New Rules
It's been a weird April.
Not bad, but a little unexpected. One, a jury actually found the cop who pressed the life out of George Floyd guilty of murder and manslaughter. That does not happen often in any country. And it might represent the beginning of real police reform. Remember, it's not the apple, it's the orchard. And we need to figure out how to protect ourselves without endangering ourselves at the same time.
Be honest, I don't care if you are black, brown, or white, these people are scary. Many are rude, power crazed ass holes that decided to grow up and wear a gun and a club and a tazer. My solution is the same one they had in the TV town Mayberry. We need the Barney Fife Rule.
This from a Bullet for Barney:
The Andy Griffith Show aired on CBS from 1960 to 1968. The comedy centered on a sheriff and his deputy, “Barney Fife,” in a small, fictional town in North Carolina. A continuing theme of the show, and the source of much of the comedy, was Deputy Fife’s gun and bullet. In an attempt to protect both public safety and the Deputy himself, the sheriff gave him only one bullet which he had to carry in his shirt pocket. Barney’s attempt to get that bullet into his gun was the cause of many comedic moments in the show. But Barney’s bullet may not be so funny anymore. Today Deputy Barney can get a lot more than a bullet to maintain order in small town America.
In the 1980s Congress authorized what is called the “1033 Program” which enables the transfer of surplus military goods from the Department of Defense to local police agencies. 13,000 police agencies participate in the program and in 2012, $546 million of defense surplus was transferred to local police departments.
The equipment delivered to small towns across the country includes high-powered weapons and military assault vehicles. The list of available items includes “aircraft, boats, Humvees, body armor, weapon scopes, infrared imaging systems and night-vision goggles,” and some less lethal items like “bookcases, hedge trimmers, telescopes, brassieres, golf carts, coffee makers and television sets.”
Rising Star, Texas, a town with one police officer, has acquired $3.2 million worth of equipment including nine televisions, 12 pairs of binoculars, 11 computers, three deep-fat fryers, two meat slicers, 22 large space heaters, a pool table, 25 sleeping bags and playground equipment.
The Oxford, Alabama, police force has received more than $10.4 million in equipment including a $1.5 million infrared surveillance apparatus for a helicopter. The problem, of course is, that the Oxford police department doesn’t have a helicopter.
And finally, as with all such government programs, there have been problems of abuse. The Bureau, IL, sheriff began lending M-14 rifles to his friends who were not in law enforcement. A North Carolina department was caught selling M-14 and M-16 assault rifles on E-Bay. And the Pinal County, Arizona, sheriff’s department tried to auction their equipment off.
In Mayberry, Andy figured that Barney might be trusted with a Gun, but not with a Bullet.
And some version of the Barney Rule is what we need in today's policing. Like the comic says, "Guns don't kill people, Bullets kill people."
Another big surprise is this Biden Administration. I thought he might be pretty good, but listen folks, Biden and Kamala are hitting it out of the park.
By the end of their 100th day, they had managed to set in motion what it takes to get 200 million vaccinations in the arms of eager Americans. Now, almost 100 million are fully vaccinated and those who have some protection with one shot is over 55%.
In the same 100 days, a massive Covid relief bill was passed through budget reconciliation getting $1400.00 in the hands of all who made less than $75,000 in their last tax return.
And based on the ruling of the the Senate Parliamentarian, another budget reconciliation is in the works for Biden's massive infrastructure bill.
But most impressively, Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress was well received by over 27 million viewers.
According to a poll run by CBS News-YouGov, 85% of viewers said they approved of Biden’s speech with most of them using the adjectives “Presidential, “Caring,” “Inspiring” and “Bold” to describe the President.
Nearly 80% of viewers said the speech made them feel more optimistic about the country while 83% said they felt the coronavirus outbreak was getting better.
A CNN-SSRS poll reflected similar numbers as 78% of respondents had a very or somewhat positive reaction to Biden’s speech while 71% felt more optimistic about the country's direction.
The speech seems to have helped Biden’s favorability among Republicans and independents as the share of Republicans saying Biden's policies would move the country in the right direction grew from 13% to 27%, while among independents that percentage soared from 61% to 73%.
Many have expected the Biden presidency to be transitional.
It may instead be TRANSFORMATIONAL.
New Rule: Good Government governs.
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Labels: culture, political philosophy, the world