P1 First Person: Where will you stand?

By Dick Fairburn
Police1 Columnist

Last month I saw images on the news of a man carrying a slung AR-15, walking in the crowd outside of a town hall meeting being held by President Obama. The reporter on the story was aghast that a man would bring an “assault rifle” to a presidential rally. A Phoenix PD spokesman stated that the man had no criminal record, and the open carrying of weapons was legal in Arizona. The whole situation made me wonder where our country and our police organizations are headed.

I was damn proud of the Phoenix PD officer who stood his ground, declaring the man with the AR-15 to be within his right in Arizona to walk in public with a rifle. We might question whether the man’s choice to attend with his rifle helped or hurt his cause, but he certainly got attention.

Anyone not hiding in a cave with bin Laden can readily see the dramatic changes taking place in US society. Our federal government has taken an aggressive 90 degree turn to the left and looks to be headed rapidly toward the cliff of socialism. I think we’ve been gradually moving that direction since the ‘60’s, but the movement is picking up speed. The US population will tolerate a gradual leftward shift — they’ve been accepting it for more than 50 years. But lately, the advance more closely resembles a runaway train. Much of the population is up in arms and reacting loudly.

This move to the left is not strictly a “Democratic” or “Obama” thing. The government takeover of the financial sector began under George W. Bush when he said “I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.” Still, a background check on some of President Obama’s chief advisors reveals unapologetic “former” card-carrying communists.

Personally, I’m an unapologetic conservative, slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan. Police officers come in all political stripes, but as a whole I’d rate most street cops pretty right-of-center, in a country that is already a bit right-of-center. I suspect many of you have been as amazed as me, watching the events of the last year unfold. It’s not a dream … this stuff on the TV is real. At what point in the process will American police officers be dragged into this political whirlpool? It’s already begun.

On election day 2008, Philadelphia PD was called to deal with members of the New Black Panthers, one of them armed with a club, who were intimidating potential voters at a polling site. Interestingly, charges have been dropped on all but one of those individuals.

Many recent town halls held by members of Congress have become loud, raucous affairs with many constituents voicing their displeasure at various aspects of the proposed health care legislation. When the elected officials became nervous, even wrongly claiming that some of the “false protestors came wearing swastikas,” large contingents of health care “supporters” began to appear at meetings and were not afraid to physically confront their opponents. Arrests have been made when the local police couldn’t dissuade aggressive protestors. My observation from the TV footage was that most of the people starting fights had commercially-produced signs and proudly wore their union shirts. My internal BS detector tells me the protestors with the hand-written signs are more likely to be the real constituents of that congressional district.

History documents several left-wing takeovers in the last 100 years, from the Soviets in Czarist Russia to Hitler’s takeover of Germany’s Weimar republic, through several Asian nations. If you study those revolutions, you’ll find that the usurpers will quickly and systematically gain control of three key elements of the nation: Guns, Media, and Votes. So, we can use these markers to gauge the position of our country on the left-right yardstick.

A well armed populace can resist tyranny, so the individual possession of firearms will have to be eliminated before a revolution can succeed. The “Heller” decision which struck down D.C.’s handgun ban will serve as little more than a speed bump if a gun seizure movement gains headway. Gun control is a permanent goal of the liberals, so routine attempts at gun control will not necessarily point to a power grab. If the U.S. Government makes a move to ratify our participation in an existing United Nations Treaty which would require the total disarming of our civilian population, you may be ordered to disarm your community.

With the exception of Fox News and conservative talk radio, the willing takeover of the media is almost complete. The fawning adoration of most mainstream media sources for the new administration may be wavering a bit, but is still largely working against the general populace. If we see a significant government attempt to silence conservative media sources, that denial of 1st Amendment rights will raise a big red flag of warning.

The voting control issue has already begun with the dropping of charges against the New Black Panther members in Philadelphia. Adding greatly to the “Vote” issue is the alleged award of more than $4 Billion in Stimulus monies to ACORN, the community organizers who are currently under either investigation or indictment in 14 states for voter fraud in the 2008 election. ACORN is targeted for more money to supply manpower for the 2010 census, which will determine the allocation and districting of seats in the House of Representatives. Some commentators fear we are already dangerously close to the point of not being able to take back our country at the polling place. Any coordinated attempt to intimidate voters will raise another red flag. Should some “crisis” be used as a reason for the suspension or postponement of an election cycle, we will know for certain that a revolution is at hand.

I’m not quite ready to agree with the conspiracy theorists who think the USA is about to become the PRA (People’s Republic of America), but I don’t think we should completely rule it out. You’d be surprised how many cops I know agree with me … or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised.

Whatever they might do will be lawful. By controlling both the Legislative and Administrative branches of government, and almost controlling the Judicial branch as well, they will ensure their moves will be declared lawful. We already know that a few politically-minded Police Chiefs will follow almost any order received from their elected masters. We need look no further than the Chiefs who gladly stand behind an elected official pounding a podium and demanding more gun control, while their own rank and file police officers abhor the idea of disarming honest citizens.

If we truly are on the road to socialism, it cannot be foisted on an unwilling populace without direct intervention by the military and police, but your unquestioned obedience will be demanded. All U.S. service members swear the following oath upon induction:

I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. ¹

Most police oaths include similar passages about obeying superior officers and the Constitution.

So, where do we, as sheepdogs sworn to protect the innocent flock from the wolves, draw a final line in the sand? What if this nation’s leftward shift is not just a more liberal administration than the last? What if it truly is an attempt by radical leftists to permanently change the U.S. as we know it?

Where will you stand?

¹Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962