Many years ago, at the Synagogue my wife and I belonged to, a story circulated about the Cantor (the chanter/singer of prayers and, often, the teacher of what children must learn to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah). It involved a student who, we were told, made it very plain, in the most obnoxious ways he could come up with, that – other than the party afterward, of course – none of this meant a thing to him.
As the story went, the Cantor finally could not take it anymore, and after one particularly vile sarcasm from the child, slapped him (I don\’t know if it was in the face, but I\’m guessing it was).
Not surprisingly, this little angel went running to mommy and daddy to tell them what a terrible person the Cantor was…and he wound up having to apologize for his actions.
My take on that story? I understand what the Cantor did… and cannot say with certainty that, if put in the same position, I would have acted differently. But I do not condone what he did. There were other ways of handling it (like telling the parents what a snot their kid was and refusing to teach the child until and unless he showed proper respect).
My reason for mentioning this story? Today\’s New York Times has an editorial excoriating the New York police department for what clearly is an intentional effort to make fewer arrests, issue fewer tickets, and, generally, be less involved in law enforcement (except, I am assuming, for serious crimes).
The editorial is pompous (this may be a redundancy, seeing that we\’re talking about the New York Times), gives far too much credit to Mayor bill de blasio (with whom the Times has an intense love affair), largely ignores why this action is taking place, and makes no mention of the fact that police – in New York and elsewhere – are clearly under siege by people who the de blasios, sharptons, etc. of the world have convinced that all cops are racist and deserve whatever they get.
It also equates what happened to Eric Garner – a serial miscreant (over 30 arrests) who would not allow police to take him into custody and physically took him down only after repeatedly trying to avoid any physical confrontation – with police being murdered in cold blood and being shot at during a robbery.
Read this excerpt and see for yourself:
Thisdeplorable gesture is bound to increase tension in a city alreadyrattled over the killing by the police of an unarmed man, EricGarner, last summer, the executions of two officers in Brooklyn lastmonth, and the shootings on Monday of two plainclothes officers inthe Bronx.
Putting the Eric Garner situation in that mix is ridiculous, dishonest and casts police in a wholly unfair light. In other words, standard operating procedure for a Times editorial.
But…
…that said, the editorial makes a valid point.
Police work is police work. And giving a pass to people who should be approached, intercepted, ticketed, etc. on this grand a scale endangers the lives of people who the police are duty-bound to protect. Actions such as these affect the safety and well being of innocent people, regardless of which side they support.
So, while I understand the actions of the police, I do not condone them and strongly hope that law enforcement immediately goes back to what it should be.
Note to The New York Times – among others: a little understanding goes a long way. And no understanding goes nowhere.
