Who invited the Grim Reaper to yesterday’s Coronation in Westminster Abbey?
May 072023
May 072023
Recently I learned of a concept that has been around longer than I have, but only lately has started to gain widespread attention: Copaganda. As you probably suspect, it’s a portmanteau of “cop” and “propaganda.” It’s all about using media and culture to give police a positive image. There’s nothing wrong with depicting police officers as the good guys; after all, they are supposed to Protect & Serve, and fight crime. Unfortunately, as news stories from not just the past few years but going back decades have shown, the police do not always behave as they should. Our country’s militarization of police departments has put a lot of cops in a warrior state of mind. Instead of the stereotypical Officer Friendly, we have a heavily armed and armored brute who has a lot in common with Judge Dredd.
Copaganda goes all the way back to Dragnet. It continues through shows such as Adam-12, Hill Street Blues, Cops, Law & Order, NCIS, Blue Bloods and Paw Patrol. The final example shows how the media want to get us trusting the cops early. Children’s books and comic books always present law enforcement in a good light. We grow up trusting police officers because our earliest view of them is often the stereotypical Nice Cop, the fearless paladin defending the public.
In nearly every movie that features police, they are the fearless heroes protecting the citizenry. Even if they are not perfectly saintly, they are shown in a positive light – and if a cop does rough up a suspect, hey, the @s$hole asked for it. Seldom are cops depicted as being corrupt or needlessly violent. When cops do behave badly, it is for the common good and thus justifiable. Remember in RoboCop when the titular character blew away a bunch of hoodlums in a drug factory, with complete impunity? Paul Verhoeven actually intended his movie about a cybernetic supercop to be a satire on police brutality and excessive force.
Police shows and movies depict police departments as being more diverse than they actually are. In the U.S., only about 15% of police officers are Black, though one would hardly know that from US movies and TV. Also, in police shows the majority of criminals are people of color, often Black. Never mind that whites commit more crimes than Blacks, since they are the most populous race – for example, whites are responsible for the majority of mass shootings since 1982.
In D&D terms, police officers are supposed to be lawful good. They are certainly lawful (for the most part), but sadly in the USA they are becoming more lawful neutral or even lawful evil. Increased militarization of police departments is making them less like your friendly neighborhood constables, and more like the Imperial Stormtroopers of the Star Wars universe.
Many police departments around the country are turning to social media posts to help counter negative narratives and boost images, showing white police officers posing with Black children holding “Black Lives Matter” signs. Videos of police officers kneeling, hugging protesters, or offering snacks to little Black girls and boys get boosts from police allies and activists, as well as the general public. The focus of these videos is supposed to be on the kind nature of individual police officers, but it’s important to remember that these friendly officers have guns on their hips and hold qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that effectively shields cops from accountability for misconduct, such as when they use excessive force.
The news media are not helping. During the protests against police brutality that began with the tragic death of George Floyd, local and national news outlets focused on the occasional violence, ignoring the fact that 97% of all Black Lives Matter protests were non-violent. Corporate media gleefully licks the boots of police officers, downplaying their misconduct while exaggerating the violence and mayhem of protesters.
As I pointed out in my previous essay about “Defund the Police,” we need to rethink law enforcement in this country – profoundly. Cops are necessary, but they don’t have to be a necessary evil. They should be thoroughly on the side of Good. They should adhere to the slogan Protect and Serve.
May 072023
Glenn Kirschner – A mole at Mar-a-Lago: person who works for Trump becomes confidential cooperator for prosecutors
The Lincoln Project – Crash
Ring of Fire – Amazon Takes The Lead On Union Busting
Liberal Redneck – Liberal Redneck – The Problem with DeSantis
Dog Gets A Mini Me
Beau – Let’s talk about Colorado, tractors, and farmers….
May 072023
Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Boheme” by Puccini. That should be no surprise, since I mentioned it Friday. This opera was the first one I ever owned a recording of. I found it in the PX my first year in the service and grabbed it. That was 56 years ago. I bought a second recording of it when Richard Tucker passed away – that would have been maybe 48 years ago. I have seen it on television, and live, and I have streamed it, over the years – different casts and settings of course – I have memorized arias from it and sung them (just for myself – like whe driving between radio stations) – I have sung in the chorus of a concert version of it – I have made costume sketches of it in case I ever got the chance to help stage it – I don’t actually know the entire libretto by heart, but I wouldn’t be araid to bet that if you read me a line from the libretto (in English or in italian) I could tall you who sings it in which act and why. I know I have heard or seen it every year of my life since 1967, in fact more than once each year. Three times a year is probably low for an average, but that would still be 168 times. And i still cry with Rodolfo. In fact, I choke up/tear up just thinking about it. i gather that younger people (and some my age) who have seen/heard “Rent,” which was based on it, feel much the same about that incarnation of it. I can also tell you that it was based on “Scènes de la vie de Bohème” by Henri Murger (my translation: “Episodes from Hippie Life”), and that another composer (I think Leoncavallo, but won’t swear to that) wanted to write it, but Puccini got in first. I can tell you that the characer Musetta in the book got that nickname because her voice was as raspy as a bagpipe (of yourse that’s not how she sounds in the opera.) I can do all that, but I cannot explain why it never fails. It just never fails.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The Good in Us – The Sickness unto Death, Part I
Quote – When the news of the Sandy Hook shooting broke, my daughter was at school. I spent the hours before I had to pick her up agonizing over what to tell her. I didn’t want to say anything. I wanted to pretend nothing had happened. I wanted to protect her from knowing because what use could that terrible knowledge be to a child?… The very fact of Sandy Hook broke something in me. And, if you’re an empathetic human being, it broke something in you, too.
Click through (and click “continue reading.”) Apparently there are some issues with it, especially with the links -if you have any problem, this may help.
Thw 19th – For Native women in power in Minnesota, confronting the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people is personal
Quote – Less than two years since it began operating, the [Office for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives], led by a Native woman, Juliet Rudie, is a key liaison for families navigating the complicated law enforcement system, and pushing for clear data to make sure victims aren’t invisible It is also working to reshape the landscape that has allowed cases to fall through the cracks, including forging new training standards for Minnesota police officers. Every agency in the state has a tribal liaison.
Click through for story. There are a lot more people who know this is a problem than there are people actually working on it. Kudos to Minnesota.
Food For Thought
May 062023
Glenn Kirschner – Proud Boys seditious conspiracy convictions moves the accountability needle closer to Trump & Co.
Thom Hartmann – Divorce Illegal!?! We Told You GOP Wanted To Turn Women Into Property
Farron Balanced – Pathetic Marjorie Taylor Greene Only Reported SIX Donors From Her Own District
Armageddon Update – BYE, TUCKER!
Cat Obsessed With Baby Brother Thinks He’s Also A Baby
Beau – Let’s talk about Brandon, books, budgets, and Biden….
May 062023
Yesterday, I got 8 out of 8 correct in the Conversation’s weekly quiz for the second week in a row. I can’t possibly keep this up. This week, most of the credit goes to the quiz author. The wrong answers were mostly so off the wall that it wasn’t really difficult. The only one I actually had to guess was the one about Karl Lagerfeld, and that was a true-false, so the odds were better than when there are four answers. and, yes, Virgil called to say Happy Anniversary. You knew he would (I certainly did.)
Cartoon – My Everyday Erinyes (#369) is up here:
Short Takes –
Letters from an American – May 4, 2023
Quote – Weirdly, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) at a Senate Budget Committee hearing today blamed Democrats for not raising the debt ceiling themselves last year without help from the Republicans. Kate Riga of Talking Points Memo broke down this argument. If the Democrats had raised the debt ceiling through reconciliation, without Republican votes, Republicans would have insisted that it was the Democrats, not them, who had burdened the country with debt when, in fact, the Republicans added almost $8 trillion to the debt under Trump. Romney’s complaint amounts to berating the responsible Democrats for not protecting the country against the Republicans, who are willing to burn down the country. As Riga put it: “Darn you Democrats for not taking care of the debt ceiling then, because you knew we’d refuse to raise the limit unless you conceded to our demands, and look what a sticky spot we’re in now.”
Click though for much more (Click “continue reading”). They used to say “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing. This, on the other hand, is a letter about everything.
Crooks & Liars – Texas Bill Would Allow State To Overturn Harris County Elections
Quote – The measures call for the “abolition” of election administrators in counties with populations larger than 1,000,000—a metric that only applies to Harris County, which Republican state lawmakers have taken a keen interest in in the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections…. Since then, the Harris County Elections Office report concluded that they couldn’t determine if potential voters were pushed away because of the issues at polling centers.
CLick through for story. This is so blatant that even now I can hardly imagine it succeeding though the courts. Even the courts we have now. But there is always a possibility. Clearly they think they are on to something.
Food For Thought
May 052023
[1]
No – the Titanic was NOT carrying 12,000 jars of Hellmann’s mayonnaise when she sank.
Did Lost Cargo on the Titanic Lead to the Creation of Cinco de Mayo? | Snopes.com
[2]
Yes – Cinco de Mayo is MUCH MORE WIDELY CELEBRATED in the USA than Mexico.
So, is it strange that Cinco de Mayo is more widely celebrated in the United States than in Mexico?
No — because Cinco de Mayo is a celebration created by and for Latino communities in the United States. And the celebration of Cinco de Mayo is more about U.S. Latino history and culture than Mexican history.
Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican holiday. It’s an American one. – The Washington Post
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
May 052023
Glenn Kirschner – 3 stories: Rudy’s broke; Trump’s defenseless; & Special Counsel Jack Smith is busy in the grand jury
Robert Reich – How to Stop Republicans From Tanking the Economy
MSNBC – Eric Holder: NC Supreme Court acting not on principle nor precedent—but on personnel
Ring of Fire – Biden Expertly Dismantles Republicans Over Their Attempts To Gut Veterans’ Benefits
Little Girl And Her Dad Save A Wild Mouse!
Beau – Let’s talk about Tuberville and promotions….