If you protest police brutality and you don’t protest police deaths, then you’re a hypocrite.

That’s what conservatives have been saying ever since two New York City cops were murdered Saturday in an apparent revenge attack for the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Probably the best example of this kind of thinking comes from Mike Barnicle, who writes in the Daily Beast today that,

“Unlike other professions—doctor, lawyer, teacher, journalist, sales clerk, stock broker—when a cop makes a bad mistake it could mean someone is dead…Now, two of them are dead…. who will hit the streets to galvanize support and express rage over the execution of two young men killed because of who they were and what they did for work?”

Mike is really missing the point. No one disagrees about whether or not it’s wrong to murder cops. Murdering cops is obviously wrong. But just because something is “wrong” doesn’t mean it’s worthy of protest.

Let me explain. As Mike Barnicle himself pointed out in his piece for the Daily Beast, it’s dangerous to be a police officer. And as awful as it is to say, this means that on-the-job deaths are part of the equation when it comes to working in law enforcement. We should do everything we can to avoid them, but ultimately, they’re probably going to happen, especially in a country like ours that has such lax gun laws.

The murder of unarmed civilians like Michael Brown and Eric Garner, on the other hand, is not just “part of the equation.” Police officers are supposed to protect people, not kill them. This is why people are so upset about the Garner and Brown cases. They’re angry because those cases show why the system is broken

Read more here.

-Thom

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Will the case against Darren Wilson be reopened? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Be sure to check out our new videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

Need to Know: Will the case against Darren Wilson be reopened?
- America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio

Screwed: Why the EPA should get coal ash in their stocking
- Tyson Slocum, Public Citizen's Energy Program

PLUS, U.S. to sue NY over conditions at Rikers
- Cecily McMillan, Occupy Activist / Justice for Cecily

Everything You Know Is Wrong: The REAL origins of Santa & the elves
- Dr. Stephen Larsen, Stone Mountain Center / Center for Symbolic Studies.

Monday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Thom talks issues of the day with America's Lawyer
- Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio

Article: "4 Things that Should Happen Now That We Know the Truth about Witness #40, a White Supremacist" by Shaun King.

Article: "Ferguson Prosecutor: I Knew Witnesses Lied To The Grand Jury" by Brendan James.

Article: "A Startling Admission By The Ferguson Prosecutor Could Restart The Case Against Darren Wilson" by Judd Legum.

Article: "Fulgencio Batista" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Bay of Pigs Invasion" by Wikipedia.

Article: "ACLU and Human Rights Watch Call for Criminal Investigation of Torture Program" by ACLU.

Article: "Prosecute Torturers and Their Bosses" by NY Times.

Article: "Why won't McCulloch charge Witness #40 with perjury? Time for a special prosecutor, new grand jury" by Shaun King.

Article: "Rudy Giuliani: 2 NYC Cops Were Killed Because Obama Told Everyone To ‘Hate The Police’" by Igor Volsky.

Article: "Police Union President Blames Protesters For Murder Of Two New York City Police Officers" by Judd Legum.

Article: "Alleged Cop Killer Ismaaiyl Brinsley Had a Death Wish" by M.L. Nestel.

Article: "The NY Police Union’s Vile War with Mayor De Blasio" by Michael Tomasky.

Tweet: "Muslim shooter = entire religion guilty. Black shooter = entire race guilty. White shooter = mentally troubled lone wolf" by Sally Kohn.

Article: "2014 Las Vegas shootings" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Holiday Heart Attacks: Here's Why You Should Steer Clear Of Stress" by Kathleen Lees.

Article: "Christmas truce" by Wikipedia.

Article: "'Fox & Friends' Falsely Edits Sharpton's Anti-violence Speech With Clips Of 'Dead Cops' Chant" by David.

Article: "Giffords shooting: the sheriff who turned the focus on rightwing rhetoric" by Jon Henley, 10 January 2011.

Article: "GOP senators slam Obama's Cuba moves" by Alexander Bolton.

Article: "Conquest Is for Losers" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado over marijuana legalization" by John Ingold.

Article: "Shot Congresswoman Was In Sarah Palin's 'Crosshairs'" by Adrian Chen, 1/08/11.

Site: Media Matters for America

Article: "The man who did the most to fight CIA torture is still in prison " by Russell Brandom.

Article: "Documents Released in the Ferguson Case".

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones

Article: "NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton: Mayor De Blasio Has Lost Trust Of 'Some' Officers (VIDEO)" by Sebastian Murdock.

Article: "Dem: Cops should focus on gun control" by Ben Kamisar.

Article: "Pope Francis, At Christmas Gathering, Blasts Vatican's Bureaucrats" by Krishnadev Calamur.

Article: "Appeals Court Strikes Down N.C. Abortion Ultrasound Mandate" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "Obama Plans More Gitmo Transfers in Coming Weeks" by Carol E. Lee and Jess Bravin.

Article: "President Obama Declares NDAA Guantanamo Restrictions Unconstitutional" by Sam Sacks.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 12/22" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Where DO those flying reindeer come from?
- Dr. Stephen Larsen, Stone Mountain Center.

Article: "Amanita muscaria" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Kalevala" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Sampo" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Healing Power of Neurofeedback by Stephen Larsen.

Article: "Mayor de Blasio speaks on 'strengthening the bond between police and the community' after NYPD deaths" by Celeste Katz.

Article: "More suicides under Conservative rule", 18 September, 2002.

Article: "Peter King blames asthma and obesity for Eric Garner’s death. That’s a problem for the GOP" by Nia-Malika Henderson.

Book: The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Outrage as Indiana police officer sells 'Breathe easy: Don't break the law' shirts" by Darren Boyle.

Book: "The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger" by Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett.

Article: "Why Inequality Matters" by My Fair London in association with The Equality Trust.

Articles: "John Kiriakou".

Article: "The 6-Step Process to Dispose of the Poor Half of America" by Paul Buchheit.

Article: "Bosses Can’t Stop Workers From Using Company Email To Unionize" by Lauren C. Williams.

Article: "America’s wealth gap between middle-income and upper-income families is widest on record" by Richard Fry and Rakesh Kochhar.

Article: "Success Stories from San Francisco Prove That Retailers Profit More When They Treat Their Workers Fairly" by David Morris.

Article: "Break Up Big Banks, Sanders Says as Senate Debates Bill to Gut Wall Street Reform" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tuesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

Phyllis Schlafly will be here to tell us why Jeb Bush must be defeated.

Plus, Maya Schenwar will explain Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better...

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.

Click here to subscribe to the Thom Hartmann Newsletter.

Sincerely,

Please support the Hunter School, a unique therapeutic boarding school for young children diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory, Mood and related conditions...

Should people stop protesting because of the NYC police shooting?

Vote here!

Conversations w/Great Minds p1 - Katrina Vanden Heuvel - Cuba: What does normalization mean?

Conversations w/Great Minds p2 - Katrina Vanden Heuvel - Sanctions Don’t Work

Rumble - Another SHOCKING! Example of Police Brutality

Rumble - Will Legalization Be Thrown Out in CO?

Full Show 12/19/2014: Katrina vanden Hueval of The Nation Magazine

Thom talks with Katrina vanden Hueval, Editor and Publisher of The Nation Magazine on “Conversations with Great Minds.”

On the “Big Picture Rumble,” Shelly Emmett, Christy Setzer, and Scott Greer debate continued police brutality, the Keystone XL pipeline, Cuba, Sen. Marco Rubio, Marijuana, and Sony pulling “The Interview.”

Caller: McCulloch Should be Fired and Investigated!

The Right Attacks de Blasio Over Cop Killings...

Ferguson Grand Jury Witness Lied...

Thom Hartmann on Economic & Labor News: December 22, 2014

Tom Shadyac: "I AM"

The Media Missed the Real Story on the Sony Hack...