I'm sure the headline has been used elsewhere on the net in regards to this story, but I just find it irrisistible. Robert Henderson, a state patrolman out of Omaha, is a member of the KKK. (Technically, the "knights party") You can read all about it at journalstar.com or virtually any other source of Nebraska news.
Henderson was fired in the spring when his after-hours activities were revealed. Unfortunatly, he got a lawyer and went to court to keep his job. A New York arbiter decided that firing him for his klan ties violated his freedom of association rights, and he's back on the job.
Needless to say, this has not gone over well with elected officials. Attorney General Bruning (fairly honest and decent by Republican standards) is appealing the decision. It goes without saying that this would be bad for the image of any state, especially an overwhelmingly white and rural state with an authoritarian streak. State officials must at least try to get this bastard kicked off of the force, the people of Nebraska will not suffer embarssment.
On the other hand, Henderson's freedom of association claims should not be taken lightly. I'm sure there's four or five cops somewhere in the world who are members of the Socialist Workers Party, and most small-town Sheriffs would never allow such types on their force if they weren't forced to. And of course being a member of the KKK should not get one fired from the local Gas n Go.
But being a member of a government force is different from working in civil society. Military men and women have restrictions on their freedom of speech, association, and movement that the rest of us would never tolerate. The nature of the job, requiring strict obediance and coordination, simply doesn't allow it.
Police work requires objectivity. Not the unattainable journalistic dream, but real objectivity. A cop must examine evidence without making any assumptions on where it will lead. A cop must listen to conflicting stories without thinking that the one who was "one of them" is the one who is lying. Racism is a belief in automatic, unchangeable, inferiority and superiority. This makes it more unAmerican than Facism, Communism, soccer, or any other crack pot doctrine. Allowing police to have this much freedom of association threatens freedom for the rest of us.
On a lighter note, Henderson was driven to the KKK after his wife ran off with a Hispanic man in 2003. Isn't thisjust what any mature adult would do? I can only guess that he must be trying to win the gold in the pathetic olympics.
Hago que su esposa gime como una reina del prom.
Contrary to what some might expece, Senator Chambers has not reacted to the news with massive hyperventilations.
"To have an individual who has associated himself with an organization having a history of lynching, bombings, burnings, racial violence, hatred-not only against black people but Jews and other groups they detest and think have no right to be on the face of the earth-is totally unacceptable.
Sounds damned reasonable to me, Chambers doesn't even seem to be that surprised.
My middle school once hosted a state trooper who spoke with clear longing of a time when applicants could be turned down for being gay. Some years later I saw him berating Tim Butz, the old director of the state ACLU for showing a film on the Patriot Act and "stiring up trouble in a small town"
I don't find this news very surprising myself.
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