Let’s See What Happens

By Ed Hoffman

If you watched the Sunday news shows this week, you would think that the only thing going on in the country is the unrest in Baltimore. It’s newsworthy, yes – but what I want to know is, is all this news coverage helping? The Baltimore prosecutor tasked with prosecuting the officers, Marilyn Mosby, seemed to think so when she said in a press conference on Friday, “To the youth of this city: I will seek justice on your behalf. This is a moment, this is your moment. Let’s ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of this cause. And as young people, our time is now.” So it appears that Baltimore is enjoying the media attention, and protestors will continue to stay out and in front of the cameras. I don’t agree with everything Ms. Mosby said, as she made her statements highly political – but at least she called for the “rallies” to be peaceful. Let’s see what happens.

As for others in the media who are calling for the disarming of police officers, let’s remember these two points. First, we may not know exactly how Freddie Gray died but we know it wasn’t by gunshot (because about all we know is that he suffered cardiac arrest and a spinal injury) – so exactly how would disarming police prevent another arrestee death like his from happening? Next, the fairly obvious point that most thinking Americans understand (but some in the media do not): When police officers are disarmed, nobody is safe except for criminals. But maybe we should give them their way and try it out. Let’s see what happens to Baltimore when we take away the cops, just as a test run, and see what the rallying cry becomes then. I bet many in the anti-cop movement will change their tune.

Last week, I welcomed back to my show talk radio legend Larry Elder, one of the best known African-Americans in conservative media. He told me, “Baltimore is what happens at the intersection of the grievance culture and the welfare state. That’s what’s going on here. By ‘grievance culture,’ I mean this bombardment by academia, by Hollywood and by media that you are a victim, that you are owed something…and then you add the welfare state to it, where we’ve incentivized women into marrying the government and allowed men to abandon their financial and moral responsibility, this is what you’ve got…Baltimore riots.”

I also welcomed to the show Tom Del Beccaro, the Republican candidate who is vying for the Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Boxer. After hearing his pro-business perspective, I believe he would represent our state well in Washington, D.C. Among other things, we discussed tax policy. “We can disagree on how to spend money and what priorities should be, but we have to get away from this notion that tax policy is either conservative, liberal or moderate,” Del Beccaro said. Naming some of the great economic minds of our time, he pointed out one thing they all had in common: “They all agreed that lower rates over time produce a more vibrant economy,” he said. “It really shouldn’t be a political thing.” Del Beccaro understands that our current tax structure is specifically designed to hand out favors to the well-connected, and he believes a flat tax of around 15 percent is the way to combat this. “The idea is to make it humanly possible for someone to do their own taxes,” he said. Sounds great to me! Let’s try it and see what happens.

Ed Hoffman is the host of the Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30AM- 10:30AM and Sunday 4:00PM- 5:00PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.