Okay, so there’s this big dog. A good dog, but it’s really big. Its size makes it look much meaner than it is.
All day long it patrols its yard, ready to bark if and when its challenged by an intruder; someone it doesn’t recognize or senses to be a threat.
Remember, the dog is good. It has never attacked anyone, but simply guards its territory and alerts the owner of a possible problem.
It’s good and it’s big. But it stays with its fenced yard, doing what it has been trained and disciplined to do.
Enter several scores of protesters.
These protesters have heard about the danger of big dogs; big guard dogs. They read a story about some rogue dogs in another area going wild and killing an innocent person.
So, since a big guard dog did something it wasn’t trained to do, since it didn’t show any concern for its victim, the protesters decided to show everyone that all big guard dogs are vicious and must be punished.
The protesters approached the fence. Of course, by now the big guard dog is barking and growling, standing on its side of the fence. Still a good dog, but alert to possible danger.
So far so good. Up to this point both sides of the fence appear to be peaceful.
This could be a picture of what took place at the Iowa State Capitol Building last night. I watched a live stream from the Capitol for awhile, grieved by what I was seeing.
If it was just people on one side of the fence trying to make their point about how “Black Lives Matter” I’d be completely fine with that.
But while the big guard dog (the Iowa State Police) was standing on its side of the fence, doing what it was trained to do (protect and serve) and well within its parameters, the protesters began throwing objects at the big guard dog; taunting, provoking, and just daring the big guard dog to break its training, discipline and purpose, and respond like any ordinary animal.
If the big guard dog would have busted out and began attacking the protesters, it would have been much worse than it was. As it was, I believe the only retaliation the big guard dog used was tear gas to disperse the protesters and ease the pent up emotions on both sides of the fence.
And although the protesters were warned at least three times to disperse, each time the warning was ignored.
Instead, they kept up their provocation; just daring the big guard dog to bare its teeth and attack them.
My many thanks to the big guard dog that kept its cool, stayed its ground, its discipline, and its mission.
I pray the protesters realize they were flirting with a fight they would never win to prove a point that really didn’t need to be made.
Protesting police brutality by protesting all police is much like the protesters provoking the big guard dog.
The big guard dog is good and it’s needed. And, in my book, it’s appreciated.
Jan Grace 