Here we go again....Ridor can not help himself, he must always be negative towards law enforcement...

In his most recent posting, he slams police from coast to coast, hurling accusations without true facts to back them up, and supporting only one statement of his with a highly prejudicial YouTube video.  He also chooses to make a statement that makes my blood boil and my skin crawl.... Ridor said in his post "Maybe The Fates has decreed that the perished cops at Ground Zero … was well deserved? Who knows."  This statement from him was in reference to the officers of the NYPD who perished in the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center.  He is implying that God, or whomever he or anyone else chooses to believe in, decreed that these officers would die in these attacks because they are corrupt, rude, or whatever else he doesn't personally like.  He also mentions this lovely tidbit: "I do not view them as heroes — in fact, they were paid by taxpayers to do their jobs, that is to serve and to protect. Death comes with territory, like it or not."  Nice...So I guess any serviceman or servicewoman who gives their lives overseas or in battle anywhere is not to be viewed as a hero either, by his definition? I mean, that's part of the job too, right?  What exactly is a "hero" in your eyes, Ridor?  To blatantly attack a profession such as law enforcement in such a blanket way, without actually having lived through what they do, without having a loved one who may be in harms way on a daily basis, without KNOWING what that life is, is simply wrong and shameful.  I've said it before many times, everyone is entitled to an opinion, even Ridor.  But the uninformed and blatantly insipid remarks that pour out of him towards law enforcement are a disgrace.

To me, a hero is anyone who is willing to go out and put their lives on the line everyday for total strangers for a salary that not many would accept for the BS they must put up with.  Is that my only definition of a hero? No...Another definition would be someone who has the moral courage and the backbone to stand up and do what is right, even when everyone tells them to not get involved, or they run because doing what is right is just too hard.  The word hero is often overused and abused beyond belief, such as someone who wins a game by hitting a homerun or scoring a touchdown.  Thats not a hero, that's a winner, or someone who rises to the occasion, but it is not a hero.

If you haven't guessed it by now, or haven't read my blog, I'm the son of a cop. I will be the first to admit, there ARE rogue officers who give law enforcement a bad name.  It's inevitable, on a police force of some 36,000 police officers on the NYPD, there will be some bad apples.  The same can be said of Memphis, New Orleans, and so on.  But the fact of the matter is, loud-mouthed boors and slanderers who constantly tell people "Be afraid of the police" do more harm than good by creating an air of distrust.  That Ridor can meet with an officer in Arby's who simply tries to talk to him, and is slapped in the face with the insult of "I'm sorry, I don't trust you or any other officers" basically, shows a lack of understanding of the daily stresses and other things officers must go through in order to protect and serve.  Not knowing if a simple traffic stop will result in their death because of someone who has a hatred such as Ridor's with a gun, not knowing if someone who is involved in a highly emotional domestic situation will decide to commit "suicide by cop", and so on.  

Moving on to another subject, Ridor's statement that John McCain will not receive his vote simply because he resigned the Board of Directors at Gally and allegedly "derided" the protestors before doing so.  Now, I have heard horror stories about Jane Fernandes, but I know nothing about her personally, so I won't dive into the merits of whether or not she should have been allowed to ascend to the position or not.  However, John McCain's reason for resigning the Board were spelled out in a letter to I. King Jordan in which he said  "I cannot in good conscience continue to serve the board after its decision to terminate her appointment, which I believe was unfair and not in the best interests of the University”.

Nothing was said by him regarding the protestors in that statement. I have searched the internet for reports from that time, yet I can find no specific quotes verified as coming from him that were derogatory towards the protestors.  John McCain specifically supported and trusted the experience and leadership and decisions of I. King Jordan, a man whom I have the highest respect for and found to be an immenently fair and likable person in my few conversations with him, and the rest of the search committee in that she would have been the best person for the job.  To not vote for him just because of one action that he disagrees with is to show a naivette about the political spectrum. 

John McCain has accomplished more and done more for the disabled community than his opponent, is married to a special education teacher, and adopted a child with a cleft palate and gave her a better life.  His record of bipartisanship, standing up for what is right, and even standing up against President Bush when called for, are just but a few examples of his backbone and moral courage.  He is, simply put, a man of substance, not a man of style and words like his opponent.  That a few protestors and bloggers choose to vilify two men of integrity and leadership such as I. King Jordan and John McCain is disconcerting, and wrong.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion, just as everyone is entitled to vote for whomever they wish.  But to hurl unsubstantiated invective is wrong, and is exactly what is wrong with many of the blogs going on right now, on issues of Deafhood, DBC, and so forth.

I will agree with ONE thing Ridor said, and that is that being deaf, and living as a deaf individual everyday, qualifies for deafhood.  On most other issues though, I'm afraid he's living proof of the "crab theory".