Us -vs- Them

I know that there are billions of pixels killed on the internet over the whole "us -vs- them" mindset of Government (including Law Enforcement) versus the Citizens.  Especially when we have the whole episode of the Watertown Ghetto earlier this week where all sorts of law enforcement and Military locked down a whole city and violated everyone's rights to try and hunt down a bomber. 

People were imprisoned in their homes, held at gunpoint, forcibly searched, had their right to free travel restricted, and were generally treated like cattle. 

Rule 2: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

We have a nice little example of this pop up here this morning.

Let me give you some backstory: 
-Last weekend, the Travis County District Attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated while having an open bottle of vodka on the front seat.  
-She says she wont resign, that there is no conflict of interest since her office does not prosecute first time DWI Offenders
-Lehmberg tries to plead guilty and get this adjudicated and gone ASAP, before charges are even filed, leading LOTS of people to speculate she was trying to cover something up.
-DA goes to jail.  "...by taking the a longer sentence, she avoided probation, as well as the conditions of probation, which may have included no alcoholic beverages"
-Dashcam video is released!  As suspected, there was more to the story.  She was combative with officers, tried to use her position to get preferential treatment, put in restraints, leg irons, and a spit/ bite hood.

Now here is what blew my mind this morning.  The Austin Police Association (Union) called for Lehmberg to step down.  Not for breaking the law... not for endangering the very citizens and society they are sworn to protect... but for "the way Lehmberg treated the Sheriff's Deputy's who arrested her, saying it reflects a lack of respect for officers."  Unbelievable.  Totally an "Us -vs- Them" mindset.  The police union did not care about the law, just the treatment of the officers.

We need to end that attitude.  Cops and LEOs are citizens.  They are supposed to be US.  They need to look at anyone they are dealing with and see themselves.  There is no 'thin blue line'- there are just citizens that are entrusted by society to enforce our laws.  

BY THE WAY- the officer in the dashcam video (linked above) needs a medal, a promotion and a raise.  When he found out it was the highest law enforcer in the county that was being arrested, he said (paraphrasing) 'Treat it like you would any one else'.  THAT is a good Law Enforcement Officer, and someone doing the right thing even when it could be his political downfall.  It's what all LEOs should strive for, in my opinion.