We piled out of Los Angeles as soon as the national parks opened. We headed toward what the elite quaintly call the “flyover states.” The federal government own large chunks of the land there and moved Native American tribes to reservations in these states to get them out of the way. These states are largely free of COVID-19 and the overly aggressive restrictions on our lives. Enjoyment of our time was abridged by an incident that has now engulfed us all.
Watching the strangulation of a human being is stomach-churning. After three minutes I had to stop and skip to the end when the limp body of George Floyd was rolled onto a stretcher. The fact this was done by a person who was supposed to be a “lawman” made it completely appalling.
As the response to the incident started flooding our phones and email, it was quite apparent there was universal condemnation of the person wearing the uniform. I searched my mind to think when we were as unified in our country against an action by people wearing uniforms. I lurched all the way back to May 4, 1970, when improperly trained members of the national guard shot four students who were protesting at Kent State. Blacks, Whites, Liberals, Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans are united and want justice for the Floyd family in what some of us consider murder. Yes, we were universally united; then we were not.
The Left started attacking and then the deaf protesters went out on the streets. What was there to protest? They had unanimity. Police all over the country joined in saying that Derek Chauvin did not represent what they stand for and that the knee he placed on George Floyd’s neck was inappropriate (to say the least) procedure.
How does a guy like Chauvin stay on the job? Certainly, there is often a Blue Wall. But is it really a Blue Wall or is it a Union Wall? Bad cops remaining on the job are not much different than deficient teachers remaining in the classroom. These teachers are retained because of union rules where they are allowed to strangle the future out of young, often minority (often Black) children. No one is recording these teachers. They are not wearing body cams. They are just as problematic as cops like Chauvin who should be relieved of their duties and return to private industry in the back of a warehouse where they have no human contact.
The mayhem started followed by destruction. Instead of shutting this down, the ultra-liberal mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, actually suggested that protesters should practice social distancing and wear masks. Yes; really. Then he stated their anger was warranted. That was right after the agitators burned down a police station Frey had his cops abandon. Is it any wonder the mob felt empowered to do that? Frey’s comments were echoed by the deeply confused Governor of Minnesota, who watched the torching of the police station after three nights of violence and stated, “The ashes are symbolic of decades of pain, of anguish, unheard.” Is there any question why the destruction continued and metastasized across the country?
Career firefighter KB Balla had his sport bar destroyed in these “protests.” The fact that KB is Black did not matter. Thankfully, a fellow firefighter started a GoFundMe page and the good people of America have raised over $1 million for KB to realize his dream.
Nor did it seem to matter that Patrick Underwood, a Black federal officer, was murdered in Oakland. Where are the Black leaders calling for an end to this?
There seem to be none left. I had to look up the name of the current head of the NAACP. His name is Leon Russell (no, not that one). We are left to have rappers and basketball players lecturing us about institutional racism as they drive around in their expensive vehicles with their bodyguards. Martin, oh how we need you now.
Instead we are told that we all are the problem. Sorry, we are not the problem. If we only had Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams as required reading on the Left. Unfortunately, if you even mention these two Black giants to people of the Left they just return a blank stare. They would rather wallow in their feel-good ignorance that only harms Blacks in America. They think they care, but they only harm people.
There is rampant, loose talk about systemic or institutional racism. When someone uses that terminology ask them point blank if they are a racist. Or their family. They will deny that. When you ask them who are the racists they will tell you it is the person behind the tree. “You know they are out there.“ Because they don’t know who is actually a racist they have no idea how to cure systemic racism. They don’t know how to cure it because it is a fable to make people feel good about themselves and justify new government programs that will not do anything to help Black people or anyone except the government employees put in charge.
The issue is bad police and bad training. I don’t often do this, but I have advice for our President (yes, he is our President). He should establish a national commission headed by Senator Tim Scott and former Congressman Harold Ford to analyze police procedures and establish some recommended changes that can be fairly standardized throughout the country. The national police organizations are ready and willing to participate. The good cops don’t like having their names soiled by the bad ones. Trump should give them three months; not one of these typically prolonged affairs. We have to attempt to put an end to the idea that our police are not there for the protection of everyone. They are and they should be.
The cops want to stop the current disorder, but the elected leaders will not allow them. The consistent question we got from our fellow residents of Los Angeles, which assuredly was echoed across the nation, is why do the police not put an end to this. The police chief of Detroit, James Craig, a veteran of the Los Angeles police department, stated that he was appalled to see the police pull away from defending the city during the 1992 riots. He made sure the people of Detroit knew under his watch that would not happen. There is the answer. That is the difference between real leadership in time of crisis and the namby-pamby response across the nation of civic leaders that allowed and encouraged the violent behavior to continue.
They wonder why law-abiding citizens want to be armed when the police retreat and do not offer protection. Watching inept mayors and governors, one is left to wonder why every citizen does not go out and arm themselves against the hoodlums our elected officials refuse to discourage.
The fascinating moment here is the Left likes to whisper “Charlottesville” any time they want to brand President Trump a racist. He said there were good people protesting there and everyone ignored that the same anarchists were there to create mayhem. And the press on both sides remains ignorant of Antifa and does not even speak of the Black Bloc (called such because of their clothing, not the color of the skin). Here is my column on this from three years ago.
https://townhall.com/columnists/brucebialosky/2017/04/23/while-msm-focuses-on-insignificant-altright-they-should-be-all-over-the-black-bloc-n2315783
Yes, there are many concerned citizens who are out protesting. Then there is Antifa and the Black Bloc right behind. These groups enable organized gangs of looters in causing the destruction. When the peaceful protesters go home, the anarchists are left to destroy with the anti-Semitic, anti-capitalist and anti-civilized actions. President Trump was right to identify Antifa as terrorists and leaders of the Black Community should be chiming in to protect the goals they want to accomplish.
More people will be moving to the flyover states to escape the feeble civic leadership that continues to destroy the municipal life in major cities. The school systems, the street life hampered by elected officials unwilling to deal with homeless people roaming streets are emblematic of the failed leadership yet the residents continue to hand the reins to clueless liberals. They, in turn, continue to abridge our rights to protect ourselves while illegally armed criminals kill young blacks daily in cities like Chicago and Baltimore while people ignore that carnage.
Not a single person ever wants to see a repeat of what happened to George Floyd to anyone under any circumstance. We all want bad cops tried and the justice system to play out. What we are getting is the message lost in the mayhem. We need you Martin.