Analysis by Kyle A. Lohmeier
To ensure the Republican Party doesn’t operate a complete monopoly on empty rhetoric and pointless blather this week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke on the ongoing tensions between police departments in the USA and the communities they “serve,” on July 20.
“Law enforcement is feeling under siege because of these incidents and they are tragic,” Lynch said. “The tragedies that we are seeing are affecting us all. Individuals who talk about not feeling safe are also echoing what our police officers say when they talk about how they are not safe in many situations. This is not a situation for growth and doesn’t bring out the best in us.”
Now that was some Sarah Palin-esque mumbo-jumbo there. Who are these non-police individuals reaching out to the federal attorney general, complaining that they don’t feel safe because of targeted attacks against police officers in two towns? And what the hell is that last sentence about? It sounds like it was accidentally copy-and-pasted from a corporate quarterly earnings report.
Whatever the hell she’s talking about, it must have been important for Lynch spent yesterday with President Obama, FBI Director James Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to “review the efforts that this administration is taking and has taken for some time to support law enforcement in the field,” Lynch said, according to an article in Bloomberg.
Apparently, the administration was pushed to this sort of “action” after Republicans said mean things about Obama at their National Convention in Cleveland where Monday’s theme was “make America safe again.” According to the Bloomberg article, Obama has pledged to “do more” to protect police and address tensions between cops and minorities and would spend the “rest of his presidency” working on it. So, like, six months to the day. To that end, yesterday Obama sent an open letter to U.S. law enforcement, pledging to not allow the divisive forces within the nation succeed. So, there’s that settled.
I’m not entirely sure what to even make of this article, or of the events described therein. I didn’t see anyone else reporting on it, just Bloomberg, which leads the recklessly speculative part of my brain to suspect there’s more to it than there appears to be. Or, it could just be that the RNC is sucking all the air out of the media room.
Looking at the principals involved leads me to more reckless speculation. Under Obama, the Department of Homeland Security has amassed enough ammunition to shoot every man, woman and child in the USA about five times. And, by definition, DHS doesn’t play away games. To say that FBI Director Comey is seriously compromised is an understatement and I don’t trust Lynch as far as I could throw her predecessor. Given that Bloomberg’s editorial staff is of a mind with their founder and namesake on the topic of guns, I can’t help but think I already know what, if any, shape this “support of law enforcement in the field” will look like.
Obama is just running out the clock now, so, this was either just some public relations move to express solidarity with law enforcement – understandable after his gaffe at the funeral for three slain officers in Dallas where he seemingly forgot whose funeral he was attending. Or, he is preparing for a final attempt at a legacy and one more push at sweeping gun control laws.
Let’s hope it’s the former.
Leave a Reply