Barack Obama Vs. The Squad

Whose strategic political insights do you trust--a Democrat who twice got elected President of the entire United States and got both more black and more white working class votes than any candidate since......or several House members hailing from overwhelmingly Democratic districts where they've probably never met a swing voter? Compare Obama's clear-eyed view of "defund the police" to the histrionic rhetoric of said Squad members:

"You lost a big audience the minute you say [defund the police], which makes it a lot less likely that you're actually going to get the changes you want done....The key is deciding, do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with?"

--Barack Obama

And, let's be honest, there could generally be trouble ahead from those who purport to represent the Black Lives Matter movement. They do, not shall we say, exhibit much strategic savvy along the lines called for by Obama. From a recent Post article on the plans of BLM activists:

Chanelle Helm, a leader of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Louisville, where members have spent months protesting the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, said local chapter organizers fear that Biden will rush to form relationships with national leaders, while glossing over local activists’ chief priority — upending how policing is practiced in their communities.

“If I wanted to sit around and listen to a bumbling White man talk about Black people, I live in Kentucky, and I can do that on any corner out here in any rural bar stool,” Helm said. “I just don’t know what we would even get by meeting with him.”

Even so, Helm said organizers for more than 30 Black Lives Matter chapters — including Nashville, Memphis, Indianapolis, Chicago and Philadelphia — have formed a discussion group to consider their own sets of demands from a Biden administration. She expects the agenda to focus heavily on building national support for dismantling traditional policing strategies, also known as the police “abolition movement.”

Not good. But keep speaking out Barack. We need your wisdom more than ever!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../8ebb95ce-2f26-11eb...