Marquel, TPVs NYTimes Funeral Etiquette and Cops are Baboons Section correspondent,was watching this video about an Indian monkey saving another Indian monkey without previously discussing caste status, when he read De Blasio Delivers Quiet Eulogy to a Crowd of Unfriendly Faces, and Many Backs.
As Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke at the funeral of Rafael Ramos, scores of mourning police officers turned their backs to him, a sign of the discontent he faces. Marquel saw the hundred or more cops outside the church all turn together the moment the Mayor took the lectern, and turned back when he left.
Marquel’s military instincts were injured. If soldiers had done that to a commanding officer, they would have been in the brig, facing court martial, before he even finished speaking.
But Marquel saw no dismissals, no discipline and, in fact, thought this entire problem from Ferguson to NYC was exactly that…a lack of discipline. Cops, or troops, without discipline are more dangerous than crooks because their numbers are larger, weapons heavier, and have no fear of committing crimes in public. They are our visible mobsters.
I went up and down the line of cops who had turned their backs, publicly insulting their commander (who, it is only fair to say, doesn’t seem to have the backbone commanders need), and stopped to talk with a few.
“I saw you turn your back when the mayor spoke,” I said to the first one.
“Oh was he speaking?” He asked me, “I have no easy way of knowing that out here. That’s unfortunate. The wind shifted so I turned, that’s all.”
I went down the line. A big burly cop looked aggressive. Maybe he’d be unafraid enough to be candid with me. “I saw you turn around when the mayor spoke,” I said.
“Of course,” he said.
“Why of course?” I asked.
“He’s the mayor. It’s our duty to protect him. You can’t do that facing the guy you’re protecting, so when he spoke, I turned, along with the others, to make sure there was no threat.” He said without blushing.
I went further down the line. “I saw you turned when the mayor spoke,” I said.
“Is that so? I don’t think there was any connection. I turned because a hundred other guys did, so I didn’t want to stick out like a protester or anything. I honestly don’t know why they did, but I just followed the crowd.”
I found a female cop and said, “I saw you turn around just as the mayor spoke.”
“Yeah, I missed what he said, but something stuck in my shoe and I was trying to get it out.” She said.
“Wow, really coincidental that you seem to have cleared that up just as he finished.” I said.
“Yeah, life’s funny.” She said.
“That’s just what I was thinking,” I said as she laughed. At life, I guess.
I took one more stab. There was à lieutenant in this group of mostly officers and I said, “I saw you turned around just as the mayor started speaking.”
“Yeah, I was overcome,” he said, “I couldn’t watch and I didn’t want to hear. It would have been too moving for me. As you probably saw, the same is true for most of the guys here. The mayor sometimes says things that really get you, you know? I didn’t want to cry or anything and look like a sissy.”
“Oh come on,” I said, “we all know what happened. You guys think the mayor let you down or worse, and you wanted to show the world that he can just go fuck himself.” I challenged.
“Jesus,” he said, “you put it a lot more eloquently than I could. Maybe that’s why we turned. Because we couldn’t quite put it into words. Ya think?” He said.
“Yeah, wise guy,” I said, “I think. I think you just exercised your first amendment rights like the protesters did. Nothing wrong with that is there?”
“Hell no,” he said, “it’s in the Constitution.”
I patted him on the shoulder and said, “Remember that, will you please?”
“You bet,” he said.
I won’t take that bet unless de Blasio calls a press conference in the next few days and summarily dismisses the two hundred or so baboons in uniform who showed themselves unable to act like officers of the law and public servants. I turned my back on them and mosied on to Chinatown.
***
BY MARQUEL: De Blasio Is No Patton. Neither is NYPD Disciplined
Ouch! Excellent. First time tragic, the second time timid.
de blasio is a wuss
i doubt that. they just did not have time to poll new yorkers
liked the monkey video. great juxtaposition.
NYPD is out of control
Bro, well done.