Yikes. I gotta say that polling is worse than I’d have predicted, especially among Dems.
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Extract this police-defunding talk to another thread. I’d also propose that Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish The Police and “Defund The Police And Build Something To Replace Them” be separate threads so that there’s some clarity as to what is being discussed.
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We getting a new VP then?
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“Did not inhale” 
Whenever the ‘we need police to defend us’ angle gets brought up I immediately think of all the real career criminals whose predations I’ve faded at work who no level of law enforcement gives the tiniest fuck about.
The current system is mostly security theater and keeping the poors away from places they aren’t welcome.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my big suspicion is that the police are aware of, and probably taking a cut from, all of the real criminal activity in most places in the US. They have no accountability and their internal culture is broken beyond repair.
So yeah the current police state needs to be torn out and rebuilt from scratch. I realize how miserable that will be, and my biggest worry is about what happens when these newly unemployed former cops decide to take their skills freelance. This whole situation reads like the origin story for a particularly nasty crime syndicate. If that sounds far fetched feel free to do literally any research at all about the state of play in Mexico.
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nailed it
Promises made, promises kept.
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What a completely useless self-own. Biden should be playing up the COVID Bill but the coverage is completely on this pointless marijuana policy.
This reminds me of stupid eDem genuflecting towards the Great and Glorious US Military. They’re never gonna be the party for boot lickers but they are so terrified of being accused of being anti-military they can’t help themselves.
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No smoke without?
Nope. Reform is not appropriate. As already mentioned by Chads we have spent decades upon decades claiming police reform.
That is not what is needed. Will there likely be some tiny component of a new system that represents traditional policing? Perhaps, but that would be the extent of it.
Reform implies just changing how entrenched police do their jobs. That isn’t it at all. You get rid of 98% of police and take 98% of their “job” away from them. That is beyond reform.
Defund and abolish may sound harsh and extreme to some but harsh and extreme measures are required. Watering down the rhetoric doesn’t help anyone. If people get their hackles up over “defund” then the possibility for them to educate themselves on how serious an issue it is and how a better way can be paved, then it’s worth it.
Police are entrenched in our society and they have no motivation other than protecting their existence. You say “reform” and police departments will be more than happy to hold up a shield that they have reformed and want you to go away. Should we then say “Reform Harder”?
Decades and decades of reality are what made these fundamental changes absolutely necessary.
It’s not untrue when they say the master criminals are rarely threatened by the police. Police spend almost all their resources on people better helped by mental health service, dealing with poverty and homelessness, and providing real opportunity.
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Advertisers use puzzling messaging all the time. Calvin Klein and Apple do commercials that don’t mention their products. The fact that everyone is talking about something radical is probably an indication that the slogan has been effective from that point of view. If you were asked to advise a bunch of broke unorganized students and activists how they were going to get many of the people all around the world aware of what they were doing, what would you come up with?
What is being sold is “Fuck the Police”. (another effective slogan)
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Wtf White House staff losing jobs for past marijuana use in states where it’s legal.
Jesus.
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“end homelessness” “solve the mental health ER crisis”
What? So absolute. Nothing is going to end and solve these things. It’s just whether it’s better or worse.
I don’t see why you don’t want to increase police funding. Do you? If not, why not? Do you assume the funding levels are perfect now? Shouldn’t be increased or decreased? Or you have no idea?
LAPD destroying people’s homes today:
https://mobile.twitter.com/chadloder/status/1372679589403664384
Should we give the LAPD more money to serve & protect, or should we DTP?
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