Ignorance is Bliss

From The Palm Beach Post via Drudge, quoting Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw:

We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him.

What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?'

Many are outraged by these comments, but we are going to take the high road and defend Sheriff Bradshaw.

Like us, he is a product of over 3 generations of public education led by liberalism.

In other words, Sheriff Bradshaw doesn't have a clue about history.

If he knew about the 100+ million who died last century from the tyranny of the snitch and the door knockers, he'd never utter those words above.

Public school teaches us about the horrors of the Nazi's - those right-wing brutes who killed 6 million Jews.  If the Nazis had not been 'right-wing' in European politics, then you wouldn't know anything about them.

This has led to a level of ignorance that embarrasses all who practice it - Sheriff Bradshaw being the latest.  In short, the Europeans were f**ked last century.  The only political choices were Communism and Fascism.  Both come with dictators, snitches, knocks on doors and disappearing neighbors.

There might have been some Libertarians in Europe, but like here they were irrelevant.

The 'left' were the Communists, who took power in 1917 when Russia was vulnerable.  The 'right' were the fascists - Italy and Germany.  In Hitler's case, he rose to power.  In the late 1920's he won 1% of the electorate, but stuck to his three themes - Fascism over Communism, the Jews as scapegoats for everything bad, and the elimination of the Treaty of Versailles - to gain enough seats to become the Prime Minister.

This European right-left error is compounded by the results of World War II.  Germany lost, and the spoils and respect go to the victors.  Stalin's Soviet Union was a victor in WWII, so the rape, slaughter of innocents, Katyn genocide, decades of oppression, returning soldiers sent to the Gulag, etc. go unpunished.  Nazi (right wing) bad.  Soviets (left wing) good.  Never mind the Soviets partnered with the Nazis to split Poland, where a total of 25 million innocents died during the war (including the 6 million Jews in Nazi camps).

Sheriff Bradshaw's comments put him on par with Hitler and Stalin.  They all encourage snitches.  Many of the accused in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia were not guilty.  It was quite common for someone to snitch in order to remove a boss, a Christian, someone's lover, or the occupants of a better house.  Some snitched on innocent people just because they liked the attention of the NKVD or Gestapo.

Imagine what accusations would fly if the balance on one's EBT card was in proportion to the information received.

Sheriff Bradshaw must be unaware of the consequences of his suggestions.  First, what is the crime for 'hating government?'  Will there be a database in Palm Beach County where those finding fault with bureaucrats are listed?  In his county there are a lot of folks that may fit that category on April 15th of each year.

Second, Sheriff Bradshaw hasn't explained how the knock on the door will proceed.  Will it be like the knocks in Boston?

Or in Arizona?

But most disturbing is what happens after the knock.  We are inclined to answer our door in a less than respectful manner if kevlar-clad thugs are standing on our doorstep asking over their red-dot sights, "Hey, is everything ok?  We understand you're not happy with the government."  History tells us the guns at the front door suggest only certain answers are allowed.

Sheriff Bradshaw should crack a book.  Most of the books in our Library at the left can be read at a 4th grade level, which is the minimum standard set at our government schools.  He owes it to the people of Palm Beach County.  He owes it to the officers who serve in his department.  He owes it to the 100,000,000 who died from these suggestions.