Chelsea, I read the story you posted about your friend and the alleged police misconduct. Let me share a couple of my stories for balance. I remember a complaint that was made charging the police in an alleged beating. Lawyers pursuing a suit eagerly showed pictures that were taken of nasty bruises all over the alleged minority victim. It looked bad for the police until investigators interviewed one of the children who blurted out that mommy put shoe polish on daddy and took pictures. Case dismissed. While I am not saying there was fraud committed in your case, I certainly would like to hear the other side before rushing to judgement.

Three other cases immediately come to mind involving policemen I knew. I will be brief. One was beaten to death with a shopping cart while trying to control an angry black mob. Another was working traffic at a church bingo a week before his well earned retirement. He was approached by two black youths in a the parking lot. One was the son of a local preacher. They walked up behind him and shot him to death. The third was young patrolman who thought he was responding to a call for help in an ethnic neighborhood. When he arrived a sniper shot him dead as he stepped out of his cruiser. I don't believe he was twenty-five.

There is anger on both sides of the equation. In my opinion, Obama's background suggests he is militant and he certainly does not deny his relationship with a man who uses his ministry to preach hatred of whites and America. I am not optimistic about Obama being a healer.

My point is that we all have stories but some of us just listen to and pass on the ones that satisfy our predisposition regardless of what side of the race issue the opinion holder is on. The anti-cop venom is spewed with equal disdain from both sides of the race equation. He is frequently caught in the crossfire.

Redwitch, it would really be cool if all the bad guys wore signs identifying them as such. However, that is not the case and when a police officer makes a routine stop (there is no such thing as a routine stop for him/her) he has no way of knowing what he is going to confront. Frequently he does not know the age, sex, race or number of occupants until he approaches the driver's window. Cut him some slack, he would like to go home to his family at the end of his shift.

Time magazine last September reported that 54 officers were shot and killed in the line of duty up until the published edition hit the street. They expected it to go over a hundred for the year. They also noted a large number of Florida police officers made that tragic list.