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President Trump will sign an executive order to allow local police departments to receive or purchase military surplus equipment:
Police departments will now have access to military surplus equipment typically used in warfare, including grenade launchers, armored vehicles and bayonets, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Monday, describing it as "lifesaving gear."
The move rescinds limits on the Pentagon handouts that were put in place by President Barack Obama in 2015 amid a national debate over policing touched off by a spate of high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of the police, including the shooting death in 2014 of 18-year-old Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo., by a white officer. Some local residents viewed police use of military equipment during the ensuing protests as an unnecessary show of force and intimidation.
In a speech to the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville, Mr. Sessions said Mr. Obama had made it harder for the police to protect themselves and their neighborhoods. "Those restrictions went too far," Mr. Sessions said. "We will not put superficial concerns above public safety."
Mr. Sessions said that President Trump would sign an executive order on Monday fully restoring the military program, called 1033, and that the president was doing "all he can to restore law and order and support our police across the country." [...] The program was started in the 1990s as a way for the military to transfer surplus equipment to federal, state and local police agencies fighting the drug war. More than $5 billion in surplus gear has been funneled to law enforcement agencies.
Organized gangs get to play soldier.
Also at The Hill and USA Today.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Weasley on Tuesday August 29 2017, @07:31PM (11 children)
Did it occur to you that the Left actually drove moderates away to vote for Trump? Maybe it's because while the lower and middle classes continue to economically contract, the Left continues the rhetoric about how privileged white people are. You guys are completely out of touch with the economic situation in this country.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Tuesday August 29 2017, @07:46PM (10 children)
Did it occur to you that the Left actually drove moderates away to vote for Trump? Maybe it's because while the lower and middle classes continue to economically contract, the Left continues the rhetoric about how privileged white people are.
No, not at all.
The Democratic Party drove swing voters and leftists and progressives away by doubling down on a corrupt, unpopular, and uncharismatic candidate and being brazen (as seen by the leaked DNC emails) about their corruption.
(Score: 2) by Weasley on Tuesday August 29 2017, @09:42PM (5 children)
Eh, the left and right both supported corrupt, unpopular, and uncharismatic candidates, tbh.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 29 2017, @11:12PM (1 child)
Unless you are referring only to the official parties then nope! A massive chunk of "the left" supported Sanders and we got robbed.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 30 2017, @12:40AM
Oh, FFS - what did the Bern do after he was defeated? He sold out, like any other politician. If he had won, things would be very different, and things would have remained very much the same.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday August 29 2017, @11:24PM (2 children)
Sorry, I don't like Trump at all, and think he's incompetent to manage an ice cream stand, but he is charismatic, at least to a certain group of people.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 30 2017, @02:38PM (1 child)
Exactly. This election showed, yet again, how bad the Democratic Party is at picking candidates, and that they simply do not understand at all how important charisma is for getting someone elected. Let's go back in time:
1) Hillary vs. Trump: Hillary is as charismatic as a dog turd, Trump is charismatic at least to a certain group of people as you said. Hillary loses.
2) Obama vs. Romney: Obama is a great speaker and charismatic, Romney is wooden. Obama wins.
3) Obama vs. McCain: Same as above for Obama, McCain is OK but not great. Obama wins.
4) Kerry vs. Bush II: Bush is very unpopular because of the two wars, but Kerry is wooden and Bush has a certain charisma. Kerry loses.
5) Gore vs. Bush II: Gore is wooden, Bush is "a guy I could have a beer with". Gore loses.
6) Clinton vs. Dole: Clinton is a great womanizer and very charismatic, Dole is as charismatic as a 2x4. Clinton wins.
7) Clinton vs. Bush I: I mentioned Clinton above, and Bush isn't terribly charismatic and has a black eye from the "no new taxes" thing. Clinton wins, though he got a lot of competition from Perot.
8) Dukakis, Mondale: both uncharismatic, both lost.
I think the trend is clear: every time the Dems run someone who's charismatic, they win. Every time they run someone who isn't, they lose. It's a very simple and clear trend, but one the Dems just don't seem to comprehend at all, so then they're mystified when Hillary, probably the most uncharismatic candidate they've run in many decades at least, loses to a loudmouth buffoon who brags about grabbing women's pussies. Worse, they actually had a popular, charismatic candidate available to them in the form of Bernie, and they knifed him in the back so they could have Hillary instead.
Honestly, if someone had made a movie with this exact storyline (about how the 2016 election went down) before the election, it would have been a flop and would have been panned as having a completely unrealistic and stupid plot.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:05PM
Dole's actually a funny, charismatic motherfucker when he's not trying to be all presidential. See the commercials for the little blue pill whose name you can't put in a comment or any of his post-election interviews. I think he just had lousy advisers.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 30 2017, @02:59AM
Listen to the weasley one. Wisdom doth spout from his orifices.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @01:50PM (2 children)
This is true. I have earned the Kudos of TMB because I opted not to vote for both greater evils.
Maybe I am part of the problem by not casting a vote, but it seems that the problem involves mechanations much larger than just my gerrymandered district that would have rendered my vote of no consqueuence anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @05:41PM (1 child)
While TMB does occasionally have some decent points, you should really find a new role model.
There are 100% machinations going on, and they use the partisan bickering to cover their tracks. The problem is in letting power be concentrated in non-public / transparent ways. I like the idea of decentralizing human infrastructure, get rid of the pyramid scheme that has kept a few at the top.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:07PM
You mean like taking power away from the federal government and giving it back to the states? YOU RACIST!!!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.