I don’t know what it is about cops and outlaw bikers. It could be a cultural thing. A common retort by cops to outlaw bikers is that cops are members of the biggest, baddest street gang. Both embrace elements of secret societies, are militaristic in discipline and structure, and are macho in outlook. They wear identifiable uniforms.
Most cops have enough sense to realize that the similarities are superficial. Other than the macho swagger, at the core never the twain shall meet. As one outlaw biker put it, “You gotta choose which side of the street to walk down and then stick to it.”
Unfortunately, some cops don’t see the inherent conflict between the two cultures. This guy thought it was okay to be a Hell’s Angel associate in Norway and a cop in the United States.
His firing has nothing to do with the ability to freely associate with whomever one chooses. There is not a First Amendment challenge in play. The cops in Philadelphia will soon learn that lesson, the hard way.
Police departments and employers, in general, have a right to require employees or prospective employees adhere to a code of conduct. When those expectations are not met, then they have the right to take corrective action.
In the case of the Hell’s Angel Cop the department had a vested interest into inquiring into his criminal history and past associations. The first step in the process was the written application. By lying on the application, the applicant deprived the police department of the ability to make an informed judgment. It wasn’t the association that got him. It was lying on the application that did him in.
The Case of the Philly Cops, The Same, But Different
There is a First Amendment consideration in the case of the Philadelphia cops. Over a hundred Philly cops are implicated in posting racial comments and other non-politically correct comments on line. A small number have been fired. Generally, I come down on the side of free speech. However, that speech must be tempered. If I was still a working police officer, this blog wouldn’t exist.
That doesn’t mean I am being two faced. As a cop, I tried to keep the main thing the main thing. Trying to interject my view of how things ought to be is a barrier to communication and possibly a solution.
I have never, at anytime, believed that anybody in a position of authority or a political bent had enough sense to differentiate between satire, irony, sarcasm and a sincerely held belief. We live in a time where wishing a, “Good morning!” is going to be offensive to somebody, somewhere.
I don’t know how many times I have dealt with an excited crowd. They were anxious and willing to provide information. Where I would use the term suspect, I was willing to accept the witness’s term, “motherfucker”. I get it, we are talking about the same dude.
At about this point, one of my stupider cohorts would interrupt with an admonition that the speaker, “Watch his fuckin mouth!”
As one might guess the interview went to hell from that point on.
I don’t really care if the reader is offended by what I write. After all, you had to work your ass off to get here. Events are not always all one thing or the other. It’s kinda like a blow job. I have had better, but I’ve never had a bad one.
I guess what I’m trying to say is context is everything. For example:
Shipp and Smith were accused of rape, robbery and murder. A crowd invaded the county jail and removed the prisoners. Shipp was already dead when the crowd hanged him from a tree, next to Smith. The photo documents a historical event.
Without a commentary, that is all that it does. Blame the crowd, not the photo. The context of the photo changes with KKK rhetoric. The photo remains the same.
Couple the photo with this woman and what she has to say. The photo remains as it always was. What about your perception?
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit”
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
If you have never heard Billie Holiday sing “Strange Fruit”, now is your chance. Take it. If you do nothing else, listen.
Is the photo still offensive? Is it offensive in the same way? Should she be censored?
Speech, writings, video or Internet postings are not behavior. In order to cross the line there has to be an overt act or an agreement to commit an overt act with a step by one of the parties in that direction.
I refer to democrats as scum, idiots, and lower than child molesters. Is that how I really feel? Could be. However, it could be that I like pushing people’s buttons. You don’t know, as I write this I could be staring at my poster of Obama for inspiration.
That is the problem with trying to sanction thought.
