The Way Forward

.... "soft on crime". And it's largely our own fault.

The slogan "defund the police" came from our quarter. Many democrats, rather than just call it bullshit, excuseed it through attenuating justifications that it really meant this or that or the other thing. To which those who originated the slogan maintained that, no, it actually, really means defund the police.

I'm not sure if you have encountered it, but right here on DU we have folks who insist dogmatically that ACAB. I bet you know what that stands for, but if you don't there is a wiki article you can refer to. That certainly isn't a helpful stance in electoral politics, and it is one that taints our candidates.

Bill Clinton, who, in this very thread has been denigrated, responded to concerns about rising crime by promising to hire 100,000 police officers. And after years of progressives sneering at law enforcement, he rebuffed Sister Souljah for celebrating race-based violence. And here we are sneering at him, one of only two Democratic presidents since FDR to be reelected, because he wasn't soft on crime.

Being soft on crime is an example of the permissiveness that we are yoked with, and criminal behavior has nothing to do with freedom.