Why We Need The Facts Before Condemning Police

A good friend of mine sent me a video a while ago involving a police shooting down in Huntington Beach. Along with it was the caption, "You know I love you man, but not all of you are good people."

For clarification, I work in law enforcement, at a larger agency here in California.

Initially, the video looked bad. In fact, it looked like an officer shot an obviously angry and possibly mentally ill man for simply walking towards him. This video wasn't flattering in the least.

Yet, I responded by saying I’ve been in similar situations. I know the feeling of being in such an altercation and the reality of it which is often stripped away in short clips. Give it time.

Then, days later, I see the same clip, but it's longer and shows a much larger section of the confrontation. Now, this version provides some clarification. The man shot threatened and attacked the officer, unprovoked other than being asked if he was okay. And, the attack continued until the man was severely injured. Suddenly, the cop doesn’t look so bad. The officer was attacked, he had every reason to believe the subject intended to cause great bodily harm or death.

The officer even instructs the subject to let go of his gun when on the ground, meaning when the kid got up into a fighting stance and was shot, the officer was legally 100% able to use his firearm.

We can Monday Morning Quarterback the ordeal, saying he should have tazed him, but I know the feeling of your adrenaline spiking, your hands shaking, your breathing pounding in your head, your vision tunneling around only what is right in front of you. Survival is all that matters in those moments.

At the end of the day, going home to our family’s is what matters. We just want to get through our shifts, and if someone gets in the way of that, we will do whatever it takes to make sure they fail in keeping us from going home.

Next time you see an OIS, wait for the fuller picture. Racism exists, and oversight of police is a great thing, a necessary thing, but a lack of economic opportunity is the greatest threat to those in the inner cities and poor communities around the country.

There are shady officers, and we make plenty of mistakes, but at the end of the day we’re people, trying to do a difficult job, doing what we can to make the communities we live and work in safer, with justice applied evenly as often as possible.

So check your facts before rushing to judgment, and give those on all sides the benefit of the doubt until the facts can be gathered.

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

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How To President Like Trump!

Our Commander In Chief has certainly not slowed down since taking up residence in the White House, and he brought a lovely bag of tricks with him to help him achieve his goals, to various degrees of success. Here’s how, once you’ve followed his formula to nab the Presidency, you can really maximize your demagogue President-ing skills.

Use Twitter, or some other social media, and attack people and organizations on the thinnest of grounds. The point is to keep the national conversation on what you want it to be, regardless of how controversial or pedantic. When people disagree with or berate you, hit back even harder. Never back down or admit you were wrong. Confidence is key.

Understand your audience. Trump knows his constituency tends to distrust government and the media, so anytime something goes wrong, or at least doesn’t go your way, attack these common enemies. Always deflect, blaming other members of government, even in your own party, and never take the heat for things that go sideways. Openly disagree with members of your own cabinet, and don’t hesitate to fire people that really get under your skin or cause problems for you.

Keep it simple. Call any negative media coverage or reports that emerge “fake news” and constantly drive that point home. Say over and over how mistreated and unfairly targeted you are, how dishonest the media is, and then tell the people you’re giving them the truth through your social media feed. Constantly talk of how much you’re doing, how successful you are at President-ing, and how great America is becoming because you’re in office, regardless of facts. What matters here is image.

Stay relevant, and keep using fear tactics and various calls of patriotism to rally your base around you. Try trash talking China before changing tune and focusing on North Korea. Use every terrorist act possible to rile up your base against immigration and in favor of greater national security, which may well translate into a harsher travel ban. Threaten military action for nearly any perceived foreign threat, and keep up a toxic hyper-masculine machismo. Never let up on these points regardless of rationality or facts, these just get in the way.

Also, as a little bonus, stay away from mother-fucking Russia. It really just tends to complicate things…

So, now that you’re armed to the teeth with effective tips and strategies for rallying your mis-informed base and getting yourself elected President, best of luck manipulating the masses for the next four to eight years. Because, fuck honesty, and general human decency.

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

YouTube channel here.

How You Can Become President!

If there is anything we’ve learned from the election of Donald Trump as POTUS, it’s that The People are PISSED! We are collectively sick-and-tired of feeling stuck and left behind in a world that seems stilted against the American Working Class. The vast majority of the American people agree that things need to change in greater favor of the Middle Class. Alas, here comes our Glorious Leader to teach us how it’s done, and get America back on track.

First, sow fear of immigrants, refugees, and foreigners. Tell them Mexico is sending us rapists and drug dealers, that Muslim immigrants are going to result in more 9/11 style attacks. Turn white Americans against minority groups.

Second, channel this fear into anger, and direct it at those outside of the American mainstream. Tell them China is taking our jobs and money, and we should be harder on them. Tell them Syrian refugees are on the border, and they may be ISIS. And if anyone disagrees, they obviously don’t really care about our National Security.

Next, take all that fear and anger, and play the hero. You are the only one that can save the country, the only one big and strong and tough enough to put America back on top, and make it great again. Tell them you are the only candidate fit for the job.

Paint things in simple, black-and-white terms. Tell people they are going to win so much they’re going to get tired of it, that a big, beautiful wall will be built, and Mexico is going to pay for it. Tell them you will stop terrorism and stand of for the People like no one else has or can.

Then, deflect your weak points via humor and paint your opponents as weak and ridiculous. Be brash and mean, sexist and effectively racist, but all under the guise of “saying it like it is,” and make sure it lines up with the not-so-hidden prejudices of millions of Americans that may well vote for you. In short, be cocky and bully others. Even double-bind opponents, saying things like their energy is low or their corruption is showing through, so you always come out looking superior for it.

Control the frame. Do everything you can to make the game your own. Unflinchingly tell your side of the story, say again and again that what you believe to be true is reality. Everyone else is living in your world, and it’s time they realize you’ve got it all figured out. Repeat the line until your acolytes are selling your propaganda for you, and ride it out all the way to the white house.

And finally, use social proofs and approval from the masses, notable people and authority figures to cement your perception as a winner, as someone to be taken seriously, as the person for the job. You are presidential, and every single person worth a damn that knows you believes so as well. You are selling yourself, an unstoppable winner, and playing on every emotion in the book to do it.

Bottom line: humans don’t vote based on data and rational discourse. They vote based on emotion, on how they feel about the world, their country, and their family. They vote based on fear and anger, hope and a desire for a better world. Trump is an example of one who mastered this process, and it took him all the way to the White House. Apply these age-old Orwellian tactics, and you might just become a terrible president too!

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

YouTube channel here.