As we discussed earlier today, the Democrats have their hands full this week with angry Bernie Sanders supporters at the convention being up in arms over the leaked DNC emails. Security will be tight, but the organizers are still concerned over the possibility of protests and even violence breaking out in the streets. At least they’ll have Philadelphia’s finest on the job, maintaining peace and order, right? But as was revealed this weekend, not all the cops are going to be terribly happy about it. Hillary Clinton’s choice of speakers includes some figures who don’t have a very good opinion of law enforcement and the list is notably missing anyone who might speak up on their behalf. The Fraternal Order of Police wasn’t staying silent about it, either. (Philly.com)

Philadelphia’s police union issued a scathing rebuke of Hillary Clinton for including relatives of victims of police shootings at the Democratic National Convention but no relatives of slain police officers.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 said in a statement that it was “insulted by the exclusion of police widows and family members” as speakers at the convention, from Monday to next Thursday.

“It is sad that to win an election Mrs. Clinton must pander to the interests of people who do not know all the facts, while the men and women they seek to destroy are outside protecting the political institutions of this country,” the statement read. “Mrs. Clinton you should be ashamed of yourself if that is possible.”

We’ve just had mass murders of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, with single officers being killed or gravely wounded in multiple other locations around the country. Each time it happened Hillary Clinton made sure to issue some qualified statements about how it’s a bad idea to kill law enforcement officers, but when it came time to draft her list of invitees to speak at her convention, the list didn’t really reflect that sentiment. Instead, attendees will be hearing from the mothers of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

Can you understand why the cops might be just a tad bit upset over those choices? I think most of the police might have been a bit more understanding if the speakers had been family members of people like Tamir Rice or Walter Scott because the circumstances of their deaths obviously elicit a lot more sympathy. But Eric Garner and Michael Brown were both involved in the commission of crimes when their fatal encounters with law enforcement officers took place and Trayvon Martin wasn’t even killed by a cop. At the same time, I have no doubt that there are many, many family members of fallen police officers who would have been willing – or even grateful – to address the crowd at the DNC convention and call for peace and calm. Yet they have been shut out of the proceedings.

That likely sends a powerful message to police around the country and it’s not one they are eager to hear. The support for law enforcement coming from the Obama administration has been tepid at the best of times and I doubt they’re looking forward to four more years of the same. The saving grace for Hillary Clinton and the DNC is that, unlike too many politicians, most cops are consummate professionals who will continue to do their jobs and keep the convention attendees safe anyway.