NO, NOT BAH! HUMBUG! JUST UGH!

NO, NOT BAH! HUMBUG! JUST UGH!
by Andy Weddington
Friday, 19 December 2014



"If you think people are inherently good, you get rid of the police for 24 hours - see what happens." Sylvester Stallone



Police call - lingo used by U. S. Marines meaning turn to and clean up the area. That is, police the area. And that can mean a lot of things - from trash to "trash."

Typing "police call" into Google the first entry that popped up was the phone number to our local police department. I didn't bother to dial to confirm. Surely.  

And there was a listing of akin "police call" searches that included: frequency guides; scanners; codes; signs; and books.

But that's not what today's brief Comment is about directly.

Tis the season of 'peace on earth, good will towards men' and protests against the police continue (in regard to the deaths of [Blacks] Michael Brown - Ferguson, MO and Eric Garner - New York City, NY at the hands of [White] police officers performing their duties).

Citizens, with no regard for facts nor civility, across the country gather and march and obstruct traffic and vandalize and chant catchy ditties. To gather their right. To chant their right. To behave uncivilized, to destroy is not.

Never mind the ditties, hardly of the Christmas carol spirit, are baseless and meant only to stir hostile emotion.

Several times now watching the news during the past week one particular ditty - a police call, if you will, has troubled.

The ditty: "What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!" Over and over it's repeated, off key.  

I wonder...

Is their inane ditty directed at all police officers - Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow clad in blue? That is, is it color blind?

Or is the inane ditty directed only at White in blue? 

So, who, exactly, are the racists?

Regardless, it's madness!

From facts, the truth is the police officers involved in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases were conducting ordered police calls - they were legitimately, and literally, cleaning up the area. Their duty being to enforce law not adjudicate it.

The gathering, marching, chanting crowds - mobs, they are - desperately need a level-headed, fair-minded, strong leader to direct their energies towards something productive; like, for starters, conducting a police call of the hoodlums and miscreants in their own neighborhoods and towns.

Regrettably, some sitting in positions of leadership have, either actively or passively, joined the mobs.

Calling for 'dead cops' is not a solution but rather a spark for turmoil, for disorder and should be rebuked from the top.

Mr. Stallone has it right. Take police off the streets for 24 hours - see what happens.

Who cringes when seeing a police cruiser or officer? Not law-abiding citizens. They sense calm and know the majority are on better, if not their best, behavior.

So that ditty?

Outrageous it is. It's ignorant. It's stupid. But freedom of outrageous ignorant stupid speech is, too, protected.

Yet those so vocalizing may want to take pause and think about the wise speech of a strong effective leader...

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

That was Martin Luther King, Jr.

So let's start wrapping this up with a call for our fellow citizens to use their head.

With that plea, that Christmas wish, not to be confused with a head call (lingo that means something else to U. S. Marines).

Using your head, how to succeed in America (thanks, in part, to order kept by police)...

Work hard. Think. Make good decisions. Persevere. Excel at something. Serve. Give. Obey the law - to the letter and in spirit. Say "Please" and "Thank you," often. Write "Thank You" notes. Reflect. Plan. Laugh - at yourself - daily. Forward, March!

Now...

"Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'. We are going to press on. We have work to do."

That was President Obama scolding the Congressional Black Caucus at their annual awards dinner on Saturday, 24 September 2011. Finally, his words are relevant.

So...

Get busy!

Problem?

Police call, first. That is, police yourself(ves).

Then, if others are causing a problem...

Call police!

Finally...

As Chevy Chase's snarky investigative reporter character, Fletch (so titled movie), said at a police benefit dinner (while, ironically, trying to evade the police), "Go ahead, hug a cop!"

As for the 'uniting America' effectiveness of President Obama; Attorney General Holder; Al Sharpton; Jesse Jackson; the Congressional Black Caucus; et al., this Christmas Season?

No, not Bah! Humbug! just Ugh!(a fortuitous, befitting acronym of hug)!

Yes, Santa supports those - Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow - clad in blue!

*<\|:-{)}>~+++

And I do too.

Don't be a Scrooge!

Post Script 

Merry Christmas!