I exclaim in Cairo slum dialect Arabic to Steve…
WOW. Saying efforts at “incremental reform have failed,” a veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council announce their commitment to “disbanding” the city’s Police Department and relying much more on social workers/non-police first responders. https://t.co/N2dvFncDNS
— David Menschel (@davidminpdx) June 7, 2020
In spite of the Mayor’s opposition, the Minneapolis City Counsel will vote to disband the Minneapolis Police Department and develop a new community based model for the city. The Minneapolis Appeal is reporting that it will be a veto-proof majority.
From The Appeal:
On Sunday afternoon, a veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members will announce their commitment to disbanding the city’s embattled police department, which has endured relentless criticism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.
Steve Fletcher, a Third Ward City Counsel member explained why the City Counsel is taking this step in an Op-ed for Time Magazine:
My assessment of what is now necessary is shaped by the failure of the reforms we’ve attempted, in the face of opposition from the department and the Police Federation. We have a talented, thoughtful police chief who has attempted some important steps. He has fired officers for significant abuses only to have his decisions overturned and those officers reinstated by arbitrators. Mayor Frey has met fierce resistance from the Federation to implement even minor policy changes.
There is another reason reform can be daunting, even scary. My reform advocacy, incremental though it has been, has prompted intense political attacks from police and their allies, who up to now have been confident that their support for police expansion was a mainstream point of view. And they do not limit their attacks to politics. Politicians who oppose the department’s wishes find slowdowns in their wards. After we cut money from the proposed police budget, I heard from constituents whose 9-1-1 calls took forever to get a response, and I heard about officers telling business owners to call their councilman about why it took so long. Since I’ve started talking publicly about this, elected officials from several cities and towns around the country have contacted me to tell me I am not alone in this experience.
Libertarians have been writing about the state of modern policing and calling for change for years and as James Reilly wrote “We should all agree, as we once had, Defund, Disband, Abolish.” and I would add, help create something better.
Police and fireman are a powerful force in city politics. They show up and vote. Union members are active in door-to-door politics. The politicians need them to raise revenue and protect them from the wrath of the masses. Now they are threatening their paychecks.
Video posted of LAPD officers outraged over proposed cuts following protests addressing LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. “Now you’re cutting from their families and they put everything on the line? We are going to fight… At the ballot box.” @CBSLA @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/9YXcMCd3Hd
— JASMINE VIEL (@jasmineviel) June 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/Kim7KONIC/status/1268862457423986691
Either this officer could control this dog but chose not to, or the officer cannot control the dog and neither of them belongs on the street. #PoliceReform #PoliceViolence #PoliceBrutalityPandemic pic.twitter.com/xdRi52BHtj
— A Pox on Both Their Houses (@PoxOnBothHouses) June 5, 2020
Unarmed, disabled, homeless man: *exists*
LAPD: Shoot that motherfucker in the head.#PoliceBrutalityPandemic pic.twitter.com/vfdEZn9Wa2— Aaron (@Terminal_Redux) June 5, 2020
The teeny-tiny little coward.
Tommy is joined by anarchist musician and poet Tom Burton. They discuss Tom’s upcoming EP, his writing process, and the themes within his songs before diving into the nature of the state.
This is not good:
The Pentagon has ordered forces and bases in the Washington D.C. area to “Force Protection Condition Charlie,” a threat condition that indicates “likely” targeting of military forces and or terrorist action and the second highest alert level available.
The state of higher alert was ordered as of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning for the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The order follows a rapidly moving and confusing set of statements and threats coming out of the White House in the previous 24 hours. During this period, President Donald Trump has threatened state governors with federal intervention, and appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley as the commander of federal forces—a legally questionable order. Under the law, the chairman serves as the principal military adviser to the president, not a military commander.
How badly off course is the USA when the Chinese Communist Party’s essentially fascist dictatorship can credibly laugh and mock our failures like this?
The Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump governments have driven this country into the ground with their horrible foreign, economic and police state policies and made a mockery out of our slogans of freedom.
“The violent protests in the streets of urban America are further discrediting the U.S. in the eyes of ordinary Chinese,” said Susan Shirk, chair of the U.C. San Diego 21st Century China Center. “The propaganda depicts American politicians as hypocrites living in glass houses while throwing stones at China.”
Ms. Shirk said that as the reputation of the United States suffers in China, fewer people might be willing to voice support for American ideals, such as free markets and civil liberties.
“Even without the propaganda, Chinese people nowadays find little to admire in the U.S.,” she said. “As the U.S. model is tarnished, the voice of Chinese liberals is silenced.”
Great job remaking the world, guys.
