Most of this sounds like capitalist class co-optation efforts, celebrity self-promotion, symbolic gestures, token reformism, and totalitarian humanist opportunism. In other words, nothing much at all has changed, at least not yet. BBC There have been protests around the world over the way police treat black people and […]
By Joshua Nevett BBC When videos of controversial police encounters generate headlines, there’s an important figure in the story that we rarely hear about – the person filming.
A lot of “police reform” ideas I come across strike me as token reformist bullshit or an effort to deflect the conversation toward liberal pet projects like expanding the welfare state, but eliminating no-knock warrants, like eliminating qualified immunity, might actually count for something. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, […]
I have the unique perspective of favoring the autonomous zone in Seattle AND the Bundys’ standoff AND the Antifa threats against ICE. I like Krystal’s comment that “if you’re against the police state, be against the police state.” Krystal and Saagar discuss the bizarre response from Gov. Jay […]
Kyle’s commentary in this is pretty good. Most of the “police reforms” Kyle is discussing are a good idea, but the two big ones are ending overcriminalization and holding the police to the same standards as civilians. One point where I would agree with the NYPD police union […]
Attacking police and/or military memorials is another tactically bad idea. The US regime is never going to be defeated through either voting for do-gooders or in a Third World-like armed struggle by radical insurgents, left or right, except perhaps on a peripheral level. The only possible path to […]
Having followed these kinds of controversies for decades, I’d say conservatives are often pretty good at opposing excesses by Democrats, liberals, and leftists (some of the time), while the Left is pretty good at opposed excesses by Republicans (some of the time). It all depends on the context […]
I totally disagree with Laura here, but not for the usual reasons. So far I have actually seen very little “canceling America” going on in the present uprising. Unlike Berkeley or Charlottesville, which were low-grade sports riots carried out by rookie-league middle-class gangs, the present uprising is a […]
The regimes in the former Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites were toppled only when large numbers of rank and file military and police turned on their backs on the state. That is what has to happen in the US as well for the revolution to be […]
I would even oppose torching the “thin blue line” flag, although I’m fine with torching actual police stations (enemy military bases). The eventual success of the revolution would depend in part on the defection or desertion of significant numbers of police. By Maurice Chammah and Cary Aspinwall The […]
The main problem I have with Black Lives Matter is the name sounds overly gushy and sentimental. I much prefer names like Black Panthers or Black Liberation Army. Krystal and Saagar discuss a report from the New York Times that shows how fast public opinion has changed in […]
Maybe so, maybe not. But it’s certainly clear that Marco Rubio is a stupid idea. Sen. Marco Rubio spoke on the Senate floor about the ongoing nationwide protests for George Floyd on Tuesday.
Speculation: George had some kind of goods on Chauvin. A lot of “nightclubs” are money laundering and drug moving fronts (not that I’m necessarily criticizing that). Krystal and Saagar discuss new developments that reveal a history of friction between George Floyd and former officer Derek Chauvin.
A form of union-busting I can get behind. If only Ted Bundy had been a cop, he would have had the police unions behind him. “I am immediately withdrawing from the contract negotiations with the Minneapolis Police Federation.”
I couldn’t care less if the Crispus Attucks of the present uprising was a crack/coke/meth head, a career criminal, or a total scumbag. In fact, I think it’s hilarious. I don’t care if Derek Chauvin had 100 good citizen awards. That’s not the point. I’ve always said that […]
It’s not surprising this would happen in North Carolina. Footwashing is considered to be a sacrament (like Baptism or Eucharist) in some really, really low rent Protestant denominations (whose members are almost always poor whites or poor blacks). But it is interesting to see a practice that is […]
The only kind of “police reform” I’m interested in is the kind that involves fewer laws, fewer arrests, fewer prosecutions, and fewer incarcerations. And it’s not just about “bad apples,” either. A lot of the supposed “good apples” (the ones who are in technical compliance with the “law”) […]
By Dr. Hawzhin Azeez In the last week, we have seen another horrific case of police brutality emerge in the United States with the senseless murder of George Floyd. Following inadequate police response public outrage ensued as the four police officers responsible were only ‘fired’ without further consequence. […]
It wouldn’t personally bother me if we had schools named after serial killers like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer, or famous gangsters like Al Capone or John Dillinger. In fact, I’d likely be in favor of it. But I understand the psychological and ideological reasons for this kind […]
The police aren’t going to be defunded so it’s something of a moot issue. But it would not necessarily be a step upward if the police were replaced merely with private mercenaries, armies of social workers, ordinary criminals, or left/right ideologically/racially-driven vigilantes. I view pan-anarchism/pan-secessionism as a means […]
By Helen Buyniski Russia Today As the massive anti-police-brutality protests sweeping the US are diverted into calls to “defund the police” and to replace them with community-based enforcers, Americans would be wise to keep an eye on “who benefits.” There’s no question US police departments have become too […]
This is an interesting discussion. They both have unusual perspectives given their unusual backgrounds. John Wood, Jr. is a former Republican nominee for Congress, contributor at Quillette and Areo Magazines, and a national spokesperson for Braver Angels. Read his compelling op-ed about his experience growing up Black in […]
Police have retreated from Seattle’s East Precinct and protesters have established an autonomous zone in the neighborhood. Following Monday’s retreat of police and national guard, protesters have begun erecting barricades after a week-long blockade of the East Precinct. Read more about it at Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.
Krystal’s commentary in this is pretty “radical” for a mainstream social democrat. She’s nowhere near where I am but this isn’t bad. Though she takes the standard “less money for police, more for social services” line, similar to the “less money for war, more for whatever” line many […]
Current faux Sinophobic rhetoric aside, China is just a province in global capitalism, a loan and labor mine for Western governments and corporations, and a test market in state repression. Far too many Western radicals promote China, Russia, Syria, Iran, North Korea, etc. as model societies or as […]
I am 100% in favor of many of the ideas being pushed by criminal justice “reformers” such as the abolition of cash bail, repealing mandatory minimum sentencing, civilian review boards, body cameras, police accountability, de-escalation training, etc. But let’s not pretend these are “radical” ideas or even particular […]
Because the police don’t care if someone is filming them if the wider apparatus of the state is backing them up. Why does anyone think Derek Chauvin choked George Floyd to death knowing full well he was being filmed the whole time? Because he thought the department, prosecutor’s […]
LOL. This is so predictable. The progressives insincerely co-opt a genuinely radical idea, and then the right-wing actually takes them seriously, and points the finger saying, “Look at those extremists over there!” What’s interesting about Carlson is that on economics and foreign policy he often sounds like Bernie […]
Our own Vince describes what is really happening with the “defund the police” movement. This is entirely predictable. This is a huge issue nationwide: the movement being co-opted by liberal/democratic forces. Essentially what has happened is the movement is being forked. There are heavy government resources being thrown […]
Well, that didn’t take long. When America’s own Prince Andrew picks up on “defund the police” we know something’s up. This is like some regional feudal overlord or lower strata royalty from the Middle Ages saying, “Defund the King’s knights!” in the aftermath of a peasant revolt. Obviously, […]
David Pakman is obviously concerned that “abolish the police” rhetoric is going to scare the hell out of suburban swing voters and undermine Biden’s electoral chances. I would agree with that if I gave a shit about Biden’s electoral chances. Predictably, the policing system that David is advocating […]
Tom Woods raises some important questions about “defunding the police” that left, right, and center libertarians (along with honest socialists and dissident rightists) should consider. The “progressives” aren’t going to give up on their beloved managerial state and social engineering this easily. And the now-hated suburbanite “Karens” are […]
Modern policing systems were developed in England in the early 19th century, during the early period of the Industrial Revolution, for the purpose of controlling what were called the “dangerous classes,” i.e. workers. In America, the racial caste system was enacted parallel to the system of class stratification, […]
This doesn’t really sound like “defunding police” at all. It sounds like merely shifting some of the resources used for municipal policing to social services, and perhaps easing on the enforcement end on some things. Basically, the European model. In other words, very mild reformism (at best). And […]
Cuccinelli is both a Republican and an Italian Catholic, neither of which are known for their love of black folks. But the real issue with this kind of stuff seems to be a matter of status. All other variables being equal, I’d say that it is still more […]
As I would have predicted, the System’s response to the insurrection is to call for greater centralization of the police state, which “progressives” are happy to oblige. Some examples from the article: Charles H. Ramsey, a former chief in the District and Philadelphia and co-chair of President Barack […]
Because the US is run by serial war criminals. Duh? By Janea Wilson In These Times On June 2, President Trump threatened to deploy military troops against Americans in response to nationwide protests after the recent murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Trump’s suggestion to use military force […]
By Tomas Navia and Sam Donnenberg VICE As protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd and police brutality entered their eighth night, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in New York Tuesday yelling the name of another black man killed in a confrontation […]
By Adam Gabbatt The Guardian The nationwide anti-police brutality protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the US have been marked by widespread incidents of police violence, including punching, kicking, gassing, pepper-spraying and driving vehicles at often peaceful protesters in states across the country. The actions […]
By Matt Agorist Free Thought Project Americans are up in arms right now over the near epidemic number of deaths of African-American at the hands of police, and rightfully so. African-Americans make up only 13 percent of the population, yet they are the victims in 26 percent of […]
By Peter Aitkin FOX News Minneapolis’ left-leaning City Council members on Sunday announced a veto-proof push to disband the Minneapolis police department, ramping up a major conflict inside the city following the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
By Estefan Saucedo MSN A veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members announced during a rally at Powderhorn Sunday that they are planning to disband the police department. City Council members said they will invest in community-led safety initiatives instead of the police department. “Our commitment is to […]
Axios Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joined a group of nearly 1,000 Christians marching toward the White House on Sunday. What they’re saying: Asked why it was important for him to be out protesting, Romney told NBC News: “We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against […]
By Nicky Reid aka Comrade Hermit Exile in Happy Valley It always ends this way, you can almost set your watch to it. A glamorous soirée rambling into the wee hours of the morning in an opulent townhouse on a tony tree lined street of any given international […]
The killing of blacks by police under dubious circumstances is only the tip of the iceberg as far as problems with the police state. However reasonable and justified, the protests against police killings of blacks need to escalate into protests against police misconduct generally, including non-lethal misconduct involving […]
This is an interesting website. Law enforcement agencies across the country have failed to provide us with even basic information about the lives they have taken. And while the recently signed Death in Custody Reporting Act mandates this data be reported, its unclear whether police departments will actually […]
By Scottie Andrew CNN (CNN)There’s a growing group of dissenters who believe Americans can survive without law enforcement as we know it. And Americans, those dissenters believe, may even be better off without it. The solution to police brutality and racial inequalities in policing is simple, supporters say: […]
By Hannah Knowles, Brent Griffiths, Miriam Berger, Brittany Shammas, Meryl Kornfield, Candace Buckner, Samantha Pell, Derek Hawkins The Washington Post Cities and towns across the United States faced an outpouring of protests Saturday amid the national outrage over law enforcement excess sparked by the killing of George Floyd […]
The main critique I would have of the liberal/left/BLM approach is not that their perspective is “too radical” but that it is not radical enough. Much of this kind of activism is focused solely on police killings and the racial disparities involved. Fair enough. Murder by cop is […]
“What’s the world coming to when we can’t just beat up some random old man and crack his skull? Blue Lives Matter!!” This really is an “A Clockwork Orange” scenario here. By Rachel Sharp Daily Mail Two Buffalo cops have been arrested and charged with second degree assault […]
Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson
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