It is Still About George Floyd

Not being one to post political views (my own) on my blog page, I make this exception because of the importance of current events today. It may just be dawning on some of us, and for others it already has, that in America we have a “fake president” who has repeatedly shown he can only do more harm than good while he pretends to be a president. He has repeatedly lied, and repeatedly announced he was going to take this or that action when said action was either unconstitutional or specifically not allowed by him. Or, frankly, just out and out illegal. He has tried to seize power, in other words. People can argue one way or the other and pull out facts and figures from any number of “sources” on the Internet, but it takes only two eyes to see what’s going on here.

I’m writing this in support of the demonstrators who are rightfully outraged over the blatant and casual violence that at least some members of the police are willing and eager to perpetrate. Of course, not all. At this point in our history, absolute statements--about anything--are probably the real enemy. Nothing is absolute, so you might say any absolute statement is a lie. But let’s use a little common sense. Trump’s excessive use of absolutes are what reveal his own lack of common sense and leadership.

At any rate, I saw one police officer apparently murder someone on the sidewalk for, I read, allegedly trying to cash a forged check. I saw, with my own eyes, that and three other police officers doing nothing but standing by as this happened. I saw demonstrations, and I saw even more police committing brutal acts against demonstrators as the news coverage went on. I suppose the best thing you could say about this is that they were stunningly unprofessional. Or, you could say what it looked like, a bunch of police officers, here and there across major cities in America, gleefully bullying unarmed citizens. Not all. Of course not. The question is, if this kind of unprofessionalism is actually not widespread, then why is it allowed?

My personal theory is that it’s because our pretend president has systematically created a culture (one would hope, maybe only a sub-culture) of violence and bullying.

The reaction to the demonstrations has given the demonstrators more to be mad about. One governor said, “This isn’t about George Floyd anymore.” No, it isn’t. Unfortunately. It’s more likely it is mostly about the sorry state of our country, anymore. Too many bad things have become “normal,” with, we fear, more to come.

Not one to bitch without presenting a solution, I say this: first, get justice for George Floyd. One bad cop, for sure, needs gone. Then start to work on the more general problem within the police force. What are we doing wrong that over half the country fears for their own well-being while merely being pulled over for a traffic violation? We, and by that I mean “we,” hired the police and pay them with the tax money that we contribute, to protect us. Don’t we get to decide how they should act? Maybe we should fix this, so that we don’t get into this current position--where we have zero power to do anything but go out on the streets and yell.

Meanwhile, it is about George Floyd. I say this again because I wonder just who Trump is now trying to silence with this new round of violence and bullying he has drummed up.