By now everyone knows about the 19 police officers who stood motionless outside the classroom where a slow-motion mass murder was taking place, and by now everyone has a theory or two or three explaining why these police ignored both protocol and training that required them to “run towards gunfire” with guns blazing.
Some say the police were cowards. Others say the cops were confused & disorganized. Another theory is they were paralyzed by power struggles between feuding commanders.
I’ve got my own theory based on demographics: These were police officers in Texas. It’s not unlikely that with this demographic intersection every last one of them was a Trump supporter. Trumpy Trump supporters. MAGA-hat-wearing, flag-waving, rally-going Trump supporters.
And (my theory goes) — as with millions of other Trumpy Trump supporters across America — what used to be a personal sense of honor and duty has been corroded and dissolved by proximity to MAGA world. (See Everything Trump Touches, Dies by recovering Republican Rick Wilson.)
Instead of standing in that hallway asking themselves “What’s the right thing to do?” and “How do we save the babies?” these police found themselves modelling the Trump example and asking themselves “What’s in it for me?” and answering that question by deciding that only “suckers” risk their lives to save some “loser kids” who, like “loser POW John McCain” allowed themselves to be taken prisoner. They put their options through a Trump filter, and quickly decided that “breaching that door is for chumps.”
If you think my theory is a bit outrageous, consider this:
For 47 minutes armed police showed less courage than the ten-year-olds on the other side of the wall who repeatedly snuck calls to 911, knowing full well that this could bring them instant death if caught. How do you explain that contrast without venturing into the realm of outrageous?