Liberty Drip

Ravi Kopparapu and Jacob Haqq-Misra's thought provoking opinion piece in the Washington Post May 26, “We’re asking the wrong questions about UFOs,” suggested a redirection of the recently piqued public interest in answering the question of what unidentified aerial phenomena are, to how we can figure out what they are.  I concur that the latter question is more immediately important than the former; however, two more peels of this onion are necessary. The questions which must come before all others are whether we can figure out what they are and so what if we do? The reason these questions are so important is that the authors and a number of other leading thinkers are advocating the dedication of public resources to the matter of answering the how question. Were they merely putting their own time and energy to the question, I would gladly cheer them on.  Bravo!  After all, who doesn't root for the underdog?  But betting money on the underdog is a different matter, especially whe

Dear Fellow LEO:   In Washington there's an old saying: You're either at the table or you're on the menu. Well, if you're like me, you're tired of bites being taken out of your behind by a misled public and by cowardly public officials. This is why I have been gratified to read of the participation of so many police unions in various reform discussions. I believe we serve our own interests, as well as those of our communities, when we adopt a pro-reform agenda in a fashion consistent with police best practices and community safety.    Let's be clear-eyed about what's at stake. While some of us might think that politicians who chant “defund the police” couldn't possibly mean it, I assure you that a certain percentage of them are as serious as an armed robbery. When indoors and away from crowds, what they will tell you is that the chant refers to replacing patrol officers with other forms of civil servants.    The problem posed by this idea is not that it