According to Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, they do. He signed a new law last week making attacks on armed government workers you know, cops a hate crime subject to harsher and additional penalties than would otherwise apply.
Edwards a former armed government worker himself has an interesting view of crime and punishment, as well as of rights. These vary in degree according to such things as the color of the uniform one wears.
Punch a mere peon (not uniformed) in the face because you hate the guys guts and its still a crime, but a lesser one. Hate enters into it only if the person receiving the punch happens to be a certain category of person, such as a uniformed one.
One of the states armed enforcers.
The presumption being you didnt exactly like him, either.
But now (in John Bel Edwards fief) its an actionable offense to not like the blue-clad person you struck. Whereas if the reverse were to happen (the armed/costumed government worker threw a punch at you) it is merely a physical assault and not also a hate crime. . . .
We are to assume its nothing personal, you see.
But even if it obviously is lets say the armed/costumed government worker is caught on tape cursing his victim, calling him a dirty skell or a maggot he can only be prosecuted for the actual punching.
His hate isnt actionable.
Which is odd.
Well, not right.
Rights such as the right to not be punched in the face cannot vary according to the person affronted. Its either right or its not. Regardless of the color of the people involved, or the costumes they happen to be wearing.
And punishing people differently (or additionally) for committing the same violation of another persons rights cheapens the currency of one persons rights, while valuing anothers more dearly undermines the very concept of rights.
This is a feudal way of doing things. One may not affront the person of the king or his barons. But the king and his barons may do as they like with the serfs.
That is what Governor (perhaps Shire-Reeve would be the more fitting title) Edwards has just codifed into the law.
He claims it was done in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, but this doesnt parse. The BLM movement does not claim that the lives of black people matter more than the lives of other people. Their complaint a legitimate one is that the lives of black people should not be valued less than the lives of other people.
By people wearing blue especially.
They blacks have a legitimate grievance. There is no question, for example, that they are disproportionately hassled and punished by people in blue over trumped-up (because no victim) offenses involving arbitrarily illegal drugs (not including alcohol, which is a more socially accepted and therefore arbitrarily legal drug).
But all of us have a beef with this business of putting the states enforcers on a pedestal literally by making their persons more sacred than ours. Shire-Reeve Edwards makes the usual noises about these enforcers taking risks to ensure our safety when they do nothing of the sort.
Or at least, it is not their primary function.
They themselves openly tell us that the very most important thing uber alles is their safety. At our expense, if need be and even if not.
And the courts have just as openly stated that the primary business of law enforcement is law enforcement. To make us obey.
The blue-clad do not have a legal obligation to lift a finger much less put that finger at risk to ensure our safety.
Yet most people have been successfully conditioned to view law enforcers heavily armed, heavily protected, with back-up and all the legal privileges that attend their station as selfless Lone Ranger types, putting our lives ahead of theirs when the need arises. Its a fairy tale right up there with the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, but most people grow out of those delusions around the age of 12 or 13.
But even Santa Claus doesnt expect special treatment under the law.
Those in blue, do.
And while its no less an affront to their rights (and equally deserving of punishment) when a Mere Ordinary physically assaults one of them, an affront to our rights committed by them ought to be dealt with more severely. Not because they hate us.
They are just as entitled to that as we are entitled to hate them.
But because when they abuse us, they have abused their authority over us.
Possessing authority ought to impose a particular obligation to be judicious in the use of that authority. Else that authority is more likely to be abused. A deterrent in the form of greater responsibility is essential.
And yet, the reverse is the rule. Those in blue are held to a more lenient standard than we are. Which is an incentive for them to be less careful about trespassing on our rights.
Which not surprisingly wane as theirs wax.
Perhaps even more ominous is that hate crimes as usually construed as when applied to skin color or genitalia or the use thereof extend beyond action (e.g., actually punching someone in the face) to ones views of others.
If these are not correct they are criminal.
Hate speech, for instance. That is, speech that the aggrieved group deems offensive. In the UK and other European countries, it is a prosecutable offense to offend someone (the offense defined by the persons offended).
Basically, to hurt their feelings. To challenge some orthodoxy.
We still have the rickety defense of the First Amendment, but its going the way of the Fourth, Fifth and other ex-amendments.
Imagine what it will be like when it becomes criminal to speak ill of an armed government worker perhaps government workers generally. Or not show sufficient reverence. Perhaps even to look at them funny.
Punch a mere peon (not uniformed) in the face because you hate the guys guts and its still a crime, but a lesser one. Hate enters into it only if the person receiving the punch happens to be a certain category of person, such as a uniformed one.
One of the states armed enforcers.
The presumption being you didnt exactly like him, either.
But now (in John Bel Edwards fief) its an actionable offense to not like the blue-clad person you struck. Whereas if the reverse were to happen (the armed/costumed government worker threw a punch at you) it is merely a physical assault and not also a hate crime. . . .
PC leftists are in favor of hate crimes, what say you?
Truth is treason in the empire of lies. - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
Sucking up doughnuts and extorting "fines" does not protect and serve We The People.
As I continue to study the behaviors of cop-haters in my attempt to learn the underlying reason(s) for their being such adamant cop-haters, I find only a very small minority of people show hate towards police. These are mostly the few people who have been wronged by one or two officers but never the entire police force. I can understand the reasons behind their feelings in those cases when they are justified.
What I fail to understand, however, are the feelings behind the obsessively active, insanely committed and doctrinaire member of the cop-hating gaggle. I have come to realize and accept the fact that these folks will, no matter what, always say that a cop is wrong.
Which brings me to my point, I'm just curious to learn the specific reason(s) you have for your intense hatred of cops. I realize that you are probably ashamed to publically confess and explain why, but I ask you to recall the old Scottish proverb that reads, Open confession is good for the soul. So, why dont you completely cleanse your soul and have at it here and now confess.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
if you look around, we have gone so far down the the rat hole, the almighty is going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah, if we don't have a judgement come down on us.
President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. --Clint Eastwood
"I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." -- General Douglas MacArthur
Punch a mere peon (not uniformed) in the face because you hate the guys guts and its still a crime, but a lesser one. Hate enters into it only if the person receiving the punch happens to be a certain category of person, such as a uniformed one.
No! Your statement is categorically and unequivocally wrong.
With all the information and different perspectives on issues floating around, you should be getting smarter and more informed.
Unfortunately, the very wiring of your brain ensures that all our lively debates and constructive comments have only made you dumber and more narrow-minded.
I will continue to waste my time to explain hate crime which is what you are eluding to.
Hate enters into it when you punch someone (not only a peon or uniformed cop) in the face because it is proven that the reason you hate the guys guts is established and confirmed to be bias against his race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
Geeze, sport the Internet can be used as a great source to educate you. And Heavens knows, you sorely need educating.
...is established and confirmed to be bias against his race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
So Einstein, where does occupation (cop) fit in?
That is an excellent question.
While I was stationed in Ulm, Germany, I had many occasions to stop by Einsteins birth-place at Bahnhofstrasse 20 since it was directly across the street from the Ulm Hauptbahnhof.
When I had something to ponder, I would pause there ... scratch my head and ask myself: What would old Al say?
I am not in Ulm now, but I did scratch my head and come up with an answer for you.
That answer is ... occupation (cop) does not fit in.
I feel certain if old Al were around today, he would be in complete agreement with my answer.
Padilla-Goodman said her organization supports enhanced penalties for crimes against law enforcement officers, but she said the law "weakens the impact of the Hate Crimes Act by adding more categories of people who are already better protected under other laws."
"We are not happy that it is being signed into law."
My first reaction was negative but then I saw this text above, good!