So I was thinking of a new post along the lines of how Trump should deal with this. My thoughts were that:
1. He should offer all the help to the locals that is at his disposal, but
2. At the same time he should demand that they fulfill their own obligations--local government has the resources to deal with this, but too many have abdicated the streets to the anarchists;
3. Before they ask him for help they need to show they're doing their part or are willing to turn over total authority.
In other words, none of the BS we've seen with the Covid crisis--Blue state governors trashing the president and trying to shift blame for their own mistakes and their own irresponsible actions, while offering nothing constructive.
If you want federal help, here are the terms. Here are the conditions to fulfill, and if you fulfill them but still can't regain control, then you have to tell the president that you can no longer handle the situation and ask for his help as set out in the law.
Just before I started typing I was greatly heartened to see that Trump had a conference call with the governors this morning and he got exactly that process in motion. TGP provides some tweeted accounts of the president's words. Good for Trump. He paused, got advice, thought it through, and now he's acting--in this context, words are action, too. It's encouraging to see CBS News appearing to play this pretty straight:
CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe reported on the leaked recording:“JUST IN: President Trump unloads on the nation’s governors on a call, calls on them to step up enforcement: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”“MORE: Trump tells governors later: “You’re making a mistake because you’re making yourselves look like fools. And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it’s not – it’s not a great day for our country.”“TRUMP ADDS: “You know when other countries watch this, they’re watching this, the next day wow, they’re really a push over. And we can’t be a push over. And we have all the resources – it’s not like we don’t have the resources. So, I don’t know what you’re doing.”
Of course the Fake News media will try to distort his words. Americans of good will will understand.
And in the meantime you can bet that Bill Barr is pushing everyone under his authority to develop action plans for dealing forcefully with Antifa.
This urinalist holds up an apple in one hand, an orange in the other, and tells you they're bananas:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1267482003156406272
One action that the Federal Government could do would be to explain the accusation that George Floyd was passing counterfeit $20 bills.
ReplyDelete* Was that particular bill counterfeit?
* Were Floyd and his partners in possession of more counterfeit bills?
These are questions that the Federal Government can answer for the public.
Wow - Trump is playing hardball politics to the Blue State Governor's and Mayor’s self caused riot suffering due to their decisions.
ReplyDeleteBush 1 with the LA riots almost immediately invoked the insurrection act that ended the LA Riots pretty quickly. Looting and damage was limited relatively speaking. Of course that riot was due more to LAPD incompetence.
Trump has forced the blue state governors and mayors to own their decisions. He has put the responsibility on them. Reading about the Chicago response for example at the second city blog, pure incompetence. Trump is forcing them to eat their own dog food, and discrediting all their supporters, by allowing this to drag on. Bush 1 was nice to end it so fast, but note he was a one term President.
"Trump has forced the blue state governors and mayors to own their decisions."
ReplyDeleteExactly.
Trump should not send in the military. It's too risky. Once he sends them in, he takes ownership of the problem. What is the army going to do if it can't shoot to kill the rioters? Take a knee, waltz with a protestor? Unless the military is allowed to operate from a deadly level of force, it will stand there watching like the hapless police. Then what?
ReplyDeleteCities now face a common problem: do nothing and burn to the ground, or rise up, I'm talking about citizens and business owners, and shoot these locusts.
For an interesting take on the policing problem, one that has several flaws (missing the connection between increased incarceration and lower crime rates being the most boneheaded), but isn't w/o merit:
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/where-did-policing-go-wrong
I'll check it out. There are actually many options--various types of liquid cannons, rubber bullets, etc. Plus, despite Trump's rhetoric, the military doesn't have to supplant locals, just supplement them, deputize, etc.
DeleteLRAD
Delete@Titan, I read Taibbi. There's much merit in what he's saying. He doesn't make specific recommendations, but the modern LE ethos is problematic. The emphasis on stats in dealing with people to start with. The us again them mentality, the concept of police v. "civilians" (when did LE cease to be civilian?) etc. But there are complications, too.
DeleteHere's the sort of thing Taibbi doesn't address--and there are Broken Windows in the video:
Deletehttps://twitter.com/abc7newsbayarea/status/1267269872045764608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fus%2Fcalifornia-looters-fighting-over-loot-george-floyd
Tucker Carlson focused on the looting and assaults again last night and he dusted up President Trump in the process. The scenes he showed are similar to the ones in your above link.
DeleteThe police are damned if they do, damned if they don't. So far, it's mostly don't.
But when they do:
In Van Nuys, police actually arrested some armed Latinos who were defending a bodega from looters. Police let the looters skitter away.
In Louisville, police fired into a crowd in response to shots fired at them--so they claim--and it sure looks like they killed an innocent man.
The actual blame for these riots is on black America. Sure, white protestors spitting on police officers, screeching profanities and spray-painting everything they can reach, some of them Antifa, are the screen saver, but it's blacks who are doing most if not all of the looting and beatings.
Don't know what city it was (DC?), but I saw a line of police vehicles vandalized and destroyed by young black males. No one did anything.
I bet those cars cost $40K.
Antifa would love a race war. Problem for Trump if he sends in the military is that any action aimed at quelling rioters would be directed against blacks. It's not a winning position.
We let this happen by not shooting the first MPLS looters dead (preferred method), or dragging them away, so as to discourage that sort of behavior. America has been heading for this sort of anarchy since the Viet Nam War.
Now we'll see where it takes us.
Two major problems:
Delete1) Style of policing in everyday matters--way too confrontational. Harrasment of citizens of all colors, often for PC reasons.
2) Liberals fanning flames of hatred.
Our problem isn't "Black America". Our problem is Blue America.
DeleteYes.
DeleteEsp. that part of the Blues, which go so far as to back the torching of police stations, see
Deletehttps://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_060220/ :
Of those who "have you heard about the protests across the country, including the *burning* of a police precinct", 17% "think the actions of the protestors were *fully* justified".
You can't pass through any medium sized city in America and not see multiple "Local PD is hiring" signs. The simple answer is for a lot of better educated folks, who have a boat load of experience successfully convincing all of the (intoxicated) "gentle giants" they encounter daily to not do bad things, to step up and fill out an application. Problem solved.
DeleteTom S.
Fox News had an entry about its CEO, or maybe the CEO's brother. "FOX Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch urges colleagues to 'closely listen to the voices of peaceful protest' amid George Floyd unrest"
ReplyDeleteI have read that Rupert Murdoch's boys are lefties. Based upon that headline alone, I predict Fox will continue to move left. I don't watch Fox but have read that the news division has already moved left. The opinion shows are still right. For how much longer?
Joe
They are political south-paws, but minor league compared to their wives.
DeleteTom S.
I'd like to see more honest reporting on racial issues. Let's get over white guilt and hold whites and blacks to the same standard, i.e., the correct one.
ReplyDeleteLike most everyone, I am upset at the death of George Floyd. That doesn't implicate all white policemen. More black men kill black men than are killed by the police, be they white, black or brown policemen. More blacks kill whites than whites kill blacks.
Yes, Antifa is involved and I want them punished. But Black Lives Matter is also there, but we only talk about Antifa.
George Floyd may or may not have died due to the choke-hold applied by Derek Chauvin. The jury is still out. Floyd may have already begun cardiac arrest, had drugs (legal or illegal) in his system and the stress of the encounter was a contributor. Chauvin clearly should have removed his knee sooner. I'm not prejudging, only saying that we need to look at all the evidence and refrain from a rush to judgment.
How do violence and looting show respect to the memory of George Floyd?
Joe
From Taibbi
ReplyDelete"The new strategies rely upon extremely high numbers of contacts between police and subject populations, who are stopped for every conceivable minor offense – public intoxication, public urination, riding bicycles the wrong way down a sidewalk, refusing to obey police orders, jumping subway turnstiles, and, in Garner’s case, selling loose cigarettes."
This is BS. Minor offenses? Baloney!
We have rules in this country. And, I'm not one who wants to criminalize everything. If you don't want to wear a seat belt, fine. I think you're stupid, but it's your life. But, I shouldn't be subjected to anyone's loud car stereo, walking in the street where there's a pedestrian sidewalk, honking a horn at 2:00 AM because somebody is too lazy to get out of a car and knock on a door.
Social courtesies and etiquette are the grease that allows men to get along when they interact on a daily basis. We all have likes and dislikes, rap vs. classical, sedan vs. muscle car. My choices shouldn't infringe on your rights and vice versa. Drink all the alcohol you want, but don't leave a bread crumb trail of tiny liquor bottles in my neighborhood that lead to your door. Show me the same respect that you want.
Joe
His examples are badly chosen, but the militarization of the police is problematic. As is the proliferation of laws/rules.
DeleteLiberal control of education is as big a problem.
I think that we agree. On one level, I am talking about self-respect and respect given to others. This shouldn't/needn't involve the police. I am talking about the things that my parents taught me, courtesy, thank you, please, wait your turn, let others speak.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'll bet we agree about the militarization of police, but I would need some examples.
For myself, I don't like license plate readers (or at least permanently storing the data), being tracked, going around warrants, etc.
I still like my constitutional rights, thank you. Was it Benjamin Franklin who said "Those who would trade liberty for secuirty deserve neither"?
Joe