2020...

JULY 5, 2019
Criminal Justice Reform Comes Home to Roost
By Colin Flaherty
“Why did they have to let him go?” That is what an anguished Anastasia Starr shrieked after watching career criminal Dietrich Thomas kill her husband Eric just a few days ago.

Dietrich was out on bail for a similar shooting in February, just one in a long series of arrests for guns and violence.

Now Eric’s family wants to know how that could have happened. Aren’t dangerous people supposed to be in jail so they can stop hurting people? That was the way it was, before Criminal Justice Reform.

From the smallest district attorney to the President of the United States, the so-called Criminal Justice Reform movement is now the law of the land in places like Houston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore, and dozens of other cities.

The same public officials who used to brag about how many criminals they arrested are now proud of how many they let go. In Chicago, the local papers run banner headlines touting the success of this new social-justice strategy -- as measured by the record low number of people in Chicago jails.

The thinking is that we have to rethink how we treat black criminals. The talking heads and politicos agree that black people are victims of relentless white racism, all the time, everywhere, and that explains everything -- especially why so many black people are stopped, arrested, charged, convicted, sent to prison, released, then returned to prison in numbers that are so wildly out of proportion.

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And when black people are arrested, is it really fair to keep people like Dietrich Thomas in jail with a high bail before he is put on trial? Isn’t that just criminalizing poverty? Isn’t that just one more example of institutional racism?

More and more public officials are giving that question a resounding “Yes.” The families of more and more victims are wondering how this kind of insanity created so many nightmares.

Here’s a homework assignment: Check how often victims of crime are mentioned when talking about Criminal Justice Reform. Then check how often white racism is mentioned during the same conversation.
 
You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand. Two critical points: This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.

Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows: “Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. ‘The arm of the Lord is not shortened,’ and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”--Ted Cruz responding to Colin Kapernick and his cherry picking, race baiting bitterness.
 
So far I have to say I'm impressed with Biden's response here. Harris cut her teeth as a prosecutor, and did a good job pinning him down with some old vote from a lifetime ago. But outside of the constantly outraged progressive left, I sort of think he's right in saying let's stop with the gottcha games and talk about how we're going to get the country back on track?

That said, it's ruff and tumble out there, and plainly identity politics put some wind in in Harris's sails. So in terms of realpolitik Binden needs to find issues that draw larger support then the far left can generate. Issues like wage stagnation, or access to college and tradesman education opportunities- for everyone. Even fixing Obamacare. He's not going to be able to move past this by just saying let's talk about something more current.
I.e. You elect him and take the Senate and Dems can be trusted to run things and not to jam a bunch of crazy left ideas down everyone's throat. Which I agree with Joe, when he says its what most people really want...


'I don't have to atone': Biden dismisses busing controversy
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/04/joe-biden-busing-kamala-harris-1398937

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — Joe Biden on Thursday dismissed the school busing controversy between him and Kamala Harris as a dated issue that “99 percent” of Americans are unfamiliar with, while asserting he is still “way ahead” in the Democratic presidential campaign.

Describing himself as an “overwhelming supporter of civil rights and civil liberties,” he said, “My record stands for itself.”


“I don’t have to atone,” Biden told reporters after darting through an Independence Day parade in Iowa.

Biden’s remarks come a week after Harris criticized him in a presidential debate for his past opposition to busing and former associations with segregationist senators. Harris surged in public opinion polls following the debate, while Biden fell back.

Following an Associated Press report on Wednesday that Harris said busing students today should be “in the toolbox of what is available and what can be used for the goal of desegregating America’s schools.” Biden responded that Harris is “absolutely right.”

When asked if Harris’ view of busing now was similar to the position she challenged him for holding decades ago, Biden said, “Look, she’s a good person, she is smart as can be, and she feels strongly.”

He said Harris’ criticism “came out of nowhere” and “didn’t seem to be something at all consistent with anything I’d been accused of before.”

Then, he said, “We need to talk about the future … Busing is something that 99 percent of the American people don’t even know what we’re talking about here.”

Biden spoke to reporters after participating in a parade here, racing back and forth to greet parade-goers on the sidewalks, including one who had yelled at him, “Sleepy Joe!”

At times, Biden jogged, leaving fellow candidate Beto O’Rourke, who had started the parade two car-lengths behind him, several blocks back.

Biden said he was pleased with his debate performance and, when asked about his recent dip in polls, responded, “I’m still way ahead.”

But he appeared to lament the tone of the debate last week.

“I’m not going to go back and talk about the record of anyone from 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Biden said. “There’s a lot out there that a lot of people would like to do differently than they did. But everything is lost in context, as well. The context of the time is something that the vast majority of people don’t know from 25 or 30 years ago. And so, you can easily distort it, particularly in 60 seconds if you have 30 seconds to respond.”

He said Democrats should focus on their current proposals to address education, health care and “a whole range of other things.”

“Let’s move on and talk about what do we do now,” he said.
Click to expand...
 
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tenacious said:
So far I have to say I'm impressed with Biden's response here. Harris cut her teeth as a prosecutor, and did a good job pinning him down with some old vote from a lifetime ago. But outside of the constantly outraged progressive left, I sort of think he's right in saying let's stop with the gottcha games and talk about how we're going to get the country back on track?

That said, it's ruff and tumble out there, and plainly identity politics put some wind in in Harris's sails. So in terms of realpolitik Binden needs to find issues that draw larger support then the far left can generate. Issues like wage stagnation, or access to college and tradesman education opportunities- for everyone. Even fixing Obamacare. He's not going to be able to move past this by just saying let's talk about something more current.
I.e. You elect him and take the Senate and Dems can be trusted to run things and not to jam a bunch of crazy left ideas down everyone's throat. Which I agree with Joe, when he says its what most people really want...
Click to expand...
Busing vs t's appeasement tour.
 
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