Philosophically unfuckingacceptable
chuck it
Lt. Heston of the Oakland Police Department was a thoughtful man and no extremist, a man to whom philosophy mattered. He believed, as per the Department training manual, “it is the immortal nature of the human soul that is the source of the dignity of each individual person.” (Introduction to Law Enforcement, 1962, p. 14). Lt. Heston based his approach to law on “the assumption of personal moral responsibility which is concomitant with individual freedom” (ibid, p.13).
The four sheets of xeroxed checks from Castle Bank & Trust in the Bahamas made out to James O’Shea, a criminal well-known to Heston, and a copied letter from one CIA officer to another implying that O’Shea was in the Agency’s hire, violated Heston's philosophy.
The envelope on his desk had been sent by the CIA, Heston reasoned, to persuade him to drop charges against O’Shea. They don’t have the guts to ask me to my face. They piss a hint from on high as if America were a totalitarian country in which “authority and power are separate from and above the people, residing absolutely in the State” (ibid, p.16) suggesting that since O’Shea is a deputy of the State and stands above the law, I should tell the DA’s office to forget his criminal deeds.
Philosophically unfuckingacceptable. O’Shea chose to assault one of Heston’s men, ‘Goggles’ Garrity, in broad daylight in full view of the ranks. This unforced act, made “with a personal responsibility due to his freedom of choice,” would be “judged not only in relation to the world in which he lives, but also in terms of his final destiny — union with his Creator—Beatitude” (ibid, p17). We don’t say, “Oh, prep-school government agency, please send your agents into our town to beat up our officers and then claim they’re acting in the interests of the State.” Not here, not Oakland, California.
Lt. Heston dropped the envelope and its contents into his wastebasket with the pride of a man who though shaken, was unstirred.
Later on his way to lunch, he fished it out, chucked it in a dumpster near City Hall. You can’t trust anyone.