Hi John,
I think you probably know that I agree with you 150%, in fact I don't see the caning as being too harsh, but then again, I'm not sure that the Patriot act goes quite far enough either.
You mentioned one of my heroes, Joe Arpaio, who along with Buford Pusser, should the #1 Role Models for all Law Enforcement throughout the world. For too short a time, we were Blessed to have a Sheriff here in Davidson County, NC, who took Buford Pusser and Joe Arpaio as role models. Gerald Hege was elected sheriff in 1994. One of his better known campaign slogans was "When I am elected Sheriff, I will wear a uniform every day and there will be no deals for anybody." After his election, all Davidson County sheriff's cars were fitted with a front license plate proclaiming "NO DEALS" in large block letters. His personal patrol vehicle was a 1995 Chevrolet Impala with a Chevrolet Corvette engine and nitrous oxide tanks. Let's just say, not too many ever successfully outran him.
As I said, taking Buford Pusser and Joe Arpaio as his role models, Sheriff Hege ordered all deputies to dress in paramilitary fatigues and combat boots; Hege dressed in this way himself, despite the tradition of business attire for Davidson County sheriffs. Hege reinstuted the use of chain gang prisoner labor. He also removed the television sets and all books, except for the Bible, from the county jail. The jail was repainted in pink with weeping blue teddy bears. Prisoners also wore color coordinated jumpsuits to identify their offense: Blue for misdemeanors, green for sex offenders, and orange for felons. The jumpsuits were striped in the old fashioned manner as opposed to the modern solid color. Hege carried a Heckler & Koch MP5 instead of a service revolver.
Unfortunately, as is often the case, the "Politcally Correct", Spineless, Left-Wing, Bleeding Heart Liberals of the Opposition Party trumped up enough charges to force him out of office in 2003. However, the good he accomplished in that brief 9 years, still warms the hearts of those of us who love this Country and are sick and tired of the Eunuchs (look it up) in power trying to destroy it.
On a more personal note, back in 1994-1995, Sheriff Hege was at the Fall Festival for the local Elementary School and was selling autographed D.A.R.E. T-shirts to raise funds for the D.A.R.E. Program. Each of my Nephews, who were 8 & 11 years old at the time, had to have two of the shirts, one to wear and one to keep. They are now 22 and 25 years old and those framed T-Shirts are still on their walls. That's the kind of respect that young people should have for Law Enforcement.
Thanks John, for bringing this vital topic up for discussion here at your Forum.
Have A Blessed Weekend,
Phil
