This just in from the fringe
by digby
And I’m going to guess it will shortly be front and center in the campaign. Trump’s been signaling all along that this would be a big part of his message. From the fever swamps:
America’s police are in the crosshairs. Emboldened by the anti-cop rhetoric spewing from the Obama administration and their surrogates in the mainstream media, violent thugs have declared “open season” on policemen and women. One of the most dangerous professions has now become even more dangerous.
That’s why I am emailing you today. Your local police officers and sheriff’s deputies need your help. And they need it today!
Please take a few minutes right now to:
1. Complete the brief War on Police National Survey; and
2. Sign the open letter to President Obama;
The Obama administration, and a compliant media, would have you believe America’s police are Public Enemy Number 1.
But you know differently. It’s time for true patriots to let the ruling elite know there are no better friends than those who “serve and protect.”
Since the explosive events in Ferguson, Missouri when patrolman Darren Wilson defended his life against a 300-pound assailant, President Obama . . . his Justice Department . . . big city mayors . . . the usual race-baiters . . . and the mainstream media have conspired to stir up a national feeding frenzy aimed at the brave public servants who risk their lives to protect you and your family.
It is time to set the record straight. And that’s just what the Law Enforcement Action Network will do. But we need your help.
You know as well as I do police aren’t the problem. The criminals are! The vast majority of your fellow citizens know this as well but are intimidated by the mob tactics of the Left to let their voices be heard. In the next 90 days, The Law Enforcement Action Network (LEAN) plans to send this War on Police National Survey to 10,000,000 Americans. Because you believe in law and order, you have been selected to be among the first in your state to participate in this important national survey.
My name is Ron Hosko. I am the president of LEAN, a national organization dedicated to reclaiming our country’s justice system-a justice system that should empower local law enforcement instead of the criminals.
LEAN also rallies much-needed public support for America’s police who are losing their lives in record numbers thanks in part to the political and media War on Police.
For over 20 years LEAN’s sister organization, The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, has provided legal assistance to police officers unjustly prosecuted for doing their jobs. On their salaries, they simply cannot afford to hire the $500-per-hour defense attorneys to fight the trumped up charges against them.
The media is quick to cover the violent protests and riots of those who want to lynch our nation’s police officers. But they don’t give nearly as much attention to the stories of police officers like . . .
Officer John Moynihan who was shot in the face at point-blank range.
Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos who were both shot in the head execution-style while eating lunch in their squad car by a man who said he was out to avenge the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Officers Benjamin Deen and Liguori Tate who were gunned down while making a routine traffic stop.
These are but a few of the policemen and women who came to a violent end in the line of duty. Since President Obama signed his executive order creating “The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,” more than 100 police officers have perished in the line of duty.
And unless things change, and change fast, there will be many more dead police officers. Why? According to Milwaukee County’s nationally respected African American Sheriff, David Clarke, police officers are putting their lives in greater jeopardy by being forced to hesitate in life-or-death situations because they fear reprisals for doing their jobs.
While President Obama . . . liberal big city mayors like Bill DeBlasio . . . agitators like Al Sharpton . . . and a carping media can’t be accused of pulling the trigger they can be accused of contributing to the dangerous anti-police fervor that puts a target on every policeman and woman’s back.
Despite what they would have you believe, the vast majority of police officers are not racist goons out to get people of color. The facts tell a totally different story.
For example, the chances of a black person being shot by a white police officer are about .0000023%. And those who are shot are almost always violent, armed criminals who threaten police officers or citizens with serious harm or death.
As a former FBI agent who has worked alongside local law enforcement officers, I can personally attest that police are not trigger-happy racists. And I can also attest to the fact that most members of minority communities feel the same way.
So when race-baiters like Al Sharpton, who have made their fortunes by exploiting unfortunate incidents such as the death of Michael Brown, vilify the police, they do not speak for the entire black community. With black-on-black violent crime on the rise, law-abiding minorities rely on the police to keep their families safe. Many neighborhoods are begging for more police patrols, not fewer!
I can’t help but believe the liberal politicians in Washington have an ulterior motive for demonizing local police and sheriff’s deputies. Under the guise of solving a problem their inflammatory rhetoric has created, they want to take over state and local law enforcement.
It has become crystal clear President Obama craves more power. He has consistently abused his office and issued executive orders to circumvent Congress, to end-run the will of the people, and turn his liberal agenda into law! From attempting to grant illegal immigrants amnesty to killing America’s energy industry, President Obama has used his pen as a sword to take power away from the people and consolidate it in the White House.
Now he has set his sights on local law enforcement.
When campaigning for president, Barack Obama advocated a national “civilian police to match the size and power of our armed forces.” He also suggested expanding the U. S. Marshal’s service into a “stability police.” These aspirations can mean nothing less than yet another effort to nationalize local police departments and to grow an out of control federal government even bigger.
What would a nationalized police force mean to local law enforcement? According to syndicated radio commentator and constitutional scholar, Mark Levin, “Every miscreant and malcontent would suddenly have his say over how our police officers are supposed to conduct themselves.”
I, for one, do not want to see this happen. Law enforcement in your community should be accountable to the people who live there, not a bunch of Washington bureaucrats who think they know better.
But unless we act decisively, your local police and sheriff’s departments could be saddled with excessive procedural regulations that will put patrolmen and women in greater danger and make your streets far less safe.
For example, President Obama would like to take away one of the greatest tools local police have to prevent violent crime. It’s called stop-and-frisk. It grants local police and sheriffs the ability to stop and frisk suspicious persons who may be armed and intent on doing harm.
Police officers feel this proven technique helps prevent violent confrontations that often result in the wounding, or death of law enforcement personnel and private citizens. Yet the Obama administration is critical of stop-and-frisk procedures because it contends they are implemented based on racial biases.
It is a crying shame President Obama would choose to play the race card rather than prevent violent crime. But it is what it is. That’s why the President . . . Attorney General Loretta Lynch . . . Congress . . . federal judges . . . Presidential candidates . . . and all the major news outlets need to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Ron Hosko, Law Enforcement Action Network
Former Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division
Implicit in Trump’s appeal is his racism, we know that. He gave that away a long time ago when he took out a full page ad condemning the (innocent) Central Park Five to death row and saying “your civil liberties end where our safety begins.”
He has not changed. His angry white base agrees with him. It’s going to become a much more explicit part of his campaign. This has already been bubbling up and he’s poised to take advantage of it.
I don’t know if this will be a big deal or not, but it’s something to keep an eye on. If Trump finds out about it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him show up:
