Democratic politicians at every level, from President-elect Joe Biden down to local city councilmen, reacted to recent incidents of police misconduct by hastily encouraging or even joining in calls to “defund the police.” But they rapidly realized they had made a grave mistake — that their spineless pandering to the woke mob might for once come at a steep political cost, not to mention a societal cost as well.

Consequently, to cover their own backsides, Democrats tried to redefine the idea of “defunding” the police, relying heavily on cover from the liberal media.