Another week has passed, and another Leftist idea has taken hold in the aftermath of the George Floyd death. Admittedly the original sentencing for the main officer involved would have made Brock Turner’s look like he was the victim of the Spanish Inquisition (which, by the way, no one expects), but the reaction to this has been both positive and negative. On the positive side, America and Minneapolis have taken a long look at police tactics and how to address situations when officers step over the line. On the negative side, a new idea has taken hold in Leftist circles: defund the police.
Most of us are behind the former, but unfortunately too many are getting behind the latter. That’s why it’s important we understand what the Left wants so we can develop ways to combat it.
Oh, and so we can mock it.
defund the police
What the Left thinks it means – introducing necessary reforms so police departments can better serve citizens of color
What it really means – defunding the police
I’ve said the Left loves to control the language in situations like this, but they are really putting in some overtime to get people to believe the words they’re hearing don’t mean what they say. This isn’t easy, mainly because of the number of Leftists actually saying we should defund the police and have it handled either by a higher level of government or just have no police at all.
We’ve seen examples of both. Camden, New Jersey, eliminated its police force and created a county-level police force. To be fair, the numbers look a lot better. Whether it’s because or in spite of Camden’s efforts is a matter of opinion. Crimes nationally have dropped faster than Stacey Abrams’ hints she wants to be Vice President and some residents aren’t happy the police force doesn’t live close enough to the neighborhoods they police to understand the problems. Oh, and some think it doesn’t reflect the diversity of the community well enough.
As far as the no police option, we saw that working at UC Berkeley in 2017. Sure, they still have a police department, but they pretty much let student rioters make a mess of things due to a “hands off” policy where officers weren’t allowed to arrest criminals. We’re also seeing the same situation play out in Seattle, Washington, right now, with a group calling itself “Free Capitol Hill” creating its own community-within-a-community called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. And, as you might expect, it’s been a clusterfuck. The best part of it is these morons were allowed into City Hall because…a Councilmember let them in. And to repay her, the protesters called for the Mayor to step down because reasons.
As you might expect, the Free Capitol Hill group is pro-defund the police.
But you’d never hear it from the Left’s mouthpieces in the media and their designated political flunkies like the Socialist Socialite. They’re trying to spin “defund the police” into “reform the police.” The main goal is simple: get people to believe what is being repeated isn’t the real goal of those calling to defund the police. Yeah, about that. Seems there are too many people on both sides calling bullshit or at least saying the messaging is wrong and hurtful to the Left. Not that they necessarily disagree, mind you, just that the message can get interpreted in a way that makes the Left look anti-police.
Which, of course, they are.
I wish I could say that was an attempt at humor via hyperbole, but I can’t. (And, yes, I know I just typed it, so don’t write in about it, okay?) Leftists are on the front lines of this controversy because people are talking about it, but what have they actually done? Demonized police officers as a whole for the actions of too many bad cops. Granted, those too many bad cops shot themselves in the feet with a Howitzer, but their actions have been used time and time again to tarnish the reputations of many police officers. Plus, hating cops guarantees the Left will be able to garner votes and money from people of color, who also aren’t fond of the men and women in blue. Few, if any, Leftists even stop to consider they treat police officers more harshly than they treat Muslims (i.e. #NotAllMuslims after any terrorist attack perpetrated by Muslim radicals).
The funny thing is police unions give a ton of money to Democrats in both the House and the Senate, while the officers themselves are currently giving more money to President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans probably for the same reason flies respond better to honey than to sulfuric acid: self-preservation. The rank and file police know it’s the Right who support them with actions and words, and they know their unions spend dues to help candidates who don’t support them ultimately. Now with the defund the police idea catching fire, they get to see the disconnect between leaders and members play out yet again.
However, we must acknowledge this momentous occasion. This is the first time the Left hasn’t thrown money at a problem in an attempt to fix it. Well, this isn’t exactly true. The defund the police side wants the money spent on police spent on other items, which represents a laundry list of Leftist causes. Public education, ending misogyny and racism, and universal health care, to name just three I’ve seen being tossed around. How universal health care helps make communities safer isn’t exactly spelled out, but I’m sure they’re working on it…eventually. Right after they get done rioting…I mean protesting.
That’s par for the course with Leftists. They sow the seeds of a problem to exploit it later for personal gain, and in this case, it’s honest police officers getting caught in the crossfire. More often than not, too, it’s never those who created the problem in the first place who get the axe. Politicians find ways to keep people under their thumbs, and police unions are usually untouchable. Yet, who are the ones making decisions on what to support and how officers get trained? The answer is, of course, Donald Trump because he’s always the bad guy these days.
Unfortunately for them, this isn’t something the Left can blame President Trump for saying and doing. They’ll try, but it won’t work. This is their baby and they’re going to have to be the ones who figure out how to change its diaper.
In the meantime, we can be safe in the knowledge we can both support police officers and want the bad ones to get their comeuppance. It’s not an either-or proposition, kids. If the Left gets its way, your local police department will wind up like teachers’ unions: incapable of firing the bad to make room for the good, which is a goal we can all support. But we can’t do that by defunding or abolishing the police.
What may make a difference is for police officers to be empowered to engage their communities and prevent bad cops from getting a Get Out of Jail Free card when they screw up. The key will be to reducing the fear and distrust between police and the people they are supposed to protect. It does no one any good to know there are people living in fear or hate because of what the police do to the criminal element. It’s going to be a lot of work, but if it helps create a better working relationship, I’m all for it.
Let’s take the Left at their ever-changing word. They want police departments eliminated through the death of a thousand paper cuts made worse by red tape. If they get what they want, we will all feel the pain.
