I love Steve Schmidt’s ability to be so clear and compelling, on-the-spot. Maybe he could work for the Biden campaign?
I couldn’t find the video, so here’s my transcription of his remarks on law and order Trumpublicans:
Well the obtuseness is extraordinary, the idea that, well, we’ll solve this issue politically by going to talk to the only black senator because he’ll have a particular wisdom that eludes all of us as we sit and we observe this moment.
It was remarkable that all the Republican Senators went into the Senate lunch shortly after the Trump ordering of the attack on Lafayette Square when he did his walk across to Saint Johns to desecrate the Bible.
They didn’t even talk about any of this in the Senate lunch! The subject didn’t come up! I mean they couldn’t be more out-of-touch if they were doing their senate work from a space station. It’s as if they’re on a different planet, that they are so disconnected from what’s happening in the country.
And so when we talk about law and order, we should understand what that means. It doesn’t mean justice. Law and order is not what we saw in Lafayette Square when innocent protesters asserting their constitutionally protected rights were assaulted and attacked by the police. So much of the chaos we’ve seen on the streets has been the chaos of the state exercising violence against the citizens.
And so, when we look at this moment, all across the country, people are saying we’ve had enough of militarized police departments. We want to see police men and women dressed like they’re in Mayberry, not that they’re in Falluja with the combat boots bloused into the pants, the tactical gear, all of it.
When the American people saw the injustice of a man’s life being snuffed out over eight minutes with a knee on his neck it was as if the whole country finally in this catalytic moment said enough is enough.
This isn’t a conversation about law and order. It’s a conversation about justice. And when Trump talks about law and order, it’s the law and order of Bull Connor, it’s the law and order of police dogs, and vicious dogs, and domination of the streets.
That’s not law and order! The people who crave law and order are the people on the streets protesting for justice.