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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]
What? [b]Her signature issue has always been defunding the police[/b]. It was the whole reason she was even in office. It was the center of everything she did.

It’s bizarre that she now suddenly pretends otherwise. It would be like Grover Norquist suddenly saying he doesn’t care about taxes anymore. [/quote]

They say that if you repeat something often enough it becomes fact. Perhaps that is true because it seems to have worked for the Washington Post which has bought this myth hook, line, and sinker. But, I want to set the record straight.

Janeese Lewis George's 2020 campaign website can be found at the Wayback Machine (assuming it is not being DDOS'd as it has been the pat few days):

https://web.archive.org/web/20190925204320/https://www.janeese4dc.com/

Towards the bottom, the home page has a section titled "What Janeese Stands For". It lists:

[list]Tackling the housing affordability crisis[/list]
[list]Demanding accountability and integrity from elected leaders[/list]
[list]Ensuring affordable child care and quality neighborhood schools[/list]
[list]Preventing crime and advancing community safety[/list]
[list]Creating an inclusive economy[/list]
[list]Advancing healthcare for all[/list]
[list]Creating transportation equity[/list]
[list]Taking on the environmental crisis[/list]
[list]Fighting for Statehood[/list]

"Defund the Police" is not included, much less featured as her "signature issue".

Similar, the website's "Issues" page available here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200425113124/https://www.janeese4dc.com/issues/

It doesn't say anything about defunding the police. The section on "Preventing crime and advancing community safety" says:

[quote]DC is at a criminal justice crossroads. Some want us to double down on decades of failed public safety policies that have led to mass incarceration of mostly black and brown residents without stopping the rise in violent crime. As a former Assistant Attorney General, Janeese knows that the old model doesn’t work. We need to get smarter, proactively preventing crime by adopting a public health approach. To start, that means taking on domestic violence perpetrators, getting guns off of our streets, fully implementing the NEAR Act, and keeping ICE out of our communities. As our Ward 4 Councilmember, Janeese will combine her experience in reducing recidivism with a bold agenda that ensures a safer future for everyone.
[/quote]

Here is an article written by a very sympathetic source back in 2020:

https://www.shondaland.com/act/news-politics/a34331578/why-i-ran-for-the-first-time-janeese-lewis-george/

It says this:

[quote]But her platform — which focused on issues like affordable housing, labor rights, and criminal justice reform — resonated and she managed to build significant support, participating in the district's first public campaign-financing program.[/quote]

Again, "Defund the Police" is not mentioned.

Here is the Washington Post writing in June 2020:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/06/19/janeese-lewis-george-democratic-socialist-who-beat-one-dc-mayors-allies-says-shell-be-pragmatic-council-member/

In this article it says:

[quote]But when George was asked what was atop her list for her first days on the council, assuming she joins the body in January, her response was a lengthy, enthusiastic explanation of all the street intersections she has been visiting, noting where she’d like to see new traffic lights and speed bumps.
[/quote]

Nothing about defunding the police.

What was really happening back then is that JLG had a nuanced position regarding police funding. She explained her views in this article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/07/protests-defund-police/

in which she said:

[quote]George said she does not want to abolish the police department, but she wants to decrease its budget and invest the money in programs such as violence interruption, which puts community members in neighborhoods to try to de-escalate conflicts and thwart violence before it happens. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) said Sunday that he also wants more violence interrupters, criticizing Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s budget proposal that made cuts to the program.

“I don’t think it’s an issue that we can put into one sentence, like defund the police,” George said. “But time and time again, where the leadership is lacking, they lean on wanting to do the same thing and expecting a different result.”
[/quote]

Note that she explicitly rejected the expression "defund the police".

In this article, The Washington City Paper explains how DFER, allegedly a pro school reform organization, spent huge sums of money on flyers that misrepresented JLG's positions:

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/304500/a-national-procharter-school-group-is-flooding-dc-mailboxes-with-campaign-flyers-this-cycle

DFER's mailers were so clearly wrong that the head of the local organization had to essentially apologize saying:

https://dfer.org/2020/06/07/dfer-dc-releases-statement-on-organizational-values-and-ward-4-primary/

[quote] These mailers oversimplified a more nuanced conversation about public safety without calling out the problematic history of policing Black people, causing misunderstanding and pain on an issue vitally important to the students and families DFER-DC serves. We have taken the time to reflect on the implications of these mailers: We made a mistake, and we have learned from it.
[/quote]

So, just to summarize. Before the last election Janeese Lewis George had many priorities more important than police funding reform. However, her opponents intentionally sought to portray her as a proponent of defunding the police. Those attacks were false and misleading, so much so that one of the leading purveyors of the myth had to issue a retraction. Now, four years later, her opponents are arguing that a position that was falsely conveyed by her opponents was her "signature issue". It was not her issue at all and especially not her signature issue.

Those trying to spread this lie about Janeese Lewis George are liars who are spreading a lie that didn't work before and will not work now.
[/quote]

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