The old saying about bad apples is actually an advocate of aggressive cleansing, not a defense.
From NPR, 2011:
Bad Apple Proverbs: There's One In Every Bunch
But it can be a more effective defense to offer a proverb that closes down the discussion with a bit of venerable folk wisdom — in this case, one about not letting a few rotten apples spoil the bushel.
We know from this weekend that reporters were targeted by police, white cosplayers were smashing windows and chaos was planned in many places. We are less certain who was responsible, and not all the accusations will be accurate ones.
We also know there were good cops and bad cops. How this plays out is anyone’s guess.
Rashawn Ray/Brookings:
Bad apples come from rotten trees in policing
We must wonder if we would even know about George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, or Christian Cooper without phone videos. These incidents should make us all wonder how many more like them there are that did not get the opportunity to become martyred hashtags. Most Black people will tell you there are many more unnamed martyrs than named ones. In the words of Will Smith: “Racism is not getting worse. It is getting filmed.”
Must see this.
My hometown paper, 87% white residents, swing town at election time:
Police Chief, First Selectman Join Growing Chorus Addressing Minneapolis Unrest
Newtown Police Chief James Viadero, who earlier this week was closely monitoring a multi-state manhunt involving a Sandy Hook man, turned his attention on Saturday, May 30, to approximately 1,250 miles northwest in a 3 pm social network post. Referring to the escalating unrest in Minneapolis, Minn., following the death on May 25 of a handcuffed man in police custody, the chief joined First Selectman Dan Rosenthal who reached out separately through The Newtown Bee with a message for the community.
Chief Viadero, formerly a career Bridgeport officer and superior, wrote: "I'm sure everyone has seen the disturbing video from Minneapolis in which a handcuffed man lost his life while in custody. I can assure you as sworn law enforcement officers who have taken an oath to protect and serve the communities who have entrusted us with such an awesome responsibility we are all sickened by what has transpired.”
Miami Herald:
Why do ‘good cops’ just stand there when a ‘bad’ cop goes rogue? Lack of leadership from top
While there always will be unforeseen circumstances, police leaders play a critical role in reducing poor outcomes. Currently, I am a police captain with the Florida International University Police Department where Alexander Casas is chief. I joined this department after my retirement from the city of Miami police and my stint as chief of police in Missouri.
Chief Casas and I share a philosophy: We believe in working hard to focus on the importance of respect for people and the sanctity of life. We train and hold ourselves accountable for treating people with dignity. We work to instill the practice of de-escalation and communication. We work tirelessly to improve messaging to department members. We do all this to ensure that we provide first rate service.
Tim Miller/Bulwark:
Actually, Virtue Signaling Is Good
We could use less celebration of vice and more signaling of virtue.
Jesus wasn’t much impressed with those virtue signaling Pharisees in the temple.
And every kid who has ever gone through elementary school has had to deal with their own virtue-signaling Martin Prince.
But somewhere along the way, our Trumpian political culture transformed this complaint about those who want to signal their virtue without doing anything about it into something more sinister.
Rather than merely mocking poseurs who were all talk and no action, people began turning on the very idea of virtue.
And while polling has to catch up with events, we do have this:
Philip Klein/Washington Examiner:
Don't assume riots will help Trump's reelection campaign
The argument that it helps him is that the urban unrest we're seeing, and the fact that Democrats have been reluctant to condemn it, will energize the sort of swing state white voters that Trump requires for his reelection. The riots of 1968, for example, helped rescue Richard Nixon from political oblivion and vault him to the White House.
While such an outcome is of course possible, it isn't quite such a slam dunk.
There's an important distinction, which is that in 1968, Nixon was running as a challenger and promising to restore law and order. Trump, in contrast, is already president. And as the incumbent, it's much harder to run on a message to restore law and order when major American cities descended into chaos under your watch.
As to how it is playing prior to this weekend:
Gary Langer/ABC:
Advantage Biden, with risks; Trump disapproval grows: POLL
Biden holds a lead over Trump among registered voters.
Joe Biden holds a 10-point lead over President Donald Trump among registered voters in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, but that's sliced in half among those certain to vote, reflecting challenges for Biden in terms of voter commitment and enthusiasm alike.
Trump has his own risks, including sharply negative views of the economy and greater criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His overall job approval rating is back under water, 45-53% among all Americans, with a seven-point rise in disapproval since late March.
This part is twitter heavy because that’s where the expert writing is:
Harry Enten/CNN:
Biden's in one of the best positions for any challenger since scientific polling began
There were
more than 40 national public polls taken at least partially in the month of May that asked about the Biden-Trump matchup. Biden led in every single one of them. He's the first challenger to be ahead of the incumbent in every May poll since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976. Carter, of course, won the 1976 election. Biden's the only challenger to have the advantage in every May poll over an elected incumbent in the polling era.
Biden remains the lone challenger to be up in the average of polls in every single month of the election year. His average lead in a monthly average of polls has never dipped below 4 points and has usually been above it.
That pretty much covers all the objections. Biden’s leading, and it’s significant that he is, even in May. Oh, and this too.
And this:
And before you say “how did 1972 work out?” that is not the point. 1970 didn’t go all that well for the GOP.
Walter Shapiro/TNR:
The Flawed Politics of a Law-and-Order Campaign
Richard Nixon tried to play on white fears about cities burning. It doesn't necessarily guarantee success.
The parallel on everyone’s lips is 1968—that wrenching year of assassination, riot, racism, war, and the breakdown of the bonds that hold us together as a people. That was the year, as glib TV commentators explain, that Richard Nixon defeated Vice President Hubert Humphrey in a campaign built around law and order. Now Biden, a former vice president (get it?), is consigned to the hapless Humphrey role while Trump, like Nixon, plays to white fears.
That, anyway, is the myth, although the reality was far more complicated. Looking back at the early Nixon years with a half-century’s hindsight actually offers reasons to hope. Even in 1968 and the divisive 1970 congressional elections that followed, voters were not easily gulled by Republican rabble-rousing.