Approximately 2 weeks into my law enforcement career, I walked into a heated exchange between three bosses, all of varying ranks. The Sergeant, who was the most animated and heated, was screaming at a senior Lieutenant about another Lieutenant who he clearly deemed useless and promoted because of, basically, any reason other than merit. The Sergeant clearly viewed this Lieutenant as a potential safety issue, even going so far as to ensure that he will cost the department money some day, one way or another. Most of all, this Sergeant resented the fact that the ones who doted on this useless Lieutenant rarely had any contact with him at all and never had to deal with his inadequacy, stating, “You f**cking promoted him, YOU deal with him”.
Most people seem appalled that someone as seemingly bereft of any logical thought as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is could be elected to Congress. Me? I find it hysterical. The millenials, collectively, are a walking brain aneurysm, yelling the first thing that comes to their minds, disregarding the notion of basing anything in reality. In AOC, they have found their mouthpiece; and now, all of these high powered politicians on both sides of the aisle have to deal with her. The entire world is getting a front row seat to the dangers of the ‘everyone gets a trophy’ generation. All one had to do was watch how AOC acted during the latest State of the Union Address, and you would have seen everything you needed to know: a pouting, spoiled brat who couldn’t even bring herself to applaud the prevention of sex trafficking, at one point, in response to Republicans proudly chanting “USA!!”, obnoxiously and mockingly returning the chant in some bizarre teenage-esque temper tantrum. The best part is, much like the aforementioned Sergeant pleaded for, the responsibility for the insanity that is AOC and the generation that she represents is now squarely on the people who aided and abetted her.
In an early and viral debate involving Ben Shapiro and Black Lives Matters, Ben highlighted this generations assumption that their level of outrage, in some way, correlates to their level of truth; Basically, the louder they scream, the more right they think they are. There seems to be no emphasis on the need to actually make sense or, even more specifically, have any kind of facts to back up their assumptions.
So, you might be left wondering what any of this has to do with law enforcement. The American police officer has been victimized by false narratives since time immemorial, but more so in the last decade or so. From “Hands Up/Don’t Shoot” to “I Can’t Breathe” and on and on, this generation of police officer has found themselves constantly defending themselves against perpetuated outright lies; lies that, in most cases, have been refuted on nearly every point they claim. Our authority has been challenged and devalued. Despite glaring statistics to the contrary, the anti-law enforcement movement is appropriately permitted to spew their baseless hate and propaganda while INAPPROPRIATELY going unchecked or uncorrected by those who should be defending us. It’s not really hard to figure out why.
Everyone saw the lightening in a bottle that Bernie Sanders caught during the 2016 presidential campaign. His supporters were overwhelmingly made up of millenials. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t possibly afford to pay for the promises Bernie promised. It didn’t matter that socialism had failed literally every time it was tried. Bernie pandered to a generation that values unicorns and magic more than it values America and hard work. Why work for your money when you can legally steal it from someone who has?? Yaaaaayyyyy!!! It really doesn’t matter what is being resisted, as long as we are resisting something. Now, the next generation of political hopefuls are trying to ride that wave and enchant the same generation, giving in to virtually every whim they have. Enter AOC.
The problem that this presents is the insanity that once flew under the radar and was normally only dealt with on a ‘street’ level is now center stage. Now, the world is left wondering how we are getting to Hawaii without planes and exactly how their beloved Starbucks is going to taste when their cold brew is made with urine. Cows are on the run worried that their ‘farts’ are single handedly causing the world to end in 12 years.
For every police officer that has had to endure the “Why the hell are you stopping ME!!” rant, relish these days. With every cringe-worthy statement that AOC releases, making Mike Tyson seem like Socrates, it becomes harder and harder for the rational adults to tolerate it for much longer. The days of the baseless false narratives getting as much play as that have for the last decade just might be coming to an end; and end ironically ushered in by their biggest perpetrators. And their hero in Congress is our biggest asset right now.
Outraged? Nah. I’m giddy.
