Dallas Police Chief David Brown has been a godsend in his calls for unity, cooperation, and peace. Last night, even as the protest was underway, many police officers were in agreement with those on the street: The kind of behavior recorded in the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile was not anyone’s idea of good police work.
Congressman John Lewis reminded everyone today that we must "learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or perish as fools."
President Obama spoke this morning to call for Americans to “stand united” against a "vicious, calculated and despicable” attack.
But … unity. For some people, that sounds suspiciously like a position that doesn't give them a personal platform to toot their own precious horns. And calls for considered opinions on complex issues? Why choose reasonable when screaming asshole is always an option.
“I think [the Obama’s administration] continued appeasements at the federal level with the Department of Justice, their appeasement of violent criminals, their refusal to condemn movements like Black Lives Matter, actively calling for the death of police officers, that type of thing, all the while blaming police for the problems in this country has led directly to the climate that has made Dallas possible,” William Johnson, the executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said in an interview with Fox on Friday morning.
That Black Lives Matter has never called for the death of police officers? Not a problem. That the DOJ has been far from appeasing of violent criminals? Not a problem. That this whole paragraph is bullshit? Definitely not a problem. Once you have a narrative, you don't need facts.
"It's a war on cops," Johnson also said. "And the Obama administration is the Neville Chamberlain of this war."
Oh. Dear. Godwin.