For those of you unacquainted with the situation, Ian Birk was a Seattle Police Officer who had gunned down a John T. Williams, who was a homeless, alcoholic woodcarver. A brief description of the incident is that Ian Birk sat in his patrol car waiting for Williams to pass. After spotting Williams, Birk lept out of his vehicle with his gun drawn and yelled at Williams to drop his knife. Afterless than four seconds elapsed, Birk then emptied his clip into the back of John T. Williams. Despite massive public outcry, Birk was never charged with a crime and eventually resigned from the police force. His shooting was found to be unjustified, but because of the way that laws are written for police officers in Washington State, he was not guilty of violating statute.
You would assume that because conservatives such as myself naturally distrust government that the majority of conservatives would be calling for a detailed review and trial for Ian Birk. Unfortunately, the right generally has a complete blind spot when it comes to any form of government with guns. While the motives of Obama and Congress are rightly questions, almost no questioning of the operations of the military or the police is allowed. In fact, patriotism is measured by the ability of one to jerk his knee faster than his fellow conservative. It's an incredible blind spot because it goes against all evidence and all conventional conservative wisdom. Time and time again police have been shown to be liars, violent, trigger happy, thieves and generally immoral. Yet, no attention is given to any incidents and one is immediately branded a "liberal" for even addressing such issues.
It's time for the kid-gloves to come off and for us to realize the original dream of the founders, which was that we are all created equal. We shouldn't let murderers go because they carry a badge. We should be just as concerned with cleaning house in civil authority as much as in political authority. Wearing badges does not give license to commit crimes, it should be a symbol of someone held to higher standards. The police have devolved into little more than a tax paid mafia charged with revenue collections. At least the mafia doesn't complain about PR problems after brutalizing people.
