True Patriots Don't Suffer from Blind Allegiance

I love good police officers. Good, honest cops are essential to a civilized, well-functioning society. It's the bad cops I despise--and it continues to astound me when normal people defend bad cops, as if wearing a badge is a license to do harm.

To anyone who has raised issues with corrupt police officers, only to have someone say, "Why are you criticizing the police? Don't you know they risk their lives every single day?"--I offer the following handy response:

I apologize. Any criticism of police officers, even the worst ones, is unpatriotic. Unlike mine workers, loggers, taxi drivers, pilots, construction workers, and farmers--all of whom have higher job fatality and/or injury rates--police officers risk their lives every single day.

In any case, don't assume that respect is a two-way street. Like any abusive relationship, you should not complain publicly, even if someone has done something unethical, wrong, and indecent.

Before you say anything else, remember this: America was founded on blind allegiance to executive authority. The founders clearly envisioned a country where citizens would be unable to use their free speech rights to criticize the government. I question how you were able to graduate high school without learning these basic facts about our country.

Now, the person on the other side has three options: one, say he didn't mean what he actually said, in which case you thank him for his clarification; two, he gets upset and starts calling you names, in which case you win by default; and/or three, he protests your use of sarcasm, in which case he is just protesting style, not substance.