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“Defund the police!”
“Ban fracking!”
“Mask up!”
Slogans like these have formed the backbone of America’s radical leftist movement for years now. In the go-go years of the Trump era, they were an affectation that could be afforded. In the cold light of reality in 2022, their cost has made them too expensive for Americans. In The Federalist, Casey Chalk details the backpedaling of the Left as moderates attempt to distance themselves from the radicals who have alienated voters.
Re-Funding the Police
To the horror of BLM, the Squad, and radical ANTIFA members everywhere, Joe Biden made funding the police a major plank of his State of the Union speech. Chalk writes:
Mayors of America’s largest cities, once responsive to calls to defund the police, have done a dramatic reversal in response to local frustration with higher crime rates. Now “refund the police” has become the cry of many liberal residents.
In D.C., residents’ opinions on crime and police have experienced this shift, given increased crime and murder rates in the city since 2020. According to a recent WaPo poll, a sizable majority (59 percent) now agree that increasing the number of police officers patrolling communities would reduce the amount of violent crime in D.C.
“The share of Washingtonians who say they are not safe from crime has risen to 30 percent this year from 22 percent in November 2019 and is the highest in more than two decades of Post polls,” reports the WaPo.
This is quite a change from the “defund the police” initiatives city residents — and various activist groups — so loudly endorsed after the death of George Floyd. The D.C. government in 2020 supported measures in June 2022 to cut $15 million from the police department budget. At the time, the police chief warned this could lead to the loss of hundreds of officers and that underfunding training and equipment might result in officers using more excessive force.
Masks Off
Shrewder Democrats around the country are also ending mask mandates, after pushing parents and kids to the limit of their patience with unscientific requirements. Chalk continues:
Democratic states are also ending many Covid restrictions in the face of rising complaints from their constituents. Consider D.C. Mayor Bowser’s mid-February announcement that she would lift the city’s vaccine requirement for businesses and “dial back” the city’s indoor mask rules. This announcement followed a number of states — including many governed by Democrats — that have also eased their restrictions as polls come back showing their rising unpopularity. Now D.C.’s party scene is “returning to normal,” reports the WaPo, even though coronavirus case counts in and around Washington remain “high.”
This is a remarkable and speedy shift, especially considering D.C. had some of the most strict Covid restrictions in the country. Perhaps the District’s dramatic about-face has something to do with widespread annoyance with pandemic restrictions, even among liberal voters. Perhaps it results from the rising tide of Democratic politicians listening to their constituencies despite “public health guidance” claiming the country is moving too fast in loosening the rules.
America Needs More Energy
With the prices of gasoline, heating oil, propane, and natural gas soaring, America is wondering what happened to the energy independence of the Trump years. Biden promised to end fossil fuels, and curtailed American drilling and pipeline building projects. But now, the administration is so desperate to push down oil prices Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is suggested America could even buy oil from Iran. Fox News reports:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that “all options are on the table” during a discussion about oil prices after MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle asked if President Biden would consider “working something out with Iran.”
Ruhle asked Buttigieg if Biden would consider activating the Keystone XL Pipeline or “working something out with Iran” during MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour” on Wednesday.
“Look, the president has said that all options are on the table. But we also need to make sure we’re not galloping after permanent solutions to immediate short term problems where more strategic and tactical actions in the short term could make a difference,” he responded.
Political commentators, personalities and politicians criticized Buttigieg on Twitter for the comments. Critics called for American energy independence as the Russians continue to invade Ukraine.
Turns Out Americans Can Still Agree
Joe Biden campaigned on a return to “unity,” in America, but perhaps the only unity he’s fostered is one of discontent with his radical Democrat allies. Chalk concludes at The Federalist:
What this all means is that, thankfully, certain activist narratives that threatened all Americans have lost considerable steam. It also means these policies are likely political liabilities in upcoming elections. Perhaps it also shows there are certain things that all Americans can still agree on.
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