California Attorney General Jerry brown has stepped up to the plate and issued a searing report on egregious abuses of power in the Maywood Police Department. This is part of what seems to be a growing movement to bring---at long last---some accountability to out-of-control law enforcement and bringing the police state back to some kind of manageable limits.
Brown stated that the rogue cops routinely violated due process, employed excessive force, and operated with utter contempt for the public. Maywood, described by the L.A. Times as "a haven for misfit cops" sounds like a typical description of most other American police departments.
Brown stated at a press conference that his 16-month investigation was hampered by 'a police code of silence'.
Let's hope that this is going to result in further investigations; not just in California, but nation-wide. The American police have had a free ride for far too long; their misdeeds and outright crimes willingly covered up by a fawning media and self-interested prosecutors. The prison-industrial complex, which has given us arrest and incarceration rates not seen the Nazi and Soviet eras is, as Brown put it, "inexcusable in a free society." It's time give these blue-shirted bullies a dose of their own medicine and impress upon them their own limitations.
I'm glad to see Jerry Brown speaking out about this. However, I don't trust him. He didn't seem so concerned about police abuse during his own tenure as mayor of Oakland, which generated stories like this one from 2005 (online at http://www.datacenter.org/programs/crim_just.htm):
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As Dr. Edelstein sagely noted earlier today
Starchild,
A wise politician holds out (false) hope to the electorate.
Warm regards, Michael
I don't think they deserve to be called "wise." Maybe "cunning." I think the methods (if not the ideology) of establishment politicians already garner more respect among Libertarians than they deserve, increasing the likelihood that LP candidates will be encouraged to emulate their bad practices and making the the party a more comfortable place for those who put winning over principles. Integrity deserves respect; being politically "successful" by pulling the wool over peoples' eyes does not. Real success means advancing the cause of freedom, not winning office. If you win office but do not advance the cause of freedom, you have failed.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Yes....you are right. But you are also optimistic. I am starting to join
Dr. Edelstein in the curmudgeon camp. The idea that winning office might
lead to advancing freedom is seeming more and more like a pipe dream.
Just waiting to be proven wrong...
Maywood? Imagine that. Barney fife a rogue cop?what ould Aunt Bea say? oh, thats MayBerry.
He may be doing the politically expedient thing, but even so, he should be encouraged. After Oakland's recent expulsion of 11 rogue cops there and some of Obama's moves to end torture and Guantanamo, I think it may be the beginning of a political backlash against the police state.
Mike,
Michael Edelstein may correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he believes that winning political office can't lead to advancing freedom. I think he would agree with me that the vast majority of elected Libertarians have advanced the cause of freedom at least a little bit -- i.e. life, liberty, and property are slightly more protected in those jurisdictions than they would have been had a non-Libertarian been elected in his or her place.
But if we encourage people to think that winning elections is what matters, then we're more likely to wind up with elected Libertarians who *don't* advance the cause of freedom, or who do so less than they would have if we'd put more of an emphasis on it, and not acted like *winning itself* is what deserves our respect and admiration. I noticed for instance at the recent LPC convention that organizers were using the appellation "The Honorable" before the names of elected Libertarians just because they hold political office. Libertarians should be the first to recognize that there is nothing particularly honorable about holding public office, and not buy into a nomenclature that flatters political officeholders (falsely in most cases). The honor (or dishonor) lies in what a person does while in office.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Dear Starchild;
The whole thread can be boiled down to:
Don't listen to what a politician says look at what a politician does. ie: actions speaks louder than words ie: they talk the talk but can they walk the walk?
Ron Getty - SF Libertarian
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