There are a significant amount of people that completely and unequivocally buy into the “law and order” mindset, but don’t seem to realize that the biggest criminals in the world, are not people like Al Capone, Ted Bundy, or Charles Manson, but are almost exclusively powerful head of states as exemplified by Stalin, Mao ZeDong, and Hitler; as this represents the difference between someone that alone or with a few others commits a few dastardly and notorious crimes as compared to that who through the power of their position and with the compliance and aid of thousands upon thousands that are their faithful followers, kill hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.
The above serves to help make the point, that those that put on the uniform, as in an officer of the law, or of the military, have an innate responsibility that always and will forever supersede the human or governmental authority that they answer to; which is that they are above all, responsible to a higher natural law, which states that it is always wrong to commit crimes against humanity, no matter what the orders and directives so of, stipulate. That is to say, all those that claim that they hate Hitler or Stalin, or people of that ilk, must obviously understand that Hitler and Stalin could not have wreak the terrible inhumane havoc that they so did, without the complicity of thousands upon thousands of soldiers and underlings that performed for them, the dirty work, so successfully done.
This then clearly indicates that the real criminals, the ones that we should always fear the most, are not the “lone wolf” type; but rather those that put on that uniform and comply with orders so given, without bothering to think through the consequences of their subsequent actions, so taken. After all, our law officers, are supposed to protect and defend us, not persecute and batter us. So too, our military is meant to defend our nation, not so meant to make violence upon others, civilian or otherwise, without some sort of reasonable and humane “rule of engagement” so enacted and adhered to.
This country, as in many other countries, is almost always very reluctant to prosecute officers of the law, or military soldiers, no matter how bad acting that they have been; probably under the belief that such prosecution will serve to undercut and to undermine the loyalty and the obedience of these uniformed officers and soldiers. The problem with that mindset, however, becomes the problem of all those that know that whatever that they do, good or bad, right or wrong, will not ever be subject to prosecution; so that the consequence to this is that they will therefore not be held accountable for any of their actions, so performed; inevitably devolves into a situation in which thereby, everything is permitted under the color of law. No wonder then, that so much state sanctioned violence is therefore initiated and faithfully implemented, for those so performing those deeds, typically fear no personal ill consequences, except, perhaps, for a guilty conscience, which often is drowned out through drugs or drink.
When our officers of the law, and military soldiers are basically provided with blanket immunity, no matter what they so do, not too surprisingly, they will do some really terrible things; and the more that they do which is morally and legally wrong, without the personal suffering of fair consequences, so of, the less will be the legitimacy of that state of governance.