LAReader48

More people vaccinated than any other country.  US #2 among major countries. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

It's appalling. I feel sick. I never thought I would see this in the United States.  I also felt sick in June, though. I'm glad most Republicans, and all the top leadership, condemned it and the President.  I didn't think he would do this Anyone want to abolish the Police now? The Capitol Police? What should it be called?  terrorists ? thousands of protesters, 1 policeman killed, virtually no damage except broken windows, doors Terrorists would have blown things up, killed 100's, started fires. If the protesters were all armed they could have done so.  Rioters? Yes, broadly. How much damage did they cause compared to that in June 2020? Not much vandalism, burning or looting. It was a political attack, aiming to disrupt government at the highest level. But not a coup. Coup attempt? thats a joke. Or its a joke of a coup. how many were armed? This is not a scary paramilitary group (thank God). Once they got in, and Congress was gone, they didn't know what to do. They d...

In 2016 Salena Zito said supporters take Trump “ seriously but not literally .” Meanwhile, his detractors, including most of the mainstream press, “take him literally but not seriously.” ... I think this is true and is key to understanding how people feel about Trump. (I do feel his words are a real problem--they are hurting the country a lot). Literally Defunding the Police would unleash a wave of violence against people of all races that would make the KKK pale by comparison. Now about that slogan mainstream liberals are saying, "they don't mean that literally". Ok.. that is how thoughtful, tolerant conservatives feel about Trump. They say they don't agree with his words but continue to work with him on common goals. Liberals say mainstream conservatives should disavow Trump, refuse to work with him, refuse to support and be supported by him, not just disagree with him. Liberals say they disagree with Black Lives Matter on defunding the police, but th...

These are radical changes but in accord with conservative principles. There is an alternative to making the Federal government even more powerful.  1. Local control. Control by a city of 3 million, more people than were in the whole United States in 1789, is not that local. It is quite reasonable that neighborhoods want to choose police that reflect their values and priorities. And even their ethnic group. I don't support affirmative action in any other case, but I do here. A precedent--Candidates for the military academies like West Point are not chosen only by merit. They are nominated by each congressman. The Founding Fathers wanted the military to be representative of the people. Let different neighborhoods choose their police, make the rules, and own the hard choices between public safety and respecting the rights of suspects. 2. Reduce the power of police unions.   (Aside to fellow conservatives: think about police unions the way you think about oth...

They shoot about 1000 people of all races per year, 250 black.  In 2019 it was 1004 people, 249 black.  (references in   References for Police shoot 15 unarmed black men per year  ) 94% of them were armed, 67% were attacking  (directly threatening the life of) the officer. Some of the rest also "posed a significant threat".  56 were unarmed , 25 white and 15 black .  Police shootings database 2015-2020 - Washington Post    (Subscription needed) https://github.com/washingtonpost/data-police-shootings    (Free download, raw data) 37 were unarmed and not attacking the officer. 19 of them were attacking.  Of those 37, 11  were black, 13 were white (rest Hispanic or Other).  Some of those shootings are very questionable and all should be investigated. Even one unnecessary shooting is a tragedy and a crime (literally).  But there are not thousands or hundreds of unarm...