From the comments a LEO makes essentially the argument I have been making for years:I don’t think conservative souring towards cops is political, at least in terms of what policies the cops are called on to enforce. Rather, what we are really seeing is the convergence of coercional left and right politics into a singular authoritarianism, at least in the eyes of those whose distrust for the police force is building. They are tired of the addiction to law-and-order and the force buildup (which is apolitical and more of an occupational imperative), and also of the brownshirting, the preying on essentially innocent citizens (which does have a political bent to it as it’s usually motivated by some kind of social-value exercise like the war on drugs or domestic violence prevention).
http://badgerhut.wordpress.com/2013/11/ ... from-cops/
SWAT teams were encouraged by conservatives as a tool to "fight the drug menace". What happens when those teams get repurposed against conservatives? As is now likely with 58% opposing pot prohibition. And don't forget all the recent agitaion about making conservatives enemies of the state? Which is in reality a joke. They are not enemies of the state. They are enablers.I ve been in law enforcement for over 23 years and probably 95% percent of cops are extremely conservative and blame society’s problems on the liberal left. We tend to be the enforcers of the leftist agenda because essentially we serve society and the people who elect these clowns.
When you empower the state for what ever "noble" purpose you put those same tools in the hands of your enemies when they gain power. The Drug War has morphed into anal probes of anyone who does not comply. And drugs? As prevalent as ever. Before Federal opiate prohibition about 1.3% of the population were regular opiate users. After 99 years the number has been reduced to 1.3%. That is a tremendous improvement compared to the time when those drugs were freely available.
And of course D will chime in with his Chinese charts. But before you do that D please explain why in the US opiate use was only at 1.3% despite hundreds of years of free availability? What exactly was protecting us from the "explosion of addiction" you so fear if it wasn't the laws? (this is going to be good)