Stop Fighting About “Defund the Police.”

When it’s effective, say it. When it’s not, don’t.

Now, here’s the thing.

Before I get into the teeth of this, it’s important to stop and take a look back. Regardless of where you stand on “defund the police” versus either “abolish the police” (even further to the left) or “reform the police,” (the more centrist alternative) we would be remiss if we lost sight of the progress that has already been made on this front. This argument is sort of the rhetorical equivalent of the proprietary salesman who says, “So Hal, can I pencil you in for one shipment, or three?” In at least half of the country, we’ve already moved past the question of “will we or won’t we” with regard to changing the way policing is done in America. We’ve now moved onto the question of, “how much change, how soon, and what’s the best way?”

For those who have lost loved ones to the police, and those who still feel threatened and harassed by law enforcement officers on a regular basis, this will no doubt register as cold comfort, but still--- it’s worth noting as progress.

Now then.

One of the downsides of the election taking so long to count and certify is that it’s taken a lot longer for progressives to deal with the electoral hangover from having lost a lot of Congressional…