HILLARY CLINTON CHANGES HER PREVIOUS “TOUGH-ON-CRIME” RHETORIC OF THE 1990S

On the TBP it is a common practice to post news articles presented with commentary at the top. However, this pile of utter bullshit coming out of Hillary Clinton’s mouth deserves my commentary throughout the article.

Via Time

Hillary Clinton called on Wednesday for broad criminal justice reform and renewed trust between police officers and communities (Don’t worry, she is safely states away in her mansion under life long secret service protection funded by tax payers, God save the Queen.), reflecting the former first lady’s evolution (campaign pandering) from supporting (lobbying) the policies instituted by her husband (and herself) two decades ago in a period of high crime rates.

Clinton called for body cameras (Cake for everybody! You get a piece a cake, you get a piece of cake, and you get a piece! Everybody gets a piece of cake!) in every police department in the country, as well an end to an “era of mass incarceration.” Her speech came two days after the funeral in Baltimore of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died while in police custody, and amidst ongoing civil unrest in that city.

“There is something profoundly wrong when African-American men are far more likely to be stopped by the police and charged with crimes and given longer prison terms than their white counterparts,” Clinton said (while feigning surprise). “There is something wrong when trust (holy shit, this bitch actually knows the definition of “trust”. I didn’t see that curve ball coming!) between law enforcement and the communities they serve breaks down… We must urgently begin to rebuild bonds of trust and respect among American between police and citizens.”

Clinton offered few specific policy plans in the speech, and didn’t explain how police forces would pay for body cameras on all officers ( Clinton Foundation donations? Nah…). She spoke broadly about reducing jail sentences for low-level offenders and the effects of imprisoning millions, particular African Americans. “We don’t want to create another incarceration generation (tough shit for the children who grew up without parents because they were the incarcerated generation, my bad…) ,” Clinton said.

Clinton planned Wednesday’s speech in November (after people started rioting in Ferguson, Mo), months before she announced her candidacy (and the whole world was surprised), according to former New York Mayor David Dinkins, who introduced her. In her three weeks (fifteen… twenty… thirty years) as a presidential candidate, Clinton’s only major speeches have been at non-campaign (Shout out to Chipotles Mexican Grill!) events like today’s at Columbia University. Her comments were her most significant (we seriously don’t know why she is running for president) on domestic policing since she ended her tenure as Secretary of State in 2013 (in disgrace).

The police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. last year sparked a nationwide debate about body cameras for officers, and subsequent police killings of black men caught on camera in New York, South Carolina and Ohio have fueled calls for reform (she saw an opportunity to pander for the African-American vote).

Her remarks Wednesday reflected an evolution (once again, pandering) from the policing and incarceration policies that she supported in the 1990s, when as first lady, she called for tougher prison sentences and “more prisons.” As president, Bill Clinton enacted a 1994 crime bill that built more prisons and increased the number of federal and death penalty crimes, a bill that Hillary lobbied for in Congress.

“We need more police (CHECK), we need more and tougher prison sentences (CHECK) for repeat offenders (currently working on ways to make them repeat offenders through new probation red tape that will increase their chances of breaking parole),” Hillary Clinton said in 1994. “The (unconstitutional) three strikes and you’re out for violent offenders (and non-violent offenders) has to be part of the (my) plan. We need more prisons to keep violent offenders (construction jobs to boost the economy!) for as long as it takes (forever) to keep them off the streets (because fuck you, that’s why).”

Clinton’s campaign objected to an earlier version (when she learned people could look up her previous stances on the internet) of this story that said the former first lady “rejected” (she still thinks Americans are stupid) President Bill Clinton’s tough-on-crime stance of the 1990s, when crime rates were significantly higher than they are today. “1999 and 2015 are two very different times,” said a campaign aide. “Crimes rates have dropped by 50%. Different circumstances require different policy solutions.” (Whoa, whoa, whoa…you mean his tough on crime policies worked? You want to reverse and “reject” policies that worked?)

The violent crime rate in 1991 before Bill Clinton took office was 44.1 victims per 1,000 people, and rose to a 1990s high of 51.2 per 1,000 people in 1994 (so violent crime rose 10% in Bill Clinton’s first 3 years in office?) when Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law. But today, with violent crime rates having dropped to less than 20 per 1,000 people, many are calling for an adjusted approach towards crime.

Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that federal money needed to be used to “bolster best practices” (she has no clue what the beat practices would be and will delegate those decisions if elected) rather than equipping police with military equipment (you mean equipping Mayberry police with military weapons is a bad fucking idea?), and called for reducing the prison population (how will for-profit prison make a…ya know…profit? Low crime rates and reduced sentencing is bad for business. How will judges and prosecutors get kick backs?). Her thinking reflects a broader evolution around the country (she sticks her finger out the window and changes direction with the wind), with politicians on both the left and the right backing ideas to reduce the prison population and change sentencing. Rand Paul, Chris Christie, the Koch brothers and many Democrats have also pushed for reform (long before November when she thought of the idea).

The views Clinton expressed Wednesday aren’t new (yes they are). In her first presidential campaign, Clinton called it a “disgrace” that “so many more African Americans” were incarcerated than whites (did she expect more whites were going to be the locked up at the time?) , and as early as 2000 decried policing practices (that she wanted enacted) that appeared to target African Americans and Latinos (as if she didn’t know that was going to happen). “Let us start by recognizing that crime is down dramatically—and lives have been saved in this city—because every day, brave men and women put on a uniform and place themselves in harm’s way to protect us,” she said in 2000. “And let us also recognize that far too many people believe they are considered guilty simply because of the color of their skin.”