Who do they think they are?

When did we start fearing the police? Okay, I know that’s a naive question as any person of color can and will tell you. I mean, there’s always been a certain amount of fear because of who they are and not all law enforcement personnel do the right thing – stop and frisk being one such example. But something is happening these days that’s different. Women, for example, are being abused by the very people who are paid to protect and serve them. I saw a video of a Chicago woman arrested for DUII, blood around her on the floor in what appeared to be a jail cell. Apparently the mental giant (or police officer if you prefer) threw her against a concrete bench in the cell. All she wanted to do was call her children. Nice guy.

Then there was the story about the women who were abused by Texas law enforcement by forcing them to have a road-side cavity search because the smell of cannabis was detected that didn’t actually exist. The trainee who did the search was a woman no less. Surely her training taught her that this isn’t right, even if the fact that she’s a woman did not.  Nevertheless, these women were abused and are now suing.

Women in Washington state apparently have to fear law enforcement there as well. I read that around two dozen women, when arrested for DUII, were forced to strip completely at the jail, while law enforcement personnel apparently filmed them. What are they doing with these videos?

Every day it seems that there’s another report about law enforcement doing something we’re not paying them to do. Who trains these people? The lawsuits must be getting expensive and you know they’re only going to continue.

The militarization of law enforcement if particularly telling. Whether it’s the DEA or local SWAT teams, it’s not uncommon these days to have raids occur where people die and it’s not even the correct location in the first place. The Feds don’t help when they don’t respect medical cannabis laws in states where this is legal. Neither does local law enforcement when they do the same.

Can we please go back to a time where things made sense? Where we could trust and rely on the police to protect us? And as far as that goes, it would be nice if our government would stay out of our lady parts as well. The whole thing is creepy.

And as for the military..who do you think you are? You honestly think you can investigate sexual assault among your own ranks? You’ve proven time and time again that you can’t. It’s time for you to step back and hang your collective heads in shame, particularly in view of the guys who have been reinstated after their convictions have been overturned by a higher ranking officer. I’d like a minute in a room alone with one of those so-called “higher ranking officers” to fully explain the error he made. I’m sure many women would like to do the same. My God..you’re supposed to be defending us..not abusing us. And it’s not only women who are assaulted. It’s happening to men as well.

Something is very wrong here.. Things seem so backwards. We watched in horror at the beginning of this month when the Tea Party shut down the government all because they don’t like the Affordable Care Act. They also don’t understand the concept of the debt ceiling. Apparently it’s okay to destroy the country’s credit rating because the guy in the White House isn’t the right color. Racism, along with other “isms”, has stacked the deck against the American people and if we don’t figure out what’s going on and stop it, no telling what will happen to us. We must find our way back to each other and elevate our country to the lofty place it belongs. It’s appropriate to care about each other. It’s what we’re supposed to do. The Ted Cruz’s of this world have it wrong. We’re better than this.