Has Our Criminal Justice System Gotten Better Since George Floyd's Death?

Plus: critical race theory and ideal libertarian political appointees

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Has Our Criminal Justice System Gotten Better Since George Floyd's Death?

A year since George Floyd's death launched the nation into a summer of protests and calls for police reform, Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie reflect on changes to the criminal justice system since then, on The Reason Roundtable.

Discussed in the show:

0:26: Are we better off in criminal justice since George Floyd's killing?

27:42: The big conservative backlash against "critical race theory."

33:00: Weekly Listener Question: Let's say Justin Amash gets elected president in 2024. Who goes in his cabinet? What libertarians are out there with the policy expertise and political experience to hold high appointments like that?

45:52: Media recommendations for the week.

This weeks links:

• "One year on, how George Floyd's murder has changed the world," by Deborah Douglas, Angelique Chrisafis, and Aamna Mohdin
• "14 Trump Voters on the Legacy of George Floyd," by Patrick Healy
• Sean Ono Lennon thread on political correctness
• "The Cult of Kiddie Danger," by Lenore Skenazy
• "Biden will host the Floyd family but will miss his police reform deadline," by Laura Barrón-López

Send your questions to [e-mail]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

• Data privacy is now finally in your hands. Introducing Sekur, the Swiss-hosted instant messaging and email platform. Trusted by privacy advocates across the
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Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Assistant production by Regan Taylor.
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve.

What are we consuming this week?

Katherine Mangu-Ward

• The Garrick Year, by Margaret Drabble

Matt Welch

• Every Bob Dylan Studio Album, Ranked

Nick Gillespie

• Some Kind of Heaven

Peter Suderman

• For All Mankind

---

Comments

[Dillinger]

>>The big conservative backlash against "critical race theory."

"conservative" negligible in backlash against total nonsense.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

Hopping ton the wayback machine, I remember an interview on CRT with Andrew Breitbart, while Obama was running for his first term.

I thought he was nuts. He may have been, but he was dead on about CRT.

[Dillinger]

is like nobody ever read The Emperor's New Clothes

[JohnnyAppleseed]

The entire purpose of CRT and other regime propaganda is humiliation. Once you understand that, liberal policies become a lot more clear:
>drive the prius
>stand in the DMV line
>spend weeks doing paperwork and filling out forms for the privilege of paying taxes
>sit through the 4 hour HR meeting
>eat the bugs
>live in the pod

[Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger]

Wouldn’t it be preferable to exterminate the progressive movement and cleanse Marxism from America? I’m all for giving progs a chance to unconditionally surrender and abandon all the their evil beliefs, but the some of them won’t. So they will have to be deal with.

Which will simply be self defense.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Huh, I didn't know Breitbart was into retro video gaming.

[JesseAz]

Every libertarian should push back against all forms of critical theories. The fact reason editors don't says a ton.

[ThomasD]

Yep. They can't even acknowledge that it is a real thing. Instead having to say it as "critical face theory."

I guess that is to be expected coming from such "libertarians."

[Mother's Lament]

I remember Gillespie a few years back writing sweet nothings on postmodernism, and I thought he was just going through a phase.

[Zeb]

He has a PhD in English. I mean...

And postmodern thinking is kind of fun. You just have to understand that it has little place in the real world.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

They must all be thoroughly wracked with white guilt down to their core. There's no other rational explanation for why they're terrified to say even one slightly bad word about a fucking asshole like Lori Lightfoot, the worst mayor in America by miles.

[ThomasD]

Conservative is apparently synonymous with opposition to Marxism.

Scare quotes or not.

[Mother's Lament]

TBQH I think Marx would have shit himself if he saw that his theories had led to madness like CRT and Intersectionality.

Also, somebody should build statues of Foucault and Derrida, so normal people can pull them down.

[American Mongrel]

I dont believe either utopian socialist or "scientific" progressive philosophers would have anticipated the evils that their ideologies would unleash on the world. (Though revolutionary france should have been a warning)

[JohnnyAppleseed]

It's become more efficient. Namely the regime is emptying prisons, so they can fill them with their ideological opponents.

[Wygent03]

Nice, concise, right on target.

[Jerryskids]

I would suggest George Floyd got justice, he probably should have asked for mercy.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

"Justice" was getting murdered by a cop on the ground?

[buckleup]

No fatty. Justice in the courtroom.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

All of this could have been avoided if Chauvin had done his job right, told Floyd to shut the fuck up, and closed the door on his cruiser.

[Gospace]

No. George Floyd would still have died from his self inflicted drug overdose, and the persecutors would have found some other trumped up charges to imprison Chauvin on.

The world is better off without George Floyd in it. And there is no doubt at all that his drug overdose, not the actions of Derek Chauvin, is what killed him. At least one juror lied to get on the panel in order to vote "GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY!" Another alternate juror pretty much stated she would have voted guilty to avoid riots.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

You mean like all of the other white officers who successfully arrest black suspects without managing to kill them, on a daily basis? They are all facing trumped-up charges too, right?

Chauvin showed at a bare minimum, reckless disregard for Floyd's life. He did not deserve to be murdered by Chauvin on the street.

[JesseAz]

You mean the arrests not involving lethal doses of drugs and resisting arrest?

[Carey Allison]

Is no one - not a single soul - willing to offer their congratulations to George Floyd on the completion of his first year of being clean and sober? That's really disappointing, if you think about it.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Jfc, there are some toxic sick motherfuckers here. Well, that's another muted user for me, thanks.

[JesseAz]

LOL. Nobody but you and sarcasmic cares. The fact that you can't recognize evidence and just parrot media narratives does say a lot though.

[Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger]

And really, who cares about them? Both should be dead before too long anyway. Sarc’s liver will give out from decades of alcohol abuse, and Chip will likely expire in some autoerotic asphyxiation misadventure, likely while wearing a Wonder Woman costume.

[Zeb]

I don't think it's obviously true that he would have died in any case. The OD may have been the primary cause of death. I can't claim to know either way for sure. But I'd bet that the restraints used didn't help matters.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

I hope you realize the George Floyd Summer of Love was entirely astroturfed by the Lords of Lies. How do you think all those protesters got from city to city so quickly with premade uniform signs? What about all those totally organic "black@" accounts on social media with matching aesthetics? And all those corporate logos and statements with identical wording that were lined up and ready to go? If it hadn't been George, it would have been someone else.

[J_West]

Good point. Speaking as a veteran organizer, you can not do nationwide protests without higher echelons of command and logistics. The entire George Floyd affair was one big setup, likely to destabilize the USA and set up a Biden win in the November election.

Question for the REASON editors: since the George Floyd protesters were responsible for considerable amounts of initiation of force (like committing acts of looting, assault and arson), are you planning to read them the Non-Aggression Principle?

[JesseAz]

Oh jeff...

chemjeff radical individualist
February.9.2021 at 8:56 am
Flag Comment Mute User
What is there to talk about?

From a libertarian perspective, Ashli Babbett was trespassing, and the officers were totally justified to shoot trespassers. Again from a libertarian perspective, the officers would have been justified in shooting every single trespasser. That would not have been wise or prudent, of course.

[Jerryskids]

Yes sir. Justice is getting treated the same way you treat others, and George Floyd was a piece of shit. Mercy lies in being treated better than you deserve.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

That's not "justice". That is revenge. That is tit-for-tat.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

How do you know George Floyd was a piece of shit? Did you meet him, or are you just regurgitating the reconstituted feces that was spoonfed into the space between your ears by the outrage merchants of the right?

[R Mac]

People that commit armed robbery are pieces of shit, regardless of who’s bringing it up.

But the NAP isn’t part of libertarianism here at Reason these days.

[JesseAz]

A knife to a pregnant woman's belly.... Do you even bother with knowledge of situations chipper?

[Wygent03]

Big George was a long-term, unrepentant addict, thief, strong arm robber of women and others smaller and weaker than himself. He contributed not a single thing to his community or to humanity other than serving as a terrible example. He started whining the minute he was arrested and never stopped for entire twenty-some minutes that he was in police custody. The police recognized that he was in trouble medically and called for an ambulance when he asked to be placed on the ground. They upgraded the ambulance call to Code Red after the crowd started being threatening. All they wanted was to get the intoxicated, whining, blubbering moron off the street before he tried to run into traffic or some other idiotic thing. Objectively, there is zero evidence that any part of this sad, stupid event had anything to do with race or racial prejudice.

[Dariush]

“I’m not that kind of guy!”

-George Floyd, Patron Saint to drug addicts and Pregnant Women Abusers.

[Mark Thrust, Sexus Ranger]

His rap sheet speaks volumes. And I’m sure this is a standard of criticism you don’t personally adhere to.

So fuck off.

[Fats of Fury]

Floyd was trespassing.

[JesseAz]

I see what you did there.

[Chumby]

Did they find an unregistered tire extinguisher in his possession?

[Hulver]

George Floyd swallowed his drug stash before the cops got him out of his vehicle. He overdosed and it caused a heart attack. It was not murder but suicide.

[NicholasStix]

Nobody "murdered" George Floyd. Don't be ridic.

[Gray_Jay]

Ooooh.

+1 pregnant homeowner held at gunpoint.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

"George Floyd died on Memorial Day 2020.

Granted, George Floyd did not, technically, die fighting in the nation’s armed forces in some half-forgotten war. But, in a higher sense, did he not die fighting in the New America’s greatest and most long-running war: against racism, against white supremacy, against statistical disparities in racial performance, against hair-touching?" - h/t SS

[R Mac]

I would argue he died FOR hair touching.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

"It's like a sheep"

[Wygent03]

No. He died whining and complaining because law enforcement agencies were preventing from pursuing his career of stealing from other people to support one or the other of his numerous expensive addictions. He was emphatically NOT any kind of a warrior. He was a selfish, ignorant, person who never spared a moment's concern for his victims and died the death he spent his life pursuing.

[CannedSaltyHam]

"The big conservative backlash against "critical race theory.""

Do you all like CRT on its own merits or is it that you just can't bring yourself to directly speak out against something that conservatives happen to hate?

[Rev. Arthur L. Kuckland]

I think they all agree with CRT that black people can't read, do math, or show up on time.

[CannedSaltyHam]

Yeah, why wouldn't conservatives want that to be part of every public school curriculum? It's a real puzzler.

[Chipper Morning Wood--------------------------------------------------------------------------]

Look at you hiding behind sarcasm to spout your fucked up opinions.

[Mother's Lament]

Let's unwrap your little spasm of rage for a second.

Why do you think it's "fucked up" to say that Critical Race Theory patronizes and infantilizes American Blacks?

[R Mac]

Being razed as a victim is a sure fire route to success as an adult.

[Wygent03]

Razed. Please God, if only !

[diWhite Knightoxide]

No Enemies om the Left = All enemies are on the Right

[Gray_Jay]

They live/work in DC, and want neither the Mob, nor their patron, to pay them a visit.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

When was the last time conservatives "conserved" anything? All they do is defend yesterday's liberal policies. Truly pathetic.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

You know, it is possible to disagree with some aspects of CRT, while not also thinking that it ought to be outright banned, or thinking that the right-wing overreaction to it is over the top.

[Cronut]

It ought to outright be banned from being the official policy of the US government. CRT should not be taught or trained at any government institution, including public schools. It's antithetical to every principle of the constitution, it's exploitative, corruptive, and racist. There is literally nothing to agree with in CRT.

[Mother's Lament]

It's no overstatement to say that CRT parallels the very worst of scientific racism, Nazism and American segregationism.

It demonizes and infantilizes people on the basis of race. It's a horrible fucking dogma.

[CannedSaltyHam]

CRT, at its core, is about overthrowing our system of governance and replacing it with a communist system that pretends to care more about black people, but actually treats them like disabled children. There are no good aspects and it is specifically being targeted at all of the government institutions because the goal is to fundamentally change everything.

Nuke it from orbit.

[R Mac]

Porn isn’t outright banned in the US. It shouldn’t be part of school curriculum. Your stupidity continues to amaze me.

[Zeb]

Of course an idea shouldn't be banned. But I can't think of many ideas that are worse as a basis on which to organize a society.

[buckleup]

Just a summer of protests calling for reform, that's all. Nothing else happened.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

For your reading pleasure:

https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020

[JesseAz]

How cute. A study that normalizes against population percentage instead of normalizing against police interactions or crime rates.

[Mother's Lament]

As expected of chemleft.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kuckland]

I'm waiting for the roundtable questions to start going along the lines of "here is a question from one of our listeners. It asks is it a lot of work to be as awsome as you all are?"

[JesseAz]

Psaki was getting grilled today. They asked if Joe had a peleton bike

[Cronut]

"What's ENB's favorite flavor of ice cream?"

[Mother's Lament]

Rum Raisin?... Lol, just kidding. It's pussy.

[R Mac]

Lol.

[Chumby]

French vanilla.

[Stuck in California]

I'm glad someone remembers that.

[CannedSaltyHam]

"you know that box would work better if you cut a hole in the top"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3EI9xjGvc4

[diWhite Knightoxide]

This place's descent into stupidity gaims velocity unabetted.

We dont have 1 system, we have thousands of local systems, and thank Zod we do

[Unicorn Abattoir]

What happened to your namesake? I haven't seen him around in a while.

[JesseAz]

Mike Lauren. That was his original name. He is around a lot again. Because he was WK.

[JesseAz]

Laursen*

[Mother's Lament]

Mike Liarsen or White Mike.

[Dillinger]

>>gaims

lol speling.

[Fats of Fury]

Has Our Criminal Justice System Gotten Better Since George Floyd's Death?

Maybe not, but our Criminal System sure has.

[Stuck in California]

Clicked on that Sean Lennon link and it went to Twitter (which I generally never want to visit).

Honest question. Why post a two thousand character essay 120 characters at a time?

I appreciate his ruminating on the subject. He wants to express his viewpoint and experience. But a dozen short twits instead of, you know, one post seems weird to me. And he's not the only one I've seen do that, so it must be common.

[BigGiveNotBigGov]

Floyd's murder was horrendous, and he deserved both justice and the outrage.

Floyd was, though, a poor poster boy for serious reform. His criminal past and conduct, even if minor, gave too many a disingenuous excuse to hide behind. His race invited ignoring the true scope and scale of our police problem - it is not racism that put 13% of us at risk it is statism that puts very nearly 100% us at risk. Missing the men and women in their own homes, the cute girls coming home from their prom, the innocent six year old boy, the mom and her two kids, and the more than occasional old rancher murdered by cops because of America's blinders for all injustice but racial injustice allows the democide to continue unchecked. Those blinders, even more than QI, aid and abet cops crimes.

A.C.A.B.
All
Cops
Are
Bureaucrats

“[I]f we won’t choose to pay the price of liberty, then by default we shall suffer the cost of servitude -- whether it be the iron chains of a tyrannical oligarchy or the regulatory chains of unelected, faceless bureaucrats. When we witness our neighbors abused by tyrants, will we skulk away and hope we’re not next? Or will we stand by them and challenge -- as freedom-loving Americans -- the tyranny of lawless leaders.” ~ Phil Trieb

[Square = Circle]

Floyd was, though, a poor poster boy for serious reform.

True, but perfect for a wedge issue.

[Brian]

If by “better” you mean “woke”, then no.
But if you mean better, then, no again.

People got to scream about racism a lot though. That was productive.

[Jerryskids]

I can't help but think it's mighty white of you to be pondering reforms to our systems when nobody else has any faith in those systems. We aren't on our way to becoming a third-world country, we are already a third-world country. It's just comfortable middle-class white people who haven't figured that out. The rule of law requires trust in and respect for our institutions and that's gone, it's just every man for himself now. It's what people don't get about Trump, Trump is not a virtuous man leading us back to some mythical virtuous past, he's just recognizes that we have to be just as amoral and ruthless as our enemies. We're fighting with one arm tied behind our backs when we follow "the rules" when our enemies don't.

So go ahead and do shit like rigging elections, ignoring the Constitution, defund the police, trusting that we're still going to follow the rules when you no longer are and you've got the advantage. Because at some point, Whitey is going to wake up and realize the rules no longer apply and the rules no longer apply to him as much as they no longer apply to you and then there will be hell to pay. Whitey exterminated the Indians, Whitey enslaved Africans, Whitey killed half a million of his brothers, Whitey nuked innocent women and children, Whitey indiscriminately bombs the shit out of people he doesn't like all over the world - Whitey is a stone cold merciless killer and you'd be wise not to forget that. At some point, Whitey is going to go off on one of his killing sprees and you don't want to be the one he's pissed off at.

[ThomasD]

+1 Middle class anarchy.

The corporatist overlords will probably be ok. Their servants and lackeys will not.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Well well well, talk about the backlash against critical race theory...

https://www.cltampa.com/news-views/florida-news/article/21152553/florida-gov-ron-desantis-vows-action-on-teaching-students-critical-race-theory

The State Board of Education on June 10 will consider a proposed rule that says teachers “may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence."

The proposal also aims to ensure teachers do not “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view” that is inconsistent with state standards.

So if this rule passes, Florida teachers can only teach the whitewashed version of American history. Oh but that's not "propaganda". The propaganda is talking about racism in American history! As if the Founding Fathers knew quite well that when they wrote the words "all men are created equal" they didn't really believe it and it was for profoundly racist reasons as they didn't consider blacks as even at the same standing as a "man". Would this type of discussion even be permitted at Florida schools if this rule passes?

State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, during a recent speaking engagement at Hillsdale College in Michigan, touted the proposed rule and said “you have to police” Florida teachers on “a daily basis.”

Selfless Richard Corcoran is volunteering to be the Minister of Propaganda for the Florida Department of Education. What a guy.

[buckleup]

Aw fatty thinks CRT is real history.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

I'm not defending CRT. I"m criticizing imposing a different form of propaganda in the classroom, one that whitewashes American history and only teaches a sanitized jingoistic Real Murican version.

Both the pro-CRT and anti-CRT crowd are demonstrating, with every breath that they utter, that the decision on what to teach in schools shouldn't be left to either one of them. Another reason why schools ought to be privatized.

[Mother's Lament]

CRT is a psychotic, racist death cult. It's not some alternative political vision of history.

[CannedSaltyHam]

You wouldn't like it if schools were privatized, CRT wouldn't survive

[KCar]

" schools ought to be privatized"
I will take my chances with private schools teaching CRT

[Ken Shultz]

The criminal justice system needs to be evaluated not only in light of how we treat suspected criminals but also how well we protect the rights of crime victims, and by that latter standard, the criminal justice system in Minneapolis has not only failed to improve since George Floyd's death but also fallen apart.

"MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It’s still early in the year, but statistics show that crime is trending up in the city of Minneapolis.

Recent data shows that the number people wounded by gunshots is up 250% from last year (Jan. 1 to Jan. 18) . . . . rape is up 22% and robbery is up 59% compared to last year."

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/01/22/early-2021-minneapolis-crime-stats-show-250-increase-in-gunshot-victims/

Correlation may not equal causation, but it doesn't rule the anti-police movement out as the ultimate cause of the increase in crime either. The fact is that as police become increasingly reluctant to interact with potentially violent suspects, criminals become increasingly emboldened. And, surely, any cop who isn't more reluctant to interact with potentially violent suspects in Minneapolis after the George Floyd saga is either incredibly stupid or unreasonably principled.

Oh, and as we libertarians advocate for liberty and justice, we should also be aware that how we sell our solutions has a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecy in unintentional ways. The last thing we want people to think is that we can't protect the rights of suspects without opposing the police. If it indeed proves to be the case that anti-police policies are making violent crime spike, we're just preparing the way for the American public to become more supportive of police brutality if and when the public becomes more weary of violent crime than they care about social justice.

And believe me, all you Millennials out there, that can and does happen. The American public has a limit when it comes to violent crime. The reason things like Giuliani's stop and frisk and Daryl Gates' military tactics became popular in liberal cities like New York and Los Angeles is because even average liberals became sick to death of violent crime. There isn't anything admirable about your motives when you sell crime victims short to the wolves in the name social justice, and there isn't anything socially beneficial or good about the consequences of those policies either--certainly not if they ultimately drive the American people to flat out demand oppressive and draconian anti-crime policies at the local level.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

If it indeed proves to be the case that anti-police policies are making violent crime spike, we’re just preparing the way for the American public to become more supportive of police brutality if and when the public becomes more weary of violent crime than they care about social justice.

Huh. So Ken finally comes out in favor of police brutality.

[buckleup]

Shut up fat ass.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

No. Why don't you offer something substantive for a change.

[Dariush]

Bitch, why won’t you?

[MT-Man]

Jeff I don't think that's a fair assessment of his comment, Ken is basically saying there's a limit before people will do what they need to, to feel safe. You may be able to argue against this specific example but you'd also do what you needed to make yourself feel safe if threatened. Threatened is a barometer to each individual and that's what he's getting at.

[buckleup]

Ken I don't think it's a coincidence that cities who took in Somali refugees are starting to become like Mogadishu.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

The biggest Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis is the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

The crime rate in Cedar-Riverside is on par with the rest of the city.

https://www.areavibes.com/minneapolis-mn/cedar-riverside/crime/

You were saying?

[CannedSaltyHam]

"rating F"

You showed him.

[Talcum X]

I doubt the crime stats that you are looking at are accurate. Crime is rarely reported in Cedar-Riverside. Somalians don't call the police nor do they cooperate with the police.
Crime is spiking wherever there is a bus route or train line from Cedar-Riverside. The police are assuming the fetal position and allowing the criminals to punish the liberal folk that wanted less policing. This summer is going to be brutal.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

I literally showed you the data, and true to form, you ignore the data and continue to substitute your own biases instead.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Correlation may not equal causation, but it doesn’t rule the anti-police movement out as the ultimate cause of the increase in crime either.

Correlation may not equal causation, but it doesn't rule the economic consequences of COVID lockdowns as the ultimate cause of the increase in crime either.

Correlation may not equal causation, but it doesn't rule the spike in increased gun ownership in 2020 out as the ultimate cause of the increase in crime either.

Correlation may not equal causation, but it doesn't rule the release of Britney Spears biographies out as the ultimate cause of the increase in crime either.

See, I can play this game too!

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

27:42: The big conservative backlash against "critical race theory."

Ooooh fuck me. Is this where I watch this publication make its final slide into idiocy?

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Here's "conservative" Brendan O'Neill (reason contributor) engaging in the "backlash" against critical race theory.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

In the "conservative" (dun dun duuuuunnnnn) backlash, that is.

[Ken Shultz]

They still think it's all about Trump with you.

[ThomasD]

They don't actually think. At least not much. Mostly they scribble down whatever it is they are being told to say.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

BTW there's one thing that Reason might cover-- just a suggestion-- but the lawsuits that the Biden Administration just lost over its EXPLICITYLY racist policies.

Not implicitly racist-- something that always gets reams of coverage: Requiring ID to vote is racist because everyone knows black people are too dumb to get ID and navigate public life, so that policy is racist. But explicitly racist: Niggers need not apply... THAT kind of racist.

[ThomasD]

They wouldn't dare address anything that might actually harm leftist prospects.

If only because they would lose all those upcoming opportunities to ineffectually whine about what has happened.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Mostly they just critique whomever is in charge.
When Bush was in charge, it was endless critiques against Bush and the Iraq War and the security state and whatnot.
When Obama was in charge, it was endless critiques against Obama and ObamaCare and out-of-control spending and whatnot.
When Trump was in charge, it was endless critiques against Trump and his immigration policies and his trade wars and whatnot.
And now when Biden is in charge, it's more critiques.

That is what libertarians seem to like to do. Offer critiques.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Are you referring to this story?

https://thehill.com/regulation/554361-federal-judge-says-biden-restaurant-fund-discriminated-against-white-male

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Yes, The Hill has been very good on this stuff. Reason has been asleep.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

There is a difference between offering arguments against critical race theory, and passing laws banning the teaching of critical race theory. The latter may fairly be constituted a "conservative backlash" if it's the conservatives who are the ones pushing it.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

There is indeed a difference between offering arguments against CRT and passing laws.

However, I would submit that CRT has gone through a profound lack of criticism, and in fact has gone through a remarkable (and shocking) mainstream acceptance. One of my biggest beefs with Reason over the last five years is its mostly absent criticism of an entirely racist ideology that has permeated almost every aspect of public life.

CRT is entirely unlibertarian and should have been a major focus of Reason coverage, but has gotten scant coverage. What I almost considered to be Reason's sister publication in the UK has taken this subject on hard, and head on.

There you have what would nominally be called a left-libertarian site taking a no-holds-barred approach to this wholly racist ideology. I kept waiting for similar coverage out of Reason and got little to nothing.

I find it unsurprising that with almost no mainstream pushback against this racist ideology, that a few red-state politicians are going to start flailing and passing laws trying to stop it. Ham-fisted as they are, I find it telling that we've had years of mostly silence on this, and the thing that finally gets Reason staffers animated is the "backlash".

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Also, I'm against legislating against an ideology. Again, here's Reason's used-to-be sister publication on this subject.

Why critical race theory must not be banned

To defeat this divisive ideology, we need to offer a positive post-racial alternative.

Many conservatives in the United States, and throughout the Anglo-American world, believe that banning CRT is essential for the preservation of public life. Christopher Rufo, a contributing editor at City Journal, writes that Senator Cotton’s bill is ‘desperately needed’. In the UK, Conservative politicians have gone on record as being ‘unequivocally against’ CRT. Numerous commentators in the British conservative media have warned about the ‘insidious march’ of CRT in schools.

The hostility provoked by CRT is not surprising. Although it masquerades as a form of anti-racism, CRT actually expands racial thinking into new domains of everyday life – associating ‘whiteness’ with fragility and privilege. This endows white people with the status of moral inferiority. In some schools white children are being made to feel ashamed about who they are. In one school in Evanston, Illinois, administrators instructed teachers to treat students differently based on race and publicly humiliated white pupils. According to one report in the Atlantic, parents felt terrified to speak out about this.

That's how it's done.

[CannedSaltyHam]

Nobody cares if Barnes and Noble has a dedicated table full of CRT textbooks. But it needs to be banned from public schools. If you let them indoctrinate the next generation, we've lost.

[wapexclusive]

George Floyd did not, technically, die fighting in the nation’s armed forces in some half-forgotten war. But, in a higher sense, did he not die fighting in the New America’s greatest and most long-running war: against racism, against white supremacy, against statistical
https://wapexclusive.com ,disparities in racial performance, against hair-touching?” – h/t SS

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Oh look. Attention whores get more attention.

https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2021/05/boebert-says-she-wants-to-be-speaker-of-the-house-gets-support-from-gaetz/36715/

Both Boebert, and MTG, and Gaetz, their sole purpose it seems is to generate media coverage. That's it. They got elected to Congress to do... what, do endless media interviews? I read somewhere that Gaetz actually had a purposeful strategy of surrounding himself with "communications" staffers and had little or no staff focused on policy.

What have any of these three clowns actually accomplished while in Congress? Anything?

[buckleup]

Why would a libertarian want someone in Congress to accomplish anything? Because, fatty, you're not a libertarian.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Congress clowns not accomplishing anything is usually a good thing.

[Talcum X]

They are the GOP's squad. The "squad" hasn't accomplished anything either but they get the lion's share of the media coverage. It is like WWE. All trash talk. It keeps the rubes happy and they don't care if it is fake. I would love to hear about the other hundreds of men and women serving at Congress once in a while.

[legercheap]

So far, it doesn’t seem to get better
https://www.orologilusso.eu/

[Nardz]

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1397043194035048448?s=19

Posobiec: State Department Approves Black Lives Matter Flag Displays at US Consulates and Embassies on Anniversary of George Floyd Death [link]

[Nardz]

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1397048880139698177?s=19

Ian Kramer pled guilty to assault & more for knocking #antifa member Heather Clark out after she charged in to fight at a brawl outside Cider Riot. Antifa said her neck was broken but medical record showed no fracture/traumatic abnormality. Kramer given 20-month prison sentence.

I was there when the brawl broke out at Portland #antifa pub Cider Riot. Antifa strategically assaulted the journalists there, including myself & an OSU student, to limit recordings. I reported previously about how the pub tried to cover-up crimes that day:
[Link]

Here is video from the 2019 riot in Portland where #antifa member Heather Clark rushed in to brawl & was knocked unconscious by Ian Kramer. The DA has only prosecuted & convicted right-wingers over the riot. The woman who assaulted me was never arrested. [Video]

[Nardz]

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1397033808252317696?s=19

Waiting for one person to point out the Belarusian activist was arrested for holding protests that claimed the election was stolen, which the govt considers domestic extremism

[Nardz]

https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1396996120434389003?s=19

One of the most important lessons for me to have learned is "Don't always think you can appeal to someone's better nature to change their minds. They might not have one."

Similar lessons include that you can't expect to appeal to reason or evidence to change someone's mind if they don't believe in reason or evidence, or worse, like Critical Race Theorists, believe that reason and evidence are part of the problem.

[techbro99]

Hey handsome,
I was just looking for some content about Whatsapp and saw your guide:

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[Bradlux]

His face — not the one seen on video pleading for his life for nearly five minutes as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered him, but instead that stoic, slightly smiling selfie — was everywhere. Artists interpreted that image and the words “Black Lives Matter” to create beacons where people rallied, reflected and reckoned.
https://worldabcnews.com/faded-defaced-but-not-forgotten-george-floyd-murals-and-their-social-impact/

[RioSam]

And burned.. looted.. and destroyed businesses. Because like Floyd most of them are just like Floyd.... Criminals!! They could all die tomorrow and they would never be missed!! Actually.. For society it would be a big +PLUS+

[TJJ2000]

Interesting that Floyds "Criminal Justice" case was settled in a street fight with law enforcement officers.

Once upon a time criminal justice was settled in court rooms.

Is street fights with law enforcement officers "better" than court rooms? I'm thinking NOT...

[RioSam]

It's called Darwinism.... When you do something really REALLY stupid and you end up dead because of your stupid choice/actions...
All he had to do was get in the back of the squad car... But he chose to be stupid instead and now he's pushing up daisies!! So whose fault is it that he's dead? HIS!!

[TJJ2000]

Exactly...

[Nardz]

https://twitter.com/MythinformedMKE/status/1397015216995635201?s=19

PR News Online is an advisory agency for corporate PR Depts. - similar to how the AMA advises hospitals.

Their message: Tuesday is a holy day of obligation. ALL companies, ALL brands, regardless of sector, MUST honor & acknowledge George Floyd tomorrow.

#BlackOutTuesday [link]

[Jefferson's Ghost]

Lots of good discussion here. But the REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION is how could it take fifty-seven years for someone, ostensibly a Dylan fan, to fully appreciate "Desolation Row?"

[American Mongrel]

It shouldnt be banned any further than having a curriculum based on it in the public schools. It should be treated like any other religion. Studying it in a philosophy class should be allowed.

[wapexclusive]

inflicted drug overdose, and the persecutors would have found some other trumped up charges to imprison Chauvin on.

The world is better off without George Floyd in it. And there is no doubt at all that his drug overdose, not the actions of Derek Chauvin, is what killed him. At least one juror lied to get on the panel in order to vote “GUILTY, GUILTY,
https://wapexclusive.com ,GUILTY!” Another alternate juror pretty much stated she would have voted guilty to avoid riots.

[RioSam]

Oh yeah definitely better...for the criminals that is!

[BigGiveNotBigGov]

Attractive, young, white Paige Schmidt was shot and killed by cops two days before Daunte Wright. We all know the horrible story of Daunte's killing and the cops at fault has lost her job and is up on very serious charges. How very few even know of Paige's killing or that the cops are refusing to identify her killer (given a paid vacation for killing Paige), why she was chased down, or why she was shot and killed.

"Around 11:30 a.m., a deputy pursued a vehicle on Highway 92, about 5 miles west of Hotchkiss. The sheriff's office withheld the reason deputies were chasing the vehicle. A deputy shot and killed the driver of that vehicle, Paige Pierce. Details regarding the events that precipitated the killing were withheld by police."

https://fatalencounters.org/view/person/victim/c01b64ad/?pagenum=7

Cops are a much larger and more dangerous threat to citizens than even this past year's debate has led you to believe. The misdirection to racism, alone, fueled by George Floyd's murder has hidden much of, rather than exposed, the threat cops pose to citizens. Because of that misdirection we all know of Daunte's killing, and justice for him has begun; but very few know of Paige's killing, and the cops are being allowed to obstruct, coverup, and deny her justice.

A.C.A.B.
All
Cops
Are
Bureaucrats

"If you do not want the State to act like a criminal, you must disarm it as you would a criminal; you must keep it weak. The State will always be criminal in proportion to its strength; a weak State will always be as criminal as it can be, or dare be, but if it is kept down to the proper limit of weakness - which, by the way, is a vast deal lower limit than people are led to believe - its criminality may be safely got on with." ~ Albert J. Nock

[NicholasStix]

"A year since George Floyd's death launched the nation into a summer of protests [sic] and calls for police reform [sic]..."
Well, at least you didn't say "murder."
Sic1: Riots
Sic2: carte blanche for black criminals.
George Floyd's overdose death did not "launch the nation" into anything. The msm and their Democrat allies imposed a black supremacist "racial reckoning" on law-abiding Whites, in the form of riots, looting, and arson, and demands for police to submit to black supremacist and White communist terrorists, and a weakling president threatened to send in the National Guard, but in fact did nothing.

[CLM1227]

Agree

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