OKAY...FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME, I DO NOT HATE COPS

Critical thinking is a process that requires one to recognize that there are no absolutes. Obviously, America is in the shitter when it comes to using its brain, because pretty much everything Americans have to say is either/or. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that because I want to do something about police misconduct I am a "cop hater", or that as an anarchist, I want to cause disruption for disruption's sake. Or my favorite-I listen to metal, so therefore I must be antisocial.

I am going to clarify this again, because so many people-including friends of mine who should know better think I am a cop hater. (They could pick up the phone and talk to me about this, ask some questions-you know, use their brain. But, metal is as stupid does, I guess)

Now I admit, and most people who know my history admit, I have very good reason to hate cops. It's something I'm under a court order to not discuss, so I won't. But trust me, any logical person who knew it would wonder why I don't.

By the way, I apologize for my slow writing schedule as of late. Major orthopedic surgery has slowed my roll. I'm under incredible physical pain every day, and it's hard to write. Just saying.

And, truth be told, I did hate cops for a while. In fact, I hated cops right up until I started doing something about police misconduct. Doing what I do has helped me make peace with some bad shit I had to deal with-still have to deal with, actually. But I can assure you, I don't hate cops. I know cops. Some of them are royal dicks. Some are pretty awesome. The culture is awful, though. Machismo, corruption, and brutality. I do hate that. Some cops can resist the culture and be trusted with mace, clubs, and guns. But many can't.

And I sure hate some of the things cops do. Raiding the wrong house and shooting a seven-year-old girl in her sleep is pretty fucked up, and I'm going to call a duck a duck. The cops responsible should fry. The people who justify it should fry. (Critical thinking alert: "I know it's sad, but..." means you are not sad about shit when we're talking about a seven year old getting shot in her sleep) And anyone who lets them get away with it should fry.

Well now, that's the problem, isn't it? Nobody fries. At worst, they sit in some lukewarm water for a little while. In fact-very rare cases aside-the only option a victim of police misconduct has for getting anything resembling justice is to sue the cop, whose burden the city bears, which gets passed on to the taxpayers. (Aaaaand just like that, "conservatives" who were concerned about rising taxes and wasteful spending suddenly go silent!) That's not justice, by the way.

In an odd twist of timing, two NYC cops and one Florida cop have been executed in the last 24 hours that I started writing this. So, I guess I'll comment on that. I don't think whoever did it had any right to do it. Damn, I wish I could hear cop supporters say they don't think a New York cop had a right to choke Eric Garner to death for selling cigarettes. But therein probably lies the reason it happened-because the lives of some-specifically those with a badge-are more important than the lives of others. If a cop was breaking a trivial law and gave me attitude like Eric Garner admittedly gave a cop when I called him out on it, and I choked him to death for it like a cop choked Eric Garner to death for it, there would probably be a national day of mourning. Flags at half mast, the whole deal. And, I bet that even if there was no video proof, I would be convicted swiftly, while video evidence of a cop's wrongdoing that resulted in death couldn't even get him an indictment. And the establishment responds with body cameras. HELLO!!! Eric Garner's murder was filmed and preserved for all to see, and it made not one lick of difference!

Seriously, is this thing on?

I was not happy when I saw vigilante justice on the horizon, but I am not surprised that it arrived. I am sad as hell, though. Indeed, I had hoped the problem could be solved before it came to this. I worked hard to that end. And now, even as law enforcement will continue to refuse to take a look at itself, its practices, and its impunity that have driven some to feel as though vigilantism is the answer (hopefully no more. Please, no more), I will continue to push for reform.

I should mention: the police shooters weren't active protesters. The protesters are mostly nonviolent. In fact, Compelling video evidence exists giving reason to believe it wasn't protesters but a paramilitary force who started all those fires after the GJ decision in Ferguson (In case you're wondering why the statist media suddenly shifted its focus away from the riots),yet another reason for cops to hate cameras that are not under their control.

But, law enforcement culture resists any and all accountability. And so it remains that law enforcement is the only job I know of where you can throw a tantrum, kill or seriously injure someone needlessly, cost your employer over a million dollars in lawsuits, and keep your job. I really hate that.

"What about black-on-black crime, blah blah blah..."

Shut up. Just. Stop.

Yes. Black-on-black violent crime sucks. Hell, I'll see your ten and raise you twenty: All violent crime sucks. (FYI, intraracial crime is not unique to black people, in spite of what Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly might say) But do you know what happens when criminals commit needless violence? Cops hunt them down and they get prosecuted. Do you know what happens when a cop goes rogue and commits needless violence? Cops circle the wagons and protect said cop, usually at great expense to taxpayers. Do you see the problem there?

Now before trolls that lick the government boot jump up and start denying shit, or whatever: mind you-I have had to experience some really bad shit that you cannot tell me didn't happen. In fact, your trying to tell me that things I have directly experienced weren't experienced, that is one of the reasons I am the activist I am. So if you really want to do your side a favor, shut up and stop strengthening my resolve.

Look, I realize most police encounters end uneventfully. Thank God for that. But here's the thing: some do not. And then some end very unfairly. You do not ignore a fire because it's only burning in one room of your house. And that is the heart of this struggle.

I have very strong spiritual beliefs regarding hate and violence. I believe it feeds negativity, which is a parasite, and that of course weakens humanity. That same negativity loves when hate and violence produces a response of hate and violence, because it has more to feed off of. This allows it to create more negativity in us, creating more opportunities to feed, weakening us further and further. So, to that end, even though I have to process some shit, I work to put hate behind me. I've done a good job of it too.

But when I see a class of human that gets away with it when others don't, I do something about it. Because otherwise violence could beget violence, in a pattern of escalation that law enforcement culture gleefully feeds into, and now more Americans have been killed by police than the Iraq War.

Do you still think that because I want to do something about police misconduct, I hate cops?

Well then, there you go. You are part of the reason I do this.