Alright then.......
At what point does morally reprehensible change to evil in your opinion?
I'll say that all cops work in an evil profession, but that some of them are under a mistaken belief that what they are doing is good. And, I'd love to see the ones who think they are doing good to realize that they aren't. I don't want them dead. I don't mourn over them, after all, I don't mourn after people I don't know most of the time anyway, so why are cops special? I'm just not ready to look at a guy who thinks he's keeping his community safe (even though he's really making us less safe) and saying "yeah, that guy deserves to die."
I guess I kind of see the guys who feed the illusion that cops are the "good guys" as being in some sense culpable as well. Not in a legal sense, but in a moral sense yes.
These supposedly "good cops" out there who stand by complacently while their brethren wage war on citizens fall into which category?
This is a good question. I may have to ask the police captain I know this question. Off the top of my head, I'm guessing that the most likely cases (again, we're talking about a well-intentioned cop here) is either fear, or lack of knowledge.
Is there a scorecard one could use to determine if jackboot A is a lesser evil than jackboot B ?
Not an exact one, but in reality its not that complicated. Does it take a lot of imagination to say that the scumbags who beat Kelly Thomas to death are more evil than the cop who attends church every sunday, is a loving Christian husband and father, and tries to treat everyone he deals with with respect, yet still makes unjustified arrests and writes unjustified tickets because he thinks its keeping his community safe?
Mind you, I'm not saying I support either one. I'm saying that I'm more inclined to wish harm on the killers of Kelly Thomas, and I'm more inclined to hope that the other guy will eventually realize that what he's doing isn't fruitful and can't be justified.
Me.........I'll continue to collectivize by choice of employment, thanks anyway.
I do to some extent to. When I see a guy I don't know in a blue uniform, I feel fear because I know he could probably kill me and get away with it. I'm not under the illusion that all of them would actually want to kill me though. I'm not under the impression that every cop is flashbanging children. And I think that cops who do do those types of things are a heck of a lot worse than those who don't, even if those who don't are not exercising due dilligence in keeping their comrades accountable.
I'm making a bad vs worse comparison, not a good vs bad comparison. I don't think anyone here would say that being a thief (i'm talking about a non-governmental thief here) is a good thing. But we'd still make a distinction between a thief and somebody who rapes and murders children. We'd very likely wish death or serious harm on the second guy (maybe that's wrong but I think we all do) but not the first guy. That's the type of distinction I'm making here. Not every cop is a complete and total psychopath who actively wants to ruin your life. That doesn't mean the ones who aren't are "good."
I'm not asking you to make a scorecard. I haven't either. Its not clearly defined. But that's the type of scale I'm working with. I am not saying that any cops are good or that any of them can justify what they do.