tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post5987631990558829007..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Liberals Fighting over the PoliceJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-80987169648410868172020-08-10T17:00:41.616-04:002020-08-10T17:00:41.616-04:00"And, yes, "defund the police" does...<i>"And, yes, "defund the police" does annoy me, because it pretends that we have only one problem and solving that one will magically make the others (shootouts between drug gangs, rape) go away."</i><br /><br />It doesn't pretend anything, it just doesn't wholly encapsulate in three words the entirety of what people mean when they say it.<br /><br />Yes, we need police. Yes, we need to fund those police. But no, we shouldn't be funding their ability to employ excessive force.<br /><br />The police need to stop spending their bloated budgets on guns, bullets, armored vehicles, body armor, tactical gear, and all the other accoutrements of warfare.<br /><br />No reasonable person calling for reductions in police budgets expects them to cut the number of officers on the streets.<br /><br />They expect them to cut the MRAPs (armored vehicles specifically designed to be <b><i>mine resistant</i></b> as a direct response to IED tactics used by guerilla insurgents), and other military grade vehicles that have become popular with local police forces all across the country, large and small alike.<br /><br />They expect them to cut the legal funds used to defend police in court when they brutalize innocent people, or when a half dozen officers respond to a minor incident and fire 46 rounds of ammunition into a parked car, killing the unarmed occupants.<br /><br />They expect them to cut the ability and willingness to send out SWAT teams and riot police and other wildly expensive response units at the drop of a hat, without the most basic regard for if such levels of force are actually needed.<br /><br />And the police know this, and they hate the idea, and so they twist it around and make arguments in bad faith, about how if their budgets get slashed, they'll have to pull officers off the streets. BULLSHIT. They are perfectly capable of pulling the guns and bullets and teams of lawyers ready to defend the racist, murderous thugs within their ranks instead - they just don't WANT to. Keep all the police on the streets, but train them to handle problems without guns, except where special response units are absolutely necessary.<br /><br />People say <i>"Defund The Police"</i> because <i>"Stop spending my tax dollars being on oppressing and murdering innocent people and especially minorities"</i> doesn't exactly make for a handy slogan to chant or put on a protest sign.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-61524810395525222282020-08-10T10:46:46.323-04:002020-08-10T10:46:46.323-04:00I think some analogies . . . Oh, for an editing f...I think some analogies . . . Oh, for an editing function!Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-83655644901816837522020-08-10T10:45:51.851-04:002020-08-10T10:45:51.851-04:00@John
Agreed. I'm troubled at how the combin...@John<br /><br />Agreed. I'm troubled at how the combined action of the hard left and the right are tending to delegitimize electoral democracy, common sense, and the idea of a common good. I thing some analogies with Weimar are not inapposite (though I know you're probably annoyed by those, too).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.com