16 October 2020
Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund
Capitol Police
119 D Street, NE
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chief Sund:
I hope this message finds you well. With any luck, the pandemic has stayed away from your family, your team, and other folks you care about. I suppose it would help if more of the folks that you protected took it seriously.
Without the efforts that the Capitol Police put in on a daily basis, Democracy would not be possible. For a true exchange of ideas to happen, all participants in the process must feel safe. I am writing to you today because I am starting to get the feeling that could be changing soon. It would be a shame if that happened.
We got here via a path we should have all seen coming. We picked a minority President. When there was a chance to fix it, we failed. We then let a minority of the people pick the folks who decide what a law is and what it is not. Most of them belong to an Evangelical Cult that holds up the Bible but then refuses to follow it.
Before I even get into what might be coming over the new few months, I have a question?? How’s your budget?? How are you doing for money?? I am getting the feeling that you do not have close to enough. If you go down to Congress today and ask for more cash, every American should support you.
There is an old saying in politics that for every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you claim to be above the law, you immediately put your supporters beyond its help. The day President Trump said, “I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and my supporters would still love me” the world should have realized the inverse were true. We are now at a point where any Trump supporter can be left bleeding on the street in any American city and no jury is going to care. Your Officers operate in a city where both the streets and the juries are Blue in terms of political alignment and any other color but blue in terms of police support. This is a problem.
Many would like to blame the Founders for this after all it was their deal with the slave owning states that created the Electoral College and the Bicameral Legislature. We forget that at the time, Agriculture was America’s business and method of creating tax revenue. It is understandable that the Founders did not want some clown just to hang in a couple of large cities and get elected while leaving the agricultural economic engine out in the cold. Statewide populations also varied less at the time. The Founders did not envision a world where 18% of the population controlled 50% of the Senate. Numerical realities are different today.
The reality of now is simple. A Minority by millions believes in a God who is supposed to deliver on white supremacy and sexism. This package comes with a neat end times story. This is what is truly mean when any Republican talks about us being a “Republic”. I suppose saying they believe in “white minority rule” might upset some.
Those of us in the majority have two choices. We plan play by these rules slanted against us or we can get creative. I am happy to report today that in a few cases, we are about to get creative. As I type this, a business executive in New Jersey is making a decision about a family member of one of the Officers who shot Breonna Taylor. The family member will be notified that they were fired, off the record of course, because of the shooting. Most states have “fire at will” provision so if you want to fire someone and be obnoxious about it, especially if they have a family member who is a cop that shoots someone, I suppose you could.
Here in Rhode Island, tomorrow a financial background investigation is going to begin concerning the family of a Police Chief. His Department has begun selling offensive and racist Challenge Coins. They have been asked to stop. If they do not stop, the free market will be employed.
Why does this work?? Post 9/11, businesses are no longer judged based on total revenue but instead on profitability. Keeping costs down is almost more important than driving sales. It just so happens that while red states are great for the costs down part, they can’t create enough sales to make the other side of the equation work. Therefore, these businesses need access to blue state marketplaces to put up necessary revenue. Cut off access to that marketplace via Planning, Zoning, Codes, or other means and you can get anyone to do anything including fire employers because they’re related to cops who have shot people or done something racist.
You know how Senator Mitch McConnell is all proud about how he blocked Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court?? What if I told you there was a plan in place to make a number of members retire right after the Election?? The free market can be used against their families. We can also make their living experience in the DC area just miserable. Imagine for a moment that the Kavanaugh’s can no longer enjoy family activities without fear of being “spoken to”?? Mitch wanted a wild west environment and now he shall have one. He opened the door. Even if these activities were illegal, thanks to Donald Trump, no jury would care.
Let’s play out the scenario today. The Senate confirms Justice Barrett. An abortion or health care case comes before the court. She votes against the will of the people. They decide, since no jury is going to do anything, to retaliate. Do you have the resources for that interaction??
Based on what happened last night, it may not even take that long. A Republican Congressperson from Arizona took a shot on Twitter at Hunter Biden’s crack addiction. People from across the country are outraged. Some are headed to DC as I type this. If they go looking for him or his staff, do you have the resources to handle just that??
I am fully aware that free advice is worth what you pay for it but if I were on your team, I would be suggesting that the Senate, due to the mood already present, slow down a tad. Then again, maybe you are working with a team of supermen and superwomen who can handle any crisis. For the sake of the nation, I hope that’s true.
Can you imagine a world where the only GOP folks in Office were local or judges already appointed?? You can certainly imagine a day, again thanks to Trump’s 5th Avenue comments, where DC is just too hostile to the average Republican. Again, it’s not like they didn’t motivate us. Mitch McConnell released that famous photo of himself surrounded by graveyard like headstones representing things he had defeated including Merrick Garland. How many homes in blue cities this year do you think will feature a Mitch McConnell headstone for Halloween??
It would indeed be a shame if we allowed a compromised person forced to launder cash for survival, as Donald Trump has done for 3 decades, to name the judge who causes the entire system to collapse on itself. I am no Bernie Sanders supporter, he’s one of the reasons Trump was successful along with Mr. Putin, but you can see his crew taking that as a signal to introduce Socialism. Do you really want to make a “Racist Judicial Nominee with a creepy view of Christ who adopts black kids as tokens for Socialism” trade?? On your watch??
Before I forget, since I brought it up, not only am I a Laffer disciple who despises Bernie, I’m also a Catholic. Like 70% of Catholics, I vote pro choice and pro gay marriage. We find the Judge Barrett’s of the world to be incredibly embarrassing. Jesus makes one statement on abortion in Matthew and it is pro-choice. Jesus heals two gay people without asking them to repent. Nicea and Trent were sexist abominations usurped by the white supremacy crowd. The 70% majority finds the Judge Barretts of the world, who stab us in the back by hanging out with Evangelicals, to be reasons for the American Schism. Not only will black folks, Hispanic families, and women allow criminals who injure Trump types to go free, most Catholics will too. Exactly how does the Protestant white minority plan to put juries together to protect themselves??
You might have heard about the Columbus Statue controversies here, there, and everywhere. I am not a hold up signs and yell at buildings type. As I stated, I like using the free market. I also do not like doing things anonymously. When I want to mess with a statue, I make my intentions clear. It is also the case that when my team is going to go do something that we might get arrested for, but we know it has zero chance in front of a jury, I make sure folks sign “Non Civil Action” agreements. Simply stated, if the cops do not use excessive force, you promise not to sue them just because the case gets thrown out. We all knew going in the case would get thrown out or at least adjudicated our way; you do not get to profit off of a well meaning police officer because of that actuality.
Should I make copies of those agreements available online?? For instance, after witnessing Judge Barrett’s testimony, combined with reading tweet where a Senator called Democracy evil, I can see someone wanting to go after Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Not knowing any better, the person arrives in the city and starts hunting down Utah license plates. God forbid instead of finding Mike Lee, they interact with his staff, or worse yet, a tourist. It happens around the Capitol so your Officer makes an arrest as they should. The jury, hating Mike Lee for his behavior, his not wearing a mask, and his statements, lets the person off. Indeed all this would be a shame but it would be worse if they sued your Officer. You might want to talk to your liability insurance people. Would you feel better if they had signed an agreement not to sue??
Lastly, I am posting this on my Blog. Yes, political people read my blog for the most part. However, there are two other groups of people who do. I work with many in the Mental illness and recovery communities because I have 18+ years of recovery even though I am Bipolar 1 and a number of other things. Most people like me commit suicide at age 39 and never see 2 years of continuous sobriety with continual relapses nevermind 18+ years without a relapse.
This means that a lot of kids with parents in recovery read my blog. They can be an angry bunch. When you’re young, it’s hard to understand “Why did dad pick alcohol and crack over me??” They tend to want to act out. Meanwhile, some mentally ill folks are not responsible and do not take their meds or do not do the things they need to do daily to manage 24 hours at a time. They too tend to act out. It would be a shame, but if this Blog “inspires” any of them to do anything unsightly that your team has to clean up, I apologize in advance. Before you complain, think Michigan. Yes, both sides can play but one side controls the cities and has millions more people.
Thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Robert T. Oliveira
315-864-1229
Warwick, RI
Quahogs United 