Taos Culture of Misogyny

Breaking News: According to Flavio, 220 protests were filed at the PRC today, Nov. 24, 2010, calling for the local Coop to cease and desist!

Men Who Dislike Women!

As alluded to here on a couple of recent occasions, the Taos Police Department has, once again, emerged as a brutal culture when it comes to members of the softer sex. In today’s Journal North, Nov. 24, 2010, “Witness Alleges Police Brutality,” by Andy Stiny, Witness Rachel Varela is quoted as saying, “”he yanked it (her arm)…up over her head—it made it pop—like a bottle shattering. He did it like the force of punching someone.” Further, “Varela said other witnesses told her they were afraid to get on the wrong side of local police over the incident.”

The victim, according to the story, was allegedly drunk, nearly passed out, had a history of mental problems and other unlawful acts. She is described as a troubled individual. One would think the police would take extra precautions and not break her arm while taking her into custody. But then this is the same department that tasered a hand-cuffed woman, lying face-down on the ground, drunk, of “tremendous weight,” who would not or could not get up when summoned. So the cops shocked her with the high tech equivalent of an electric cattle prod. The usual lawsuits have been filed against the Taos PD.

One recalls the New Years’ incident of a few years ago when a local Taos cop tackled a fleeing drunk woman during a dust up at a local cantina. She, too, was handcuffed but he knocked her down in a flying tackle, busted her head and neck. The department, according to lawyers for the plaintiff, engaged in an “internal affairs” cover-up but got sued by big time attorneys. Ultimately, risk management paid off like a slot machine to compensate the victim of the police department’s brutal tactics.

We have seen this over and over in Taos. A few years ago, female detention guards at the Taos County jail, who internalized male attitudes of retaliation, strip searched female inmates, arrested in traffic cases. Once again, risk management paid off to plaintiff victims.

Of course, the District Attorney’s office also persecutes women, who won’t play by their rules i.e. take a plea and surrender their rights to due process in the courts. And I have seen the good old boys in elective office abuse the occasional elected official, also a woman, who questions the way they do their business whether at the Coop or at Holy Cross Hospital.

At HCH I watched local Taos PD, march off two union leaders from the lunchroom in hand cuffs. Mayor Fast Fred, who was president of HCH board, then, saw them tried in Judge Dickie’s courtroom for trespassing or something. HCH is still reverberating from lawsuits due to anti-female sentiment fostered by the former CEO and his HR henchman. An excellent nurse was retaliated against and accused of malfeasance due to speaking up. A second one was called a “baby killer” because she also supported the union or spoke up.

Hey, talk back, drunk or sober, petition for your rights, and we’ll sock it to you: taser you, prosecute, you, break your damn arm. Here’s the lesson: Women, whether drunk or sober in Taos, must learn to abide by the male prerogatives—regardless of rape or statutory rape, even if you are trying to protect your daughters from those who aid and abet crimes. If your son blows his head off cause Dad is dealing drugs and all the adults are high, well, tough. Keep your mouth shut.

If you are a loose cannon and engaged like men in anti-social behavior, you don’t, I think, deserve to have your arms broken or your body tased. You don’t deserve to be chased to the ends of the earth by attorneys, who feel deprived by the courts of vengeance. In other words, we have a violent lot, who, under the color of the law, are working out their private frustrations in classical Freudian terms. Yes, we’ll tase you, break your arms, and prosecute you if you don’t keep your mouth shut and do as we tell you.

Certainly, most cops and attorneys are decent, as are many politicians. But we at the Friction have a list of names, whose actions have been verified in the public record by witnesses, not to mention current and historic documents. The sexist skullduggery depicted today in the Journal North speaks volumes about the dark side of Taos machismo.