Deaths Are Tragic, Not Political!!

On September 9, 2012 President Obama was in Florida campaigning, among his stops was a visit to Palm Beach County.

Following the President's appearance at the Palm Beach Convention Center his motorcade was traveling to another location, and as is normal protocol motorcycle police officers began to shutdown traffic entering the route the motorcade was traveling.  Officer Bruce St. Laurent, a motorcycle officer with the Jupiter Police Department, was assigned to the detail and was stopping traffic at an assigned location on I-95 when he was struck by a motorist driving a Ford F-150 truck.  Officer St. Laurent was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center but they were not able to save his life.

As I read the various news articles about Officer St. Laurent's death I saw something that angered me.  Officer St. Laurent's untimely death should be seen as the tragic loss of a dedicated public servant, husband, father, member of the community, but it SHOULD NOT be seen as another opportunity to criticize President Obama.  Comments were posted on line with the article criticizing the President because he did not stop at the crash scene. 

When a dignitary motorcade (especially the President of the United States) is transitioning from one location to another traffic is stopped from entering the route ahead of the motorcade.  This is done for the security of the dignitary and also for the safety of the other motorists, to avoid their becoming a victim should there be an attack on the motorcade.  Officer St. Laurent was a part of the advance closing off the route ahead of the Presidential Motorcade when he was struck.

People that disagree with the President can find things to criticize him about, a lot of things from not keeping his promise to close "Gitmo" to the latest employment figures.  However, the motorcade not stopping at the crash scene is not one of those things.  The motorcade was correct not to stop and the President would have been wrong had he ordered it to stop.  As was the case here the President could be briefed on the officer's condition, but his stopping would have been the wrong thing to do because once the motorcade would have stopped the priority would no longer have been rendering aide to Officer St. Laurent.  The safety of the President is the priority and his being there would have distracted from the mission of rendering aide to Officer St. Laurent. 

If you think that the President should have stopped let me ask you this, what would you have President Obama do if he had stopped?  Is he a certified paramedic or medical professional that is qualified to render aide?  One big problem on crash scenes that law enforcement complain about is "rubber neckers", those fighting to save Officer St. Laurent's life sure didn't need the President to become one.

When law enforcement officers go on duty they become non political and that's how their loss should be treated.  Thought should be for the family, friends, coworkers, and community that has suffered another loss of a dedicated public servant, NOT how I can use this tragedy to say something negative about the President.

Below is a link to the Memorial Page that the Jupiter Police Department has put up honoring Officer St. Laurent's service to the community, I encourage you to take a moment and visit the page to learn a little about Officer Bruce St. Laurent.

http://www.jupiter.fl.us/jpd/Officer-Bruce-St-Laurent.cfm

When it comes to politics, WE SUCK! (another rant)

I remember back in 2007 and 2008 people that had never cared about politics began to get involved, finally they felt as if their voice and vote mattered.  I remember writing after the election what an exciting time it was, but I hoped that those that became involved for the first time would remain involved.  I also hoped that they would do their own research on issues and not just accept what others told them as fact.

I can remember as a kid the adults discussing the political and social issues of the day and how they had differing opinions but listened to opposing points of view.  I grew up loving politics because people could discuss their differences, be on polar ends of a topic and still be friends, so I was excited about what was happening as far as activism and was looking forward to those discussions.  After the election of 2008, and TARP, came The Tea Party.  I was again excited because people were paying attention to government and believed that they could have a voice, an impact, they could make a difference!

My excitement back then has turned into disillusionment, and what caused me to  become disillusioned is the same thing that makes me say that when it comes to politics, WE SUCK!  When the Tea Party began, instead of listening to their concerns and engaging in a dialog, those in power ridicule them, wouldn't listen and engage in a dialog, they just labelled them mindless puppets of Glen Beck or Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or some other conservative.  People in the various Tea Party's (the Tea Party is not a singular organization) became frustrated because they weren't being listened to, because elected officials didn't care about their concerns or fears.

As a result the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections and those that gained control were determined to make themselves heard.  Unfortunately they either forgot, or never learned that treating others the way they had been treated was wrong, instead of "taking the high road" they were going to give Democrats a taste of their own medicine.

OK, it's been another two years and what's happened?  Did the two sides wake up and learn that if we don't start talking with instead of at each other we'll never fix our problems, yes OUR problems, it's not a Republican problem, nor a Democrat, not even a Tea Party problem, it is America's problem.  Instead of acknowledging our differences and working together on the things we can agree on, we've become less tolerant.  We are so intolerant of others that we make the KKK and Taliban look like the welcome wagon!

I know a lot of people that are members of the Tea Party, some are friends, they are good people just concerned that they are not going to be able to achieve the American dream of giving the next generation a better society than the one we inherited.  They are not racists, bigots or homophobes, they are concerned mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters.  Yet because of a few nuts all that are Tea Party supporters are labeled the same.  By the same token, just because someone has liberal beliefs doesn't make them a socialist that is hell bent on destroying America.

It's got to the point that we even label television shows, this or that show is the liberals attempt at corrupting and manipulating our thoughts/ beliefs!  Really?  I'm sorry but I can't believe that we are all that ill minded that a fictional TV program is going to change our views or philosophy. 

Why can't a Democrat just be a liberal instead of a socialist, or a Republican be a conservative instead of a racist, and a television drama just a fictional program instead of a veiled attempt at mind control.

I used to love to discuss politics, I could share my point of view and learn differing perspectives without intolerance or hatred for opposing points of view.  I used to be able to express my opinions and have someone accept that I had a different perspective, NOT a desire to be superior then others.

One of the TV programs that is supposedly trying to corrupt our minds is The Newsroom on HBO, it is trying to manipulate our thought process!  Why can't it just be a fictional TV program, if you know Arron Sorkin and his work you expect a program of his will have a liberal slant.  So what, it is called fiction for a reason.

I mention The Newsroom because it is the program I've seen mentioned by the so called "talking heads".  There is a scene in the the last episode of the season (titled The Greater Fool) in which the character Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels) is doing an editorial on the Tea Party.  While I disagree with the attack on the Tea Party members, the definition of a Republican is what most might agree, the character says;

.I'm what the leaders of the Tea Party would call a RINO, Republican In Name Only, and that's ironic because that's exactly what I think about the leaders of the Tea Party.  The most conservative Republicans today aren't Republicans.  Republicans believe in a prohibitive military, we believe in a common sense government and that there are social programs enacted in the last half century that work, but there are way too many that cost way too much that don't.  And we believe in the rule of law and order and free market capitalism.

I used to love politics, our differences that made us a better person, a better society.  Being able to share different thoughts and ideas made us the type of society, the type of country that people would risk their lives to get to.  We all preach about freedom, well it's time we practice what we preach because in order for freedom to work it has to be accompanied by tolerance and acceptance.  Freedom comes by practicing the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you instead of doing harm to those that are different before they can do it to you.

In politics of the last half century we have gone from I have a dream to I'm living a nightmare!  Yes, when if comes to our politics, WE SUCK!!!!!

That's My Opinion, What's Yours