Law Enforcement, Race and the Gun Culture – III

This is the third in this series. I recommend that you read or re-read Part I, which you can find here as well as Part II, which you can find here.

In both Parts I and II I outlined misbehavior by police in my own experience, as well in the news. I don’t want the reader to come away as a result with the impression that I think the police, as a whole, is corrupt or anxious to kill. It is the usual situations of a few bad apples.

But there are many important reasons why there is often incompetence and/or corruption in the police. Most important is that the police in the US are unionized. I happen to favor unions in the private sector, where the bargaining power of the individual worker is none existent, and where the demise of unions is a major factor in the wage stagnation that we are now experiencing.

But the police are different. The police are in many ways a quasi-military force, who like the military, often have to put their lives on the line, and have the power of life or death over those they confront. It is vital that they obey orders from their superiors, and not put the interest of themselves, or of their comrades, over that of the public. Insubordination ought to no more be tolerated in the police, than it would be in the military.

Can anyone image a members of our military turning their back in disrespect on the President of the United States, or large numbers staging a slow-down because they are displeased with the policies instituted by their superiors, as the police recently did relative to the mayor in NYC. A quick court marshal would follow. We need the same discipline for our police forces throughout the US.

All this occurred in New York because the mayor, who has a son of color, expressed empathy for the demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights to peacefully demonstrate, and put into words what every father of an African-American knows (but which is probably good advise for all races) be very polite and non-confrontational with the police. Or maybe it occurred because the police were angry because they liked the freedom to stop and frisk at random in neighborhoods of color, which the new mayor and new police commissioner ended.

But what finally triggered the expression of their pent-up anger, was the assassination of two of their comrades by a deranged man, who had indicated that much of his anger against the police was triggered by the demonstrations. Of course, his anger wasn’t just directed against the NYC police, for before undertaking that wanton act, he shot his girlfriend, and thereafter shot himself, something he had considered doing in the first place.

So what are we to make of this wanton killing by a deranged man. The head of the police union immediately pointed the finger at the mayor.

I rather think that there is a clearer connection, for it falls into line with the many killings by deranged men at schools, recently at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut. See here, but less unusual then most think. CNN reports: 

After Tuesday's shooting at an Oregon high school, many media outlets, including CNN, reported that there have been 74 school shootings in the past 18 months.

That's the time period since the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six adults were shot to death.

It prompted me to publish a letter in the North Jersey Record, which I reproduce below:

As I did in my previous blog posts, I set forth below the transcript of the letter for those who may have difficulty reading the clipping.

The tragic death of New York Police officer Rafael Ramos makes him another victim of a deranged man with a gun, though it has been presented as being the result of demonstrations against the killing of unarmed African-American men, and even as a result of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s action in ending the racially charged and racially profiled policy of stop and frisk.

It is no such thing!

It is no different from the many tragic death around the country, highlighted most recently by the murders at Sandy Hook in Connecticut. These are murders by deranged persons, who should have been in treatment, and who have easy access to guns.

How much longer must this country live with an atmosphere where the joy of owning a gun and the feeling of power that it gives its owners, not to speak of the all the money to be made by manufacturers and dealers, trumps the right to life of innocent people, whether they are school children or police officers.

It is difficult to understand why the right to own and drive an automobile can be licensed, but the right to own and shoot a gun cannot.

The second amendment has been completely distorted and given a meaning, which it does not have, and was never meant to have by its authors and did not have for most of this countries history.

Emil Scheller
Fort Lee, December 27

As I write this blog post I am reminded of the reaction of the President of the NRA, the lobbying arm of the gun manufacturers, after the Sandy Hook shooting. He said:

The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Well, the two cops had guns. It didn’t stop their killer. Does the NRA care? Do they care about anything but the profits of the gun manufacturers for whom the solution will always be “we want to sell more guns – we want more profits!!!

But let us not be deceived. We have many more problems with our criminal justice system.

I will go into greater detail in future posts. But for now allow me to just set out a graph that speaks volumes.

What is there about the US that would make us have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world?

I will come back to this in another context, but for now allow me to express my disappointment that our President, in his sixth State of the Union address, did not speak about this subject. It is one of the few areas where he might be able to find common ground with Republicans.

The Washington Post reports: 

But on issues of sentencing reform and prison recidivism, Republicans — especially several governors in Southern states — have been the leaders, earning praise from prison reform groups on both sides of the aisle for efforts to save money by implementing rehabilitation programs and curbing skyrocketing prison costs.

A nonpartisan study issued last year about how one of the bluest states in the union, Massachusetts, could cut prison costs credited Republicans states for how they have tackled prison reform…

‘This is our chance to show we can provide solutions to affect significant problems,’ said Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

The renewed focus on costsaving reforms marks a dramatic, decade-long shift by Republican governors, many of whom previously won election by stumping on tough-on-crime platforms.

But, as many of those governors have noted, one way to cut state costs is to decrease the number of people being locked up for nonviolent offenses and rid the law books of mandatory minimum sentences for such offenses.

In addition to Perry, prominent Republicans who once trumpeted tough-on-crime ­stances and now call for sentencing changes and rehabilitation programs for drug and other nonviolent offenders include former Florida governor Jeb Bush and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a tea party hero, has made reform of mandatory minimum sentences a major focus in recent months.

“We’re not a soft-on-crime state, you know what I’m saying? . . . We’re tough on crime,” Perry said. “But I hope we are also seen as a smart-on-crime state.”

That is quite a change from the tough on crime of Republicans in years and decades past, when, e.g. George H.W. Bush used the famous, or infamous, Willie Horton ad (See here) in his campaign against Michael Dukakis.

But whatever the past, this is an issue that now appears to have Republican support, and if the President and the Democratic Party don’t seize the opportunity, the chance for reform may well be wasted.

I will have more to say in the area of the American Justice system next time.

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While I have decided not to dwell on the Israeli issue any further, I cannot ignore the outrage of the Boehner/Netanyahu axis. They are both a disgrace in meddling in the domestic affairs of the other’s country. Netanyahu will face elections in Israel on March 17 according to Fox News, but instead of campaigning in Israel, he will campaign by addressing the US Congress on March 3, two weeks before the Israeli election. This is a blatant and transparent attempt on the part of both the Speaker and the Prime Minister to meddle in the affairs of the other country. Even while this is likely to aid Netanyahu in Israel, it is at the same time an attempt to embarrass the President of the US, by Netanyahu coming here, once again, in his ongoing and endless attempt to influence the US not to negotiate with Iran and instead go to war. He has said the US has no right to tell Israel not to attack Iran, which the US has never done, while trying to ensnare the US into war with Iran.

Netanyahu’s crude attempt to meddle in American domestic affairs has a long and infamous history. He is the proverbial child always crying wolf and has been doing so since more than two years. On September 12, 2012 I published an article entitled: “I am an American”, from which I quote:

But Netanyahu has gone out of his way to violate every rule of diplomatic behavior. In my view he has been a disaster for Israel. Since any Letter to the Editor has to be short I commend readers to "Peter Beinart on Netanyahu’s Bullying Act" from The Daily Beast.

That article relates in some detail Netanyahu’s long history of meddling in American politics, so much so that the Republican Secretary of State James Baker briefly had him banned from the State Department. But beyond that, and I quote from the article, “Netanyahu has been brazenly intervening in American politics—often with an eye to screwing Democratic presidents.”…

But now he has the gall to come to the US and use our airwaves to try to dictate American foreign policy. Appearing on US Television, Netanyahu declared: “Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.” I agree with the Prime Minster that no one has a right to place a “Red Light” before Israel. But, in fact no one has!!!...

The attempt by any country to dictate American policy, particularly on issues of war and peace must be rejected by all Americans.

What did the Prime Minister show to the US to demonstrate the imminent danger? Look here.

That was two years ago. Is Iran now in the final stage? Not even the man who keeps crying wolf claims that is the case. The negotiations, whether they finally succeed, or not, have delayed the Iranian progress. If the danger ever was anywhere near as imminent as the fear monger claimed, the Iranian’s would have the bomb today.

And what is the alternative to the present course? To go to war? Netanyahu is ready to hold the coat of the US. Israel is not about to commit that folly, nor would its military and intelligence agencies allow it. Should there be more sanctions by the US, which would end the negotiations, and worse, end the unity of the allies in imposing multi-lateral sanctions?

But quite aside from that, does his diagram look like an atomic bomb?

Here is a terrific YouTube video on that subject.



I urge the reader to watch it. If nothing else, it is funny and it does a good job of relating the history of the “the boy who cried wolf”. He points out that the cry that Iran is about to get “the bomb” goes back to 1992.

Comments, questions, or corrections are welcome, and will be responded to and distributed with attribution, unless the writer requests that he/she not be identified. However, please give your full name and the town and state in which you reside or have an office.

Debating In My Local Newspaper

I refer to my commentary entitled: "The Bankruptcy Bill and Arlen Specter" which can be found here.

I published this commentary in my local newspaper, the Fort Lee Suburbanite, and it prompted a response from a Mr. Chiu, who has been a frequent contrarian of my opinions.

I quote his letter in full below along with my rebuttal. I think the exchange speaks for itself and accordingly I will not burden the reader with any further comments.

"I agree with Emil Scheller that it's unfair for corporations to have the right to abuse bankruptcy laws while individuals don't. Unfortunately, a few bad individual apples spoiled everything for ordinary people. Some deliberately ran up credit card debts and simply declared bankruptcy later on. It was common knowledge that one's bad credit record would be wiped clean after 7 years and credit card companies would again be mailing offers. No more.

"Of course, Scheller blames Republicans for the passage of legislation changing the bankruptcy laws. He states that 14 Senate Democrats also voted in favor of the bill, which passed 7425. I just checked on Google: 19 Democrats voted for the bill. 25 Democrats voted against the bill. There was one abstention. Whatever the case, Democrats could have filibustered to block the bill if they felt strongly enough about it. Could such inaction have had anything to do with campaign contributions sullying our political process? Ideally, Congress would pass similar legislation to crack down on corporate abuse of bankruptcy laws.

"Scheller justifies his use of the term "right-wing" by resurrecting his old straw man argument that conservatives want to undo the New Deal and Great Society. In fact, he gleefully uses his explanation as an excuse to throw out the word "reactionary" against conservatives. Now everyone knows full well that Big Government is so much a part of our lives that it would be impossible to repeal any part of the New Deal or Great Society, if even we wanted to. There's no going back. For example, we all have grandparents (and even parents) on Social Security. Or we may be beneficiaries of some social program or subsidy. In fact, when Republicans controlled Congress, they even increased the size of government. I recall one occasion in which the Bush administration wanted to slightly trim some social programs. Republican congressmen angrily refused to cut programs as they wanted to protect their poor constituents. No one has the heart to cut anything. Government just grows and grows. There are no reactionaries.

So pejorative terms like "right-wing" have no place in polite discourse. I avoid the use of terms like "Left-wing" or "Leftist" because those can also be construed as code words for "Communist" and "Socialist". We don't always have to agree with one another, but we should try to treat each other with respect."

"Mr. Chiu plays gotcha. I complained in my letter entitled, "The Bankruptcy Bill and Arlene Specter" which appeared in the Suburbanite of May 8, about "14" Democrats who voted for a bankruptcy bill in 2005 that took bankruptcy protection from ordinary Americans. Apparently I miscounted. As Mr. Chiu gleefully points out, actually 18 Democrats and 1 Independent voted for this outrageous bill. But this simply reinforces the point I was making, that there are too many Democrats who did the bidding of the banking lobby. But at least a majority of Democrats voted against it. Not a single Republican voted against it. The party of "No" wasn't the party of "No" then. They are never on the side of ordinary Americans.

"Mr. Chiu then goes on to try to justify this outrageous bill. He says "Some deliberately ran up credit card debts and simply declared bankruptcy later on." but Mr Chiu doesn't tell us where he gets this information from, and even if some did, does that justify such a drastic remedy? The fact is that according to the Harvard Journal of Health Affairs, in 2001 'medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans annually -- counting debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children.

'Surprisingly, most of those bankrupted by illness had health insurance. More than three-quarters were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness. However, 38 percent had lost coverage at least temporarily by the time they filed for bankruptcy.

'Most of the medical bankruptcy filers were middle class; 56 percent owned a home and the same number had attended college. In many cases, illness forced breadwinners to take time off from work -- losing income and job-based health insurance precisely when families needed it most.

'Families in bankruptcy suffered many privations -- 30 percent had a utility cut off and 61 percent went without needed medical care."

"Chiu then goes on to claim once again that Republicans don't want to do away with Social Security. Has he conveniently forgotten Republican attempts to push for individual savings accounts invested in the stock market that would be funded by diverting a large portion of the SS taxes to such accounts, which would deplete the SS fund even faster than it is already being depleted. Ronald Reagan saved SS by increasing the limit on the payroll tax, provided for the the retirement age to be increased, and taxing higher income SS recipients and plowing the proceeds back into the trust fund, but the new Republicans want no such reforms. They want SS to be bankrupt just as quickly as possible.

Has Mr. Chiu conveniently forgotten McCain's comment on Social Security during the campaign, "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that’s a disgrace."

"There is nothing wrong with terms like Right and Left any more than there is anything wrong with using Republican or Democratic, but there is something wrong with misrepresenting the positions of the parties or of the issues as Mr. Chiu consistently does. There is something wrong with the smears like the Swift Boaters, which Mr.Chiu defended in a previous letter, There is something wrong with the Willie Horton ads, which Mr. Chiu defended in a previous letter. There is something wrong with the phony Harry and Louise ads which doomed Health Care reform in the Clinton Administration. And as I said in my previous letter, there is something wrongwith calling progressives Communists, Fascists, Socialists, Muslim and friend of terrorists, in the case of Obama
and even lesbian, in the case of Clinton, (not that either Muslim or lesbian should be a term of opprobrium).

"But I don't hear Mr Chiu criticizing these smears. Truth hurts Mr. Chiu! Attempts to divert attention from the real issues don't work anymore. Attempts at pretending that everybody is for Social Security don't work anymore; not when the record is so clear. The party of "No" is dooming itself. It is the party that has even turned its back on the positive aspects of Ronald Reagan, who, by the way, advocated trying to do away with nuclear bombs, an objective which todays Republican nay-sayers denounce. From the web-site of the Libertarian Cato institute website, "Reagan, contrary to his image as a champion of the bomb, was a nuclear abolitionist. This is not a mere historical curiosity. Abolishing nuclear weapons was one of Reagan’s fundamental goals for his presidency."

"We could easily carve two parties out of the Democratic Party and no-one would miss the one whose voice is Cheney and Limbaugh. Other parties in American history have vanished. Gone are the Federalist Party,
the Democratic-Republican Party and the Whig Party.

"Too many Democrats are too often on the wrong side of issues. But the party of "NO" deserves to see the setting sun. Lies can no longer save it."