On May 29th, I sent out a short post five days after the Uvalde shooting. My post’s title was “Do Not Dare Blame the Police for Uvalde” As more has been learned, it has become clear that the police do deserve blame. So I was diametrically wrong. I was specifically wrong to write that the police were “outmatched” by the gunman. As well, I was critical of a post by David French who in fact had the correct view in assigning some portion of blame to the Uvalde police.
David, you've modeled the one thing most Americans seem unwilling to do: say, "I was wrong." Trump's unwillingness to do that very thing, and instead belligerently double down on insisting he's right, has worsened the trend by lending it legitimacy. The January 6th Hearings have been laying out the dangerous outcome of the illusion of infallibility. To err is human, as the famous saying goes. And anyone who pretends they have the superhuman ability to never make mistakes fools only himself. Worse though, is the assumption that since there was no mistake, there's nothing to fix. The Uvalde police certainly failed to do so until all the other people they had blamed ("a teacher propped the door open so it's all her fault" etc) were cleared of those accusations that the police were forced to answer for their decisions, and so far it seems very few of those directly involved are willing to admit their own mistakes. So thank you for helping (re)normalize both making mistakes AND saying so.
Kudos for this admission/correction. If public figures behaved thusly we'd hold them in higher regard, even if we disagreed with them. In a healthier climate, each political party would correct itself and it astounds me that they do not. It would build credibility and deprive critics of an opportunity to criticize. Your comment is a good example to all.
David, you've modeled the one thing most Americans seem unwilling to do: say, "I was wrong." Trump's unwillingness to do that very thing, and instead belligerently double down on insisting he's right, has worsened the trend by lending it legitimacy. The January 6th Hearings have been laying out the dangerous outcome of the illusion of infallibility. To err is human, as the famous saying goes. And anyone who pretends they have the superhuman ability to never make mistakes fools only himself. Worse though, is the assumption that since there was no mistake, there's nothing to fix. The Uvalde police certainly failed to do so until all the other people they had blamed ("a teacher propped the door open so it's all her fault" etc) were cleared of those accusations that the police were forced to answer for their decisions, and so far it seems very few of those directly involved are willing to admit their own mistakes. So thank you for helping (re)normalize both making mistakes AND saying so.
Thanks Joy.
It's been nagging at me as more and more has been revealed about how the police acted during the tragedy.
Hope you are well!
Kudos for this admission/correction. If public figures behaved thusly we'd hold them in higher regard, even if we disagreed with them. In a healthier climate, each political party would correct itself and it astounds me that they do not. It would build credibility and deprive critics of an opportunity to criticize. Your comment is a good example to all.
Thanks Josh.
Greatly appreciate that feedback!