cycle through a different glass.
Using Iraq as example, after things truly began to spin out of control in 2004, many people were fighting for vastly different reasons. The situation was difficult to track even for dedicated analysts. Just who was fighting whom, and for what reasons, often was a great mystery even to our intelligence people.

Amid the chaos of unstructured conflict and war, the always-there lunatic fringe is uncorked. Suddenly the actions of a serial killer look like the work of an insurgent or group. Criminality skyrockets, and what would earlier have been seen as just a bank robbery looks like part of a movement.

Groups or individuals who are honestly fighting for some cause — not just angry, or lunatics, or criminals unleashed — can have many separate goals. These goals often will be in opposition to one another.

They will simultaneously fight the government while fighting each other. They inevitably have internal disputes that often lead to Group A killing other members of Group A, and then Group A splits into Groups B and C. Before long, there are dozens of organizations, or even more.

The headless bodies found in the road during a morning patrol might be al Qaeda killed by other al Qaeda, or Badr Brigade terrorists killed by Jaish Ansar al-Sunnah, or the product of a local who killed his neighbors because the voices in his head said to do it.

Unless they are caught with a gun in their hands, most fatalities are listed on the big board under civilian casualties. In America, no doubt many “combatants” would be local or national gangs carving out or protecting their fiefdoms for drugs and prostitution. During the fog of it all, any gangsters and cops they kill get added to the war tally.

Wars allow criminals and the insane to fulfill their vast potential.

Some people just like to fight. Fighting is their cause, and they will latch onto any cause if it helps them get ammo. Young men with guns, no rules, and a sense of divine authority, are the most dangerous animals on earth.

In Iraq was/is various tribes fighting on tribal lines. Others fight on sectarian lines, or ethnic such as Kurds vs. Arabs. National players such as Iranians and Americans interfere for their/our own causes.

There were so many insurgent groups and goals that they were impossible for normal people to track. Often they were local groups operating only in small areas. They could pop up almost overnight, often based on some cult-inspiring personality such as Zarqawi.

In the U.S., this could translate into the normal unleashing of the insane, of the criminal elements, and people who are merely fighting “the man,” ethnic divides of many sorts — white and black is only a subset — religious, and other motivations ranging from environmental terrorism, anti-globalism, save the dolphins, save the whales, pro-life, anti-Semitism, and endless sorts of backwater motivations that become wrapped in violence.

All this white noise is perfect breeding ground for militant Islam, and anti-Islamic violence also no doubt would raise its head.

Nobody knows where this will go.

This could quiet down from here and we move on, or we might sink lower into a spiral of violence.

If violence increases to high levels, National Guard will not save the cities. They will be pop up targets. And every time they (are perceived to) overreact, they fertilize opposition.

Law Enforcement and the government ultimately do not control the people. Control is an illusion. The mahout does not control the elephant. When the elephant loses his mind, the mahout gets flattened.

Millions of people around America are upset and often for different reasons. In many cases, they share a vision that justice no longer exists in the United States, or has been so undermined that they no longer respect it.

The BLM movement has its own agenda and, though not baseless, is itself on the verge of terrorism. Meanwhile, a completely different sort of people see the FBI as a puppet for the Clintons and other “elites” who are not just above the law, they are the law.

The biggest problem at hand is straightforward: millions of Americans see injustice, and disrespect for the population, coming from the government.

Different sorts of people arrive at this conclusion from different roads. BLM comes at it from a racist agenda while others are tired of seeing the .1% sailing above the laws that are made for the 99.9%.

At this time, the government must not overreact and draw more violent opposition. The stakes could not be higher.

See the original posting of this article here.

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  • This commment is unpublished.
    Dave · 2 years ago
    Well said Michael. Obama is already not listening to the people and just trying to turn this into a gun control play. He and government officials need to stop trying to be smarter than all us and listen to us. I thought they were the servants of the people not the masters of us slaves.I hope this heads in the right direction instead of getting worse.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    Richard · 2 years ago
    right on point----keep up the good work...
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    Mark · 2 years ago
    I have immense respect for your viewpoint and your service--I would like to know your opinion on what we do now? What would you advise the average, everyday working class citizen to do to find way through this mess?
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    Pat · 2 years ago
    Being from Dallas, your comments are spot on! One of my co-workers is a reserve DPD officer who was probably called in to serve today.
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    Paul H. Abat · 2 years ago
    Thank you for a totally different viewpoint.
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    Tommy · 2 years ago
    The Communist Progressive Liberal Loons will tell you that there is no such thing as BAD PEOPLE, only people who make BAD DECISIONS!
    But the real world knows that EVIL does exist and it finds a home a in every human with EVIL PROPENSITIES such as we see daily in the Snot Gobbling Moron Media!
    One person has asked, "What do we do now?"
    Well if you have to ask that question, you are already in trouble!
    The time is fast coming in this country when every citizen in this country is going to have make a decision on whether they are going to make a stand for REAL LAW & ORDER and to Protect and Defend the Constitution or they're going be sheep led to the slaughter on the altar of Communist Progressive Liberal Political Korrectness!
    Get educated to the FACTS of WHO and WHAT currently runs this country and then get prepared to defend yourself and your family from the BLM Ghetto Thugs, the Murdering Muslims, the Illegal Alien Border Trash and all the other assorted Human Trash that is currently being protected by the current Communist Progressive Liberal Half-White Trash administration!
    AMEN!
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      SusanM · 2 years ago
      Wow what a list. You're very good at labels. Look at your list:
      Communist Progressive Liberal Loons
      BLM Ghetto Thugs
      Murdering Muslims
      Illegal Alien Border Trash
      Other assorted Human Trash
      Tell me what label are YOU? I suspect I will receive a label for responding...
      • This commment is unpublished.
        Peter Flynn · 2 years ago
        That mindless sputtering is part of the problem. It's just one trigger-pull from being full-tilt crazy and another headline story.
        We're in a very diverse country that is unlike any other period in history and the solutions of the past aren't going to work. These solutions aren't going to please anyone, but that's what we're going to have to keep working on, and keep voting.
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    Brian · 2 years ago
    Studies have shown that black officers are much more likely to shoot unarmed perps than white officers; stats show 96% of murdered blacks are murdered by other blacks; if you are non-black you are much more likely to be killed by a black man than vice-versa. No problems will be solved based on falsehoods.. cops quick at the draw will shoot anyone; however wasting Police time and a black life because someone was selling loose cigarettes is nuts.
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      Dave · 2 years ago
      This is a great cross tabulation engine you can use to search the FBI database on crime and homicide. It is pretty enlightening. The media doesn't care about the facts.

      http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezashr/asp/off_selection.asp
    • This commment is unpublished.
      John Holt · 2 years ago
      In today's Enviroment with Police being murdered at an alarming rate and put on trial for all the wrong reasons they feel under siege and look over their shoulder at ever situation. Like them or not they stand between a civilized society and the abyss.. People like Sharpton and groups like Black Lives Matter only increase the violence. I do not see things getting better only worse with these race baiter running wild.@
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    Ray Woodward · 2 years ago
    Michael,

    Unfortunately the evidence suggests that the injustice is real, not just perceived. Multiple high profile police shootings of unarmed black men where the officers received no more than a slap on the wrist if that over the last year or so have the feeling of impotence high in minority communities, and rightfully so. When people feel impotent in the face of injustice, they will tend to lash out at the perceived cause of the injustice, rightly or not. This does not excuse the actions of the shooters in Dallas, but is an attempt to understand the motivations of those involved. If you don't understand the motivations, you can't address the problem and the violence will escalate. Police departments need to start punishing officers who murder unarmed civilians to the same degree that they punish copy killers, and for the same reasons. Police deal harshly with those who kill police officers in order to deter others from killing the police. They need to stop protecting officers who murder civilians for exactly the same reason. As long as the people feel impotent in the face of an oppressive authority, the anger will continue to grow. This applies to ranchers out west and to minorities in the inner city equally. And it is how this country got its start in the first place.
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      roger dane · 2 years ago
      Evidence? What are you talking about? Obama has condoned social disruption by minorities as 'reasonable in the face' of misuse of power by authorities. He stated most recently (paraphrasing) that "this violence is not condoned but (!) the police must 'reform'..."
      So of some 950 police involved shootings that were fatal, only 4% were on unarmed black men. And 75% of all were while 'under' attack by the suspect that was shot. That leaves what would appear to be 25% of 4% (which is 1%) of unarmed and not 'assailing' suspects. That is 9 persons. In a country with 325 million and where 80% of all homicides in the black community, where black males (6.6% of the population) in 2012 murdered 5531 people (vs 9!), where from 1980 to 2008 blacks committed 52% of ALL homicides (still making up less than 13% of the population, a murder machine!), where between 2009 and 2012 blacks killed 4472 "other" blacks (vs 9!)... it would take, given the number of 'blacks killed by the police', some 40 years to equal the number of blacks killed by blacks in 2012 alone!!! Don't tell me Black Lives Matter. Black Liberation theology, endorsed by Obama's favorite Rev Wright, has destroyed the dream of MLK... and it is now, with Obama's support, destroying America... the future of your kids and grandchildren. And Hillary will continue this abomination.
      • This commment is unpublished.
        Ray Woodward · 2 years ago
        Those 9 cases you mention are the problem. I am not okay with ONE case of police killing an unarmed man and not being prosecuted. The Ferguson case was likely justified because the suspect was going for the officer's weapon. But the case of the older gentleman running away being shot in the back multiple times, the case of the prisoner who died in the police van, the case of the man killed on the street in NYC, and the two recent cases are just the recent ones that got reported. Oh, and the young man who had a small amount of Marijuana in his car and was driving away and the office shot and killed him instead of shooting out his tires. These are just the instances caught on tape. You know there are more. The culture of the police protect their own even when they do wrong needs to change or things will continue to escalate.
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          PRODOS · 2 years ago
          Ray Woodward writes: "The Ferguson case was likely justified because the suspect was going for the officer's weapon."

          And yet many people continue to see this event as "proof" of racist persecution.

          i.e. That White people hate Black people. Or that America and Americans are racist to the core and should be hurt or destroyed.

          They are not convinced that it was a fair trial, even though it was.

          I know this from listening to a Black radio station nearly every day when I recently visited America. The narrative of victimhood and revenge continues to burn fiercely.

          If every single case of a White cop wrongfully killing a Black person was openly and properly prosecuted, would it change the violent, racist program of "Black Lives Matter"?

          Ray Woodward might say it would.

          I believe it would not.
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            Ray Woodward i · 2 years ago
            Of course victim hood rages in the black community. Police officers shoot black men without just cause and then get off with little or no punishment. How could there not be a sense of victim hood raging in that community? I don't say anywhere that by prosecuting police officers who murder black men (I use the term murder to separate the few instances of unjustified shootings from the majority of instances where the shootings are justified) that things will be rosy. They have lost the trust in the government, and the government is going to have to work hard to earn that trust back. And it starts with prosecuting cops who murder unarmed civilians of any race. As with any wound you have to stop further damage before you can start the healing process. And this patient is getting more and more injured each time an incident like this occurs. And of course they don't trust the Ferguson outcome. There is too much history of police cover ups in this type of situation for them to believe that this isn't another cover-up.
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              PRODOS · 2 years ago
              Ray Woodward writes: "And of course they don't trust the Ferguson outcome. There is too much history of police cover ups in this type of situation for them to believe that this isn't another cover-up."

              Those Blacks who followed the Ferguson case and found it to be conducted fairly, and said so, have been shouted down, maligned and threatened by the peddlers of Eternal & Bottomless Victimhood.

              Given how openly available the facts are, any American citizen who perpetuates or excuses the false narrative and the theatrics of outrage should be ashamed of himself, and is part of the problem.

              American cops are an outstanding, highly professional, honorable, decent bunch of professionals.

              Nearly every single case I've every looked into which was claimed to be a "cover-up" has proven not to be so. Yet the false narrative goes on its merry way, regardless ... later to be added to the next false narrative.

              Some American Blacks think they have a special Victim status.

              They don't deserve and don't need any special treatment nor any excuses made for their delusions.

              That's not just my view, either. It's the view of many of my Black American friends and colleagues. Those who care about facts and getting on with life, instead of wallowing in racial narcissism and thereby crippling their soul and their capacity to be creative, productive joyous individuals.
              • This commment is unpublished.
                Peter Flynn · 2 years ago
                Thank you and Ray for a thoughtful exchange of views. If there were a much broader application of these exchanges we'd be on the way toward a solution, Nobody is perfect, people are going to make mistakes, jump to conclusions and act on (sometimes incorrect) preconceptions. These are much bigger issues than "Obama!". It's likely he'll be a footnote in history, which is a much more unflattering estimation than any of the mindless spew that's been hosed at him.
                • This commment is unpublished.
                  Richard · 2 years ago
                  :lol: a "footnote in history" my God...
    • This commment is unpublished.
      SusanM · 2 years ago
      Well said!
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      Deidre · 2 years ago
      Ray: You write: "They need to stop protecting officers who murder civilians for exactly the same reason."

      That's a very large generalization. If an officer-involved shooting occurs and a community considers that it is unjustified, that may merely be a perception, not a reality. Reality depends upon evidence. If evidence both via witness and forensics indicate the shooting is justified, but the public continues to believe it is unjustified because emotions and disinformation rather than facts are in the forefront, then there will be the rise of BLM-type groups which do nothing more than keep people riled up and feed the coffers of those who run the groups, both in front and behind the scenes. Burning down cities and the murder of police officers is a result. I think we all can state that this overreaction is completely unjustified regardless of "motivations."

      Thanks.
      • This commment is unpublished.
        Ray Woodward · 2 years ago
        No it is not a generalization of officer involved shootings. I was specifically referring to the multiple instances where an officer killed an unarmed civilian who was no threat. The cases I mentioned above in my reply to Roger Dane for instance. There was no justification for any of those shootings, and the officers involved need to be tried for homicide in a court of law with full press coverage so that people can see that the police are being held accountable for their actions. Otherwise those few cases will cast doubt upon the vast majority of justified officer involved shootings. The problem is that the police have a policy of protect their own even the bad apples, which is destructive in the long run because the people lose confidence that they will receive justice in a corrupt system.
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      Jett Black · 2 years ago
      You confuse anecdotes with evidence. The overwhelming evidence is that blacks are overwhelmingly more likely to be involved in violent crime, both as vics and perps, than are any other ethnic group. Therefore, their run-ins with law enforcement are much more frequent and more likely violent. That's how logic works, not emotional responses to isolated, misreported, anecdotal incidents. To get back to your granular level, do you know who called the LEOs to the scene of Alton Brown's death? A black man who Brown was threatening with a gun.

      Wrongfully targeting LEOs for their justified actions in dealing with real, often dangerously violent criminals is like crying wolf--if you keep doing it without justification, no one will listen when it's really important.
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    Scott Evans · 2 years ago
    The United States no longer has a justice system. Now, it is just a system. We are not the land of the free and home of the brave any more. That ship has sailed. We have become the land of the fleeced and home of the slave.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    Jmoore · 2 years ago
    I do not see the connection betw BLM and worldwide terrorism. Black social media and talk show hosts have been spouting cop and white killing rhetoric for years. This incident was inevitable and Obama, Lynch Holder - the "leaders" - have done nothing to stop it.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    DMWard · 2 years ago
    I think what Teddy Roosevelt said is applicable both individually & collectively: Walk softly, but carry a big stick.

    Be kind, but be alert, vigilant, & prepared. And vote...while you still can. Vote smartly (or as smart as possible) and spurn those that promise nothing but more and more freebies, i.e. unearned benefits.
  • This commment is unpublished.
    Leroy · 2 years ago
    Aren’t more white people than black people killed by police?

    Yes, but... NO



    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/11/arent-more-white-people-than-black-people-killed-by-police-yes-but-no/
  • This commment is unpublished.
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  • This commment is unpublished.
    Hollie · 11 months ago
    The play on words is premised on that logic.

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