Trump Presidency X-like American History X, but without the laughs

"Defund the police" isn't a goal. It's an opening position in bargaining.

If you start with a mealy-mouthed position like "reform", you are never going to get anywhere. "Reform" means nothing.

 

This level of corruption is simply staggering and infuriating. This dude should never be a senator.

Sen. David Purdue (R-GA) has made 2,596 trades during his Senate term — about as much as the next five most active traders in the Senate combined, the New York Timesreports.
Many trades were in companies with stakes in policy matters before committees he served on.

 

Openly corrupt, on the belief that a sitting Republican Senator can do whatever he wants in Georgia. He might be right, too.

 

Let's make up our mind.....I am hearing from the Squad that is is a policy demand. What is it exactly?
The original point made by Obama, and discussed here for weeks now, is that it is a snappy slogan and self defeating one to boot.

 

I'm not sure how you can look at the cities on both coasts that are shifting funds from the police departments to community services and not draw the conclusion that it is happening because of the mantra.

 

I don't disagree with your post, but as you said, it has shifted the discussion from just "reforming the police" to shifting funding away from police departments and to community services. The entire reason the last two sentences in your post is even being discussed right now is because of "Defund the Police". Prior to this summer, the discussion was around officer training and with little to no discussion about reducing their load.

 

And I am not sure how you can come to that conclusion either. There is basically zero evidence. So let's agree that we disagree.

 

Rightsize the police and then the military! Who's with me?

 

I have no idea at all how that's supposed ti follow logically.

 

You do know what negotiation is, right? You don't start where you expect to end up. And if you don't take your position seriously, the other side won't either.

 

Obama actually was leading reform within policing. DoJ Holder was actively investigating police departments and pushing consent decrees to reduce use of force. 1994 Crime Bill gave the DoJ the authority to police the police.

He was actively trying to demilitarize the police, but could only do so by an executive order in 2015. Trump immediately reversed that. It's been law since 1990 under the National Defense Authorization Act to let police get surplus military goods.

Recently (although 2020 is going to be out of whack), the Fed Govt is paying for about 20% of police budgets nationally. I'm sure it isn't consistent from municipality to municipality. That's a significant chunk.

But yeah, ultimately it's a local issue. Even a DoJ consent decree can't fix anything if the department refuses to change and the local govt who signs the policing contract doesn't go along.

 

Dude, I have spent most of my professional life around negotiations. One thing I know, some openings statements in negotiations can be a deal breaker, specially if the other side is looking for an opportunity not to come to the bargaining table.

On that note, as a matter of fact, I can argue that the slogan gave the Police and specially their unions much needed oxygen and breathing room. It allowed them to avoid a full head on collision with the public. This term slowed the momentum and distracted the emerging consensus among the public to go further than ever in curtailing reckless and illegal police behavior.
The term requires nuance and a lengthy explanation, so from the get go, it is a losing mantra. One thing some fail to realize, despite everything, the Police is a pretty popular institution in the American society, still polling pretty high despite the all the horror stories. I can't wrap my head that rational and intelligent people don't realize (or pretend not to) that is it a ********ING stupid and self defeating slogan.

 

IMHO, it worked both ways. If you are somewhat liberal and saw all the images of the police going full fash and displaying their expensive toys while clubbing and gassing pacific protestors, you probably understood what “Defund” was aiming for.

OTOH, if you have a “Blue Lives Matter” sticker in your car, think protestors should not walk by your front lawn, and think that a counterfeit $20 deserves the death penalty, you also probably enjoyed the Trump TV spots blaming Biden for the police slow response.

TBH, there’s not that many people in this country that is in the middle on any issue, and the fact that liberal cities are the ones taking some steps towards reform tells you where it had a positive effect, and also the other way around.

 

I don’t know why the thought of him pardoning everyone but Melania made me laugh...but it made me laugh a lot. Out loud. I don’t care...do you?

The AG's office subpoenaed records from Melania Trump regarding the ongoing investigation into the inaugural committee scam.

— Christopher Bouzy (spoutible.com/cbouzy) (@cbouzy) December 3, 2020

 

Trump dream - if she's in prison then no alimony!

 

He would have to send it to her prison account.

 

She'll have the Top Ramen and Kool Aid packets she can not eat