A lesson from 220 years and 9 days ago needs to be relearned in this country… and that lesson can be found in a salient letter narrated by George Washington.
President Washington had been in office for all of two years before one of the first major tests of the new republic arose.
The nascent country was in deep debt due to the Revolutionary War, and one of the ways Congress chose to fulfill its obligations was to put a tax on all distilled liquors in 1791.
Needless to say, farmers that used excess grain to make liquor were none too happy. Protesters in Western Pennsylvania violently interfered with tax collectors.
The Whiskey Rebellion, as it came to be known, reached a peak in July, 1794, as a mob laid siege to the home of a tax inspector after a U.S. Marshal showed up to serve writs to distillers that hadn’t paid their taxes.
On August 10, 1794, President Washington wrote a personal letter to Charles M. Thurston, penning a famous quote that is often cited. However, it is rarely cited beyond a single sentence.
Here is an expanded version, in which I highlight the single sentence we normally see:
But, if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority, a small one too, is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put, at one stroke, to republican government; and nothing but anarchy and confusion are to be expected here-after…
How far such people may extend their influence, and what may be the consequences thereof, is not easy to decide ; but this we know, that it is not difficult by concealment of some facts and the exaggeration of others, where there is an influence, to bias a well-meaning mind, although we allow truth will ultimately prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light.
Controlling the Narrative
Looking at the deplorable situation in Ferguson, Missouri, it is blatantly obvious why the militarization of our nation’s police forces is being questioned.
Yet, underlying this direly needed public review of the transformation of police into paramilitary units – better suited to suppression than protection and service – is another critical issue in our republic.
Americans should be taking a long and skeptical look at official hegemony over the narrative of this and similar events.
Through, as President Washington penned it, “concealment of some facts and the exaggeration of others,” the police are trying to use their authority and influence to bias well-meaning minds.
Information regarding the officer involved in the August 9 shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson was withheld, along with autopsy reports and the nature of the stop that led to Michael Brown’s death.
Protesters and reporters have taken pains, quite literally in some cases, to call them to task. And so the officer’s name was released long after the information was promised, alongside the inclusion of a potential unarmed petty robbery of cigars by Michael Brown that did not factor into the confrontation that led to his death and the community’s unrest.
When concealment of pertinent information could not be maintained, something unrelated was used to continue sculpting bias.
The initial autopsy information released only stated Michael Brown died as a result of gunshots. Now a preliminary private autopsy has revealed two shots were fired at his head. One entered the top of his skull, implying he was bent over and quite obviously subdued after being struck by several other bullets.
The list of attempts to control the narrative through concealment of facts and suppression keeps going:
- Two reporters were arrested at a McDonald’s that police cleared out on Wednesday, three more reporters were detained Sunday night, and a Getty Images photographer was arrested last night.
- Other reporters were threatened with mace and a producer was shot with a bean bag round. A TV crew was targeted with tear gas and their gear disassembled.
- On a livestream news program (which was watched by 45,000 viewers) an officer screamed, “Get the f— out of here. You get that light off, or you’re getting shot with this,” while pointing his gun at a reporter. The officer, caught on tape assaulting a citizen with a deadly weapon, was not identified by other police officers when they were asked for his name.
- As Chris Hayes of MSNBC tweeted, reporters moving 100 feet from the corralled press area were “lit up by a spotlight and a squad of police on hair trigger.”
- The march on a police staging area, described by Governor Jay Nixon as, “a coordinated attempt to block roads and overrun the Unified Command Center” and lumped in with violent acts was led by three local ministers, who directly contradict the police account Governor Nixon was undoubtedly fed by the police.
The preferred solution it seems, isn’t to alter indefensible behavior in the face of national outrage. It is to hide the behavior from the nation, and it isn’t working.
Truth Will Ultimately Prevail
What we face today is very different than the issues of the Whiskey Rebellion our nation, just emerging from the failed Articles of Confederation, had to address.
Yet the differences do not diminish the importance of President Washington’s prescient guidance.
Two lessons should be learned by the police in Ferguson, police departments in general, and any official or politician, from his guidance:
1. “…if the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority, a small one too, is to dictate to the majority … nothing but anarchy and confusion are to be expected here-after.”
The simple fact of the matter is that the Ferguson police are wrong to put their interests above the interests of the community. They cannot act with impunity, or cover for “one of their own,” following such a suspicious series of actions.
The irony of the, “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear,” argument, often used by ardent supporters of expanded police authority and force, shouldn’t be lost on anyone.
The police are enraging citizens and exacerbating protests, which in turn fuels escalating violence. Now actual military units from the National Guard are being deployed in place of quasi-military local police units.
Yesterday afternoon, President Obama held a press conference that discussed the Ferguson fiasco, in which he stated, “Ours is a nation of laws; of citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them.”
This statement is unequivocally wrong because President Obama implied a false dichotomy.
All citizens, including police officers, live under the law, period. The ability to enforce those laws is solely bestowed upon vigilant, trusted, and noble volunteers by those who live under them.
Nevertheless, it is a binding social contract that cannot exist or persist with any exceptions. It is an additional burden of responsibility that cannot be ignored.
2. “…truth will ultimately prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light.”
The Ferguson fiasco is a stark reminder of the ugly realities of racial bias, police militarization, and the ongoing collapse of public trust in those that supposedly protect and serve.
More and more people are waking up every day to the ugly realities being perpetuated, and worsened, in our nation every time “the authorities” try to sculpt public opinion in their favor.
Any attempt to control the narrative and bias well-meaning minds through exaggeration or concealment of facts will ultimately fail.
There will come a tipping point where enough well-minded — and like-minded — people will shrug off the lies they are being fed and the obfuscation of truth.
Keep an open and skeptical mind, don’t be distracted by attempts to create bias, and strive to shed light on any truth anyone tries to conceal from us for their own benefit.
Our republic is further imperiled every time anyone, especially those in positions of power, try to put themselves above us and our laws. Only by taking pains to bring truth to light can we collectively counteract their efforts.
