Have you noticed how many people--liberal and conservative alike--have been referring to "the murder of George Floyd"? Not to his "suspected" or "alleged" murder--which, in view of much of the evidence, would be rather more accurate. Rush to judgment anyone? Two track system of justice?
If you owned a store or a business--anything from a mom and pop business to a Walmart to a corporate office block--would you continue to do business in a city that defunded and/or dismantled the police force? If you ran an insurance company, would you continue to insure such businesses? Not just hike their rates--would you refuse to insure those businesses in areas where there was no police protection, or where it had been seriously curtailed?
How would you feel as a parent about sending your kid to a public school in such a locality? Or as a teacher, would you want to teach in a school where the seating chart had to take into account rival gang affiliations--P Stone Nation v. Latin Kings, perhaps--or rival ethnicities--Hmong v. Somali? With no police protection.
As disgraced former FBI Director Jim Comey would say: So many questions.
And you can bet Americans will be asking those questions and more from now until election day in November.
Here's Alisyn Camerota interviewing Lisa Bender, President of the Minneapolis City Council. I can see this--and so many more similar sound bites--featuring in Trump campaign ads:
CAMEROTA: "What if in the middle of the night my home is broken into. Who do I call?"
BENDER: "Yes, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors. And I know — and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege."
CAMEROTA: "What if in the middle of the night my home is broken into. Who do I call?"— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) June 8, 2020
BENDER: "Yes, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors. And I know — and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege." pic.twitter.com/WhubQ9yJIf
Somehow the left does not really understand how crazy they are. I know partisans can get worked up with the other side is in power. It happens in US politics all the time. But this, this is something else. This is the complete and utter abandonment of reason that threatens to become mainstream. It's crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is polling. There was always a reluctance of Trump supporters to respond to polls admitting their support for him. I say that today there is not just a silent majority, there is a fearful majority. To stand publicly against the liberal insanity today is to invite attacks and make yourself a target. This could explain some of the dip in Trump's numbers.
I live and work in a very liberal city. I talk politics at work from time to time, but it's always light and never in judgment of anyone who thinks differently. I said to one of my Trump employees not to take his vehicle into town today with his Trump supporter bumper stickers, and he agreed and then joked that he left his MAGA hat at home. This sort of conversation is probably happening every day in America. Lack of numbers coming out to support the most extreme elements of the left and their insane demands gives me hope of a significant repudiation at the polls come election day.
The silent majority will speak in November.
DeleteRob S
Yeah, the battle lies are becoming more obvious to more people, virtually by the day.
DeleteRecall, c. a week ago, Mark posted about how the NYT
urged its flock:
"you will not be visiting them or *answering phone* calls until they take significant action".
What we need is, for the Fearful majority to be able to dare, to welcome the rejections from the deranged Left:
"You boycott us, we'll be delighted to boycott you!"
Of course, this tack won't stick, 'til liberals get at least a bit supportive, of people who stand up to Lefty intimidation.
The emergence of the IDW is a small step in that direction, but the MSM's habit of whining about "a place of privilege" has much more effect.
Typo alert: "battle LINES", not "lies".
DeleteToday Audacious Epigone sums it up:
Delete"Will America get their revolution, her own Sulla, or *end* the hate and *separate*?"
The time for liberals to choose is fast approaching.
That business about "comes from a place of privilege" is the white liberal SJW’s latest mantra. It will be interesting to see how that works out. It will also be interesting to see how the lack of police will affect Minneapolis, as you have outlined….
ReplyDeleteShelby Steele and Bob Woodson talked about “systemic racism” (their take: there is none) on Mark Levin’s program last night. They seemed to agree that the blacks need to do more to improve their own lot (“Have you educated yourself? Are you educating your children?”) and give up the victimhood that has been imposed on them by the Democrat Party. Both Steele and Woodson were rather refreshing...
There is systemic racism, it is just resides in the democrat party.
DeleteRob S
Bender tweet, June 3rd:
ReplyDeleteIf you are a comfortable white person asking to dismantle the police I invite you to reflect: are you willing to stick with it? Will you be calling in three months to ask about garage break-ins? Are you willing to dismantle white supremacy in all systems, including a new system?
Nice.
So, if you expect home invasions to be taken seriously by the authorities, then you are expressing white supremacy.
Overwhelmingly the worst nightmare of most voters. Yet I have littel sympathy for those who voted Dem and got this for their cities. They didn't have to.
DeleteWhat I heard Comrade Bender say is that those who exercise their lawful right to self-defense with a firearm are not coming from a "place of privilege". She's actually castigating anybody who would call the police in response to a crime.
ReplyDeleteThat's good because Minnesota is a "shall-issue" state regarding firearm permits. Those permits are issued by the Sheriff in the applicant's county of residence. The City of Minneapolis has no authority whatsoever over a law-abiding citizen's right to lawfully own, carry and use a firearm for self-defense and defense of life generally.
Applicants should just cite the city council's declared intent to abolish certified law enforcement within the jurisdiction of the City of Minneapolis.
...And throw in Comrade Bender's own words for good measure to demonstrate a genuine concern for personal safety of self as well as family:
Delete"I think we need to ... imagine what it would feel like ... where calling the police may mean more harm is done."
Leeeeet the guns fly in, leeeet the guns fly in, the gu-uuuns fly in...
"Clearly this means arm up and shoot home invaders. It cannot, of course, mean accept being defenseless against them."
Deletehttps://twitter.com/OptimisticCon/status/1270085724889477121
i think it's worth considering this safety=privilege thing from another angle, namely privilege vs. love.
ReplyDeleteIf you love your children, then you labor to provide them with opportunities for prosperity and security. You even hope that they will exceed whatever you are able to accomplish in life.
There is no argument that, for too long, this was largely denied blacks. And most of the blame for that goes to a certain political party.
Even so, Shelby Steele made the point repeatedly with Mark Levin last night that, even when his parents were poor and denied access to opportunity, they still managed to invest in real estate that created a foundation for the family's financial improvement. This is what healthy adults do; they provide for the future of their families.
To say that prosperity and security are manifestations of white supremacy and privilege is effectively to argue against parents providing for their children. It militates against the most basic building blocks of social cohesion: the love of parents for their children.
Yes, it does militate against all normal love. Because it takes a village. The Left makes no bones about being at war with the family as such and with all normal human nature. That's why Queerness is now embraced.
DeleteAs with so many issues that the leftist mangle, here too there is no acknowledgement of the concept of trade-offs and cost/benefit. Also, despite their claims that it's folks on the right who use "dog whistles" they are signalling to the radical base that they will eliminate order and authority while assuring the moderates that they only want to adjust the level of funding for policing to a more reasonable one. If someone wants to make the argument that urban police departments are too large and funded too heavily they need to explain what they consider the proper level and why. I'm sure there's a decent amount of research demonstrating how many police officers/citizen is reasonable for a given environment (city/suburb/rural). You might quibble on the edges and you might face financial constraints to achieving the right mix, but that's not what they are saying. DeBlasio has chosen to move a specific amount out of the police budget and transfer it to "youth programs". That may carry symbolic weight for his base but where's the evidence that more funding for Great Society programs that have been in place for over 50 years is going to change much? And is a dollar spent that way more or less valuable to a poor/minority community than using it for law enforcement? No one want cops abusing their power and hurting innocent civilians. But cutting funding doesn't guarantee that anything changes. And my fear is that as the politicization of this issue increases, more of the good cops will leave the profession and you will be left with more of the sadists and bad apples.
ReplyDeleteMikeyinFL My late wife who was a very successful realtor would've taken a little different look at this in terms of not just the insurance aspect, but the collapse in property value since folks will not live in an area that's not safe. I looked it up a month or so ago and upon realizing that Deblasio is termed out and still has another year left of his lordship wondered how much damage will he do with nothing to lose? We've already seen lots of folks escaping to FL over the past few years due to high cost of living, taxes, etc., but at this rate destruction, he could be setting off a collapse in property values not just in NYC, but causing economic impact in mainly the eastern US. We've already heard the demands for federal bailouts of poorly run states, expect more as they continue to try every tactic, including defunding law enforcement, until they auger their economy in the hopes that it will in turn reverberate to other parts of the county. Who knows, maybe property prices in NYC might come down from the stratosphere so others can afford to live there???
ReplyDeleteMany different ways to look at this--none of them good, except the backlash in November.
DeleteI've lived in NYC my whole life, although that may change soon. I watched the decline over the '60s and '70's and cheered the resurgence under Guiliani and Bloomberg. I saw how DeBlasio squandered those gains, knowing that he would likely be out of office when the worst hit. However, he couldn't mask the decline past his first term. By the way, both times he was elected by a tiny percentage of voters. My left-liberal family and friends think he's a jerk and a waste but only because he was too incompetent to implement the full progressive agenda. Even he was bright enough to realize that he couldn't totally alienate the police and stay in power, although he pissed them off quite a bit. One might think the pendulum will swing back again after this disaster but from what I can see, the folks waiting in the wings are worse. The only hope is that there are enough old-school Democrats still alive who are shocked by what they see . If they join with the closet conservatives hiding in their basements we might luck out.
DeleteI agree that there are powerful forces aligned against Trump, but the polls show that public opinion is NOT one of them.
DeleteDepends on which poll.
DeleteBut, more important is, how reliable are any polls, given the prospect of pro-DJT voters being persecuted, if they tell pollsters the real truth of their views.
@Gothamite
Delete"I've lived in NYC my whole life, although that may change soon."
I too was a lifetime New Yorker, raised in the City, raised my children in a near-in suburb, and worked in the City until 2012 when we moved West to a Red state. I, too, watched the decline of NYC from Mayor Wagner to rock bottom Mayor DeBlasio.
I can tell you that we have not ever, not for one second, missed New York. I have not even missed seeing my beloved New York Rangers in MSG.
You only have one life. And it is short.
@Gothamite, on "The only hope is that there are enough old-school Democrats still alive who are shocked....", see
Deletehttp://theZman.com/wordpress/?p=20664 , on:
"something very strange is happening, within the upper reaches of the ruling class. The top editor of the Philly Enquirer was chased off by a woke mob, for stating the obvious.
The NYTimes is being overrun by far-left crazies. One of their top editors was forced out.
Andrew Sullivan, a long time *darling* of elite society, has been *put on mute*.
It’s increasingly clear, that the inner party elite is *scared of the woke monster* they have unleashed.
What’s happening in the big media operations sheds some light, on what has been going on for two weeks. All of the groveling and cheering by liberal politicians may not be entirely genuine.
They may think, it is their only way to avoid being another *victim, of the woke army* they helped to create."
(He has links there, to articles on the Philly, NYT, and Sully situations.)
Cassander: I hate that in considering where to go, I have to think about how many woke crazies have moved there. Places like North Carolina or even Texas have been infested with the people of the same mindset. Plus, they will automatically assume that I am of like mind because I come from New York. I went through a lot of changes in my political views in the last 10 years - it started before Trump. I guess I was one of the original "walkaways". Now it's so hard because when I talk to good friends and family members I have to watch what I say or just nod along when they go on their rants. So sad that no one can tolerate hearing an opposing position. Kind of like the New York Times editorial board.
Delete"Have you noticed how many people--liberal and conservative alike--have been referring to "the murder of George Floyd"? Not to his 'suspected' or 'alleged' murder--which, in view of much of the evidence, would be rather more accurate"
ReplyDeleteI'd call it 'the death of George Floyd, while in police custody'. Even the great Victor Davis Hanson refers to "the terrible brutalization and death of George Floyd."
The truth is out there for anyone to see--it was an OD death and the cops were doing the only thing they could do while waiting for the paramedics. Hanson simply took a knee.
DeleteWell said. :)
DeleteI call for defunding the IRS. I don't like paying taxes.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! Are you calling for a REVOLUTION?
DeleteJohn Lennon and I are in good company.
DeleteDefund hospitals! Too many people die while in their care. It's systemic.
Delete"Defund hospitals!" That's so true. To take just one example, look what heart surgeons do to patients with super sharp knives. They should be hauled in on murder charges if anyone dies in their care!
Delete@Joe
Delete"I call for defunding the IRS. I don't like paying taxes."
Honestly, Joe, I don't think the Left has fully thought this through yet. When they do, as I'm sure they will, they will promptly call for the abolition of the IRS. Now that we have established that the government can be financed by the Treasury printing press, who needs an IRS? And if there are any shortfalls, they can be covered simply by confiscations from the rich. No need for taxes.
As for the police departments, the Left has not fully thought this through yet, either. Police departments are really only a small part of our overall law enforcement system. If the goal is to fully eliminate systemic racism, we need to eliminate the entire system. This means not only abolishing police departments, but also lawyers, prosecutors, courts, judges, and jails. As well as the military, which heretofore has been used primarily to prop up our inherently racist nation state.
And since any form of personal security, like law enforcement and the military, is inherently racist, private security services will have to be abolished as well, except in the case of ideologically qualifying government officials.
This exception is entirely appropriate since these officials will have declared themselves to be non-racist, and therefore exempt, and somebody will have to be protected to make the laws which henceforth will not be enforced.
If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to call me. I'm sure I can explain.
--Winston Smith
Cassander: the left chooses to ignore human nature. They think passing more laws will make everyone behave. If a bad person shoots up a church or a movie theater we just need to pass more gun laws. Never mind that the shooter ignored multitudes of existing laws. Sadly, while the average leftist voter may actually believe we can legislate morality and decency, their leaders know what the outcome will be. And they are happy to foment that anarchy.
DeleteAre there even statistics on the number of unarmed black men stabbed to death annually by white doctors?
Delete@Gothamite, on "their leaders know what the outcome will be. And they are *happy to foment* that anarchy."
DeleteOur best hope may be, that the average leftist voter is starting to face music on what these leaders really are.
Today, Howie Kurtz dissed the uproar at NYT (over Cotton's Op-Ed), as betraying the paper's prior rep for welcoming "all views".
His drift was, whatever is being done there now, it's *not journalism*.
While I can't say that Kurtz is a weather-vane, I have hope that his expressing such a view helps the #WalkAway mov't.
@Gothamite
Delete"They think passing more laws will make everyone behave."
Not exactly. Legislation, as we currently understand it, will also be abolished, when the Legislatures are abolished, to be replaced by 'executive orders' aka 'edicts'. This will also avoid the messy inconvenience of minority rights and election days, etc.
--Jonathan Swift
"One man, one vote, one time," is a prescription for the Left, not a pipedream.
DeleteTom S.
Cassander,
DeleteI can't think of the exact quote but it's along the lines that "The people get the government that they deserve. "
NB: David Dorn's ALLEGED Murderer has been found.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.redstate.com/brandon_morse/2020/06/08/david-dorns-murderer-found/
With respect to David Dorn, not all black lives matter equally.
DeleteBased on Biden's definition, it's possible David Dorn wasn't black.
DeleteBy no means. For example--where does Clarence Thomas fit into that scheme of things?
Delete