That is ironic since most Americans worship Libertarianism with their lips, but their hearts are far from libertarianism. 90% of the conflict between "Democrats" and "Republicans" is WHICH civil liberties to violate for what agenda, while "Libertarians" absurdly proclaim their own variation "real" libertarianism. It is a deeply depressing reminder even the most mature civilized human societies remain HUMAN, for ill as well as good.

The Holy Roman Empire was a meme, too, but, as Voltaire noted, memes can be and sometimes are used inappropriately. Your point is valid as far as it goes, but except for the early days when the Republican Party was so radical it fought a WAR for civil rights, and the accident of Teddy Roosevelts brief aberration before he accepted reality and started the Progressive Party, the Republican Party has been synonymous with conservatism, so its adherents can be excused for considering liberalism political heresy.
They were not acting in their capacity to protect the public from violent criminals, but as tax collectors. What, exactly, is inconsistent about my criticizing such people? Also, while I am opposed to federal enforcement agents and officers in principle, in practice, local cops are bigger assholes. I have a rule of thumb which basically states that the arrogance and ego of the emergency responder or security worker is inversely proportional to his importance and degree of professionalism. Is there anyone more pointless and authoritarian than a lifeguard or a TSA agent, who only exist to do what people should be doing for themselves? It goes down, through EMTs, volunteer firemen, and suburban cops, compared to paramedics, actual firemen and city cops. Most cops tend to agree with me, though I don't actually tell them where they stand on that scale.
That is just it though: You did NOT criticize them; you excused them as mere "idiot stormtroopers... following orders." That just passes the buck, which may be bureaucracies PURPOSE to some degree, but remains inexcusable. The mayor and other city executives are responsible to the extent Garners death was the result of their policies, orders and officers (hence the suit and settlement) but the officers SHARE that responsibility for directly causing his death, whether or not by following city policy. If the policy were "shoot all infants on sight," that would be a reprehensible policy whose authors were equally reprehensible, but it would still be up to individual officers whether to COMPLY, and those who did would be no less reprehensible.
WHATEVER the policy, the cops explicitly endorsed it when they took an oath to apply it; if it subsequently changed, they tacitly endorsed it when they declined to find another way to make a living. Either way, they are on the hook for their own actions; "the devil made me do it" is not a valid defense.
1) The rights incessant rants on militarized cops, citizen rights and government oppression going mute when cops kill an unarmed black person or
The ACTUAL right, as this response and all conservatives statements in this thread demonstrate, is just as SELECTIVE as the left in its complaints. Whether someone is the "absolute worst" OR best example correlates suspiciously well with that someones RACE, and for BOTH sides. We hardly ever hear leftists screaming about police brutality against WHITES, because police brutality is SOLELY caused by criminal justice racism, and we hardly ever hear the right screaming about police brutality against anyone BUT whites, because everyone else is "a thug assault[ing] police officers." I wish both right AND left all the luck they sorely need building any kind of majority consensus on those divisive bases: Because absent an overwhelming majority, the elite hyperminority will continue dividing and ruling the unempowered hypermajority as it always has.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!

LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
