Yesterday Washington post announced a substantial lay off on its news side. Today they announced an expansion of its opinion side
As you might see from the responses, this skews very heavily tot he right, pro-authorities side. Most of these people are ones who pretend to be anti-Trump but then bend over backwards to still excuse and support him.
sign of the times.
Marcy Wheeler (as usual) is all over it. Remembering back to Manafort’s little game of footsie with the Mueller investigators , this line particularly struck me ;
“It seems likely, then, Manafort got visibility onto what the FBI knew about him. And he got it around the same time Konstantin Kilimnik was included in a conspiracy indictment with Paul Manafort in June 2018. He almost certainly got it before the Mueller investigation was over, which hypothetically could have influenced or facilitated Manafort’s effort to thwart DOJ’s investigation.”
Have been rendered essentially speechless regarding the Tyre Nichols murder footage.
What the fuck is wrong with us?
I couldn’t even bring myself to watch it.
There’s nothing wrong with us mate , but there’s a lot wrong with the people who police us. It’s almost as if being a sadistic psychopath is a minimum requirement now for joining the police.
People are fuckwits.
This is the comment from the Memphis PD in announcing the formation of the SCORPION unit ( Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) that these cops were part of
It’s important to us that each member of the community feels they can go to the grocery store or live in their house without their house being shot or shooting frequently occurring on the streets and on the roadways,
It’s a sad irony that Nichols can then be heard crying “Im just trying to get home” while being beaten to death by these cops, over a traffic stop.
And to reiterate the point made previously in this discussion. Read the official statement from the MPD about his arrest, then compare that to what we now know. All police statements should be automatically view skeptically as a back covering exercise, not a statement of fact.
Do we know why the police stopped him in the first place ?
They claim reckless driving. Even if legit, and there is no supporting evidence of there being probable cause to pull him over, from the outset they did not treat this as a routine reckless driving stop.
What happened is awful beyond belief, and it massively undercuts public trust in the police.
To my knowledge, the officers responsible were all sacked, and they have been charged with murder.
So, awful as it is, it does appear as though justice is moving in the right direction for them.
Still, that won’t bring the poor fella back, who was just trying to make his way home.
Obviously, thugs carried away in the heat of the moment. Nothing else explains it. Like a pack of wolves attacking a sickly lone wolf just for spite. How would anyone think in this day and age they could get away with something like that? Cameras everywhere. George Floyd cops all convicted. Quite nutty and sad.
Yeah, they hang the officers out to dry when they’re black, without even any of the normal support from the union. They’ll probably use the fact the officers were black as evidence there isnt a racism problem in the force
There are systemic issues and deep rooted problems in policing in America. How much of it is addressed in light of this latest incident remains to be seen.
I am not hopeful for the sort of root and branch reform that is necessary.
Be that as it may, the ones responsible for this incident look like they will get justice, which is at least something. It doesn’t bring Tyre back, and it doesn’t lessen the horror of what happened, but at least for these former police officers, they should be getting what they deserve.
Given the state of overall policing, that, at least, is something.
I get the reaction, but we have to look at the bigger picture. It is not justice to just imprison the cops and call it a day. They did what they were put out on the street to do. So we dont get to pretend that police are sorting themselves out by having the people who put them out there act heroic and righteous by doing the bare minimum in response.
I’m not pretending that policing is right and good. There are significant issues across the country, and it needs root and branch reform.
I’m not holding my breath on that one. It’s a bit like when there’s a mass shooting, and people expect meaningful gun reform. I just don’t see that America has the desire, with enough people at all levels required, to make it happen.
Still, in this one instance, sacked police officers who then go to jail for a long time for their wrongdoing, is something.
I had this exact thought…it’s so fucking gross.
Just a reminder
Good article, thank you.
The gun culture here seems to put things on edge too quickly, and when coupled with a police force that is not well trained, or rounded, it leads to the sort of situation we see.
Root and branch reform is needed, and to my mind it must go hand in hand with gun reform.
Mate of mine is going through police academy here in Maine. He qualified on the revolver on day two of training! Didn’t even have a uniform yet.
By contrast at BMT I didn’t hold a real weapon until week 5.
I feel like little nuances like that help to establish the mindset of what is important. To the police, the ability to shoot is apparently one of the first things you should learn.
That’s absolutely nuts, Russian recrutes don’t even get a gun after 3 mùonths of basic and sent to the front line.