Democrats Propose Police Reform "We are here to observe that pain. We are here to respect the actions of the American people to speak out against that, specifically manifested in police brutality. We are here to honor George Floyd." That was part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's introduction ahead of the gathered Democrats kneeling and observing 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in remembrance of the death of George Floyd. “It was excruciating. It seemed an unbearably long amount of time," said Pelosi afterward. It felt so painful to get even an inkling of how this man and so many other black Americans have suffered for so long. " The proposed bill by Democrats aims to start a police registry of police misconduct, ban the use of chokeholds, stop “no-knock” search warrants, and classify lynching as a federal hate crime, among other reforms. 14 Points A new CNN/SSRS poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden opening up his biggest lead yet, 14 points over his political rival among registered voters, as well as a huge drop in approval ratings for President Donald Trump. "All organizations have people who engage in misconduct" As America faces continued civil unrest, Attorney General William Barr refused the notion that U.S. law enforcement has a problem with systemic racism, in an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan for Face The Nation. "I don’t think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist." said Barr. Stop Tweeting Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that President Trump should “put tweeting aside” and engage in a dialogue about what protesters across the country are demanding. "I think we need that and I think he can do it," said Rice. "Defund the Police" Protesters in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night appended the new “Black Lives Matter” message painted in enormous letters on a city street — which was photographed from space earlier — with the message “= Defund the Police” in equally huge lettering. A veto-proof majority of Minneapolis city council members voted Sunday to do that very thing. “What if, in the middle of the night, my home is broken into. Who do I call?” asked Alisyn Camerota. about the decision in a Monday morning interview on CNN. “Yes, I mean I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors, and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege,” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender answered. Or at least 'defund' Police Unions In an indication of a rare issue on which conservatives and progressives might find common ground, several prominent op-eds in right-leaning media outlets are calling for police unions to be broken up following the killing of George Floyd. Dropping Trump for Biden Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will be voting for Biden, not Trump, this year. He joins former Secretary of Defense and Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, and former White House Chief of Staff and Marine Corps Gen. Jim Kelly in denouncing Trump. Not to mention almost 90 more former Defense and National Security officials.— including four former Defense Secretaries and one former CIA director — in an op-ed published this week. Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin said it is 'extremely unusual" that folks like Mattis speak out like this, and that it "really shows how very deeply concerned the top levels of the military are. Lifelong politician and civilian Mike Huckabee sneered about it on Fox News. 6.5.0 |