“Defund Police!” cried Democrats in 2020 and 2021. Law enforcement officers were physically attacked, deemed “systemically racist,” demeaned, demoralized, and devalued. Nationwide, recruiting, training, and retention plummeted, while homicides spiked, and now – The Echo.
In 2022, 101 police officers so far have been shot “in the line of duty,” 17 fatally, a 43 percent increase from one year ago, a 63 percent jump from 2020.
This is beyond sad, and causality is clear. It is hard not to see. Leading Democrats, activist organizations, and media created a vicious, indefensible, objectively damaging campaign against police and their role in preserving rule of law, public health, and safety.
For a time, the lie worked. Anti-Trump sentiment, political polarization, hysteria, race-baiting and generalizing incidents to national derogation – produced a strong anti-police sentiment.
As police got vilified by top Democrats, communities became less safe, minority and female gun ownership rose, police departments were “defunded,” rogue groups unpoliced in riot zones.
Before being gradually undone by common citizens, Marxist activists – many of whom were embedded in the so-called activist groups – pressed their case, got lots of attention, and spun.
Marxist and racist “Critical Race Theory” or CRT curricula abounded, got advanced in school systems across the country, and anyone opposing it was called racist. Only when parents spoke up at school boards, did the tide start to turn and CRT’s growth slow.
Meantime, law enforcement at large – those who put on a badge, vest, and gun to come to your aid every day – continued to be vilified, condemned, and defunded by Democrat politicians.
All this amounts to the foundation for – now. Untruths were pushed and fanned in a way that encouraged mob thinking. Whenever this kind of thing occurs, the outcome is dark.
The Echo of what leading Democrats did – at local, state, and federal levels – in 2020 and 2021, beyond monetary, personal, and community damage in 200 cities, from Seattle and Chicago to Atlanta and Washington DC – continues today.
The Echo of 2020’s political frenzy, unnecessary and unjustified histrionics, overgeneralization about dedicated, dutiful and other-regarding Americans in law enforcement, persists in 2022.
The sad fact is reckless politicians, inflammatory activists, and those with ideologically Marxist, anarchistic, violent, and anti-rule of law ideas – clearly anti-constitutional – left an imprint.
As the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) reported last week, political attacks on the police are devastating. Beyond demoralization, defunding, diminished recruiting and retention, elevated suicides, and ambushes, 101 officers were shot in just the first third of 2022.
This represents an astronomical jump – more than 60 percent – from the violent 2020 numbers for the same period. The FOP described this turn as “a crisis” not seen in living memory.
What is the answer? Simple – Honor those who honor you by risking their lives for you every day. They do not ask for accolades, political benefits, or attention – they ask for respect, for what they do.
And when elections – moments of political accountability – come, remember who was on which side, who supported rule of law, calm waters, safe streets, and peace – and who defunded police.