Sunday Letters: Police are pawns in game of politics

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Don’t compare the Laquan McDonald incident to the many where officers are attacked and defend themselves.

Police officers are getting punished for doing their jobs. They get punished for telling the truth. They get punished for using force against people who resist arrest and attack them. They get punished for reacting to people getting in their faces and threatening them and their families.

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Police officers are not political. But yet they wind up being the pawns in the game of politics. The decent citizens of Chicago love the police. The thugs and gang bangers hate the police. Politicians take the negative side because it earns them votes.

Chicago police officers are brave men and women who are not afraid to do real police work: They are afraid of being caught up in the political game and getting fired, sued, and losing their pensions for the gain of some politician.

Police officers are protecting themselves first. People believe part of an officer’s job is to get injured or killed in the line of duty. No it isn’t. Their job is to go home at night in one piece to their families, like all other citizens of Chicago.

Quit blaming the police for the failures of society. It’s not the police who decide to have children without family support. No police officer forces a young fatherless child into slinging drugs for a living. Police don’t recruit applicants for gangs. Police don’t tell kids education is for suckers and hard work never pays off.

If you want the truth about police officers, ask a street police officer not a person who sits behind a desk with their gun in the bottom drawer. Talk to the men and women who run toward gunfire and into burning buildings. Talk to the officers who struggle every day with the responsibility of upholding the law while maintaining their composure.

Larry Casey, Forest Glen

Disappointing indictment

It’s very disappointing that a grand jury in Texas has indicted anti-abortion activists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress.

The killing of unborn children is condoned by the state while courageous pro-lifers are punished for exposing the immoral activities of the abortion industry in general and Planned Parenthood in particular.

My hope is that Mr. Daleiden will ultimately be vindicated in this modern-day David versus Goliath scenario.

Matt C. Abbott, Rogers Park

Nice balance

Nice balance in Thursday’s Opinion pages. On one page you have an intelligent and insightful piece by Robert Reich about voter’s moods and the search for their reflections in presidential candidates. On the opposite page is a shallow, uninformed piece by Michael Barone, who doesn’t understand how dangerously close the world is to an all-out religious war. That tired old argument that President Barack Obama and others won’t use the words “Islamist terrorism” is an argument aimed at the ignorant and bellicose. The very people Barone claims don’t exist. Inflammatory rhetoric only stirs the pot. Knock it off, Barone.

Tony Galati, Lemont

Wistful thinking

Wistful thinking can be enjoyable — for us adults. Remembering things like black-and-white TV, pay phones, and muscle cars bring an accepting nod and a smile. It unfortunately doesn’t appear that this will be the case for our children and grandchildren. Their version of this exercise will be more like this: Remember Social Security? Collective bargaining? Middle class? I can’t see a nod or a smile in their future.

We could do something really important for them — right now. Put down the fantasy sports info, switch from “the bachelor” to C-Span, and make informed decisions and vote in the upcoming elections to give them a chance at a better future. THAT is how to show your kids you really love them.

Greg Stone, Elgin

Keep the heat on

Your article on football violence today is of the highest caliber, and I commend you. Keep the heat on, maybe football will die a well-deserved death.

Maja Ramirez, Old Town

What values?

I don’t understand all of the Trump supporters who claim to “respect his values.” The man personifies greed. He measures everything with a cash register. Did greed change from a sin to a virtue in this country?

Martin Nicholson, Niles

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