Wednesday, December 3, 2014

How Do You Educate the Ignorant?

The NFL is increasingly becoming irrelevant:
  • The St. Louis Police Officers Association was not happy that members of the St. Louis Rams came out for Sunday's game in a hands up "don't shoot" gesture, in reference to the unrest in nearby Ferguson, and they want those players disciplined.

    Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Kenny Britt, Chris Givens and Jared Cook did the gesture coming out to the field before the Rams' game on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Ferguson, which is 12 miles from the Edward Jones Dome, was the site of an incident this past summer when police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed teenager Michael Brown. There have been many protests in Ferguson and elsewhere this week after a grand jury declined to indict Wilson.

    The Rams players made their statement on the field, and then the SLPOA had one of their own that included calling for punishment for the players and a full apology.
The NFL, in typically wishy-washy fashion, declines to make an example of these ignoramuses:
  • There doesn't seem to be a precedent for a player being fined for a gesture or statement like this. The closest comparison might be when the Dolphins fined and suspended safety Don Jones for tweeting negative comments about Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL, but that was a violation of the league's anti-discrimination policies. That doesn't apply to what the Rams did.
Really? We seem to recall a number of fines against players for swearing at officials, excessive celebrations, end zone antics for dancing and autographing footballs. How about Jim McMahon for his headbands during the Superbowl? The NFL can choose to dissuade behavior unbecoming by means of massive fines. In case the NFL hadn't noticed, America is getting sick of Ferguson, disgusted with misbehavior in general and really unhappy with overpaid celebrities dictating how they're supposed to feel about an event. Get ahead of the curve.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ignorant cannot be educated unless they want to be educated. It is much easier to go thru life being a ward of the state instead of going to school and becoming a real human being. To get educated, is to learn, understand the problems that surround you, to get along with everyone, and to be a person who can sustain oneself and not being a leech of a government or another person.

These "ignorants" are excellent at destroying what isn't theirs, making a mess of anything that was in its proper place, and creating havoc to prove a point of which they do not understand.

There was no reasoning behind the riots in Ferguson or anywhere else, it was just a way for these idiots to come out and destroy.

Will this type of behavior ever change? Probably not because our right of free speech, though rioting is not a speech.

What does the future hold for these ignorant people? Nothing unless they want to learn something useful in their useless lives

Anonymous said...

Inconsistency, or lack of conviction toward a particular set of beliefs, is what destroys credibility. Bending the rules to fit the circumstance is hypocritical.

Stay safe, and thank you for what you do.

Anonymous said...

Congress set to vote on allowing cuts to private pension retirees which, unlike our pension, is actually insured by the Federal Government. If you think it won't happen to us, take an objective look at the way the rest of the county is run. Do you think the 4 citizens left in unincorporated DeKalb are going to make up the shortfall?

Anonymous said...

Blue flu the next time the Rams play at home. Let the players hold up their arms to direct traffic and crowd control. Everyone else will be holding up their arms as they are mugged and robbed.

Anonymous said...

The German philosopher, Goethe, said "Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse, but treat him according to his potential and you make him better."

You have had many opportunities to turn the tone of this blog around, but you have chosen not to. Maybe you're comfortable being miserable. It's never too late to do so, however. Yes, the world is full of people whose minds will not be changed, but you could be positive and keep trying.

One thing that you could do to change the minds of the so-called "ignorants", is post links to every document on the Ferguson investigation. The autopsy reports, grand jury testimony, etc. Analyze it for people who won't or can't take the time to sift through it all, and have an intelligent discussion, rather than promote the sentiment that you are and always will be a victim, and all the bad people in the world prove that. C'mon man.

Anonymous said...

The public hates us. They always have and they always will. This is an unbelieveably thankless job in compensation, support from the people we serve and from police management. The crap spilled from the mouth of that leftest mayor of NYC about his police officers is completely unbelieveable. All police officers should be able to unionize. It has become us against them and we are completely unappreciated. The government uses us a suckers to do their dirty work and they treat us like crap ! PERIOD ! Unionize and fight for yourselves or get into another line of work. These one sided incompetent, self absorbed politicians have even screwed up your pension, which the promise of,was the only thing that made this job tolerable.

Anonymous said...

Let me start with all caps "RESPECT", even wrote a song about it, way back in 1976 I was sixteen, one night I left my little restaurant job after showing off how I could smoke my tires and was immediately stoped by DKPD on Memorial Dr., never asked for my license but told me with several four letter words what he thought of me and what would happen if he saw me again that night, my only reply the entire time "YES SIR", got home told my folks what had happened and they went out of their way to call the department to find the Officer and thank him, again, back then kids were raised different, my folks were old school and I had a great time when I later worked for DKPD when we commanded "RESPECT",,,,,

Anonymous said...

To Dec 5th at 11:51 PM...

Same thing happened to me on Memorial Drive in about 1978. I ended up working with the same officer(s) that "watched over me" after several "incidents" of youthful stupidity. Back then DeKalb Police Officers were respected by the community because the community was for the most part very law abiding, peaceful, respected themselves. That all went away in the late 1980's and when the community lost respect for themselves they began to elect criminal politicians to "reflect the diversity of the community". That's about like hiring a gangster drug dealer to get your computer repaired (with all of your personal information stored on it) just because he looks like you.
The citizens of DeKalb County made a conscious decision to let the fox watch the hen house and they did that because the county had become over run with criminals and they didn't really care because they didn't have anything to loose anyway. They preferred to elect criminals because the criminal politicians looked like them, not because they were competent. DeKalb County went down like a big ship that was overloaded in a storm and there weren't enough good folks left to bail the water out fast enough.
"Educate the ignorant"? The only way ignorant people like that get educated is to let the ship sink around them and let them try and swim to shore.
I think is about two decades late for a blue flu, but better late than never.

Anonymous said...

Someone above said..."You have had many opportunities to turn the tone of this blog around, but you have chosen not to."

Why?... this blog is simply put..."the voice of frustration and disappointment". Dedicated officers are tired... many stay because they made a commitment and are just that...dedicated.

The officers of this department don't need to be included in high level conversations but, they are left out in the cold to drift in the wind or to come up with their own conclusions.... there is no communication...just distant or partially kept promises.

Cars... we were promised cars as an incentive.... the officers are clueless about what is going on... a car here and a car there... nothing since the dog and pony show where a limited number were given cars with fanfare. If they have a plan, they should share it and in good faith... stick to it. (.. this roll out of cars was and is a disaster that has caused a drop in both morale and the desire to exceed expectations).

The brass and their staff even took a number of cars that were going to those who need cars just to get out of the precincts!

Promotions.... the lists have or will all be expired.... there is no word on tests... the process or what the future holds. Officers with a desire to move up or improve their position are left to wonder and decide that there is no future or a future of delayed opportunity to advance. Are new tests not being announced because the department will be downsizing to compensate for the loss of the tax base to the new cities?...

Salary Study..... another study that won't come out till next year...AFTER the 2015 budget is in place.... if by chance they don't ignore or disagree with the findings as they did in the past... they'll tell us that changes won't come until 2016.

Anonymous said...

Been here along time, since mid 80s. My time is very short as the light of the end of the tunnel is just ahead. Policing has changed dramatically to put it mildly and the powers to be have made things worse. I've seen them all come and go and nothing really changes except the name plate on the doors.
Their ideas have not changed the department though as they said, "Once I'm upstairs, I'm going to change things for the better!!!" Things stay the same.

Social media has changed our way of living and thinking. Off duty officer involved in a 41I where walked out in front of him and hit and killed the pedestrian and social media exploded that the department (not ours) was trying to hide or cover up. So much that their chief gave a news video statement that nothing was covered up.
Society is very quick to point the finger and with no-one to back you up I'm afraid that things are going to get much worse before things get better.
Remember your training, there is someone at the scene that does not want you there and have bad feelings towards the police.
My time here has been the best and I'll take my share of the bad and worse with me as I leave and turn the helm over to the younger generation of this department.

It has been an honor and a privilege to bleed, sweat and mend broken bones and hearts with several that have come, gone and passed. The reputation of putting your hands on a DEKALB COUNTY police officer ends you up with a trip to Grady has come and gone.

With trying times here, I will close with this short video. God Bless you all. Stay safe and watch your six.

http://youtu.be/2zyhOW-8Zcc

Anonymous said...

Never smart to disrespect an officer doing his job. What makes me wonder ...... at what point during the choking in Staton Island did the victim start to go limp as he started to be unable to breathe? I know emotions were high but what went wrong with self control? I've been there and done that for 20 yrs as a leo. Just sayin'.

Anonymous said...

to Anonymous at 7:25 AM....
That guy died 3 hours later, of a heart attack... What makes you think he went limp???
The officer did not choke him to death as alleged..... Put down the Kool-Ade and step away!!!!!

Anonymous said...

The AJC yesterday had an article on Cedric the Racist and his testimony before Congress about the goings-on in Ferguson. He said that, as the chief of Dekalb Police, he was working to make the "department better reflect the citizens". Whites need not apply? Please tell me the difference between NOBLE and the Klan? Bueller...Bueller...

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zyhOW-8Zcc&sns=em

Don't give an inch. Stand tall