Is "Defund the Police" PsyOps?

Ross Barkan discusses the biggest problem for Defund the Police and Cuomo's artful disappearance during BLM protests to reemerge as the same Trumpian King of New York

Right about this time last year, nursing home death-count coverups and sexual harassment allegations were all coming to light for Andrew Cuomo, who seemed on the verge of facing his reckoning with tanking polling numbers and calls for resignation. And yet today, he’s back on his throne as the King of New York. WTF?

It was also this time last year when the protests for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter surged across the country. And just as he used the coronavirus crisis to elbow his way into the national spotlight, Cuomo used America’s racism crisis to hide away until everyone forgot about his little corruption thing.

But, says journalist and The Prince author Ross Barkan, he’s back now and not going anywhere. “You can’t tell the King of New York to step down. He runs New York schools. He runs the MTA. He runs New York City. He’s it.”

So the only thing you can say about the king is: I think I have a crush???

Also in this extended interview, Matt and Katie talk with Ross about Defund the Police’s biggest problem: the name. With some supports arguing “Defund” means abolish, some saying it means cut funding, and others saying it means refund, demilitarize, debloat, or juice cleanse the police, the ambiguity splits the supporters and muddies the message.

Why not make a clear slogan, like Medicare for All, or The Green New Deal, or I’m Lovin’ It? PsyOps, says Katie’s mom. And it worked.

Plus, Matt and Katie read (or at least try to read) viewers’ responses for the question: How do you say “Kurt Loder did the Reichstag fire” in one German word? It’s not for the faint of heart, as we get to the bottom of Loder’s true villainy.

All this, and more, in this subscriber-only episode of Useful Idiots. Watch here.