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Is Biden Ceding the Law-and-Order Issue?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Is Joe Biden forfeiting the law-and-order issue to Donald Trump?

So it would seem.

“Republicans Use Law and Order As Rallying Cry” was the top headline on The New York Times’ front-page story on Vice President Mike Pence’s acceptance speech at Fort McHenry Wednesday night.

The Wall Street Journal Page One headline echoed the Times: “Pence Accepts Nomination as GOP Puts Focus on Police.”

In his address, Pence charged Biden with sinning by silence in failing to denounce the rioters, looters and arsonists who have for months attacked police and pillaged Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Kenosha and other cities.

Said Pence: “Last week, Joe Biden did not say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country.
“Joe Biden says that America is systemically racist, and that law enforcement in America has… ‘implicit bias against minorities.’ When asked whether he’d support cutting funding to law enforcement, Joe Biden replied, ‘Yes, absolutely.’

“Joe Biden would double down on the very policies that are leading to unsafe streets and violence in American cities. … You will not be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”

Now, it is inexact to say Biden would “defund” the police. When the big agenda item of Black Lives Matter was first raised, Biden rushed to say he would reform the police and increase spending.

And, late Wednesday afternoon, probably after seeing an advance of Pence’s speech, Biden tweeted from Delaware about the chaos that has engulfed Kenosha since Sunday night’s police shooting of Jacob Blake:

“Needless violence won’t heal us. We need to end the violence.”

Biden’s belated and tepid condemnations of the riots and pillaging of America’s cities by “peaceful protesters” gone rogue night after night testifies to the dilemma in which he finds himself.

It is three months since George Floyd ceased to breathe under the knee of that Minneapolis cop. But it is also three months to the election. And the political tide is turning, visibly and hard, against the arsonists and anarchists conducting the nightly rampages against cops across America.

The weariness of the public with the riots is palpable. The claim that these are but the understandable excesses of “peaceful protests” is getting stale. And the reaction against the riots and ruin in the Black communities, for whom they are allegedly being conducted, is growing.

Black leaders in urban areas are saying we want good cops, but we also want more cops to protect our people from gun-toting gangbangers who are running up rising weekly kill rates.

Tuesday, video surfaced of a mob of radicals surrounding, berating, cursing and threatening a woman at a D.C. diner. Her crime? She had refused to submit to demands she raise her fist in a Black Power salute and proclaim, “Black Lives Matter!”

“White silence is violence!” screamed the mob.

It looked like a training exercise for aspiring Nazi Brown Shirts.

Read the entire article HERE.

Nearly Five Million Americans Became Gun Owners in First Half of 2020

Via The Washington Free Beacon

Nearly five million Americans became first-time gun owners in 2020, according to a new report.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade group, estimates that 17.1 million guns have been sold between January and August with 4.84 million Americans purchasing their first guns. The sales—especially to new owners—represent a significant shift in American attitudes on gun ownership.

“This is a tectonic shift in the firearm and ammunition industry marketplace and complete transformation of today’s gun-owning community,” Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

Wex Gunworks in Delray Beach, Fla., has been “slammed” with demand from first-time buyers, according to owner Brandon Wexler. Wexler attributed the surge—which threatened to cause supply shortages—to uncertainty fostered by the coronavirus pandemic and rioting in cities across the country.

“Since the eruption of Covid-19 and the age of protests new gun owners have flocked to the shop to buy firearms, accessories, and get firearms training,” Wexler told the Washington Free Beacon. “We were slammed up through about six weeks ago, then inventory dried up from a manufacturing standpoint.”

New buyers could represent a political boon for gun-rights groups and pro-gun politicians in the coming months or years. Some gun-rights groups have already seen memberships spike. The NRA, which is supporting President Trump’s reelection, claims to have added 1,000 new members per day through the months of June and July. Another recent NSSF survey indicated that black Americans and women were among the fastest-growing demographics for new buyers. If gun-rights activists are able to make inroads with groups of Americans who have traditionally favored more gun control, the effect on November’s election could be especially significant.

“These first-time buyers represent a group of people who, until now, were agnostic regarding firearm ownership,” Keane said. “That’s rapidly changing, and these Americans are taking hold of their God-given right to keep and bear arms and protect themselves and their loved ones.”

Read the entire article HERE.

Virginia Dems Pass Bill Allowing Assault Of A Police Officer To Be Treated As A Misdemeanor

Via The Daily Wire

Virginia Democrats in the state’s Senate banded together to pass a controversial bill allowing the assault of a law enforcement officer to be treated as a misdemeanor — that is, as a crime punishable by less than one year in jail.

The bill, which passed the Virginia Senate Thursday by a margin of 21-15, “would allow an assault against a law enforcement officer to a misdemeanor if the person attacked is not hurt,” according to WSLS Virginia.

Before now, any assault of a police officer in the state of Virginia carried with it a minimum six month jail sentence.

“This same penalty applies to anyone who assaults a person they know, or have reason to know, is a judge, magistrate, prison guard, firefighter or some other criminal justice administrator or first responder,” the Fort Hunt Herald added.

A summary of the bill notes that the measure:

Eliminates the mandatory minimum term of confinement for an assault and battery committed against a judge; magistrate; law-enforcement officer; correctional officer; person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates; firefighter; or volunteer firefighter or any emergency medical services personnel and provides that such crime can no longer be committed as a simple assault and must result in a bodily injury.

In their proposal, Virginia Democrats explained that the bill would “defelonize assault[s] on law enforcement officer (return to misdemeanor offense)” and would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence imposed in a change to the law made in 1997.

Read the entire article HERE.

‘It’s playing into Trump’s hands’: Dems fear swing-state damage from Kenosha unrest

Via Politico

Some Wisconsin Democrats worry that the images of violence and destruction will turn suburban voters against the party.

Kenosha, Wis. — Downtown buildings set ablaze by arsonists were still smoldering from the night before when Kirk Ingram started to paint an angel on his boarded-up store front.

Ingram, a Democrat who runs a massage therapy business, said the war-zone images of his city on TV — armed people running through the streets, burned cars and broken windows — were bolstering President Donald Trump’s get-tough message. Maybe a few uplifting murals could start to tell a different story about Kenosha, Ingram said Wednesday.

Trump has attempted to frame the violent unrest in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting as fallout from inept leadership and the inability of Democrats to take control of their cities. On Wednesday, he announced he would send in the National Guard, while criticizing Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers for not doing so, even though the Democrat had deployed guard troops on Monday and increased them on subsequent days.

As this battleground state grapples with social unrest, some Democrats fear that the looting and rioting and clashes are feeding Trump’s argument that this is what life would be like under the so-called radical left. The worry is that especially among suburban swing voters, the more upheaval and violence they witness, the more their sympathy for peaceful Black Lives Matters protesters will wane.

“There’s no doubt it’s playing into Trump’s hands,” said Paul Soglin, who served as mayor of Madison, on and off, for more than two decades. “There’s a significant number of undecided voters who are not ideological, and they can move very easily from Republican to the Democratic column and back again. They are, in effect, the people who decide elections.

Read the entire article HERE.

Aftermath Of Riots: Dozens Of Fires Started, Hundreds Of Buildings Burned Down, Thousands Of Trump Voters Created

Via The Babylon Bee (Satire)

KENOSHA, WI—The aftermath of the riots are grim: dozens of fires were started, hundreds of buildings were burned down, and thousands of Trump voters were created over the past several days alone.

From out-of-control riots in Seattle and Wisconson to violence on the streets in Portland (or, as they call it, Wednesday), tons of property is being damaged, many are being harmed or killed, and, worst of all, new Trump voters are being created every minute.

“This isn’t looking good,” said one CNN analyst. “I mean, the buildings burning down and all the fires and property damage and violence are happening, and that’s fine, but all the Trump voters this is creating — that’s a real tragedy. We must do something to counteract the devastation this will cause in November.”

A study found that every burned-down building causes millions of dollars in property damage and creates up to 50 new Trump voters. A burned-out cop car can create up to 12 Trump supporters, while screaming at people in front of restaurants for not doing your salute can create over 100 Trump voters.

“May God have mercy on us all,” whispered the analyst.

Check out all of the Bee’s takes on politics and culture HERE.

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