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2020 Democratic Presidential Nominees

“None of this is theoretical for me.

I didn’t see Afghanistan on the news, I saw it through the armored windshields of the vehicles I drove or guarded on dozens of missions outside the wire, and as a Reservist I could be sent back to war if a reckless president leads us into peril.

I don’t think about gun violence as an abstraction, not when I’ve had to attend funerals and console the mothers of victims in my city — and swear in police officers alongside family members who pray they will come home safe every day.

Marriage equality isn’t a political rallying cry for me, it is a legal fact without which my future family cannot even exist.

Obamacare isn’t a political football for me, it’s a matter of household finance: it’s how my partner pays for his health care and how his mother pays for the chemotherapy on which her life depends.

Climate change isn’t about polar bears for me. It’s about the South Bend families whose homes I stood in last summer, their basements flooded with muck and excrement while children wandered around the porch the night before school started, because our city had just experienced one of those unprecedented rainfalls that science kept warning us about.

Commentators have focused on candidates and their antics as though that mattered most. But politics, for our city and for most Americans, isn’t about The Show. Its consequences don’t happen in the Beltway or on Twitter or on television. Politics happens in, and to, our homes, in the lives of the people we care about, like the people in my household, my family, and my community. That’s why this all matters so much. The process matters because of what it means to us voters as human beings, not the other way around."

- Pete Buttigieg
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https://medium.com/@buttigieg/a-letter-from-flyover-country-5d4e9c32d2ac
 
LOL. Pete was pro-Bernie before you even heard of him.

He’s clearly saying it’s possible to have security without American style security theater that doesn’t really make us safer.
 
He visited and made those comments around the time Israel killed 60 protesters and committed war crimes.
 
MHBDemon said:
What does this mean?
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What it says. It just restates what Pete said.

MHBDemon said:
He visited and made those comments around the time Israel killed 60 protesters and committed war crimes.
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Did he know that when he said it? Were those quotes in response to the question “Hey Pete, how awesome is it that we’re killing protesters?”
 
PhDeac said:
What it says. It just restates what Pete said.



Did he know that when he said it? Were those quotes in response to the question “Hey Pete, how awesome is it that we’re killing protesters?”
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I'd like you to explain what "American style security theater" is and how it's different from what Mayor Pete is describing in Israel.

Three years before the Ferguson protests, Tim Fitch — the chief of the very same St. Louis County Police Department responsible for firing teargas at activists and concerned citizens — had flown to Israel to receive training from Israeli police, intelligence, and military in a weeklong course on terrorism-focused policing.

That training was organized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has conducted its National Counter-Terrorism Seminar in Israel since 2004. The seminar, which is focused on riot suppression, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism, attracts a variety of attendees, including local police, immigration-enforcement agencies, and even campus police. In fact, The Intercept reported that hundreds of law enforcement executives from over 100 police departments in the U.S. and abroad have attended the conference since it started. The training sessions include meetings with officials from Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, according to The Intercept. An investigator with the service was recently accused of torture and is facing a criminal investigation, and activists say such practices are rampant despite an Israeli Supreme Court ruling two decades ago that outlawed certain methods of interrogation, according to Al Jazeera.

Attendees have also met with the Israeli police special patrol unit Yasam, which has been accused of using excessive force against Palestinians. As Israel's approach to counterprotesting has been on display in recent months — which many perceive as inhumane — allegations of its overly aggressive police tactics have been made by Ethiopian Israelis in addition to Palestinians.
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https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-policing-in-the-us-and-security-in-israel-are-connected
 
Phew. Thank god we all got over our Pete high, so we can settle back in for another four years of Trump.
 
Mayor Pete definitely missed an opportunity to condemn those specific acts. He seemed to be speaking more of the resolve of citizens to live their lives in a positive manner instead of living a defeated life in a war zone. Other than saying that the Israeli/Palestinian situation is more complex and nuanced that what television in the US shows, he doesn't much into his views on specific policies. That's just my take on that article but I will concede that you probably know more than I do on the topic. I will wait until I see more responces to specific questions on the matter before I make a conclusion.
 
Durham became the first city in the US to ban police exchanges with Israel. A statement from Demilitarize from Durham2Palestine:


We are concerned members of Durham’s community committed to peace and justice from Durham to Palestine. We call on the City of Durham to immediately halt any partnerships that the Durham Police Department has or might enter into with the Israeli Defense Forces and/or the Israel Police.

The IDF and the Israel Police have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of Color. They persist in using tactics of extrajudicial killing, excessive force, racial profiling, and repression of social justice movements. Such tactics have been condemned by international human rights organizations for violating the human rights of Palestinians. These tactics further militarize U.S. police forces that train in Israel, and this training helps the police terrorize Black and Brown communities here in the US. Additionally, such practices erode our constitutional rights to due process, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. Durham officials -- including former Chief Lopez and current Chief Davis -- have participated in these racist police exchange programs.

Policing in the US has a long history of violence and harm against Black and Brown communities, and the DPD is no exception. From traffic stops that target Black drivers, to SWAT teams entering Black people’s homes illegally, to checkpoints that occupy immigrant neighborhoods, to police murders of Black, Brown, and disabled people, everyday militarization of Durham police already endangers our communities. Training police in Israel exacerbates this ongoing harm.

We call on Durham City Council to support justice and true collective safety, beyond police. We ask City Council to halt any partnerships that the DPD has or might enter into with the IDF and/or the Israel Police, including but not limited to:
- Anti-Defamation League Counter-Terrorism Seminar
- Anti-Defamation League Advanced Training School
- Any exchange program between the DPD and the IDF
- Any exchange program between the DPD and the Israel Police.

The Durham City Council has a history of taking a stance for justice around the world, including passing a resolution in 1986 to boycott Apartheid in South Africa. We have a responsibility to take a stance today and to protect our city’s own residents from all forms of police terror.

We demand: Durham, don’t train police with the IDF! Divest from war and occupation, from Durham to Palestine! Divest from racism and militarization -- invest in Black and Brown communities!
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Mayor Pete saying "we have a lot to learn from Israel," and praising their security practices, is very concerning, and shows an ignorance of the link between the two regimes in oppressing, criminalizing, and murdering racial minorities.
 
MHBDemon said:
I'd like you to explain what "American style security theater" is and how it's different from what Mayor Pete is describing in Israel.



https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-policing-in-the-us-and-security-in-israel-are-connected
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That is an interesting article. Here was the ADL response at the bottom:
*ADL’s counter-terrorism seminar brings U.S. law enforcement officials to Israel, to share best practices and lessons learned from international law enforcement counterparts in fighting extremism. The group meets with Israeli law enforcement, including the Israeli National Police, and also meets with Palestinian law enforcement in the Palestinian territories. There is no evidence to date that any participant in our program has used what they learned in Israel to promote racial or religious profiling, police misconduct, or discrimination. In fact, the ADL works to stop police brutality and advocates for criminal justice reform at both the federal and state level.


Participants in this week-long program come from all different types of backgrounds, whether it be black, white, Latino, man, woman, LGTBQ. Our program is designed to build relationships with American law enforcement leaders and help these officials prevent and respond to extremist and terrorist threats and violence in the United States. Unfortunately, the Israelis have considerable experience on how to deter and disrupt terrorist incidents and strengthen community resiliency following terrorist acts. Program participants meet with police commanders, academics, journalists, and intelligence officials in an effort to equip them with the knowledge, understanding, and sense of accountability necessary to help protect rights and liberties, while safeguarding our communities.

ADL is the nation’s largest facilitator of domestic law enforcement training on issues of managing implicit bias; understanding law enforcement’s role as protectors of all of the people they serve and as guardians of civil rights and individual freedoms; and recognizing and responding to hate and bias-motivated crimes.*

Take that with a grain of salt.
 
MBH, you struggle with basic comparisons. It's a weird blind spot with you.

You quoted this:

"Seeing the way that a country can be on the one hand very intentional, very serious and very effective when it comes to security and on the other hand not allowing concerns about security to dominate your consciousness– I think that’s a very important lesson in that that hopefully Americans can look to we think about how to navigate a world that unfortunately has become smaller and more dangerous for all of us…"

He described the security he saw in Israel as "very intentional, very serious and very effective when it comes to security." He went on to notice Israelis just living their lives.

He contrasted that with "security to dominate your consciousness" and noted it was a lesson for Americans to learn. In this respect, he described American society as having the goal to "dominate your consciousness."

That's a specific contrast between security with the goal of safety and security theater designed to keep people scared.
 
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can you imagine a republican giving that much of a shit about their candidate's turns of phrase
 
PhDeac said:
MBH, you struggle with basic comparisons. It's a weird blind spot with you.

You quoted this:

"Seeing the way that a country can be on the one hand very intentional, very serious and very effective when it comes to security and on the other hand not allowing concerns about security to dominate your consciousness– I think that’s a very important lesson in that that hopefully Americans can look to we think about how to navigate a world that unfortunately has become smaller and more dangerous for all of us…"

He described the security he saw in Israel as "very intentional, very serious and very effective when it comes to security." He went on to notice Israelis just living their lives.

He contrasted that with "security to dominate your consciousness" and noted it was a lesson for Americans to learn. In this respect, he described American society as having the goal to "dominate your consciousness."

That's a specific contrast between security with the goal of safety and security theater designed to keep people scared.
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I don't find it very specific when our police train with Israeli military and police. It is in fact void of specifics.
 
MHBDemon said:
I don't find it very specific when our police train with Israeli military and police. It is in fact void of specifics.
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He's not talking about tactics. He's talking about security culture.
 
I can sleep better at night knowing the Durham police don't train with the Israelis.
 
"security culture" without specifics is meaningless to me.
 
ChrisL68 said:
I can sleep better at night knowing the Durham police don't train with the Israelis.
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This is because you are a white male who has probably not been subject of police violence. Enjoy your sleep.
 
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