Is there anything more to be said about the shooting and the riots in Kenosha that has not already been said? Just like mass shootings and wildfires in California, there has been so much that they do not attract the attention that they deserve. I have received requests that we talk about Kenosha, the other shootings and BLM, and so we shall.
I do think there is something unique about Kenosha, in that it is happening during the RNC and in a critical swing state. These riots in Wisconsin plays into Trumps campaign strategy. Trump is counting on the Bradley Effect, that voters fear racial riots but they don't say so when polled. So Kenosha is a gift for Trump, but will it matter.
--------------------------------- Updated 8/27/20 ----------------------------------------
We have the New York City Police Union formally endorsing Trump when they haven't made a presidential endorsement in 36 years. Now we have police officers in Wisconsin shooting an unarmed black man in the back.The man was getting into his car after supposedly trying to intervene in an altercation between two women. We don't know the details, but we do know his three young children, including a one year old and an eight year old who was celebrating his birthday that day, were in the backseat of the car and witnessed their father's killing. Of course there were protests and riots. Here is the question: how many more black people are going to to be shot in order for this president to win the election, avoid prosecution in NYC, and further the McConnell regime? Again, as I have stated before, this is a white people's problem. How stupid are white people going to be taking the bait? Or how does this give white people a chance to have an excuse to show their true colors?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot the last part. As LeBron James recently said, "Feels like the cops leave the house with a motive." A basketball player can see what the story is. It doesn't take a Ph.D.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Jackie said, but still do not condone destruction of property. This police crime is especially heinous because a father was shot in full view of his children. i can't imagine what prompted this policeman to do what he did; totally uncalled for, shooting someone in the back. This attests to the caliber of police nowadays. I understand that requirements to become a policeman have been lowered because not many people are applying. Also, police are now being trained by Israel, sometimes here at home and sometimes in Israel. The things that are condoned by Israeli police against Palestinians: tear gas, rubber bullets, knee on neck, are not thank goodness so far accepted here. I think it's obvious that police need to be held accountable when they do things like this. It's amazing that they haven't learned their lesson by now, that this sort of brutality is not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteMore re violence: I get the WashPost, but my neighbor gives me the NYPost, which has a Republican viewpoint. There was a large color picture of a black woman with a torch beside a huge fire on a garbage truck. "There was looting, 34 separate fires and damage to 30 businesses ...." What good does it do anyone to inflict so much damage?
ReplyDeleteDory, the NYPost is a rag a half-step above the National Enquirer.
ReplyDeleteTrevor's insights are usually enlightening because he can give an outsider, on-looker perspective of US issues. He is being too kind in his video. He leaves out the fact that the police gave the right-wing mobs water and verbal encouragement. They praised their actions, which resulted in the death of 2 protestors. It is not just the individual vigilantes that are the problem. The government sponsored organizations are systemically corrupt. There is no evidence that they are capable of meaningful self-motivated reform.
ReplyDeleteThere is two articles in the Washington Post, one called "Armed Civilians Bring Threat of Violence to Protest in Kenosha and elsewhere" and "Almost None of the Deaths Linked to Recent Protest are Known to Have Been Committed By Protestors."
Pence spent a good portion of last night talking about a Homeland Security Officer killed during a protest in Oakland. He left out that the officer was killed by a member of the Boogaloo group, a right-wing, white supremist group committed to starting a race war and bringing about the end of the United States. Where is the outrage for this violence? Or as Trevor notes, it is not the violence, but the color that matters?
Megan McCardle, in her op-ed in today's (9-3) WaPo, echoes my sentiments re peaceful protest vs rioting and vandalism. The latter is, in my opinion, not only destructive to mostly innocent entities, but is also counter-productive as far as any sympathetic feeling goes for the rioters' cause. Yes, rioting and destruction certainly do get attention, but perhaps away from the object of the protest.
ReplyDelete