Tough on Crime, Fierce Supporters of America’s Police, Correct on Ending COVID Restrictions?

Tough on Crime, Fierce Supporters of America’s Police, Correct on Ending COVID Restrictions?

Republicans? Not Really! And still, the myth persists!

It’s about “look at what we say, not what we do” syndrome. “We want parents to control public schools’ curricula on behalf of their children” translates in application to “we want conservative religious views, no discussions of gender differences or racial disparities and no health requirements to attend class.” They call it a culture war or “anti-CRT” legislation, but those sentiments are primarily from parents who do not have children in public primary and secondary schools. Over 70% of parents with such children are more than content to let professionals determine school curricula, and there are no US school districts where that course of studies encourages “grooming,” attempts to determine gender realities or places guilt on children for historical racial discrimination or oppression. Still, the myth persists.

Further, despite the mythology that the FBI is a tool of the Democratic Party, that federal criminal investigatory body, like most police forces, is primarily comprised of conservative agents. While there is no official polling of the political preferences of agents, just looking at the political realities of former FBI directors (which is reported), usually appointed from within the agency’s ranks, the FBI is a buttress of the GOP:

1/ J. Edgar Hoover (May 10, 1924 – May 2, 1972), Political party: Republican
2/ Clarence M. Kelley (July 9, 1973 – February 15, 1978), Political party: Republican
3/ William H. Webster (February 23, 1978 – May 25, 1987), Political party: Republican
4/ William S. Sessions (November 2, 1987 – July 19, 1993), Political party: Republican
5/ Louis Joseph Freeh (September 1, 1993 – June 25, 2001), Political party: Republican
6/ Robert Mueller (September 4, 2001 – September 4, 2013), Political party: Republican
7/ James Comey (September 4, 2013 – May 9, 2017), Political party: Republican
8/ Christopher A. Wray (Appointed August 2, 2017), Political party: Republican

Still, the myth persists.

That there is a perception that Dems are soft on crime belies the reality that one of the largest components of such lawlessness, gun crime, is soaring, almost in lockstep with the laxity of local gun control laws and the spread of more than 20 million military-grade semiautomatic assault rifles into our civilian population. Taking such weapons off the streets does not stand a chance of passage given the stiff Republican opposition to the that commonsense limitation that most Americans, even gun owners, support.

The use of firearms in connection with crimes and generally within our civilian population has reached new heights (depths?). In October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data on U.S. firearm deaths last year, counting more than 47,000 — the most in at least 40 years. That only one in thirty civilian gun homicides is justified appears to be statistic that too many just ignore. Yet NRA still tells that that “only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Still, the myth persists.

That Republicans cry that only they are friends and supporters of our nation’s law enforcement officers flies in the face of those brave Capitol Police officers who defended Congress from an all-on armed attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. But even as some of such guardians died or were severely injured in furtherance of their duty, GOP members of Congress – whose lives were probably spared – have officially described the insurrectionists (many of whom have been convicted for their criminal activity) as “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

How do those police officers feel about this seeming betrayal by the GOP? “After being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony Tuesday [12/6 and pictured above] at the U.S. Capitol for their heroism during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot staged by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, police officers and their family members pointedly refused to shake hands with the two highest-ranking Republican lawmakers, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.” Yahoo!News, December 6th. Hardly the respect for police and law and order touted by Republican candidates everywhere. Still, the myth persists.

In the world of COVID, there is the notion that lockdowns, masking and required vaccinations are wrong-headed, power in the hands of Democratics who wish to control everyone, and that the Republican’s loosening of all of the above has been the salvation of a pandemic that is long gone, well... According to NBC News, December 7, 2022: “Several studies have found that Covid deaths are unevenly distributed among Republicans and Democrats. One study, published in September by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that so-called excess death rates, or deaths elevated beyond what is expected based on historical trends, were 76% higher in Florida and Ohio among Republicans than Democrats from March 2020 to December 2021.” Another COVID surge is neigh upon… again. Other once near-eradicated diseases (like measles) are rising as GOP supported anti-vaxxers, inspired by GOP “success” with COVID restrictions, end mandatory public school vaccination programs. Still, the myth persists. QAnon anyone?

I’m Peter Dekom, and I continue to sit in wonder at the masses of MAGA supporters whose set-in-concrete right-wing, polarizing and very passionate beliefs are unmovable by hard facts.