Poking the Eagle

I know the expression is “poking the bear” but as national branding goes, bears are usually Russian. I’m not talking about NFL teams either.
I’m talking about the American character. The cartoon here was printed just days after the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit in 2001. When I saw it then, it was the ideal metaphor for, “Well now it’s on, son… the Americans are going to come for you.” With no words, it made me feel unbelievably proud of people who were, at that moment, ‘filing their talons’ … for me.
I searched for the image today for the same reason. Watching the news, I wanted to find and hug a cop. At the same time, I came up with a whole list of why Dallas’ idiot sniper should have had a little conversation with himself on Thursday morning and then jumped off a building instead because now most of America is standing behind the people he hates. Okay, that’s violent. Maybe I just wish he’d broken an ankle and was in the hospital until his temper cooled or someone looted his bomb supplies.
Seems like the shootings can’t have just been a few days ago. So much has already been said and the reactions are universal. The man who did it, and I’m paraphrasing, “just wanted to kill white people.”
First, Dallas officers hadn’t killed anyone so there was no revenge to be had. Second, statistically, police homicides occur more in white demographics than any other. So his “protest” was moot.
Third, really?! Kill all the police officers? Then what… transit police, then meter maids and crossing guards? What could possibly go wrong with a vacuum of authority? Well, life in a world without police would be as the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes described: nasty, brutish, and short.
I also agree with PoliceOne columnist (and retired cop) Dick Fairburn, who responded—probably red-faced—to a blogger who tried to assert that without police, people would naturally learn to work out their differences. (Yes, someone actually put that in print.) Fairburn’s response: “If you think there is some good in everyone, you haven’t met everyone.”
Fourth, I believe the sniper’s action had exactly the opposite effect of gaining attention and empathy for his issue about white people and cops. In one moment, the country turned its eyes away from Minnesota and Baton Rouge and back to its police forces with gratitude and solidarity. Video feeds, Tweets, Facebook pages were again awash in blue and sentiment about the character and bravery of the people who threw their bodies in front of those who were protesting against them. I’m sure BLM protesters could have done without that media flip too.
Finally, between 1999 and 2006 I toured military bases in the Balkans, Middle East and Japan. On tours after 2001 I probably personally met 1000 people who joined the military specifically to fight back.
What I foresee happening now is what happened 15 years ago. Good people who can’t sit back will show up at academies all over to sign up to protect and serve. Not just officers but VIPs and COPs and Explorers and more. We citizens will come to know a more fortified and committed police force than we’ve ever had before because there’s a new hate among us. Departments will get more money, families will receive more donations, training will evolve. Maybe I’m naive, but Americans are nothing if not determined. I look forward to the renewed paradigm of respect and refusal to live in the world of Lord of the Flies and Mad Max. We are and will be better than that.

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