The Price of Public Service

Another cop murdered just because he is a law enforcement officer. "Because he wore a uniform."

America had better think this one through very carefully. If police officers are in danger just because of who they are, we risk losing their willingness to step into the breach to protect us. That is a frightening thought, one of which I have very recently been reminded.

Cops at work, near my home, after I called 911.

Just this past Friday evening, I was prompted to call 911. I was walking my dog in the sunny late afternoon, around 6:00 PM, as I have thousands of times before without incident. But this time, a strange man started following me. He wasn't merely following me; he was repeatedly bellowing "Satan!" at the top of his lungs.

He crossed to my side of the street and, although I had picked up my pace, he started gaining on me. Although I don't usually carry it, I had my phone with me because I was listening to a podcast. I shut the audio down but kept my earbuds in; I kept moving, and I dialed 911.

As the operator answered, I took a quick look over my shoulder so that I could give a physical description and answer her questions. "We'll send an officer in the area," she finally said. Thankfully, the nut job following me took a left turn down a different street, but I could still hear his blood-curdling shouts of "Satan!"

I stood in place at the location I had given the 911 operator and waited for the patrol car. It arrived within five minutes. I waved to the police officer, and when he pulled next to me I pointed to the street where Satan-man had turned. "Be careful," I said. "Thank you for your service." He smiled as he answered "No problem," and drove off in the direction I had indicated.

I quickly finished my walk via another street in the opposite direction, but when I got to my corner I couldn't resist going the extra half block to peek down the street and see if there was any activity. Sure enough, Satan-man was lying across the hood of the patrol car being handcuffed. I counted a total of three police officers standing around him. Satisfied that "my cop" was okay and had backup, I turned homeward, feeling much safer.

There are a couple of lessons here. The first is to always carry my cell phone when I'm out walking. The larger, more important lesson is that cops don't have the luxury of picking and choosing which calls to take or when to take them; they must respond, immediately, when a member of their community summons them. Any one of those answered calls could mean danger, injury, disability, or death to an officer. Still, despite the heavy potential price, they come for us when we call them.

We hear a lot of talk nowadays about skin color in police incidents. In my opinion, it's a stupid sidebar that avoids the perilous reality of the vital public service our police officers provide. Danger comes in all colors; so does protection from it. Sure, I'm a white woman. Guess what? The nut job following me on Friday was a white man. "My cop," as I call the police officer who initially responded to my call, was a black man. When I saw the handcuffs on screaming Satan-man, I thanked God my cop was safe.
 

Human is as Human Does

In this article, Victor Davis Hanson has nailed the fatal flaw in President Obama's atrocious foreign policy decisions--human nature.

Does the president really think that people will change time-tested behaviors that have been recorded throughout history, just because he thinks they should? The danger inherent in such arrogant thinking is staggering to consider. From the Book of Genesis to Putin's most recent transgressions against nations, we see how evil human behavior can be--especially when the bad actions are not challenged.

Times change. Human nature doesn't.

One Joyful Day

Without a Soul

By now most of us have heard about the blood-chilling Planned Parenthood videos. They have had a wide audience, although you'll never hear it from mainstream media coverage.

Some of us can't bring ourselves to view the carnage. The article linked here is a rebuke to those who have chosen not to watch the horror of the Planned Parenthood videos. I'll freely admit that I'm one of those cowardly people. I just can't watch defenseless unborn babies being carved into carefully-crafted pieces, their tiny organs sold off to profit their nonchalant butchers. "Line items," I've heard that the Planned Parenthood butchers in the videos call the body parts. And now in a fifth video, the butchers tout "intact" fetuses for sale.

This is beyond sickening. It's evil. I've heard and read enough gruesome descriptions of the "baby death care" videos to know that they tell us truths we don't want to hear. Is this what we have become? Are we really now a nation not at all subject to, or even concerned about, "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," but a depraved and disintegrating society that kills, dissects, and sells its young, then casually celebrates the deal over a glass of Chardonnay?

If so, we are in far worse condition than I had feared. I thought we had merely lost our way, that perhaps with hard work and discipline we could find our way back to a righteous path. But if we continue to tolerate such wanton slaughter of innocents as these videos depict, then we as a country will have lost far more than our direction. We will have lost our soul. I'm afraid there's no coming back from that.