Riots, Arson, Policing and the Election

by · Sep 1, 2020 12:39 pm

Bret Stephens is an especially insightful writer for, of all things, the New York Times.  His column yesterday asks some questions the country very much needs to ponder:

Can the left be honest that the tragedies unfolding today in American cities are as much the story of insufficient policing as they are of abusive policing? Does it get that “law and order” is a precondition to civil liberty, not an impediment to it? Is it willing to say that the American founders who bequeathed us the institutions of liberal democracy should be honored, not despised? And does Joe Biden have the nerve to stand up to the extremes in his own party, or does he just mean to appease them?

His piece makes other painful points as well.

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FBI: Gangs Targeting Cops in Chicago

by · Sep 1, 2020 11:57 am

While shootings went down slightly in Chicago last weekend, homicides doubled compared to the week before.  Adding to this chaos,  Greg Norman of Fox News reports that the FBI has intercepted intelligence indicating that the city’s gangs have made a pact to “shoot on sight” any officer who had drawn a gun.  The FBI alert indicates that roughly 36 gangs are actively looking for police officers with guns drawn.  According to the alert, the purpose of the pact is for gang members to film the shooting of officers with their guns drawn and distribute the video to the national media.

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USCA-DC to Gen. Flynn: No Writ for You!

by · Sep 1, 2020 11:07 am

Soup Nazi from SeinfeldIn May, the government moved to dismiss the cases against Gen. Michael Flynn. Normally, the judge would routinely grant such a motion. If the parties are agreed, there is generally nothing for a court to decide. In this case, though, the judge did not grant the motion right away but appointed an amicus curiae to argue against it. Gen. Flynn asked the court of appeals for an “extraordinary writ,” ordering the district court immediately grant the motion to dismiss. See this post by Bill Otis. Yesterday, the court of appeals said no.

Is this a vindication for the judge’s unusual maneuver and a repudiation of both the government and Gen. Flynn? No.

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Biden Is on the Wrong Side of the Death Penalty Debate

by · Aug 30, 2020 2:25 pm

Joe Biden’s stance on capital punishment is short and to the point:  “Abolish the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.”  See his Policy Statement, summarized here.

And it’s true that support for the death penalty has been falling since about the mid-Nineties, at least until a couple of years ago.  But Mr. Biden is still missing the point, politically as well as morally.

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A Second Look at Looting

by · Aug 29, 2020 9:29 am

Cancel culture is all the rage just now, particularly on, of all things, college campuses.  The idea seems to be that open debate and tolerance for opposing ideas is simply another “construct” of bourgeois culture, and thus is itself an instrument of oppression, no matter how much it pretends to be something else.

Here at Crime and Consequences, we’re not big fans of cancel culture.  Thus I want to introduce readers to an idea to which I have not given a great deal of subscription.

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Child Killer Executed

by · Aug 28, 2020 4:53 pm

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that the execution of Keith Nelson was completed today, and he was pronounced dead at 4:32 pm EDT.

In October 1999, Nelson told an acquaintance that he wanted to kidnap, rape, torture, and kill a young girl he had seen in Kansas City, Kansas.  Shortly thereafter, Nelson parked his white pickup truck outside the home of 10-year-old Pamela Butler, who was rollerblading nearby. Continue reading . . .

Reporter Robbed At Gunpoint In Minneapolis

by · Aug 27, 2020 10:41 am

A reporter from the Daily Caller was robbed in Minneapolis last night as new protests were sparked by a murder suspect’s suicide.  Jordan Lancaster of the Daily Caller reports that Kyle Hooten, who contributes stories to the news group, was confronted at 9:30 PM by two men near a mall which was being looted.  Hooten was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a backpack.  One of the men said “white boys don’t need a bulletproof vest, you’re not the ones getting shot.”  When the reporter resisted one of the robbers displayed a gun, Hooten gave up his belongings and was allowed to leave.  He later received hundreds of death threats after posting about the robbery.

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In One Month, Bill Barr Does Fifty Years’ Worth of Justice

by · Aug 26, 2020 6:46 pm

Jeff Sessions is a man of honor and did a superb job restoring a sober, effective and non-politicized Justice Department.  But Attorney General Bill Barr leaves nothing to be desired.  As this AP story notes:

With the execution [today] of Lezmond Mitchell for the grisly slayings of a 9-year-old and her grandmother, the federal government under the pro-death penalty president has now carried out more executions in 2020 than it had in the previous 56 years combined.

Lest there be any doubt about the justice of this execution, the details of the killing should lay that to rest.

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