Soap Box

In 2003, a woman with a very long rap sheet left East Tennessee in a stolen car barreling west on Interstate 40 with nothing but trouble on her mind. She refused to even slow down for any of the numerous law enforcement vehicles that attempted to stop her and it became evident from her speed and the reckless way she was driving, something catastrophic was inevitable.

As she approached the City of Mt. Juliet, Officer Jerry Mundy of the Mt. Juliet Police Department and Deputy John Musice of Wilson County Sheriff's Department cleared the way and placed spike strips across the westbound lanes to blow out the woman�s tires, stepped well away from the highway and waited to deal with the situation as soon as the car could be disabled.

When the driver saw the spikes she swerved off the road, careening her vehicle towards Mundy and Musice, killing them both instantly and destroying the lives of two families and enflaming the passions of a tight knit community.

Mundy and Musice knew the perils of their jobs, they knew that what they were doing was risky and dangerous but they knew the people they had sworn to protect and serve were in jeopardy and never hesitated to put their lives between the danger and the public.

I realize that this is just one of many, many similar stories of law officers losing their lives protecting those who depend on them to keep the jungle at bay. Most any community has, at one time or another, had law officers killed in the line of duty.

We expect our police officers to quell riots, solve crimes, settle domestic disputes, patrol the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country, make split second, life and death decisions and generally enforce the law of the land.

We expect them to be there when we need them, regardless of what time of day or night, we expect them to insert themselves immediately between us and any dangerous situation and stay with it until a peaceful conclusion can be reached.

The nature of my work and the amount of travel I do gives me the opportunity to meet police officers all over the country, since they do security at a lot of the concerts we play. The typical American police officer is a decent person, most of them family people who have decided to devote their lives to public service and they take the job seriously, understanding the hazards that go along with it and accepting the risks as part of their job descriptions.

Their mission gets more and more difficult every year as the criminal populations increase and the budgets decrease, yet short of manpower and many times outgunned by the bad guys, these men and women hit the streets every day dealing with the worst element of society, witnessing scenes that would give most of us nightmares for months and facing death and injury around every corner.

And now President Obama, in an effort to make political hay, in the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri tragedy wants our police officers to wear body cameras, one giant step for his Big Brother policies and a slap in the face to the men and women who enforce our laws.

It's tantamount to saying "We don't trust you and need to have a record of every move you make, every arrest, every traffic ticket, all dialogue and conversations.� In other words, we want to spy on you, because we don't respect your ability to handle a situation without government oversight. We need more control over you.

Obama says that he is afraid that police forces are becoming more "militarized" and need to be overseen and scrutinized.

Well, Mr. President, speaking as an American citizen, I think you have this backwards. The bad guys are the ones who have become �militarized" as gangs and drug cartels have the means to buy the latest and deadliest firepower and badly outgun our local police forces.

Mr. President, I don't think you or any of your administration has the credentials to be advising our police on protecting the public, you couldn't even protect one American Ambassador, so maybe you and your folks are the ones who need the body cameras.

Your moves to gain political points are obvious and when you invite the likes of a race baiting trouble maker like Al Sharpton to the White House to advise you, it shows just how out of touch you are.

Mr. President, I'll admit, I have never been a fan of yours, you're way too much of a socialist for me, but all America had high hopes that our first black president would make every effort to bridge the racial divide in this nation - a job that desperately needs doing - and nobody has ever had the unique opportunity you've had.

You blew it, Mr. President. Instead of pulling us together, you've managed to pull us further apart.

Pity you didn't have those body cameras on Lois Lerner or the Justice Department personnel involved in Fast and Furious scandal.

God bless that Thin Blue Line that stands between us and those who do us harm. We sincerely appreciate each and every one of you.

What do you think? 

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels