Comments on: Oath Keepers – Active Duty and Retired Military, Police Guarding Our Liberties: Oaths They Will Not Obey http://www.thesubstratum.com/general-politics/oath-keepers-active-military-police-guarding-our-liberties-oaths-they-will-not-obey/ Obama. No Clue, No Leadership, No Way Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:17:43 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dave B http://www.thesubstratum.com/general-politics/oath-keepers-active-military-police-guarding-our-liberties-oaths-they-will-not-obey/comment-page-1/#comment-559 Dave B Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:19:03 +0000 http://www.thesubstratum.com/?p=291#comment-559 G.J.: I appreciate your words. Your brother (my "brother" as well) knows. You are absolutely correct in your analysis of what happened. We were going about our daily business, after all we live in America, and all of a sudden a bunch of supervisors and high level politicians are ordering things to be done and we are trained to respond to "emergencies" and follow orders. That's what they did. Then we "debrief" and reflect on our actions. That's when it actually hit home. When I say "we", I mean all law enforcement, and not just the law enforcement officials and federal officers that participated, but ALL of us. Soldiers and cops (federal level obviously included) are the best and the brightest, the bravest, the most well trained in the world. They WERE impressive, weren't they? Have no fear my friend. G.J.: I appreciate your words. Your brother (my “brother” as well) knows. You are absolutely correct in your analysis of what happened. We were going about our daily business, after all we live in America, and all of a sudden a bunch of supervisors and high level politicians are ordering things to be done and we are trained to respond to “emergencies” and follow orders. That’s what they did. Then we “debrief” and reflect on our actions. That’s when it actually hit home. When I say “we”, I mean all law enforcement, and not just the law enforcement officials and federal officers that participated, but ALL of us. Soldiers and cops (federal level obviously included) are the best and the brightest, the bravest, the most well trained in the world. They WERE impressive, weren’t they? Have no fear my friend.

]]> By: G.J. Merits http://www.thesubstratum.com/general-politics/oath-keepers-active-military-police-guarding-our-liberties-oaths-they-will-not-obey/comment-page-1/#comment-553 G.J. Merits Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:02:20 +0000 http://www.thesubstratum.com/?p=291#comment-553 DaveB, Thank you for your service. My brother is a police officer and I thank God every single day for people like you and my brother who risk their lives to protect us. Your words are very encouraging and the Oath Keepers site I link to also mentions the ongoing debate within law enforcement and the military about what should and should not be done. One good thing did come out of Katrina - in the aftermath, those few law enforcement officials who did act in ways that robbed citizens of their constitutional rights did so in a situation that was fast and fluid. I do not blame them in any way as long as they do not repeat their actions. The fact these acts were committed have allowed police and military all over this country to reevaluate, debate, and discuss amongst themselves what is and is not acceptable. Without Katrina and the subsequent debate that did occur and that is highlighted at Oath Keepers, it may be much easier to hijack the police and military for more nefarious use. I think it is far less likely to occur now. DaveB,

Thank you for your service. My brother is a police officer and I thank God every single day for people like you and my brother who risk their lives to protect us. Your words are very encouraging and the Oath Keepers site I link to also mentions the ongoing debate within law enforcement and the military about what should and should not be done. One good thing did come out of Katrina – in the aftermath, those few law enforcement officials who did act in ways that robbed citizens of their constitutional rights did so in a situation that was fast and fluid. I do not blame them in any way as long as they do not repeat their actions.

The fact these acts were committed have allowed police and military all over this country to reevaluate, debate, and discuss amongst themselves what is and is not acceptable. Without Katrina and the subsequent debate that did occur and that is highlighted at Oath Keepers, it may be much easier to hijack the police and military for more nefarious use. I think it is far less likely to occur now.

]]> By: Dave B http://www.thesubstratum.com/general-politics/oath-keepers-active-military-police-guarding-our-liberties-oaths-they-will-not-obey/comment-page-1/#comment-544 Dave B Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:31:31 +0000 http://www.thesubstratum.com/?p=291#comment-544 I'm a veteran police officer, a detective for over three decades and a supervisor since 1981. I've made comments on numerous blogs that I felt I was obligated to make due to recent concerns over the behavior of two black officers at town meetings that were captured on video. The obvious concerns were two-fold. The first is that black officers, male or female, will abandon their sworn duties to support the President and his officials regardless because they feel some type of "kinship" and will defect, for lack of a better term, and abandon their co-workers for total strangers for a larger "cause". The second concern is that all police will somehow become "thugs" of government, unwittingly or otherwise, take away the civil liberties of our citizens by use of force. I can only say that "it ain't gonna happen." Minority police officers are trained, professional, intelligent, patriotic, loyal, know their responsibilities, and they all have a sense of duty and honor ... just like the rest of us. As far as "police in general" I think we're getting a raw deal based upon a few incidents. Believe me when I tell you that the incidents that we witnessed, the situation during Katrina where we were used as "stormtroopers" that were trampling on citizen rights have awakened us, bothered us, we have talked about such a situation, and I can say that a majority of us would do the right thing. In case you do not realize MOST police officers are comforted by the idea that law abiding, hard working citizens have the right to carry weapons and know that they will "have our back" when needed. We DO make the distinction between law abiding people and criminals although our politicians seem not to. Most of us have been attacked, shot at, stabbed, run over, beat up, assaulted and so on and we realize that it's really not the average law abiding citizens doing it to us. Although I realize that your "Declaration of Orders we will not Obey" was conceived during the Revolution, most of us would, the mili-second we realize that we are being used for something other than what we have been paid to do, trained to do, or if our duties and responsibilities we were sworn to uphold have been compromised, will protect the same people we have protected all along. We also are citizens, taxpayers, have families, sons, daughters, and people that rely on us for protection. We would never let them down. I’m a veteran police officer, a detective for over three decades and a supervisor since 1981. I’ve made comments on numerous blogs that I felt I was obligated to make due to recent concerns over the behavior of two black officers at town meetings that were captured on video. The obvious concerns were two-fold. The first is that black officers, male or female, will abandon their sworn duties to support the President and his officials regardless because they feel some type of “kinship” and will defect, for lack of a better term, and abandon their co-workers for total strangers for a larger “cause”. The second concern is that all police will somehow become “thugs” of government, unwittingly or otherwise, take away the civil liberties of our citizens by use of force. I can only say that “it ain’t gonna happen.” Minority police officers are trained, professional, intelligent, patriotic, loyal, know their responsibilities, and they all have a sense of duty and honor … just like the rest of us. As far as “police in general” I think we’re getting a raw deal based upon a few incidents. Believe me when I tell you that the incidents that we witnessed, the situation during Katrina where we were used as “stormtroopers” that were trampling on citizen rights have awakened us, bothered us, we have talked about such a situation, and I can say that a majority of us would do the right thing. In case you do not realize MOST police officers are comforted by the idea that law abiding, hard working citizens have the right to carry weapons and know that they will “have our back” when needed. We DO make the distinction between law abiding people and criminals although our politicians seem not to. Most of us have been attacked, shot at, stabbed, run over, beat up, assaulted and so on and we realize that it’s really not the average law abiding citizens doing it to us. Although I realize that your “Declaration of Orders we will not Obey” was conceived during the Revolution, most of us would, the mili-second we realize that we are being used for something other than what we have been paid to do, trained to do, or if our duties and responsibilities we were sworn to uphold have been compromised, will protect the same people we have protected all along. We also are citizens, taxpayers, have families, sons, daughters, and people that rely on us for protection. We would never let them down.

]]>