Rashida Tlaib: 'No More Policing... It Can't Be Reformed'

I’m old enough to remember when 24-hour news was new, and everybody predicted that knowing about current events the moment they happen would make everybody smarter and better informed.

Isn’t that funny?

Instead, here’s what we have now: Anytime something bad happens that fits into the prevailing liberal media narrative, it’s milked for every last drop of outrage. Any facts that contradict the accepted narrative are downplayed or outright ignored. For example, whenever a white cop kills a black person, it’s proof that America is irredeemably racist and it justifies the now-inevitable “mostly peaceful” rioting. That’s what we’re seeing right now, once again, in Minnesota.

This is bad news for anybody who cares about facts and evidence. These times aren’t made for people who actually want information before forming an opinion. But it’s a golden age for journalists and politicians and everybody else who loves to stoke outrage and divide people.

For example, get a load of these cynical, exploitative creeps:

It wasn't an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist.

Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder.

No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed.

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 12, 2021

From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this. https://t.co/Z4JV3iWUKF

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 12, 2021

We are sick and heartbroken.

In the closing days of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, Brooklyn Center police killed 20 year old Daunte Wright, another Black man, during a traffic stop.

This violence is a basic part of police interactions with communities of color. It must stop. pic.twitter.com/bCqp3xRnT8

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 12, 2021

In case you hadn’t noticed, the office building where these lawmakers work has been completely fenced in with barbed wire. There are armed guards all over the Capitol. Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar are being protected by the very men and women they claim to revile.

Does “The Squad” know that what they’re saying isn’t true? Are they heartless liars, or merely insane hysterics with no connection to reality? I don’t presume to know — “Half and half” is my standard answer — but I’ll start listening to those idiots when they call for the abolition of the Capitol Police. I don’t hear them clamoring to tear down those fences and shoo away all the men with guns. When Tlaib and her pals start living by the rules they advocate for the rest of us, then I’ll know they’re serious.

It’s easy to stoke riots when you know you’re safe behind your very own imperial guard.

As for the police shooting they’re upset about, here’s the video if you haven’t seen it and still want to:

WARNING GRAPHIC

Brooklyn Center, MN police release bodycam footage of the moments leading to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright pic.twitter.com/Ig9CKQaBN0

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 12, 2021

That’s tough to watch. And now here’s something you may not want to hear. Three things, actually:

1. That guy shouldn’t have pushed the cop away and gotten back into his car.
2. The other cop shouldn’t have shot him.
3. People shouldn’t riot or encourage rioting.

Everybody in this scenario is wrong. Nobody is doing the right thing, because they have no incentive to do the right thing.

Now it turns out the cop who shot that guy has been on the police force for 25 years. Yes, she was put in a stressful, high-pressure situation. But that’s the job. I don’t know that I would’ve handled it any better, which is why I shouldn’t be a police officer. And neither should she.

(I won’t even address the question of whether women should be put in these dangerous situations in the first place, because I’ve got enough people mad at me already.)

Also, in addition to what I just said and in no way contradicting it: The guy who got shot is neither a hero nor a martyr. This is what can happen when you resist arrest. Is it worth your life to become the latest hashtag cause? He’d be better off if people didn’t feel the need to #SayHisName because he did something stupid.

Over 20 years ago, Chris Rock did a sketch about how to get through an encounter with the police when you’re black:

That aired all the way back in 2000. If Rock did that sketch today, he’d get #canceled quicker than you can say “Kevin Hart.” Nobody wants to hear about personal responsibility anymore. Hell, nobody wanted to hear about it back then either, but there was no Twitter yet.