EDITORIAL for June 16, 2005
Honor thy officer
Economic security and personal security. They’re two of the most basic human needs.
Police officers have no jurisdiction over your financial status, but if you ever needed any evidence that they make all the difference in the world when it comes to keeping you safe, go back to the front page of this paper and reread both stories — on the ceremony honoring slain policeman Robert Hayes, and the interview with Officer Hayes’ partner, John Marynowitz. If you don’t have a bittersweet feeling after reading both articles, you are lacking a heart and soul.
Do not consider cops to be a nuisance. They’re here to protect you. They are our first line of defense in the battle of good vs. evil. Look at all of the stuff that our men and women in blue face each and every day: The scum of the earth that prey on the decent. The filthy, disgusting non-humans, like cop killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Borgela Philistin, and other worthless souls, like robbers, burglars, rapists, sexual predators, drug dealers.
Every day, Robert Hayes’ colleagues on the police force are out there, putting their lives on the line for all of us.
So, the next time you see a cop on the street, go ahead. Make his day. Tell him you appreciate him. Tell him you are grateful for all that he does. Tell him he gets too many kicks in the butt, too few pats on the back.
And while you’re at it, bestow a heaping helping of praise upon attorney Jimmy Binns, Local 592 of the cement workers union and the other folks who are pushing to get plaques to memorialize all of the Philadelphia police officers who have been killed on duty and the two who perished in the Vietnam War.