Every now and again, the nation�s political spotlight shines upon the
sleepy state of New Hampshire. Our first in the nation primary status
assures that it happens at least every four years, as it did just this past
year when we clocked in with eighty percent voter turnout in order to send
the message that John McCain was best equipped to lead our country, and not
the eminently less qualified man who eventually landed the job.
In recent weeks, reportage of the comments of one of New Hampshire�s state
representatives, one Tom Alciere, has again earned national attention for
the Live Free or Die state. As was predictable, local and national pundits
alike have preferred that Alciere be afforded the latter of these two
options. Ironic, isn�t it? Police chiefs and other government mouthpieces
have gone on record with comments like �He should be thrown in jail for
talking like that.� Well guess what? That kind of rhetoric serves to make
Alciere�s point precisely.
Chicken-hearted reporters within and without New Hampshire have elected to
interpret Alciere out of context with simplistic statements like �Alciere
advocates the killing of police officers,� and �Alciere believes that
shooting police officers is good for society,� rather than actually
examining the role of law enforcement in America in the context of
Alciere�s statements. The Rodney King case, the Amadou Diallo case, the
Avner Luima case and many other similar such instances clearly beg the
question of whether or not there exists within this country a measurable
percentage of maverick cops with personal agendas who are willing to abuse
their authority. These are men armed not only with guns but also with
statutes that permit their incursion into the private lives of ordinary
citizens. The responsibility assigned to police officers is an awesome one,
and one that I believe is impossible to argue that they handle adequately
across the board.
The vast majority of police officers have selected their professions as a
result of an altruistic desire to defend the helpless from society�s many
predators. They seek to employ their intelligence, imagination, and yes,
physical force to ensure that American citizens are able to earn their keep
and keep what they earn. They seek to come to the aid of exploited
children, abused women, and unfairly treated citizens across the age, race,
gender and economic spectrum. But there is without much doubt an element of
the police force that oversteps its authority in order to further either a
personal agenda, or to satisfy a demented thirst for dominion over others.
As far as the media goes, it is so much easier to resort to hyperbole than
actually address the question of police brutality and invasion of privacy
within this country, that who could expect them to respond to Alciere other
than as they have? It makes for better headlines, so that�s the way it gets
covered. The great shame is that the real question is being passed over in
favor of hand wringing about this dangerous man somehow vested with
legislative influence. The vilification of Alciere, a man of truly puny
intellect, whose own hyper-libertarian views are so poorly thought out as
to hardly be worth addressing, is feelgood journalism at its worst. He has
become an icon of the pitfalls of liberalism, a right wing effigiation, a
pi�ata suspended over blindfolded Republicans� heads as they wildly swing
the stick. It�s a shame that so inadequate a person as Alciere has become
the fulcrum of so critical a debate.
People who prefer black and white to shades of gray are pleased to have Tom
Alciere to clarify for them the issue of police malfeasance. America�s
great unwashed don�t want to use their heads, they only want to know where
they should hang their hats. In the end run, Alciere is the best thing that
could happen for the American police state he alleges, at whatever level it
actually exists. The sound byte journalism coverage of the Alciere flap has
served to increase the flock of those with blind faith in the judgement of
law enforcement bodies and individual officers.
Here in Portsmouth, the cops on the beat deployed so much pepper spray last
year that I wouldn�t be surprised if France were to declare a cayenne
famine. Were some instances of use warranted? Undoubtedly. Were some
unwarranted? Equally undoubtedly. We haven�t seen much of the old Dale
Daigle thump and dump strategy lately, but given the finer points of the
Truax/Johnson lawsuit, news photos of a sixty-year old woman in a moomoo
crumpled onto the sidewalk rubbing mace from her eyes, and various other
instances of dubious use of authority, it is hard to say that it doesn�t
happen here.
http://www.thumpcity.com/Elliott/Alciere.htm
