What Language Game Are the Defunders Playing?

The national conversation about police reform has devolved into a never-ending argument over words. 6:30 AM ET Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of Girl Land AFP / GETTY / THE ATLANTIC Just when it seemed that we had finally stamped out the fire of “Defund the police” and the endless circular arguments it engendered—What does it mean? How would it work? Is it going to lose Democrats the election?—Barack Obama (of all people) stuck a couple of sticks of dynamite in the embers, and blew everything back up.In a Snapchat interview, he called the phrase nothing more than a “snappy slogan.” “You lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want,” Obama said. “The key is deciding, do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with?”Barack Obama: I’m not yet ready to abandon the possibility of AmericaJudging from the man about to enter the White House, Democrats, in the main, agree with Obama. Democrats are, embarrassingly enough, a party of moderates who want change and aren’t terribly snappy.…
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