The victory of President Joe Biden - first in the Democratic Primary and then in the Presidential Election - was an indication that the silent majority are the moderates. A moderate is generally considered left to center Democrat and center to right Republican. It was not only Biden’s victory that showed the importance of this group. The Democratic Party suffered losses in the House of Representatives due to the support of some who wanted to defund the police. You would think that both parties and the media would realize this. Instead, they continue preaching to the extremes.
One example is the new Georgia voting law passed by the Republican majority. The timing of the new law plus the justification indicates that there is something nefarious happening. It was rushed through right after the two Democratic candidates for Senate and President Biden won the state. This flipped the Senate to the Democrats. It appears that the new law was enacted because the Republicans were unhappy with the result and thus they were going to change the rules so that they win in the future. The justification was to increase public confidence in the voting results. The only group who had issues was Trump and some of his supporters, who peddled the false claim of voter fraud in Georgia. This law has been a public relations disaster for the Republican Party.
Instead of learning from the Republican’s mistake, a bunch of progressive Democrats are proposing legislation to pack the Supreme Court by adding four more justices. They are acting just like the Republicans in Georgia: changing the rules because they were unhappy with the result. They might not like the composition of the Court. However, every justice was confirmed by the Senate according to the law. Smart politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi know that this is political suicide and have blocked the bill from being voted on on the floor.
The media is no better. It is becoming almost impossible to find a station which tries to give both viewpoints and if presenting one position, states a moderate view.
I remember shows like PBS NewsHour were moderate to left leaning. Now they mainly present progressive viewpoints. They should change the name from Public Broadcasting Service to Progressive Broadcasting Service.
On Friday April 16, one of the segments concerned the shooting by police of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old boy in Chicago. The interviewer started off with the statement, “I think most everyone would agree it is simply unacceptable for a 13-year-old to be shot and killed by a police officer.” I guess the interviewer forgot that a gun can be just as lethal in the hands of a 13-year-old as a 30-year-old. They showed a still portion of the videotape and a view from another camera angle. Of course, there was no indication that the officer had the same view as a camera behind the boy. There was no mention that the case had been presented to a grand jury except to claim that only the police version was presented.
The guest made the assertion, “I think that police shootings overall, when we see the history of this country, not just Chicago, they affect black and brown young men. And I highlight that other, much more egregious, much older white men have managed to live through their offenses, Dylann Roof, Kyle Rittenhouse, Robert Lang (ph), three of the more recent egregious shooters, killing many people, 17, eight — or 17 or 18 people, have lived, have lived through this experience and were brought to justice.
“We’re never going to know what Adam Toledo might say in his defense, because he was killed on the streets. And so that’s significant. As the community draws this comparison, it is not lost on community that black and brown young kids are dying at the hands of police, while white kids are being brought to trial and being brought through the normal path of justice.”
There is so much wrong with this statement. For example, it does not address the particular circumstances of each case, such as whether it was reasonable to use deadly force. There was not a peep back from the interviewer, who thanked him for his perspective.
One person who is never mentioned by those on the left who complain about excessive force by the police is Ashli Babbitt. She was one of those who stormed the Capitol on January 6 and was killed by Capitol Police. If you look out of context at the video of when she was shot, an argument could be made that excessive force was used and it rose to a level that could result in criminal charges against the officer. Some on the right have concluded that the absence of any complaint by those on the left, who are protesting police killing civilians, is due to her being white and a Trump supporter.
An example of those on the right who make arguments that turn off those in the center is from one of the columnists in this paper, who makes the argument that “no officer wants to be the next Derek Chauvin,” and thus the police will be afraid to properly do their job. The implication is that Chauvin did nothing wrong and he is being subject to a witch hunt. A jury will decide his fate criminally. By the time this article is published, there may already be a verdict. However, it is hard to claim that Chauvin did nothing wrong even if he is not convicted for a crime and that his criminal prosecution will hamper proper policing.
For those in the middle, we understand that each case is different. It has nothing to do with race but whether the police officer’s conduct was reasonable under the circumstances. The officers do not have the benefit of slow-motion tape or views caught on camera from other angles. There are good cops and there are bad cops. There are cops who make mistakes - like Officer Kim Potter, who killed Daunte Wright, an unarmed black man, while screaming “Taser” three times. She has been criminally charged based on the idea that it was reckless for an officer not to realize that she was using a gun instead of a taser.
Those on the left and those on the right make the most noise and are good for ratings, so the media gives them the most coverage. However, it is a false narrative of how the country stands. If the political parties listen to their fringes they are going to be in for a surprise when the voters reject them in 2022.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.