In the wake of the killings of two New York City police officers, the rift between the mayor the police union may make it more difficult for the city to heal. Some GOP politicians have joined the union chief in blaming Mayor Bill de Blasio for the shootings. Former New York Gov. George Pataki tweeted that the killings were “a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of #ericholder & #mayordeblasio.” Rudy Giuliani said it “goes too far” to blame the mayor.
Michael Tomasky writes of the “vile” accusation from the police union that de Blasio has blood on his hands for the shooting of the two cops. Jacob Siegel agrees, but says the mayor and the protesters could have done more to counter those who did call for violence. Via the Daily Beast.
Brooklyn mourns the killing of two of their own. Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos lived in Brooklyn and died there. Via the New York Times.
Glenn Thrush writes in Politico that Obama needs something to run against in order to get his inner competitor working again — and he’s found it in the GOP’s complete takeover of Congress.
Note to Scott Gessler: (Another) law professor does a study of voter fraud: (Again finds) 1 billion votes cast and 31 cases of someone pretending to be someone else at the polls. Voter ID laws are a (bad) solution in search of a problem. Via Vox.
The Putin lesson: It has been proven over and over again — with the most obvious example being our adventure in Iraq — that in the modern world, conquest is for losers. Via Paul Krugman at the New York Times.
Rarely seen photos from Selma. Of the march, James Baldwin wrote, “I could not suppress the thought that this earth had acquired its color from the blood that had dripped down from these trees.” Via the New Yorker.
As the concussions add up, should Broncos’ wide receiver Wes Welker still be playing? Welker insists that there’s no reason for him to retire. Via ESPN.
[Photo by Barry Kuts.]
