Bloomberg: Fraternal Order of Police is a fringe organization
A while back, I got a phone call. It went something like this:
Me: Hello
Person calling: This is blah blah from the Fraternal Order of Police. You have been a regular contributor for a number of years and we were hoping you’d continue that this year.
Me: I would. But it seems your organization supports renewal of the assault weapons ban.
Person calling: Sir?
Me: Yeah, your brass has decided to support gun control and I don’t appreciate that, particularly when the bill in question is so stupid and has not been shown to have any impact on crime of any kind. And the rank and file officers don’t support it.
Person calling: I don’t understand what you’re getting at.
Me: Well, I am not and will not ever again donate to your organization unless it retracts its position and apologizes.
Person calling: But your contribution . . .
Me: Sorry, not happening. Good bye.
And I have not given one dime to them since, which annoys my dad who was a cop for years. Anyway, given that position on guns, I find Bloomberg’s comments about the Fraternal Order of Police odd:
At one point during the session, Bloomberg took a swipe at the Fraternal Order of Police, which claims 308,000 members and supports a federal measure the mayor says would make it almost impossible to trace illegal weapons.
“It is one fringe organization,” charged Bloomberg.
“I would say resident within the Fraternal Order of Police is far more expertise with the administration of justice than Mayor Bloomberg’s limited experience in that area,” shot back James Pasco, the group’s executive director.
The FOP asked Bloomberg to knock off his illegal sting operation because it was interfering with legitimate law enforcement investigations. For that, they are a fringe group. Of course, for Bloomy, anyone who isn’t rabidly anti-gun must be fringe. PGP says:
Snippets like this should be the exclamation point on what I’ve been saying for a while–media bias in general is a tired, overwrought topic, but the bias against guns is plainly visible. If it were any other topic, a politician would be drawn, quartered, and excoriated instantly for suggesting that an organization representing the men and women who risk their lives daily in the law enforcement field is a “fringe group.”
Ayup.
Update: The FOP responds.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Maybe Bloombat will next argue that the Brady Center is a fringe pro-gun group because they won’t come out and admit they want to ban all guns.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Bloombat. That is a great description.
May 18th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I hope all this comes out hot & heavy when Bloombat (yes, it’s a good one) starts running for President.
May 18th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Bitch. Slap. Some assembly required.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
[…] greatest compliment ever. But then, he called the largest police organization in the United States fringe. You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they […]