by JM Williams
The worst of the year: The Murder of George Floyd
Last year, I watched phone video of the death of an American citizen as filmed by a bystander on a street in Minneapolis. No other event overshadows it. Not recently, not in memory.
How shocking beyond the ability to comprehend it is to watch a cop kill a citizen and smile for the camera. It remains unimaginable, yet I’ve seen it. As the trainer kneeled on the neck of the citizen, two trainees did crowd control while a third held the citizen’s ankles.
It’s not systemic? It’s not institutional? Really? How do you define those terms?
Even so, there’s no sense in defunding the police. Anarchy would not be fun unless you happen to sell the tools of the trade. Reform of how the police are overseen is necessary.
Some form of real control over the actions of the representatives of State authority across the nation must come into being. With justice unserved but rather subverted, Black citizens die via extrajudicial or summary execution in the U.S.A., historically without penalty, more often for less than U.S. citizens who happen to have a different skin color. That is horrifying in itself, but beyond that it means that as long as this practice continues unabated, we’re all subject to having a smiling white cop kneel on our necks until we expire. All that would be necessary would be for you or me to become the scapegoat.
The best of the year: 80 million Americans saying, “GET OUT!”
On another, happier, note, the mouthpiece has been removed. Sadly, the chorus remains in tact, but is much tarnished. The sort of uber-ego who has been repudiated, will, probably in time, resurface in a slicker, more likable, more plausible personality, someone seeming more sensible, reasonable, thoughtful and consistent, but this time we dodged a bullet.
The Capitol Riot is another blot of viciousness on Trump’s record. His disinterest in the inauguration again demonstrates his contempt for the processes he swore to uphold. His patriotism percentage is 0%.
The un-thought-out-ness of the Capitol breach seems obvious. Was the point was no more than to enter the sanctuary, make a mess and take some snaps for Facebook? They didn’t topple the government or anything.
Cry because you can’t get your way. That’s Don all over. Crying is one thing; killing is another.
And, people did die as a result of the riot. One, a Capitol Policeman, was evidently murdered by a riot particapant using a fire extinguisher and another person, a woman from OB, by gunshot at the hands of the Capitol Police.
How many people can be considered responsible for these deaths? A homicide committed during the commission of a felony is shared by all conspirators is it not? 10,000 criminals?
Will Don be the first ex-President to be charged with homicide?
Lastly, the best crowd estimate for the protest I found was possibly 10,000. AP reported that the attendees were mostly convinced that the election had not been conducted according to law and that it had been stolen from DJT.
This from the Associated Press:
“The insurrectionist mob that showed up at the president’s behest and stormed the U.S. Capitol was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, off-duty police, members of the military and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals. Records show that some were heavily armed and included convicted criminals, such as a Florida man recently released from prison for attempted murder.”
Even so, being crazy cannot be directly correlated with being dangerous or eager for violence, and it is my suspicion that many at the event had no idea how the day would end, but they did not come to engage in felonious behavior or murder. I’d bet there were more thermoses there than .38s in the crowd. Others, of course, did bring guns and had different ideas.
In closing, while the US is a mess and does have many problems, at least here we can effect change without weapons; and that’s the job ahead. Further, if you didn’t like Trump, you are in a really big group of American citizens. That’s just a little bit comforting.
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