Nearly two years ago I posted, while on my honeymoon, an update to the classic children's tale "Henny Penny". You know the one. It's where the chicken gets a whole line of animals to follow it as it claims the sky is falling—that is, until Foxy Woxy comes along and takes over as leader and slaughters them one by one. Remember?
It's on my mind tonight again for two reasons. Firstly, because I chatted with a policemen at the HyVee where I was picking flowers and a card (and candle) for the occasion. This then reminded me that, secondly, last week Peggy Noonan wrote a Henny Penny-esque column that I had meant to respond to here.
Mrs. Noonan is a force, that's for sure. She won't stand the test of time, but she is compelling for today. It's not that she writes poorly that's the problem. It's that she writes in a way that seems to indicate she really understands the word on the street. Her "M.O." seems to be pinpointing the word on "main street" and then giving it context. But like most folks, since Trump, she's lost the pulse.
The specific point of hers that I'm referring to, in her "Lost Thread" column, is the part about how police used to be respected and how now there is no respect. Instead, she points out, there are actual calls to defund them etc.
Before joining the Air Force, I had entertained the notion of being a policeman. And this, despite having seen "Wayne's World" and laughing with the jokes, "[sniff sniff] Definitely a pork product." Can you believe it?
You see, Peggy Noonan is no different than the other hype-sters. How could she be? The sky is not falling. And yet she says it is. She says the very men who have sworn to protect and serve are today under a newer and stronger attack than ever before.
It's all hype. They are not. Police have never been popular.
Hear me clearly. When I say, "Police have never been popular," I am not wrong. Nor am I able to be persuaded away from my position. This is because I am not basing my position on facts, I am basing it on belief.
The police are only now under attack? Give me a break. Never in human history have people wanted to submit their actions to judgement or consequence. This law of nature is behind how police barely exist in history. Who would even want to get in a criminals way? It's a nearly unreasonable profession.
Mrs. Noonan has it all wrong. The police have never been popular. And there isn't enough data in the universe for her or anyone to use which would prove otherwise. Sorry, Ms. Penny. The sky isn't falling.
The right perspective is that life is hard—if you're hellbent on living as a man and not an animal.
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