What is responsible policing?

In pursuit of justice, the jury has spoken -
there has been accountability.

The real work begins.

Police welcome the verdict and reform.

A new day in America.    
We can all rejoice with relief.

We are all able to breathe again.

Thank you, Keith Ellison, you assembled a great team.

We will sink or swim together.

Already another shooting death: a teenage girl - with a knife - was shot by police in Columbus, Ohio.      
There will be an independent investigation to uncover the facts.

The Minneapolis Police Department welcomes Department of Justice's investigation into Minneapolis policing practices announced by AG Merrick Garland.

The DOJ is considering pressing charges against Derek Chauvin for a 2017 incident.    
There is body-cam footage of Chauvin striking a black 14 y/o so hard his wound required stitches, and then him kneeling on the teen's upper back for almost 17 minutes.

"To be human is to operate from imperfect knowledge. To be wise is to act accordingly. We who speak should do so with care. Not to avoid #ACCOUNTABILITY, but to place it --- in each case --- where it belongs."

People running, shouting, falling - absolute chaos - what might be murder in progress - and a split second and few options to respond to the call to a life and death crisis.

Ambiguity does not overwhelm all situations. It certainly did not in recent killings by police in Minneapolis.

LeBron James admitted "(He's) so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police" he was too quick to tweet when 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant was fatally shot in Columbus, Ohio.

What we all know is another child is dead, cause for sorrow in any context.

46% of Republicans disagree with the Chauvin jury verdict.

As important as the guilty verdicts in the Chauvin case are, they far from establish equal protection under the law. It is long past time for the Senate to move forward and pass police reform to put on President Biden's desk. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is important for good police officers too.

One hundred days in office:
zero $$$ / zero hours spent on golf trips.

In 2019 American police officers killed 1,600 Americans.    
That same year, British bobbies killed 12 Brits.  
US Senators continue to dawdle on police reform -
on the other hand -
How can we expect meaningful police reform when Americans are armed?... guns are everywhere in the US.

Senator Tim Scott made it clear in his response to Biden:    
Republicans determine if anything is bi-partisan.    
"Bi-partisan" is a fantasy Democrats can give up.

Joe Biden's story of working through the tragedies in his life are well known. What is striking is how his suffering has not only made him more empathetic to others who are struggling, but also given him a rare kind of strength. He clearly has an inner steel that stamps him as a man of character and decency. Many Americans want him to succeed. Joe Biden's first 100 days in office have revealed much more about his inner core which gives hope he will save a nation in crisis. Joe Biden is not just another politician; his resilience manifests in a moral and powerful sense of purpose.      
with attribution to David Gergen, a White House advisor to four presidents of both parties

A calmer news cycle is refreshing.

When President Biden is fact checked, he course corrects. Truth is important to him.

On the other hand, nearly six months after Trump lost to Biden, Retrumplicans fervently embrace the big LIE; fealty to Trump's big LIE is a defining loyalty test for Retrumplicans. In January, 147 GOP lawmakers - eight Senators and 139 House members - voted in support of objections to the presidential election results.    

A Retrumplican organizer in Michigan said she has good reason to believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump: "Trump has never actually been wrong; we've learned to trust what he says," she said, referring to Trump's baseless claims that widespread electoral fraud caused his election loss.

Even now, a hand recount of votes cast in Arizona's largest county is underway in an effort to overturn the election results.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT TRUMP'S ASSERTIONS which he continues to assert today.

What is the trajectory of our country?    
not great if prerequisite for one party is to espouse the big LIE.  
Kevin McCarthy says the party must work together as one to win the majority,      
Liz Cheney is fighting to save our democracy. 

With but a handful of Republicans standing for truth our democracy is at risk.