The Nazis Started Like This

In the beginning, the tenets of the Nazi party was law and order, bring radicals and less than equals, undesirables, into line so that the ‘good’ members of society would not have to be disrupted or concerned. And since undesirables were less than equal, didn’t belong to the right good old boy club, it really didn’t matter if their rights were violated. What rights are they entitled to, anyway?

We in America now have within our walls, groups of individuals with guns and badges, and others who wholeheartedly endorse the activities of those with guns and badges, all of whom are so sure they are the righteous, the chosen, that these ‘chosen ones’ have undertaken to ensure that democracy and good government is going to prevail, even if they have to use machine pistols and armored cars to quiet the ‘un-chosen’ masses.

A few thoughts and individuals come to mind: Abner Luima, tortured hideously over some minor infractions in Brooklyn,; Amadou Diallo, unarmed, fired at 41 times in a hallway, hit 19 in the Bronx; the man who was dragged behind a pick-up truck by some neo-Nazi good old boys in Texas. Any pattern emerging here?

Meanwhile, in many cities across the nation, SWAT teams are being armed by the Federal Government with surplus armaments fit for full scale war. Meriden Connecticut, in our own back yard, a city of 57,000.00 people, has a 29 member SWAT team. Compare that to Los Angeles, with a population of 3.5 million, and a SWAT team with a meager 67 members. Harwich, Mass., a town of 11,000, has a trained para-military team of 10.

 These para-military squads were put together to combat the proliferation of crack cocaine in the late ‘80s. Despite the fact that the proliferation of crack has faded, that the crime statistics have plummeted throughout the nation almost without exception, the utilization of SWAT teams has and continues to increase substantially in every area of the nation.

The SWAT teams,  dressed in black or ‘camo’ combat gear, complete with helmets  – why do these guys like to traipse around in black – Himmler did, too – are provided weapons and military hardware by the U.S. Defense Department. In Fresno, Calif., (pop. 400,000) the local 34 member SWAT team has access to two helicopters, night vision goggles, people detecting heat sensors, an armored personnel carrier with a turret, an armored van which is a mobile headquarters.  Hey, is this fun, or what?

 And the righteous members of the teams are sure that crime will pop right back up if they stop hob-nailing it through the streets. In New York City, the Special Crimes Unit that was responsible for shooting Diallo is certain that only through their efforts has crime diminished in New York City. As soon as any fool curbs or curtails their excesses, crime is going to pop right up out of every sewer.

Funny thing – even places where there are no swat teams, no Special units, no para-military squads or equipment, crime has gone done, too. Those cities where crime has ‘just gone down’, without benefit of special para-military squads, will have to wait in vain for some cataclysmic event, maybe an earthquake, or a meteor, to make their crime pop back up.

Meanwhile Our Hero II (Guiliani) is lining up to seek yet another political job that will keep him from earning his own living. The basis for his claim of worthiness, the crown jewel in his accomplishments, is the reduction of crime in New York City – not state, mind you. Our Hero (Pataki) with his re-introduction of the death penalty takes credit for that.  Yet, ten thousand other cities and towns across the nation which have not been blessed with the benefit of Our Hero I or II, astride their armored personnel carriers, has experienced a substantial diminution of their crime rates, as well. How did that happen?

 You may ask, what is the so-far result of all this righteousness, this being convinced that the thoughts that Our Heros thinks the moment they gets out of bed in the morning are the right ones, for the right people, those who are deserving, who have been chosen? The Federal Government has now determined that the N.Y.P.D. must be monitored for its excesses, for the do what the hell you want, the Mayor goes for it attitude. And meanwhile, Our Hero is distancing himself from the New York City contingent.

Just as an aside, it doesn’t stop with the police departments, with the SWAT teams. It goes all the way up through the Justice and Legal systems, right up to the Supreme Court of the United States. Each Justice of the Supreme Court select four or so clerks every year from top law schools to assist in research and opinions. In the current crop of clerks, there may be one (1) black, perhaps 2 other minorities, in all, working as clerks. Justice – that’s Chief Justice, to you – Rehnquist, in over twenty years has never had one black clerk. never, ever. Hey, he’s entitled to chose whoever the hell he pleases. It is who pleases Mr. Chief Justice Rehnquist, and all the other Justices, that’s interesting, revealing, curious.

So here we are, all special, and cuddly, and cozy, and warm. But don’t get arrested. And don’t let your kid get arrested, because, hey, them’s what gets arrested, they immediately become the un-chosen. And you know what happens when you’re un-chosen. You ain’t got no rights.