OFFICIAL DISRESPECT IS THE COLDEST OF ALL
by Cash Michaels
You know, I’m old enough now where personal disrespect doesn’t really bother me that much anymore. People are going to think and say what they want, regardless of the truth. That’s just a fact of life I have to accept. So instead of losing sleep, or valuable cellular brain matter worrying about it, I just go about my business.
I admit, I wasn’t always this way. In my younger, infinitely more handsome days, I very much cared about what folks thought about me, to the point of absurdity. Never changed anything then, and in my opinion, never will change anything now. People will do and think, what people do and think, so my best advice is to go about your life, and don’t sweat the small stuff.
But when it comes to official disrespect - what people in official positions of authority and power think about the people they serve based on the office they serve in, that’s a different story. I VERY much care what public officials think, especially when it comes to the people who pay their salaries.
Many a social justice activist will tell you, if you want to know what a public official thinks or feels about a certain constituency, look at their budget or the votes they cast. The funding or issues that official supports, or doesn't support, tells you immediately what they think of the people they serve.
However, there are those times when said public official inconveniently places considerably oversized foot into yonder moving mouth, or does something so heartless or careless when it comes to displaying a total disregard for the welfare of their fellow citizens, that it's hard to ignore.
And when that happens, it should concern us all.
Recently, the family of motorist Tyrone Mason held a rally on the steps of the Wake County Judicial Center in Raleigh, announcing that they had filed a lawsuit against a state Highway Patrol trooper who chased Mr. Mason down Raleigh’s Capital Blvd. for speeding last October.
At some point, the trooper reportedly broke off the high speed chase, right before Mason fatally crashed his vehicle.
Apparently, either not knowing what to do next, or knowing what to do, but not wanting to, the trooper radioed his supervisor for further instructions, knowing that Raleigh police would soon be on the scene.
According to the trooper’s bodycam recording, the subsequent coverup conversation went something like this:
Supervisor - "I wouldn't mention anything to them about you trying to stop him.”
The trooper - “I won’t.”
Supervisor - "Just say, hey man, I drove up on this and leave it at that.”
Indeed, the trooper initially did not report the accident, nor his part in it, to Raleigh police, first telling them only that he came across the accident during his patrol.
"The fact that we saw with our own eyes officers lie, [and] conspired to cover up their lie, should trouble you all,” attorney for the family, Bakari Sellers, told reporters.
Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, however, saw and heard the situation a touch differently.
She did not criminally charge the trooper or his supervisor with anything because, in her opinion, while the trooper and his supervisor displayed behavior that was “inexcusable,” neither of them broke any laws.
I’ll leave the legal beagle stuff to the courts, but the fact remains, the blatant disregard and disrespect for Tyrone Mason’s welfare in the midst of what was clearly a cataclysmic single-car accident was so glaring, D.A. Freeman barred either trooper from ever patrolling an inch of Wake County terra firma ever again, plus she was forced to dismiss over 180 prior cases they were both involved in because their veracity now could not be trusted.
And for the record, the fact that Tyrone Mason was black seems not to be the issue here, since we have no evidence that the trooper behaved the way he did because of it, though I do have my suspicions.
That could have been any citizen who lost his life in that fatal crash, and instead of moving quickly to at least try to save his life, the trooper was willing to wait until Raleigh police arrived, let them handle the investigation from A to Z, and lie about how it happened just to save himself some administrative grief.
And this officer and his supervisor, eight months since, STILL have their jobs!
Talk about official disrespect, and at the actual cost of a life, no less!
Then there’s Republican Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa.
Considered to be one of the tough-as-nails conservative barbie babes of the GOP, Sen. Ernst recently outdid herself during a town hall gathering while discussing the significant cuts to Medicaid that the Republican-led House passed courtesy of Pres. Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that’s now in the U.S. Senate for ratification.
Apparently some of Ernst’s Iowa constituents were concerned that those proposed cuts to Medicaid by Trump and the House would mean that millions of current Medicaid recipients will no longer receive the proper healthcare they’re entitled to, and without it, they could die.
So what was Joni Ernst’s response to this reasonable concern?
"People are not — well, we all are going to die, so, for heaven’s sakes,” she insensitively muttered from the town hall stage. It’s no wonder somebody didn’t throw an ear of Iowa corn at the woman.
Now people are already convinced that most politicians don’t really give a rats you-know-what about them and their welfare anyway, but when one of those politicians up and proves it right in front of their faces, that's clearly insult on top of injury.
And Ernst later had the gall to mock her critics with a classless non-apology taped in a cemetery, making the disrespect even worse.
People didn’t need Joni Ernst to tell them they're going to die. What they were looking for was some indication that she was on their side in trying to find ways, amidst life's daily challenges, to help them live better as long as possible. After all, that is her job as an elected official, isn’t it? But her cold-blooded answer to a legitimate legislative question told her constituents that politics is more important to Ernst, and apparently the rest of the Republican Party, than their lives.
Voting constituencies…you know…the kind that actually show up at town halls to ask important questions of their elected officials….don’t like being mocked. Especially to their faces.
They consider it …disrespectful.
Finally, we get to our clueless commander-in-corrupt, King TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out).
I could rattle off plenty of disrespectful remarks from this blonde blowhard, especially about people of color, but of course, we’ve already well established his white supremacist credentials in previous columns.
It was Trump's recent personal, senseless, heartless dig against his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden, that caught my attention.
As you know, it's been reported that former Pres. Biden has been diagnosed with stage four metastasized prostate cancer.
That means cancer cells have left the diseased prostate, and spread elsewhere in his body, like to his bones, spine or brain, making the condition incurable.
Biden is in his early-80’s, so getting such a terminal diagnosis is no joke.
I know. I’m 69, and I’ve been treated for stage four metastasized prostate cancer since March 2021. It's by the grace of Almighty GOD I'm able to still function despite the constant pains I have everyday.
There is no cure for this, and we stage four prostate cancer sufferers will live only an average of five or so years from original diagnosis. So imagine what life must be like for us with every day that passes.
Now I fully understand that King Trump has no class, no capacity for human sympathy for anyone, so when a reporter recently asked him in the Oval Office his reaction to word that his presidential predecessor was terminally ill, he naturally, for him, responded in the only way possible.
"If you feel sorry for him, don't feel so sorry, because he's vicious," Trump spewed. "What he did with his political opponent and all of the people that he hurt — he hurt a lot of people, Biden, so I really don't feel sorry for him.”
Now neither I, nor the fly on the wall in front of me, knows what the hell Trump was talking about, but the fact that he would publicly dismiss any compassion for another human being who is suffering from a debilitating, terminal disease, no matter what he thinks the man has done, is beyond tragic.
As the elected leader of our great nation, Trump should display a greater sensitivity for someone else who once occupied the very office he serves in during that person’s most dire tribulation.
But more importantly, this isn't just about Biden.
There are people like me, who are also prostate cancer sufferers, who are greatly offended that the leader of our nation could care less about how heartless, cold-blooded and cheap he sounds, when he wishes ill on another human being despite his terminal illness.
Yes, my stock and trade when I write critical commentaries is to go after public figures like Trump tooth and nail, but only based on their corrupt behaviors, or their penchant for hurting others. Not based on serious diseases they may be suffering from.
If Trump were reported to be dying from some deadly malady, I still wouldn’t like his ignorant behavior, but I would never….and I mean EVER, criticize him for his illness. That’s inhumane and heartless.
So Trump’s coldhearted display against Biden’s cancer sends a message to anyone going through the same thing, that this man can’t even fathom using his high office to give those of us suffering from the same deadly disease some hope. Or at least use his bully pulpit for vital education to all male Americans about prostate cancer, and how to prevent it.
It's called LEADERSHIP, and our current president has neither the cheek, nor the piss and vinegar to measure up when needed.
This should be a teaching moment.
No, instead Trump uses his high office to express hatred for a dying man. That is not a healthy mental or emotional prescription for a president of the United States who is supposed to be serving ALL of us.
So yes, official disrespect is indeed the coldest of all, because it ultimately reveals a deep and vile disregard for the common welfare of the citizens public officials are supposed to serve.
We don't see it as often as we should, but trust me, that official disrespect is there everyday in the hardhearted attitude of many government bureaucrats, on up to their bosses who, unfortunately for us, lead by example.
From law enforcement to the highest elected officials in the land, the consequences of such official disrespect and disregard is immeasurable, which is why we need to do a better job of who we elect to office, or allow to carry a badge in our communities and on our streets.
Our very lives depend on it!
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