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Protests Erupt, American Society Breaks Down
Over the past week, protests have been escalating over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. While most of the protests have been peaceful and lawful, much of the media attention has focused on rioters destroying property and police indiscriminately assaulting protesters. President Trump, rather than sympathizing with the protesters and respecting their rights to seek answers, called them “thugs” and threatened to sic dogs on them.
There are so many takeaways one can have about the George Floyd killing and the ensuing protests. They can be viewed through the lens of racial injustice, police brutality, Trump, police militarization, etc. It’s important to point out that all of these factors play a role to some degree or another. When we try to disaggregate all of these factors, we can better start to analyze what’s going on. Let’s not be distracted by videos of someone stealing a cheesecake or people writing off these four Minneapolis cops as bad eggs. Let’s dig into the more serious conversations and have a fruitful dialogue about race and policing in this country.
Trump Threatens Protesters with "Vicious Dogs" & "Ominous Weapons"
Donald Trump spent his weekend threatening protesters with “vicious dogs” and violence from Secret Service agents. In times of civil unrest, leaders generally try to remain level-headed and diffuse tension, but not this one. Trump appeared giddy about having to hide in a White House bunker as an added layer of protection. He tweeted that the Secret Service “let the ‘protesters’ scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard - didn’t know what hit them.”
A real leader would go to the Oval Office and address the country, saying “we are a nation in struggle. I hear you. I hear your concerns and your complaints. I'm committed to working together to improve the country. Let's stop the violence. Let's stop the attacks. Stop the violence by police”. Donald Trump is instead riling up his base and smearing protesters. I hope people understand the urgent nature of removing this man from office in November.
From over the Weekend:
Caller Can't Understand Why People Hate Trump
A caller on last Friday’s show expressed his concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election. He was under the impression that people would be voting online instead of by mail, which got cleared up. Later on, the caller debated the left’s tone and whether the hatred of Trump is overblown.
-More on the Show:
--The United States' status as a first world country falls into question as basic infrastructure breaks down, leadership is absent, corruption is rampant, and institutions are increasingly distrusted
--As protests continue nationally, debates about police as oppressors vs victims continue to rage
--From the point of view of activist protesting, is property damage considered "violence?"
--Donald Trump, in a continuing effort to distract, says he will designate Antifa a "terrorist organization," which appears to be unconstitutional
--Donald Trump flees to his bunker at the White House to tweet as Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden meets with protesters
--Donald Trump is brutally embarrassed by world leaders as Angela Markel rejects his invitation to come to the United States for the G7 summit
--Voicemail caller asks whether there's more coronavirus relief money coming and where the money went
--On the Bonus Show: David's garden turns crazy, protests could catastrophically fuel coronavirus pandemic, evictions loom as rent freezes expire, much more...
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speaking of leadership! I propose that Joe Biden form a full team today. He should include at least two Republicans. Mitt Romney and Larry Hogan come to mind. And then fill out the rest of the team with Booker Harris Abrams Buttigieg Yang, Klobuchar, Warren, Bottoms. . He could present the dream team for the dream election! he would demonstrate bipartisanship. And he would have a team ready to hit the ground running from day minus one.
You are so correct in your analysis of the current unrest. My homeless friends are joining in the demonstrations because they empathize with anger over injustices, inequality and racism endemic in our country.