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‘Defund the FBI’? Seriously?, by Clarence Page
Yes, I had to polish my eyeglasses and put them back on for a second look before I could believe what the always provocative and occasionally rational Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had just tweeted. In a takeoff on the Black Lives Matter slogan, she tweeted “Defund the FBI.” Cute. Barely a step ahead of other like- minded law- makers, the Georgia Re- publican went on to sell hats and other sou- venir merchan- dise online with the slogan, all in response to the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of her hero, former President Donald Trump. Although more than a dozen other Republicans publicly shared Rep. Greene’s sentiments, others, like Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, were not amused. Although he was “impressed Democrats finally got us to say, ‘Defund the FBI,’” he said sarcastically, the slogan “makes you look unserious, when you start talking like that.” On that, I agree. I have ex- pressed similar criticism of the original “Defund the police” sloganasitemergedamid global protests by the Black Lives Matter movement follow- ing George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020. Although apologists defended the slogan as a call for construc- tively rethinking policies that pile too many social service burdens on police, conservatives easily turned it into a call for softness on crime. Now, in another ironic twist, a disturbing number of Repub- licans are using it to call for softness on Donald Trump. After the FBI search at the Mar-a-Lago estate, many Trump supporters have turned a slogan they hate into one that they love, Clarence Page even at the cost of the GOP calls to “Support the police” and “Back the Blue” going back at least to Richard M. Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign. Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom I call Rep.Greene’s brother in shameless grandstand- ing, threatened to give “not one more damn penny” to the FBI and other such agencies. To which BLM tweeted back with “you are corny..... But we’ll work with you to defund and dismantle the FBI. Welcome to #DefundThePolice.” While most of the GOP’s establishment leaders stayed out of the fray, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Cali- fornia tweeted after the search, “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” Thisisthesameleaderwho, during a Police Week speech in May, said “hateful rhetoric” and policies have helped create an “environment of rising crime and put our officers in danger.” The search came after Mr. Trump failed to comply with polite invitations to return clas- sified government documents he had taken to his home. Instead, he claimed to have declared the documents “declassified” without any documentation to back that up. That’s not how declassification is done, especially when you’re no longer president. Now we see some Republi- cans finding virtue in “Defund the FBI” as a rallying cry for Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base. They’re hungrily looking for some solace amid the pile of scandals threatening their favorite potential candidate. So far, echoing Mr. Trump’s FBI attacks appears remarkably to be working, even in the wake of shocking revelations uncovered by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. After the committee took its summer break, a poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed Trump support had weakened. But after the search at Mar-a- Lago, a new poll by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action revealed more than 80 percent of Republican respondents said the feds’ action made them more motivated to vote in this November’s midterm elections. Regardless, our justice system is being tested in this case, along withourdemocracy.Let’stake our time and do it right. Our system of justice isn’t perfect but, for now, it’s all we’ve got. The writer is a syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune edito- rial board.
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New president elected for National Baptist Convention USA
The Rev. Jerry Young, the convention’s former vice president, emerged from a pack of five candidates to take over from the Rev. Julius Scruggs of Huntsville, Ala.
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Fatigue and despair build as Calif. copes with massacres
In the wake of the worst mas- sacre in Los Angeles County history, the California governor was meeting gunshot victims in the hospital when he was pulled away and briefed on a mass shooting at the other end of the state.
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Harriet’s Place tea ministry opens in Washington Park
More than 100 colorful teapots of all shapes and sizes fill the idyllic home in the historic Washington Park community on North Side. They will serve as the centerpiece for Scripture Tea Fellowship Ministries, whose mission is to “provide spiritual, social, educational and economic empowerment in a safe place of refuge and relaxation over a cup of tea and the word of God,” according to the Rev. Jeanette Brown, the ministry’s founder.
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Serena loses at U.S. Open, but remains a champion
Serena Williams had been a vulnerable conqueror at this year’s majors, living dangerously and dicing with defeat on numerous occasions as she tried to become only the fourth woman to complete a calendar Grand Slam. Her luck finally ran out Sept. 11 at the U.S. Open on a court where she had not been beaten since 2011.
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K'Von Wallace playing for a national win for Clemson
A local athlete figures to have a large say in who be- comes the next NCAA football champion.
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John Marshall heads to Saturday’s state final
John Marshall High School has proven it’s tops in the Richmond area. Now the Justices are out to show they are No. 1 in Virginia.
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Dreams deferred
Hopewell brothers jailed 72 days until charges dropped
At first, the story seems all too familiar. Two Hopewell teenagers rob two pedestrians at gunpoint near a private school, but are quickly caught when responding police officers scour the area and arrest them a few minutes later as they are buying sodas and pastries at a nearby convenience store. With police boasting about having strong evidence, the teenage brothers are kept in jail for two and a half months — twice refused bond because they are charged with a crime of violence involving a weapon. But just as suddenly, the case evaporates. The evidence does not stand up, and the brothers are freed to resume their lives.
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She's a Little League winner
Chicago squad also a standout
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Local supplies, hope headed to Africa’s Ebola-stricken areas
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Dems in governor’s race face off in 2nd debate
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N.C. prosecutor claims deputies justified in Elizabeth City fatal shooting
A North Carolina prosecutor said Tuesday that sheriff’s deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr. because Mr. Brown struck a deputy with his car and nearly ran him over while ignoring commands to show his hands and get out of the vehicle.
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Va. Legislative Black Caucus on ‘wrong side of history’
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus (VLBC) states, in part, that its mission is to “improve the economic, educational, political and social conditions of African-Americans and other underrepresented groups in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Given this pointed self-description, the VLBC clearly appears to have betrayed its own mission in its decision to deny a Virginia Supreme Court judgeship to state Appeals Court Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr., an African-American.
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Know your HIV status
I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the past eight years. Here and around the world, over 18 million people are receiving the treatment and care they need — millions of infections have been prevented. What once seemed like an impossible dream, the dream of an AIDS-free generation, is within our grasp. But we know that there’s work to do to banish stigma, save lives and empower everyone to reach their potential…Today we remember those we’ve lost, and reflect on the extraordinary progress we’ve won. We give thanks to the heroes on the front lines of this fight and tomorrow we get back out there, because together, we can do this.” — President Obama’s video message for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control published its weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report. The report, which described five cases of previously healthy, young gay men in Los Angeles infected with a rare lung infection, eventually would become recognized as the first official report on HIV/AIDS in the United States.
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Disturbing
We supported Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s call for the resignation of former Richmond Police Chief Will Smith.
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Trump and ‘Medi-scare’
Maybe Donald Trump really believes his hype about the “lying media.” That might explain why his effort to produce a commentary longer than a tweet contains enough falsehoods to have fact checkers working overtime.
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Danita Rountree Green, left, and Marsha Summers are co-CEOs of Coming Together Virginia, a local nonprofit organization that typically unites people over a meal to …
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