We don't hear much about McCarthyism these days.  It's a shame.  For those who may not know, the phrase refers to the tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s.  He would accuse presumably innocent people of being communist agents of the Soviet Union, our cold war enemy  He would hold senate hearings in which he would badger witnesses.  His accusations were usually based on scant evidence.  In a nut shell, he and his followers - who were many- simply assumed the guilt of those they considered their enemies.

Well, I see a similar mind set among certain implacable foes of the Spokane Police Department.  This seems quite obvious to me  But let me note just two recent remarks I heard or read.  First, a former attorney with the Spokane Center for justice cited the fact that the Center received many complaints against the police.  The way this was put, it was clear he expected the audience to assume these complaints were valid.  Now, I can not think of  a person more apt to have a false complaint lodged against him than a policeman.   The second incident was the citing by PJALS of the disparity between the percentage of African Americans and Native Americans in the Spokane population and the percentage of those members tasered.  These numbers prove absolutely nothing to anyone with any knowledge of statistical inference but are inflammatory to others.  The numbers result from great social injustices, but police racism is not likely one of them.  Or if it is, bring on a valid proof.

I finish by saying there are things wrong with the SPD but McCarthyism is not the way to fix them