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The dreamy new patio and specialty coffees aren't the only things that make this spot unique.

The cafe has quite the tale behind its opening, and owner Leighton Walters filled Narcity in on his journey and how Found Coffee came to be.

Found Coffee | Handout

Walters was born in Australia and began working in a cafe at age 15, where he discovered a special sense of community he had struggled to find elsewhere.

"I was bullied in school because of my disability I had no friends, but my workplace became my friendship circle," he says. "And I realized that it wasn't just about the coffee, it was about community, it was about connecting people."

A week after moving to Canada for a job, Walters met a girl and had a feeling it was "something special". He decided to end his contract and pursue his dream of owning his own coffee shop.

"We flew to Australia at the end of 2019, [...] on the Harbour Bridge I told her that I loved her for the first time and it was this beautiful moment, and then we come back to Toronto and the pandemic hits."

"I was forced to make a decision whether [...] to end the relationship with someone I just told that I loved and go back to Australia, or double down on Canada," he says.

"I sold everything that I own in Australia and transformed my life savings into Canadian dollars, hoping that the right opportunity would open up for me to actually create a space that would be a part of the community."

Found Coffee | Handout

In August 2020, Found Coffee officially opened.

"I spent my life savings on buying all the equipment [...] and in the middle of the pandemic we opened the door," he says. "We couldn't run a launch event because everyone was meant to #stay home."

"It was scary for the first few months," he admits. "We were serving 20 people a day. We were doing $120 a day or $200 or $250, it just wasn't affordable for us."

"Because we are a new business that opened in the middle of the pandemic, we were not eligible for any government support."

Despite the setbacks, Walters remained committed to pursuing his passion of bringing a "great Aussie specialty coffee experience" to Toronto.

"The whole reason why we called it Found was because we wanted to recreate that feeling that we get when we've found something that you've been looking for your whole life."

Found Coffee | Handout

Despite the rocky start, Found Coffee recently had to expand its hours due to its mounting popularity.

"As soon as we open the door we're getting literally five or six people that show up," Walters says. "We honestly were humbled by the fact that every week we were serving a few more people."

The new back patio has also been drawing customers. Filled with soft colours that reflect the Australian outback, the hidden dining space has Manhattan boho vibes and Insta-worthy photo ops.

"We've seen a lot more Instagram presence, I was up till like two o'clock, sharing, sharing..." Walters laughs. "I've never seen anything like it."

The love story is still going strong, too. "We're still together things and are going great so there's no sad ending to that," Walters says assuringly.

Walters hinted that a second location could be popping up in the future, and for now he looks forward to continuing to welcome the community to his shop.

Found Coffee | Handout

Price:

Cuisine: Australian

Address: 324 College St., Toronto, ON

Why You Need To Go: This Insta-worthy cafe has all sorts of delicious Australian-inspired dishes as well as a sweet love story behind it.

Menu

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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A Boozy 'Alice In Wonderland' Tea Party Is Coming To Toronto & You Don't Want To Be Late - Narcity Canada

THE GOPS McCAIN FANTASY Four years ago, Sen. John McCain dealt a decisive blow to the Republican push to topple Obamacare with a memorable thumbs-down vote on the floor. The dramatic moment, as the 2008 GOP presidential nominee crippled his own partys efforts to repeal and replace the landmark health care law signed by the Democratic president who defeated him, resonates in Washington to this day.

And some in the GOP are hoping to watch a revival of it to see one or more centrist Democrats stage their own McCain moments by tearing down their partys precarious plans for a $3.5 trillion social spending bill packed with progressive wish-list items.

For several reasons, that Republican hope is almost surely in vain. The biggest one is simple: In the summer of 2017, McCain was standing against an attempt to take away benefits from the American public, protections that were growing in popularity as then-President Donald Trump pushed to revoke them.

Yet any moderate Democrat who casts a deciding vote to quash the social spending plan promoted by President Joe Biden would be yanking away benefits or at least halting the establishment of new ones from the public, donning a black hat by stopping legislation thats poised to expand paid leave, universal pre-K, free community college and Medicare coverage.

Even Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who is said to envision herself as a home-state heir to McCains maverick mentality, knows better than to let her resistance to a bill as big as $3.5 trillion play out at the 11th hour, when it would hurt her party most. The Democratic architect of the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure deal (your Nightly host rejects the Playbook-pushed acronym that rhymes with a peanut-butter brand) is laying down her marker early, with a spokesperson telling our Burgess Everett earlier today that she wont accept a social spending plan with a price tag shaped by Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders.

(L-R) Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks as Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) listen during a news conference after a procedural vote for the bipartisan infrastructure framework at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Theres another big reason that a Democrat is unlikely to play the McCain role of showy spoiler, this one embodied by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). Unlike the Arizona conservative and decorated war hero, most Democratic centrists are the Rodney Dangerfields of the Hill: They get no respect.

Sinema and her Senate centrist-in-arms Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are persistently reviled by the left and embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McCain was hardly Mr. Popular in the post-tea party GOP, but his heroic personal narrative and past standard-bearing put him on a different intra-party footing than Sinema or Manchin stands on today.

At least Sinema and Manchin have outsize influence in the 50-50 Senate, however. Gottheimer co-chairs a bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus thats operated in the shadows of the Senates dealmakers throughout the infrastructure drama, even after it helped deliver 35 Republican votes for an independent commission to examine Jan. 6.

One congressional aide even compared Gottheimers caucus to the cycle of cicadas, those weak 17-year presences that end up crunched on sidewalks, to our Sarah Ferris back in June. So Gottheimer and his fellow House centrists are putting their oft-underestimated credibility on the line as they hold out their votes for their partys budget this week in a push to get a faster vote on the Sinema-led Senate infrastructure bill.

But their ultimate goal is to gain influence inside their party, particularly as the 100-plus members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus start making demands for the forthcoming social spending bill. The best way to get that influence isnt by tanking the speakers priorities, McCain-style especially when Gottheimer is trying to repeal the cap on state and local tax deductions in the same bill hes holding up.

Gottheimer can win by reaching an agreement that makes his centrists look as smart as possible while giving Democratic leaders what they want. He might still defy the laws of legislative physics this week and lead his allies to a House-floor squashing of the budget, with its reconciliation instructions that tee up the social spending bill. But the safer bet is that as memorable as McCains rebellion was, it is unlikely to get a sequel.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. A note for next week: Nightly wont be publishing from Monday, Aug. 30-Monday, Sept. 6. Well be back and better than ever Tuesday, Sept. 7. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at [emailprotected]. Or contact tonights author at [emailprotected] and on Twitter at @eschor.

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DEADLINE DRAMA The White House has been clear for weeks that there wouldnt be a mission accomplished moment to end Americas longest war. But after initially pushing back the timeline to pull out of the country, the president had been adamant about marking the wars end by a date certain: Aug. 31. And it quickly became the latest example of how the White Houses devotion to deadlines can backfire, Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki write.

Deadlines serve a purpose. They are motivational. They bring focus, said David Axelrod, a senior strategist for former President Barack Obama. They also can be treacherous and hard to keep, especially in complex situations. And that can come back to bite you.

Until last week, Bidens Afghanistan policy had been defined as a rigid adherence to his withdrawal deadline. And that insistence opened him up to a wave of criticism for being both shortsighted and politically motivated the withdrawal was timed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks that effectively triggered the war.

Bidens resolve seemed to recede a bit on Sunday night when, in response to two consecutive questions about his Aug. 31 deadline, he said his hope was to not have to extend it. But, he added, there are going to be discussions, I suspect about how far along we are in the process. Administration officials point to the thousands of evacuations that have taken place in the past few days as an example of their agility.

Evacuees from Kabul arrive in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. | Photo by Handout/Bundeswehr via Getty Images

Pentagon confirms latest mission to rescue Americans stranded in Kabul: The Pentagon revealed today it had performed another rescue mission to transport Americans stranded in Kabul to the Afghan capitals international airport, where the urgent U.S. evacuation effort remains underway. The announcement comes after the Pentagon confirmed that three Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters last Thursday airlifted a group of 169 Americans from the Baron Hotel in Kabul to the Hamid Karzai International Airport just 200 meters away.

Taliban threaten consequences if U.S. delays Afghanistan exit: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ask Biden to keep American boots on the ground in Afghanistan after Aug. 31s withdrawal deadline but the Taliban say they wont accept any extension. Johnson is set to push the American president for more time for evacuation during an emergency summit of G-7 countries on Tuesday, according to briefings to journalists by No. 10 Downing Street. The meeting comes as several thousands of people have gathered around Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to escape Taliban rule.

FDA approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, making way for more vaccine mandates: The Food and Drug Administration fully approved the first Covid-19 vaccine for use in adults today, raising hopes that the decision will convince some holdouts to get vaccinated and spark a wave of employer and school immunization mandates. The agencys decision applies to people 16 and older.

Cuomo calls AG report a political firecracker: Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged today to fight the allegations of sexual harassment detailed in a recent report from Attorney General Tish James as he addressed New Yorkers for the final time as governor. The governors video farewell remarks capped a 14-day transition period that began when the three-term Democrat announced his resignation. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will officially be sworn-in as New Yorks first woman governor at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Capitol Police clear officer in shooting of Ashli Babbitt during Jan. 6 riot: The Capitol Police said today it had cleared of wrongdoing the officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 insurrection, announcing that an internal investigation found the officers conduct lawful and would not result in discipline. The department said in a statement that its Office of Professional Responsibility determined the officers actions were lawful and within Department policy. The Capitol Police allows officers to use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officers own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.

Trump-appointed judge clashes with Biden DOJ in immigration suit: A federal judge presiding over a major legal challenge to Bidens immigration policies lashed out today at Justice Department attorneys, accusing them of trying to rush him into making a key decision in the case.

Severe oil leaks worsened Keystone pipelines spill record, GAO finds: The company behind the controversial Keystone XL project that Biden effectively killed on his first day of office had an oil spill record worse than the national average over a five-year period thanks to two major spills, according to a Government Accountability Office report published today. The two spills from the Keystone pipelines dumped a combined 12,000 barrels of oil in the Dakotas even as operator TC Energy was planning to expand that pipeline with its proposed Keystone XL project, which would have tripled the amount of crude the pipeline system would carry from Canada into the United States.

Nightly asks you: Did you, or someone you know, initially decide not to get vaccinated but then got the shot? If so, what happened to change your mind (or theirs)? Send your response using our form, and well include select answers in Fridays edition.

POST-MERKEL NAILBITER Germany heads into the final month of its national election campaign this week with the three largest parties in a virtual dead heat, in the latest sign that the contours of the countrys political typography will be redrawn after Angela Merkels exit.

A rash of polls in recent days points to a steady decline in support for the ruling Christian Democrats, whose candidate for chancellor, party leader Armin Laschet, appears to have so far failed to convince the public that he is a worthy successor to Merkel, who plans to step aside after 16 years in office.

The Christian Democrats are supported by just 24 percent of the population, down from 29 percent last month, according to POLITICOs Poll of Polls, which aggregates polling data from numerous sources. The Social Democrats, boosted by the popularity of their candidate for the chancellor, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, have jumped to 20 percent from 16 percent. The Greens, who many tipped to be the clear No. 2 party, have stagnated at 18 percent.

The most recent individual polls are even more worrying for the center-right Christian Democrats, who campaign together with their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. According to a weekly barometer published by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper over the weekend, the Christian Democrats are now even with the Social Democrats at 22 percent, but still ahead of the Greens at 17 percent.

$125 million

The amount Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is spending to hire an additional 1,500 people to staff hospitals through December on top of the 1,300 health workers the state already sent to 68 hospitals. Hospitals and lawmakers in states gripped by the Delta variant are offering nurses tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, rewriting job descriptions so paramedics can care for patients and pleading for federal help to beef up their crisis-fatigued health care workforces.

STORM ROLLS INTO WH For the first time since 2016, an NBA or WNBA championship team visited the White House today, as Biden welcomed the WNBA champion Seattle Storm. The president said the team had done significant work off the court to make an impact in their communities. What makes this team remarkable is they dont just win games. They change lives. Encouraging people to get vaccinated so we can beat this pandemic. Speaking out of standing up for racial justice and voting rights. Supporting education and mentorship programs for young people. And fighting to protect trans youth from an epidemic of violence and discrimination, Biden said. Thats what winners do: They shine the light, they lift people up, theyre a force for change. Biden then knelt in front of the team with a customized Biden 46 jersey for a photograph.

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Where the centrist rebellion goes from here - Politico

By LISA GONSALVES

The following year with Michele was mostly magical. She was a gracious hostess in what seemed like an enchanted tea party, speckled with moments of relative madness. She was the psychedelic version of Martha Stewart.

Impressive were her business sensibilities that continued to manage roughly half a dozen staff of rotating caregivers. She ran her home with the fastidiousness of her business endeavors. Her kitchen, cleaning regimen, and trash handling were designed with precision; everything was labeled and dated, nothing wasted, and every resource scrutinized. We designed, laminated and posted an elaborate guest policy, to the chagrin of family members and visiting friends.

I understood her need for structure as an accommodation in the face of a handicap, as I require it to ameliorate my distractibility. Michele would say, I cant have chaos, and I heard, Because my cancer condition creates a condition over which I have minimal control, I must control what I can.

No surprise, the shining highlight was meal prep. In her kitchen, she was a magnificent maestro orchestrating a symphony of healing meals. Thats where her precious culinary secrets were disclosed. Occasionally, the mini diva reminded us how much those lessons were worth. Nevertheless, meals were always shared. Sometimes wed help her host small dinner parties for random friends and neighbors, because, why not? As a woman who could shatter or master many stereotypes, she never appeared to me much as the Jewish mother, except in the kitchen. Michele fed others with relish.

Entertainment was ensured that year. We caregivers were afforded equal opportunity to escort her to any free cultural event she found. Always a great date, while overdressed to the nines, she was charming, witty, and easily the center of attention. Her sex appeal was as effervescent as ever and she could flirt like a vixen, simultaneously attempting coy while upholding archaic courtship protocol.

Yet she made no secret of her cancer. In fact, it was typically the first thing out of her mouth. With a smile. And the smile was real. Queen that she was, her grand finale was her final entry into the Ms. Senior America Pageant.

Michele had placed in several senior beauty pageants over the years. What was notable in her participation in the title for Ms. Pennsylvania Senior America 2020 was her Stage 4 cancer. The pageant expected contestants to be the picture of health. Because of full disclosure, the pageant people were aware of her condition. Perhaps desperate for bodies, they coddled her throughout. She and I worked together to master her best answers, which were scripted and rehearsed. Her cousin came from the city to fit her for the event in top designer fashion.

With those requirements covered, she needed only to focus on the talent segment. She chose interpretive dance because thats something she could do on the spot and just make it up in the moment. The problem for her was finding a song. She had asked a friend to compose something. That didnt happen. Oddly, she neglected to search herself, was avoidant even. She passed the responsibility on to one of the caregivers. Keen on requirements, Michele made certain I provided her with a song version with exactly the time allotted, but she never rehearsed her dance at all. In fact, aside from timing her entrance, she never even listened to it. That wasnt the most concerning issue.

By the time the pageant came around, Michele made the journey to Harrisburg all by herself, while in hospice. This involved a car ride of several hours and an overnight stay for preparation and rehearsals. As she tells it, she got lost someplace short of her destination, pulled in at a diner, and called the police, who escorted her the rest of the way. She was many hours late, but since she worked superbly under pressure, she could go with the flow.

Im Every Woman isnt a song about womens empowermentits Hoochie-Mama! reported a dismayed Michele, perfectly cast as a real-life Little Miss Sunshine in her twilight years! As tiny as she was, she showed up big, or not at all. She made it back in one piece, positive attitude intact. Id argue that Michele was the most courageous beauty pageant contestant ever. For that, she is a champion.

Michele admittedly put on characters like costumes she changed out of her endless wardrobe. Yet she was never inauthentic. Akin to Dolly Partons exaggerated glamour, she was forthcoming about her constructed illusions and despite them all, still incredibly real. Each shift (to use her word) was a decisive strategy to meet a necessary end that worked for her. The newly adopted persona or change in perspective was embraced wholeheartedly as a true aspect of herself. From early on, she learned how to be the conductor of her own ride, and not allow life to happen to her. She was a fervent student of life until the end. Although not academic, she was heavily learned in hard and soft skills, taking courses throughout her life in various fields, from fine art to energy healing, often with the most prestigious of educators.

I realize there might be those who thought her just nuts, but Id argue she was misunderstood. Most of what she professed was grounded in respectably established concepts. True, she was known to have fantastical notions, and we arent certain to what degree she took them seriously. I must note, however, that even her most far-fetched stories are difficult to disprove. She might just have returned to her far-off planet Zatar. We cant really know. Essentially, she raises the question whether perhaps someones craziness isnt crazy at all. It could be genius the rest of us dont understand.

Michele was not blind to her imperfections and strove to improve until the end. Granted, she could be exhausting. At least she was mindful of maintaining her integrity and willing to look where she faltered. At times Id point out when she was asking for too much or being unnecessarily bossy. She appreciated my honesty and stopped expecting bank tellers to make her photocopies and get her envelopes. Together Michele and I worked on her swan song. My Gift of Destruction was the title she gave to her cancer journey because this dichotomy was her theme. Her chosen totem was the Black Witch moth, which in various cultures symbolizes contrary concepts. For some, it is a harbinger of death, and for others, it is a positive omen of good fortune. She had accepted her early denial of her condition and her futile attempts to escape the clutches of cancer. What became paramount to her was jurisdiction over her own conscientious choices. No one was going to tell her what course of action was right for her health.

For the rest of this story, visit http://www.riverreporter.com/miracles.

Originally posted here:
Crazy as wise, part three - The River Reporter

Let's face it. Second time round there is no novelty about lockdown.What a stupid redundant sentence that was. There can be no novelty about something that happens more than once, surely. While I am on the subject of grating expressions, what about the ludicrous GOAT acronym which pervaded recent Olympics coverage? If something is the Greatest, it has to be Of All Time, doesnt it? It is as silly as saying best ever, worst ever. Best or worst, please.

And please, please Jacinda, Ashley et al, do not talk about the (expletive deleted) team of five million any more. Also, if you do not want to answer a question, or cannot, say so. Do not avoid a curly question by saying What I can say is... or What I would say is... It is infuriating.

Grumpy. Thats what I am in lockdown this time, in case you havent guessed.

It is hard to explain. I have no issue with the necessity for the lockdown, but as valid as criticisms might be about the slowness of the vaccination programme and other shortcomings in our creaking system, I am sick of hearing about them. I wonder instead how it feels to be listening to all of that when you are one of those overworked vaccinators, testers, lab technicians, contact tracers, supermarket workers or anyone else considered part of essential services.

Swanning around at home not doing very much makes me feel useless rather than a member of any team, especially when I know for some people being at home will be dangerous and depressing. Also, compared with the ongoing misery people in many other countries have had to endure, our lockdown concerns seem piffling.

Whereas last time, in the countdown to lockdown I was scrubbing the kitchen floor and thinking deeply, this year the floor is filthy, and my annoying leaking fridge is in danger of rotting the floorboards.

Day one was no better. In a fit of enthusiasm, I decided to turn rotting bananas into muffins, kidding myself that though I havent made them for years, I knew what I was doing and no recipe would be required.

Spooning the stiff batter into the muffin tray made me wonder if milk should have been included, so the mess was spooned back into the bowl and milk added.

The strange growths emerging from the oven would not have looked out of place in a gruesome illustrated oncology textbook. The maxim never beat a muffin it will toughen had also been ignored. They were only edible toasted and slathered with butter.

News of this failure led to some strange culinary text correspondence with my sister, the Earthquake Baby, in Murchison. In every text we each assumed the identity of a different well-known chef or cook. At one point when she was doing a Gordon Ramsay, I had to pull an Aunt Daisy and tell her not to be so unladylike. After we had gone through about 14 celebrities, I was having an identity crisis and my cooking had not improved.

At least my companion provided some light relief trying to follow instructions from afar from the Last Born to download the Covid Tracer app since he has recently upgraded from a burner phone to a smartphone.

We were expecting a swipe-by-swipe account of his first use when he went to the supermarket, but he was too worried he would be faffing about and holding up other shoppers to attempt it.

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards understandably has reservations about the practicalities of recently announced moves to mandatory scanning/contact recording.

How will those managing the places where this is required ensure people are doing it properly, not faking using the app or putting down false contact details?

Most places which have had pen and paper contact systems up until now have given little regard to the privacy of anyones details. The best place Ive seen (my phone is appless and I am hapless) for privacy is the Dunedin Library where contact details are written on individual forms and popped into a ballot box.

By the end of the first week, I had completed a baby blanket begun months ago. But when I assembled teddies for a tea party (with real tea) on it so they could test my homemade digestive biscuits, the First Born politely inquired if I had cabin fever. (The biscuit-making was to appease the designated supermarket shopper, upset that I and one of the offspring had scoffed most of his packet of digestives.)

When I sent the tea party pic with explanation to the Murchison-dwelling sisters, they were quick to suggest cabin fever might be the least of my worries. It was hard to argue with that.

Read more:
Grumpiness pervades in this round of being stuck at home - Otago Daily Times

In the 16th hour of a Senate debate earlier this month, Cory Booker rose to speak around 1 a.m. I am so excited! he roared, bunching his shoulders and smacking a fist into his hand, like a pitcher trotting to the mound. Booker, who represents New Jersey, leaned back and put a hand into his pocket. He smiled and raised one eyebrow mischievously. This is a gift, he declared. If it wasnt complete abdication of Senate procedures and esteem, I would walk over there and hug my colleague from Alabama.

Booker was referring to an amendment to the 2022 budget which was the subject of the Senates marathon session and to Tommy Tuberville, Alabamas newly elected senator, who proposed it moments earlier. My amendment is pretty simple, Tuberville said. If your City Council wants to defund their police, dont expect the federal government to make up the difference. Local leaders across the country, he went on, have decided the woke thing to do is cancel their citys police force, but Alabamians would not pick up the tab for the woke defund-the-police movement.

Woke, cancel, defund Tuberville was practically auditioning for a spot on Tucker Carlsons show the next day. But in his turn at the lectern, Booker out-Foxed him. Tubervilles amendment was a gift, he said, because it would put to bed the scurrilous accusation that somebody in this great esteemed body would want to he paused for faux-shocked effect defund the police. Booker urged every senator to not walk, but sashay down to vote for Tubervilles amendment. He ended by calling on the Senate to add language expressing its unanimous support for God, country and knuckle rap of the lectern apple pie.

Booker was, in other words, laying it on thick. The tone was a departure from his typical register, which calls to mind a preacher-turned-therapist. If Tuberville hoped to pin Democratic senators as all-cops-are-bastards radicals or as beholden to Twitter activists of that ilk Booker saw an opportunity to set the record straight. His clip drew chuckles from commentators on CNN and MSNBC, effectively foiling Tubervilles plans. And substantively, Booker got his wish. Tubervilles amendment passed by a vote of 99 to 0, thus completing a canny political turn for Democrats on the tricky matter of policing.

A summer ago, in the wake of George Floyds murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and the racial-justice protests that followed, the party seemed genuinely split over whether to back growing calls on the left to defund the police. House members from swing districts, like Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, said that the defund movement played into the hands of Republicans by alienating moderate voters. House members from safe districts, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York City, advocated cutting police budgets and redirecting the money toward other public-safety measures.

A core aspiration of the defund movement is to reduce violent encounters between officers and the public by deploying mental-health professionals to respond to some 911 calls. Some cities have started adding such services. Denver, for example, set up an alternative 911 response, with social workers answering some calls; similar pilot projects are in the works in Oakland and Portland, Ore. But however promising, these local experiments arent what many of the loudest advocates for defunding the police had in mind and its not what their slogan, fairly or not, has come to stand for. Defunding the police has become associated with calls to take officers off the streets or even disband departments entirely which can be hard to imagine in real-world terms. What would a city look like if unarmed public-safety officers replaced all the cops with guns? How do you take firearms away from the law enforcers in a country that has tens of millions more guns than citizens?

Most Americans, across all demographics, share these concerns. In March 2021, a USA Today/Ipsos poll showed that just 18 percent support defund. For Black Americans, the figure was a bit higher: 28 percent. But 43 percent of all respondents backed redirecting some police funds to social services. In New Haven, the majority-Black-and-Latino city where I live, the mayors office is working on a new Department of Community Resilience to address violence prevention and crisis response, as well as homelessness, mental health, drug use and prison re-entry. But with homicides and shootings on the rise, the city is also putting more money into the police. Defunding is a nonstarter.

Democrats can come across as craven when they disavow the passionate stance of the left wing of their party. Bill Clinton brought this criticism on himself when he singled out the activist Sister Souljah for her burst of anger toward white people in the midst of the Los Angeles riots in 1992. The Sister Souljah moment has since become shorthand for any strategic break between Democratic politicians and the activist base. Bookers bit of theater in the Senate not only punched left but also aligned Democrats in the chamber with President Biden, who has been in favor of more money for cops for decades.

If Booker successfully distanced his party from the defund movement, the question is what Democrats in Congress will have to show for it. The point of getting the politics right on an issue, after all, is to create a space to make policy. Booker, who has been one of the Senates most engaged members on criminal-justice reform, has worked for months on the Senates version of a police-reform bill named for George Floyd. Ive been bending and contorting myself in every way to try to make a bill that can attract people on both sides of the aisle, Booker told ABC News last month.

But it has been a thankless task. Booker negotiated with two major police unions seeking a broad agreement that would pass muster with Republicans, but when he thought he had the basis for a deal, other law-enforcement unions objected. This led Senator Lindsey Graham to publicly denounce the proposal. Bookers talks with Senator Tim Scott, the negotiator for the Republicans, continue, but its not clear where theyre going.

If Congress does nothing, despite all the promises and the heartbreak of police killings, it will shoulder responsibility for a half-measure the country has seen many times before: more money for the police but no new checks on their power. Democrats who have found their way to safe ground on the politics of defunding now have to keep making the case for what they want to do about policing. Solutions, though, dont often produce punchy TV clips.

See the original post here:
Cory Booker Outfoxed Republicans on Defund the Police. Now What? - The New York Times