Deja Vu in Baton Rouge

"What does matter is three more of our police were gunned down with others being wounded."

Here we go again. I was out cutting the grass with my headphones on. This has been breaking news most of the late morning and into early afternoon. Three more police officers dead in Baton Rouge. And who did it? Was it a racial thing? Islamic terrorists? Just some punks? They don't know as yet. And right now it really does not matter. What does matter is three more of our police officers were gunned down with other officers wounded.

I was not going to write for a few days. Take a break. One of my friends who I deeply respect had some harsh words for me last night. Had to do with my blogging. So I thought it might be time for the "writer's hiatus". And then this happened.

One of the guests on the radio during the breaking news, was a former detective from New York. He said it sounded like these cops were lured into what is known as a shooting "funnel". He thought that because the cop who radioed in "shots fired" also said he did not know where the shots were coming from. This detective said police are trained to identify where gunfire comes from. They only time they are not able to discern the direction, is if they are in a "funnel".

Here is the big question. What the hell has happened to us as a people? When did it become "okay" to gun someone down, much less a police officer? We are not at war here. We may be at war overseas with Islamic Terrorists, but we are certainly not at war with each other. Or are we? Have we been put on a course so something like what happened in Dallas and Baton Rouge are inevitable? Is being a police officer going to become more dangerous than being an infantry soldier in a combat zone? To keep our police safe, are we going to have to dress them up to look like EOD professionals? 

Word has it that Erdogan is going to deal very harshly with a couple of thousand of his soldiers who where involved in the attempted coup. In other words, they committed high treason and will likely be put to death. We need to consider people who go to war with our police forces also committing high treason. To eliminate our police forces by gunning them down, is treason. It is treason because it would throw the country into anarchy. And people that do that should be dealt with the same way Turkey deals with their traitors.

One final thing. The former detective who was on the news today also said something very interesting. He said he is sick and tired of seeing fellow officers gunned down only for the crime of wearing the uniform. But then he said this - he is also very sick of politicians who do not have the back of those who protect and defend us. Translation - it all starts at the top. With President Obama. He may say he is on the side of the cops, but the perception by more and more all the time is that he is not. 

But politics on this issue are for another day. Today we grieve for three more families whose loved ones will not be coming home tonight. And the only thing they were guilty of was going to work. Going to work at a job which should never be this dangerous. Going to work at a job where they protect and serve each and every one of us. Today once again, the nation bows its head in grief and shame.