PC has become so entrenched in America that it affects our civilian and military leadership at the highest levels. Last month the president held an international conference on "violent extremism" to discuss responses to ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, and al-Shabaab. And he and the other participants basically ignored the radical Islamist roots of the extremism they were seeking to counter. Even some Democrat politicians thought this was ridiculous.
Obama countered the criticism of his countering extremism conference by dispatching Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson out to the Sunday morning political shows to bloviate about the dangers that non-Islamist extremists such as Sovereign Citizens, the environmental radicals, the animal rights radicals, and the Klan present to local law enforcement and the American public. But no sooner were the words out of Johnson's mouth than the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab threatened by name the Mall of America outside Minneapolis. Non-Islamist extremists have done some truly awful things—including killing cops—but they are unlikely to walk into the Mall of America and start slaughtering shoppers and employees.
We've come to expect this kind of baloney from the federal government. But for most of the readers of this magazine, the real danger from PC zealots comes when they bring their kumbaya naïve ideology down to street level. There are honestly people in positions of power in this country who believe the presence of cops is the reason for street violence and that the only reason the bad guys shoot at you is because you have guns. These and other goofball ideas are gaining traction with progressive politicians and local leaders.
Since the death of Eric Garner and the decision by the grand jury not to indict the officer involved, the NYPD has been particularly plagued by this crowd. To appease anti-police demonstrators Mayor Bill de Blasio and Commissioner Bill Bratton promised that all of the department's officers involved in day-to-day policing would be retrained.
Some officers were so upset with the training they actually complained to the New York Post and may face discipline for doing so. They told the paper the training was "boring" and some of its contents were wacky. For example, the training reportedly included advice to officers to close their eyes and take a deep breath before responding to irate subjects. Bratton has since denied officers were told to close their eyes in such dangerous situations, but he admits the training has problems and is a "work in progress" that will improve with time.
