Former state police detective Robert Long’s Boston Globe op-ed is clearly intended to be a call for cooler heads to prevail in the effort to advance meaningful reform of policing in America. While this is certainly a laudable sentiment, Mr. Long’s presumably sincere effort is marred by an outdated and inaccurate understanding of partisan politics in 2020.
Progressive readers will be tempted to dismiss Long’s analysis after the opening paragraphs which make his piece seem like another “bad apples” defense of the police, but, to his credit, Mr. Long does eventually articulate the need for systemic reform of policing. Unfortunately, Mr. Long’s characterizations of what constitutes irresponsible partisan rhetoric severely damages the credibility of his argument. To be sure there is irresponsible rhetoric coming from the left at present. “Defund the police” is a stupid slogan, but that’s all it is… a slogan.
Like many (probably most) Americans, Mr. Long imagines partisan politicians, right and left, are constantly engaged in equally bad faith and pointless rhetorical attacks that distract from sober and clear-sighted problem solving. In 2020, this perception remains very popular with average Americans who have little serious interest in or understanding of politics, but it has never been less true. Irresponsible partisanship has been taken to unprecedented levels by the Trump Administration and is being aided and abetted by Republicans across the country. Mr. Long’s attempt to stand above partisanship by assuming that “both sides” are blameworthy destroys his argument because it perpetuates what is now a dangerous fiction. The Republican Administration and the national Republican Party are unambiguously opposed to even the acknowledgement of reality regarding systemic racism in America, never mind meaningful reform based on this fact. Mr. Long either doesn’t see this reality, or he believes it irresponsible and counter-productive to point it out due to an outdated notion of balance or fairmindedness.
The following excerpt clearly illustrates Long’s lack of 20/20 vision regarding American politics in 2020:
Contrary to what the mayor said about listening, he’s clearly not, at least not at this moment. Last week, after Police Commissioner William Gross met with US Attorney General William Barr on the need for police conduct reform and how to address the issue of racism, the mayor bent over backward to let the world know he’d never meet with Barr under any circumstances. “Attorney General Barr and the Trump administration do not share Boston’s values or my values,” the mayor said in a statement. “His actions and general lack of respect for people and their rights are a danger to our city and the future of our country.” How does that rhetoric and political bias help Boston lead the nation in the fight against racism? It doesn’t. Especially when Barr, whether you like him or not, will play a pivotal role in effecting any police reform, as well as in the distribution of federal funds for implementing reform and addressing racism.
In fact, the Mayor’s rhetoric is spot on. It reflects objective reality in America today, not irresponsible partisanship. Bill Barr is the openly corrupt Attorney General for an openly corrupt and racist Administration. If Mayor Walsh pretended otherwise, he would rightly lose credibility on the issue. Any reform supported by Bill Barr would have zero credibility.
Long assumes that responsible partisanship requires a “both sides are blameworthy” rhetorical balancing act, but the reality in 2020 is that one side is MUCH more to blame, and much more dangerous, than the other. Long’s assumption that Barr will “play a pivotal role” in police reform is misguided. No matter how nice Democrats are to Bill Barr, he’s not going to be helpful here. Furthermore, he will VERY likely be out of office before meaningful police reform can be enacted.
This outdated notion of partisan politics remains one of the greatest weapons of the far right in America today, though Donald Trump’s lack of subtlety and intelligence has actually helped shine a light on the absurdity of it. Trump’s infamous praise of open racists as “good people” in Charlottesville was a kind of canary in the mine in this regard, signaling the extinction of an era of partisanship in America when both sides were playing by the same rules. Since then, Trump has only made this more and more clear.
While Detective Long appears to be making a sincere plea for cooler heads to prevail, his outdated perspective renders his effort moot by effectively demanding that firefighters play nice with arsonists. Uncomfortable as it might be for average Americans who distrust all politicians, it is an inescapable fact that Republican Party leaders today oppose meaningful efforts to address systemic racism in America and (regardless of other faults or failings) Democratic Party leaders support such efforts. No meaningful debate about reform can proceed without accepting this reality.