President Joe Biden and his merry band of Democrats in Congress appear desperate to distance themselves from the “Defund the Police” movement, which has become widely unpopular with the American public. On November 18, he signed a series of bills intended to assist law enforcement agencies. With this legislation, one might wonder if it is not too early to declare the movement dead, given that it was roundly repudiated by the public.

Joe Biden (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Biden Backs the Blue

The president signed three bipartisan bills to provide funding and resources to police departments across the country while the Justice Department declared it would be allocating $139 million in grants to hire over 1,000 new police officers. “It’s going to require more resources, not fewer resources,” Biden said. “That’s why my administration is investing in the community policing we know works.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) chimed in, lauding the passing of the bills. “Take a look at President Biden’s record. He’s been in favor of good law enforcement and adequate law enforcement across the nation since he served in the Senate,” he said.

The Washington Examiner reported:

“Biden signed three bills at the ceremony, the Protecting America’s First Responders Act, the Confidentiality Opportunities for Peer Support Counseling Act, and the Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act. The first is designed to offer improved access to benefits for first responders disabled in the line of duty. The second establishes requirements for peer support counseling programs and ensures confidentiality for those who use them. The third ensures anyone who kills or tries to kill U.S. federal officers on foreign soil can be prosecuted in the United States.”

All three of the proposals had bipartisan support. In what could be described as the least shocking moment in American history, “Squad” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Cori Bush voted against the measures.

The moderate faction of the Democratic Party was never in line with the defund the police movement. Several establishment lawmakers criticized the slogan for alienating voters. Unfortunately for them, the far-left Marxist crowd went whole hog on the movement, motivating several cities to slash their police budgets. This, along with the anti-police sentiment the Democrats fomented when they took advantage of the murder of George Floyd and other high-profile incidents, enabled them to grab the limelight.

(Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

But it appears the “Defund the Police” movement has run its course and is slowly dying off. The passage of these three bills can be seen as the dagger striking the death blow to the effort to decrease police presence in major cities. This eventuality was previewed when Minneapolis residents voted down a measure to dissolve the city’s police force and replace it with a Department of Public Safety earlier this month.

Even Democrats are admitting that defunding the police was a braindead proposition. Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told the Washington Examiner that it “was a bad slogan” and that it “sounded to people like it was taking away money from crime prevention.”

Another Progressive Defeat?

The fact that Democrats have turned against the “Defund the Police” movement seems to be further proof that the far-left progressive wing of the party still lacks the influence it needs to impose its radical agenda. This apparent flip-flop indicates that, for the time being, the moderate establishment crowd still holds sway over the rest of the party.

It appears that Democrats have finally realized that this brand of wokeism isn’t the way to victory. Embracing an initiative that contributed to skyrocketing crime rates that harmed the people the left claims to protect was bound to elicit a backlash. But does the Democrats’ pivot come too late to salvage their chances?

~ Read more from Jeff Charles.