The Right Embraces Radicalism

A week or so ago, Jeff Mattox was in the news because liked an article on the Kershaw County Patriot Facebook Page. Mattox was a Republican Party Co-Chair for Kershaw County, South Carolina. He is also a member of the Tea Party. The article he liked was titled “When Should You Shoot a Cop” and was reposted from Copblock.org.

The article is worth reading and thinking about, but if you know anything of substance about the Black Panthers in general, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, or Elridge Cleaver in particular, then it’s old news to you that there are times when you should shoot a cop.

But: Read The Rest Of This Before Locking and Loading

I am not advocating we kill cops. I really don’t think we have a reason to. I do think that we have given up some fundamental rights in the last 20 years and the sobriety checkpoint would be a great example of that. Why are they stopping you? Because they can. Do they have a good reason to pull you over? Only if you roll up breaking the law somehow: weaving drunkenly into the roadblock, or rolling down your window and offering the officer a “hit” while extending a bong.

Back in Newton’s, Seal’s, and Cleaver’s day a lot of black men were shot by cops simply for racist reasons. To deny that today is just another form of ignorance and bigotry. Most of the lynchings in the South were carried out with full knowledge of law enforcement, if not active participation. When that is what’s passing for law enforcement then it’s time to fight back out of self-preservation.

Here in Mission Viejo, I have met Police Chief Mike Gavin and quite a few of his officers. They strike me as fair men and women who are concerned about the community’s safety first and foremost. The School Resource Officer program is an excellent example of enlightened law enforcement at its best. The program’s goal is prevention rather than enforcement and it seems to be working wonderfully for our kids.

What troubles me about this “Kill The Pigs” rhetoric today is that the Tea Party is embracing it. Why? They tend to be white middle-class people, quite often the representatives of the system themselves, like this guy Jeff Mattox or our own . They are hardly the poor and the downtrodden…the victims of our still racist system. Just being a white American means they were born with a lot more going for them than most of the people in the world.

One of Schlicht’s bumper stickers reads “Too Close For Missiles Switching To Guns.” Gallows humor to be sure, and more than a little alarming since it’s plastered on an elected official’s vehicle. It's quite similar to the in-your-face that was flying at the Tea Party rally this year when Schlicht announced her reelection plans.

The Confederate flag and “it’s okay to shoot cops” are invitations to up the ante. Is that really what we want at this point? Is it what we need?