I think nearly everyone in America who is aware of the police shooting of an unarmed 18 year old boy, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri and the aftermath of riots and police confrontation is terrified by what is happening there.
This level of racism in the midwest was unexpected. And the attitudes of the police in their interactions with the public and the press after the shooting is frightening. We have a police force that is genuinely out of control and we don't know what to do about it.
Unfortunately 99 percent of the nations politicians are busy staking out their old, worn-out, pre-programmed, hackneyed political positions.
Imagine my surprise this morning to find one politician is actually, "gasp," telling the truth. Even more remarkably, it is a Republican, telling truths his fellow Republicans generally don't want to hear.
My hero today is Senator Rand Paul. Writing in Time Magazine he attacks the issue of Racism head on:
Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. Our prisons are full of black and brown men and women who are serving inappropriately long and harsh sentences for non-violent mistakes in their youth.
If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.More importantly Ron Paul attacks head on the over-reaction, military style response from the police who are attempting, unsuccessfully, to address the reaction of the people of Ferguson.
Republicans generally want to defend the police, but here their actions are indefensible. Paul knows that and takes the issues head on.
The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm. It is one thing for federal officials to work in conjunction with local authorities to reduce or solve crime. It is quite another for them to subsidize it.
Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security. This has been a cause I have championed for years, and one that is at a near-crisis point in our country.It is incredibly refreshing to hear a politician, especially in an election year, tell people the truth and address the issues affecting our nation. We don't need sugar coated, focus group tested, platitudes. We need to be able to handle the truth. I urge you to read Senator Puals full essay here.
