OpinionJune 22, 2020
Speak Out 6/22/20
President Trump has my total support for reelection. He's reduced North Korea to a non-issue, significantly reduced troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has increased military spending. He's led a rational approach to the COVID-19 hysteria that resulted in significantly lower death rates than predicted. His policies led to historically low unemployment until the pandemic, and has led a fast economic recovery. He signed criminal justice reform into law...
Trump's a winner
President Trump has my total support for reelection. He's reduced North Korea to a non-issue, significantly reduced troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has increased military spending. He's led a rational approach to the COVID-19 hysteria that resulted in significantly lower death rates than predicted. His policies led to historically low unemployment until the pandemic, and has led a fast economic recovery. He signed criminal justice reform into law.
Thank police
I want to express my sincere appreciation to our law enforcement officers. You keep us safe because you enforce laws and hold law breakers accountable. You place your life on the line each day while the naive second-guess you. Thank you!
TV news
The recent racial tensions have led to an outbreak of mass self flagellation by many white Americans. That isn't very useful. We have elected to ban television news from our household until reasonable minds prevail and solutions are sought rather than tossing fuel on an already raging fire.
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
Police training
I interpret "defund the police" not as dissolving the police departments but as a call for restructuring. More money needs to go toward educating police in areas such as racial and gender sensitivity, de-escalation of precarious situations, and the awareness and utilization of supportive community resources. Money should not be allocated toward further militarization of police. Our police often look and act as though they are invading a country that must be aggressively defeated, subjugated. Rather through appearance, attitudes and actions, police should be a force for serving and protecting citizenry. Physical assaults and use of dangerous weaponry should be rare rather than frequent. Further, and of major significance, money needs to be provided, partially from reallocation of police funding, to our financially struggling social services, to services that provide mental health, homelessness, domestic violence and substance abuse assistance. Referral/placement options for those services are essential for effective police presence in our communities.
Juneteenth
I admit to being an old white guy. College educated but I had never heard of Juneteenth until recently. I had to look it up. To my surprise, it had to do with freeing the slaves in Texas. After the Emancipation Proclamation freed most of the country over two years earlier and after the Civil Was was effectively over. Seems like the actual historic details are lacking as this becomes a cause. This is not meant to offend anyone, just a call for accuracy.
Jiujitsu
It's sad to see that the Cape Girardeau Police Department is falling for martial arts fakery Hook Line & Sinker. In recent years, most martial arts such as jiujitsu, kung fu, etc. have been exposed for the mere dance/exercise classes that they are. While there are techniques in these martial arts that can be used for self-defense, in these classes, you do not get trained to use them properly that way. You use them against compliant people allowing you to apply holds and maneuvers, not resisting criminals. You're never taught how to take a punch and what to do when someone gets you in a hold. The best way to defuse a situation with a resistant perpetrator is too quickly knock that person out. Trying to apply submission holds and other such techniques is either going to get the police officer or the perpetrator kill. See recent news for proof of that statement!
Story Tags
Advertisement
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.
Related
Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
