# The ambushed cops: So, it's all Obama's fault now? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867 "2014-12-22T00:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/21 "2014-12-22T13:37:23Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > NYPD are not at-will employees, he’d have to write him up and take him to the discipline board. Even if he were legally empowered to do so, politically the mayor would not want to discipline too harshly a public-sector labor leader for being crass and odious against the employer. That’s often perceived as coming with the territory of a labor leader’s job. Maybe De Blasio should just **cane** his ass then. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/22 "2014-12-22T14:56:27Z")
Is the Abner Louima Memorial Broom Handle still available? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/23 "2014-12-22T15:07:23Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I had a friend who became a Chicago cop. We were having drinks one day (he was off duty) talking about stuff like this. He told me to never piss off a cop because they can pretty much always find something to charge you with no matter how righteous and upstanding a citizen you think you might be. It might be something petty but it’ll be enough at the least to ruin the rest of your day at a minimum. It’s not the cops’ fault that the people vote so many laws into effect that they have to enforce. If you’re saying that the cops should ignore the will of the people and decide not to enforce “minor” laws, then you’re effectively giving them veto power over the entire democratic process and making them a super-legislature unto themselves. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/24 "2014-12-22T15:10:14Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Maybe most police are halfway decent, I don’t know. What is unacceptable is that the few that are brutes are not held accountable by the power structure. Quoted for truth. The NYPD has ~34,000 uniformed officers. If 5% are brutes who should not be allowed in their position, that’s 1,700 officers over 5 boroughs (counties). But the police are indoctrinated with such an “us vs. them” mentality that they do not make serious efforts to weed out that 5%. Or 4%. Or 10%. Or whatever the actual number is. We’ll never know because they are not accountable, and our past two mayors let them keep their dirty laundry as closed off from the public as possible. Of course they are getting upset now that a new mayor wants to open up the books just a little from what’s been going on for the last 2 decades. Sadly, appeals to fear work even better than appeals to emotion, and that is the nail that the PBA chief is hammering. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/25 "2014-12-22T15:12:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is the Abner Louima Memorial Broom Handle still available? Refresh my memory on that one…were the perpetrators adequately identified and punished? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/26 "2014-12-22T15:14:01Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > They definitely deserve a lot of blame. Before Holder and Obama began their cynical manipulations it was difficult to find anti-police rhetoric anywhere, particularly on the internet. Have O and H done anything at all to try to diffuse what was building? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/27 "2014-12-22T15:20:09Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Refresh my memory on that one…were the perpetrators adequately identified and punished? After the fact, and after public cries of outrage, and almost after Louima’s death. The point was about PD culture permitting the assault to occur in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/28 "2014-12-22T15:24:02Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Dont break the law > > Dont resist arrest Comply or die. Makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/29 "2014-12-22T15:25:13Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Have O and H done anything at all to try to diffuse what was building? Here’s an example of what Obama has done to “try to diffuse what was building.” After the Ferguson grand jury decision came out, he said [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-obamas-remarks-on-ferguson-grand-jury-decision/2014/11/24/afc3b38e-744f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html): > [@](#): > > First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law. And so, we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make. There are Americans who agree with it, and there are Americans who are deeply disappointed, even angry. It’s an understandable reaction. > > But I join Michael’s parents in asking anyone who protests this decision to do so peacefully. Let me repeat Michael’s father’s words, “Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer. No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son’s death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change, positive change, change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone.” This idea that there’s somehow a war on cops is over-the-top nonsense mainly pushed by self-serving opportunists like Patrick Lynch of the PBA. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/30 "2014-12-22T15:27:54Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Here’s an example of what Obama has done to “try to diffuse what was building.” After the Ferguson grand jury decision came out, he said [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-obamas-remarks-on-ferguson-grand-jury-decision/2014/11/24/afc3b38e-744f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html): > > This idea that there’s somehow a war on cops is over-the-top nonsense mainly pushed by self-serving opportunists like Patrick Lynch of the PBA. Yes. Obama has been very careful in his statements on these matters. I think Gi911ani’s blaming Obama borders on criminal psychosis. Outrage over cop killing and outrage over cops killing others is not mutually exclusive. Just because we are outraged over the police choking a man to death over cigarettes doesn’t mean that we can’t condemn cops being executed. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/31 "2014-12-22T16:13:28Z")
It’s Fox. Obama could single handedly defeat Satan in hand to hand combat on international television and everyone on Fox would still have to get up in the morning and bash Obama. They are a paid political advertisement. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/32 "2014-12-22T16:22:00Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Dont break the law > > Dont resist arrest Resistance is futile. Yeah, that always ends well. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/33 "2014-12-22T16:28:30Z")
Respecting their authoritah doesn’t always work, either. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/34 "2014-12-22T16:35:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not the cops’ fault that the people vote so many laws into effect that they have to enforce. If you’re saying that the cops should ignore the will of the people and decide not to enforce “minor” laws, then you’re effectively giving them veto power over the entire democratic process and making them a super-legislature unto themselves. People generally do not vote laws into effect. They vote in lawmakers who make the laws. Unfortunately lawmakers rarely seem to do the hard work of revisiting old laws and modifying them or throwing out ones that make little sense anymore and instead just keep piling on new laws. As for cops ignoring the will of the people as the numbers I cited above show there is no way any cop can ever have close to all the laws memorized and enforce them equally. Indeed police forces often choose to focus efforts on this or that and go easy on other stuff (e.g. crack down on jaywalking and don’t bother people smoking a joint). Happens all the time at all levels of law enforcement. There simply is no way to possibly enforce all the laws equally. This of course gives police a great deal of power. They can choose who and what to come down hard on and that often has a racial undertone to it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/35 "2014-12-22T16:37:14Z")
Besides, if every law was enforced to its fullest, we’d all be in jail. Cops \*do \*have to exercise judgment and self-control in what they investigate and arrest for. So it’s critical that they \*have \*good judgment and self-control. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/36 "2014-12-22T16:44:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > …Outrage over cop killing and outrage over cops killing others is not mutually exclusive. Just because we are outraged over the police choking a man to death over cigarettes doesn’t mean that we can’t condemn cops being executed. (post shortened) I wasn’t aware that “we are outraged over the police choking a man to death over cigarettes”. Which case are you referring to? Eric Garner died from cardiac arrest. Maybe it’s the repeated lies that police choked Garner to death being made by mob leaders, along with the other anti-police rhetoric, which triggered some assholes to assault police officers for arresting criminals and encouraging another asshole to shoot his girlfriend and then drive to NYC to murder the first cops that he could? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/37 "2014-12-22T16:59:00Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > (post shortened) > > I wasn’t aware that “we are outraged over the police choking a man to death over cigarettes”. Which case are you referring to? > > Eric Garner died from cardiac arrest. Maybe it’s the repeated lies that police choked Garner to death being made by mob leaders, along with the other anti-police rhetoric, which triggered some assholes to assault police officers for arresting criminals and encouraging another asshole to shoot his girlfriend and then drive to NYC to murder the first cops that he could? So he suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of being in a choke hold rather than actually being strangled. Get yourself a cee-gar for that insight. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/38 "2014-12-22T17:00:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If you’re saying that the cops should ignore the will of the people and decide not to enforce “minor” laws, then you’re effectively giving them veto power over the entire democratic process and making them a super-legislature unto themselves. The issue really isn’t whether or not cops should enforce all laws, including minor ones. The issue is whether there are racial disparities and other systemic sources of unfairness in law enforcement, and whether excessive use of force by the police could be reduced (better training, weeding out psychopaths) without endangering cops or unduly reducing their effectiveness. It’s the age-old question of who will guard the guards themselves. Only in Lake Wobegon do the interests of the guards and the interests of the guarded never come into conflict. The job of people like Obama and de Blasio is to help society strike the right balance between those competing interests. Unfortunately, there is an authoritarian streak on the right bordering of fascism, according to which _any_ suggestion that the existing balance may be tilted too far in favor of the police is tantamount to anti-cop propaganda, a declaration of “open season” on the lives of police officers. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/39 "2014-12-22T17:01:27Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Dont break the law > > Dont resist arrest And starting this week, don’t walk close by a cop car, especially if you are a young man of color. If you do, it could be detrimental to your health. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/40 "2014-12-22T17:07:27Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > (post shortened) > > I wasn’t aware that “we are outraged over the police choking a man to death over cigarettes”. Which case are you referring to? > > Eric Garner died from cardiac arrest. Maybe it’s the repeated lies that police choked Garner to death being made by mob leaders, along with the other anti-police rhetoric, which triggered some assholes to assault police officers for arresting criminals and encouraging another asshole to shoot his girlfriend and then drive to NYC to murder the first cops that he could? According to the medical examiner, the pressure on his neck and chest contributed to his death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867.md?page=3)