By Sherman Frederick/Battle Born Media

The worm has turned after two years of dumping on American law enforcement. The “Defund The Police” cry stemming from the Black Lives Matter movement has been exposed for the bad idea that it always was.

And now those mayors and lesser politicians, who jumped on the bandwagon to wrap themselves in the woke idea du jour, are trying to find a way back to reality.

Crime statistics, like facts, are stubborn things. And, as people with their heads screwed on right warned, if you defund the police, crime will rise. But the more important fact in this off-year political season is that the voters have seen the result of the overreaction and, not to put too fine a point on it, they are pissed.

A Pew Research Center poll published Tuesday (Oct. 26) shows that 47% of Americans want to increase funding for police, compared to 15% who want to decrease funding. Last June, when the racial justice protests were at their peak, 31% of Americans wanted to increase funding while 25% supported a decrease.

So, what do these big city mayors do in the wake of voter revolt? They flip direction and reinvent themselves.

As much as the Black Lives Matter crowd wants to make this a racial thing, the truth all along was that it’s a crime thing. Accountability and public safety are important to everyone. We all want excellent law enforcement. The Stamford Advocate reports that 75% of Black Americans, a big voting bloc in big cities, want to increase or maintain police spending.

Consider Seattle, if you will. That’s a city that has suffered a 73% increase in murders last year and mayoral candidate Lorena Gonzalez, who just a few months ago was an unapologetic advocate of defunding the police, now says “I am not defunding the police.” She says she wants to keep funding cops while also investing in “community-based safety and non-law enforcement systems.”

We’ll see how that flip goes for her. The important take-away this week is that finally we’re seeing a full-on rejection of the Black Lives Matter slogan of “defund” the police.

That’s a good thing.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

“Medal of Honor” is an anthology doc series on Netflix. It’s based on combat events that lead to the Medal of Honor. It is terrific television. The production value is high and, of course, the stories are captivating. Catch it if you can because it is worth every moment you spend on it. It’s not about war, really, it’s more about the human condition and our ability for some to make extraordinary sacrifices.

So far there is only one season with eight episodes. There’s talk of season two. No dates announced.

ONE MORE THING

— After Halloween, Dracula’s favorite holiday is Fangsgiving.

— Man at local bookstore: “Do you have the book ‘Man The Master of Women?’” Bookstore lady: “The fiction section is in another aisle, sir.”

— “One ‘Ting’ Leads To Another” — the story of a professional triangle player.

—I have a step ladder because my real ladder left when I was just a kid.

Until next week, thank a first responder for his or her service during this time of woke madness. Please be kind to those you meet, laugh a little and always question authority.

Sherman Frederick is a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.