Yes And No

      At a recent press conference in Texas in the aftermath of the shooting of ICE detainees by a criminal (who appears to be a nihilist without partisan ideology -- literally, just there for the violence), U. S. Senator Ted Cruz decried violence and I agree: don't go shooting people, especially not law enforcement.  Not only is is wrong, they've got an effectively unlimited supply reserves; shooting at them is just fancy suicide.  It's not effective opposition.

     But there's some evidence this shooter's political motive, if we can dignify it as that, was simply to make things worse.

     So there's that.  Ted Cruz and I are in agreement: don't go shooting people.  I believe just about everyone agrees.

     The Senator also implied, strongly, that we're obliged to respect law enforcement officers, and there, we part company.  Oh, it's a good idea to treat them with what amounts to respect; no other arm of government can do you more immediate harm.  Further, the majority of LEOs are decent folks, working a very difficult job.  But gangs of masked men, in motley scraps of uniform, badge numbers covered if they're wearing a badge at all, grabbing people off the streets on vague suspicion like the bad guys in a straight-to-video movie or cheap video game?  I'm not obliged to respect that.  It's not respectable behavior.  It's not how any of us were brought up to expect police to act.  I certainly fear it; it looks like a gang kidnapping, and those are things to fear.  The Senator can claim it's okay-fine and any red-blooded American ought to cheer it on, but I don't think it is and I won't cheer for it.  I want 'em to act like proper cops, with proper warrants and a proper respect for their fellow humans.

     I sure don't think anyone ought to be sniping at them.  That's plain wrong.  That's bad-guy behavior.  No, it's worse-guy behavior.  The proper response to a Federal law enforcement agency that's behaving like a gang of masked bandits is to vote in Senators, Representatives, President and Vice President who will make them stop that.  The fix for lawlessness is not more lawlessness, until we end up in a frikkin' Judge Dredd comic book.  The fix is more lawfulness, and that comes from the top down.

     Why, it could start with something as simple as a U. S. Senator with an inside track to his Party's leadership, standing up and telling them, "Enough is enough."

     I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.  And Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is demonstrating his party's concern for lawfulness, telling Sean Hannity a few days ago, "Trump 2028.  I hope this never ends."  Yes, he's pressing for a third term, despite that pesky 22nd Amendment limiting Presidents to two at-bats and no more.  Ted, Lindsey?  Respect starts at the top.  Try respecting the U.S. Constitution.