I’d meant to post this closer to the insurrection-anniversary, but here goes (starting with a haiku from 2021)…
True Traitriots
january sixth
hoisting traitor flags, boasting
patriotism
I find it fascinating that certain “law & order” loving Americans seem obsessed with thwarting or evading our legal frameworks.
In the case of “crimicops” (criminal-adjacent cops), I refer to police officers and police supporters who vehemently oppose trials or punishment for police. This is a strange attitude when police officers almost routinely act “above the law,” committing what would be heinous crimes by any non-police with little or no repercussions. Police “crimes” (morally criminal, if not always legally so) include assault, homicide (e.g., any blacklivesmatter name), (alleged) rape and embezzlement (in Massachusetts alone, there have been various fraud scandals with city and state police; for example this 2021 article [Boston police overtime theft of $300,000]).
There’s also the matter of some police obsessing over “Punisher” a comic-book anti-hero who is an extremely violent, law-breaking vigilante. Some law-enforcement officers (and even entire departments) have painted the Punisher’s cartoon skull on their police body armor or police vehicles. Since 2020, there is also a ton of “punisher thin blue line” merchandise available (presumably being sold to police and police supporters). Search on police + punisher to find many examples of law enforcement’s love of this law-breaker, but here’s one nuanced article on the police-punisher fandom.
If there was any sort of internal consistency, those who are police or who support police should want to hold police to the highest standards of obeying the law and minimize their options for circumventing the laws that regular citizens must obey. For example, police should never be killing anyone except in clear self-defense (i.e., shooting fleeing people in the back or anyone unarmed & non-violent should be considered murder).
In the case of “traitriots” (traitorous patriots), I refer to those who undermine their self-proclaimed “patriotism” by embracing messages or symbols of treason, such as the confederate flag which represents a failed, treasonous rebellion by racist states. Traitriots also seek to strip voting or citizen rights from “those people” (anyone they don’t like) and are untroubled by such attacks on democracy.
The most egregious example of “traitriotism” this century is (so far) the Capitol Insurrection (and the events leading up to it) on January 6, 2021. Both confederate flag-festooned traitriots and off-duty crimicops (there’s some overlap) were there, participating in the attack on our nation’s capitol, while good, actual “law & order” Capitol Police tried to stop them and restore order. The Capitol Police , despite being overwhelmed, acted admirably, trying to deescalate the situation, divert the mob and save the Congresspeople and Senators.
What could be less patriotic than breaking into US Congress in an attempt to thwart the normal and legal transfer of power (in effect, their coup attempt)? What could be less patriotic than seeking to hurt or kill our government representatives? Cries of “Hang Mike Pence” rang through the halls of our legislative center, which they damaged and defaced throughout (including with their own feces). They also killed some police officers in the attack, and injured hundreds of others. It was the literal opposite of “law & order” and completely outrageous!
It’s been nice to see some of those insurrectionists get a taste of “law & order” as many have been arrested and tried or are pending trial. It’s very tough in 2022 to end things on a hopeful note, so ending it here (with my tongue firmly bit).
