In the wake of the state-sanctioned murder of George Floyd by three cops while a fourth cowardly bystander did nothing, protests have fully understandably erupted across the nation. Racism (especially structural racism) and widespread police brutality are nothing new in America, and remain persistent problems that are clearly not going away on their own, so the protestors' anger is fully justified. The murderers and all of their accomplices must be brought to justice, and structural reforms absolutely must be made, yesterday.
(The problem is actually twofold, involving an intersection of both 1) institutional racism and the resulting gross racial disparities at all levels of the criminal "justice" system, as well as 2) a more general overcriminalization of people for victimless "crimes" and gross overmilitarization of police, along with a general lack of accountability for rogue cops. And both need to be tackled simultaneously. Yesterday.)
But when protestors foolishly play into the hands of outside agents provocateur (everyone from extremists to recreational troublemakers to false flags and even undercover cops) infiltrating the otherwise peaceful protests to turn them violent and destructive, then it becomes something far different and highly toxic, and counterproductive to the cause. And by taking the bait of Trump and his buddies--the ultimate master baiters (pun intended)--who are also pouring gasoline on the fire, that is like cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. So please don't fall for it.
The last thing America needs right now is a full-blown civil war. Which is where we are unfortunately heading if this continues to escalate much longer. And it is what the "alt-right", white supremacists, and other right-wing extremists like the Boogaloo movement seem to really want to happen, hence their sending outside agitators to infiltrate protests.
(Hear that? That's the sound of Putin having a good belly laugh at America's expense.)
And while we really hate to be a wet blanket, please remember that while the right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct in what is supposed to be free society, the COVID-19 pandemic is still going on, and you still need to take precautions nonetheless since the virus doesn't care about your or anyone's politics. Wear a mask, carry hand sanitizer, stick to smaller groups, and try to keep as much physical distance as possible out there. Don't deliberately get in anyone's face either. And if you have any sort of questionable symptoms at all in the least, please sit this one out and stay home protesting virtually. In other words, please use common sense. That advice applies to both the George Floyd / Black Lives Matter protestors as well as any anti-lockdown protestors, by the way.
To quote Rodney King himself during the 1992 LA riots: "Can we all just get along?"
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Being under the mercy of the kleptocratic and authoritarian Vladimir Putin would be a bad idea. Russia is the opposite of a democracy, which it claims to be. I agree that George Flyod was murdered by a police officer. There should be peaceful protests or there should be no protests. The alt-right will be using the instances of looting and vandalism as an excuse to start a civil war. We shouldn't let the alt-right have that opportunity. Donald Trump, a lackey of Vladimir Putin, shouldn't have the opportunity either to advance his re-election campaign from these incidents either.
ReplyDeleteThere was a case of a KKK member trying to run over protestors in Virginia. There was another case where a man drove his car into a gathering of protestors in Seattle as well. I think that hard right ans far-right organizations are trying to instigate a civil war in this country and that it may have already begun.
DeleteMaster baiter!
ReplyDeleteYep, that pun was intentional :)
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