Exactly the Wrong Guy in Charge During the Chaos

The whole country has gone fucking insane. Whether it is a temporary lapse into lunacy, or something more permanent remains up in the air at the moment. All we know for sure right now is we have exactly the wrong guy in charge during the chaos.

Of course we've known that for a while. I mean it isn't like Donald Trump has done a bang up job handling the COVID-19 virus, or anything else for that matter. Just weeks ago he was actually encouraging demonstrators who were showing up heavily armed in Michigan and other locales. However, those protests were basically Trump campaign rallies, so there was a none too subtle motive behind his approval beyond liberating barber shops and bars.

This week we have again seen the only real leadership skill Don Trump has is to prove to his base he can talk like the tough guy they desperately want him to be. How else do you explain tweets which include threats to send the, "unlimited power," of the U.S. Military into an American city, or quote a 1960's southern police chief speaking about the civil rights movement, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Then finally, threatening protestors in Washington D.C. with a promise to, "unleash vicious dogs," and attack them with, "ominous weapons."

Not exactly words worthy of the award he so obsessively craves, The Nobel Peace Prize.

But, hey, the situation is, as they say, confused. What began as peaceful marches condemning the murder of George Floyd by members of the Minneapolis police quickly degenerated into rioting. Then as things have spun even further out of control strange shit began to occur.

Many of those involved with the acts of arson, vandalism, and looting aren't African Americans. They have been masked up white people. In one video on Twitter, you can even see a black organizer screaming at six or seven white men not to smash the windows of a store. Her pleas went unheeded.

By midweek rumors began to swirl on social media, then accusations. People started posting white nationalist organizations such as the Proud Boys and those involved in the so called boogaloo movement had infiltrated the protests and were behind the violence. Their aim being to start a second civil war, or maybe score a new TV. Mr. Trump is claiming it isn't the far right at all, but rather, "the radical left and ANTIFA." Others, including republican Senator, Marco Rubio think it is a combination of both.

Complicating things even further, there is ample video evidence on social media that in a lot of places the only people rioting are the police themselves. Twitter is rife with images of people, including news crews covering the events, being shot with rubber bullets and getting faces full of pepper spray as they either obey police commands, or attempt to walk way. Others show the cops savagely kicking cuffed persons who are already on the ground and shooting paint pellets at people standing peacefully on their own front lawns. In Salt Lake City another shows a cop shoving an old man with a cane down onto the street when he didn't walk away quickly enough. In Seattle a nine, or ten year old girl was maced for no apparent reason at all.

Yes, there is some ugly shit going on and much of it has nothing to do with the death of George Floyd.

A few hours ago Donald Trump declared ANTIFA (short for anti fascist) a terrorist organization. It feels like just another blustery appeal to his base since ANTIFA doesn't have a headquarters per se, or any sort of real chain of command. He didn't mention the Proud Boys, or anyone else probably because he is counting on their votes in November.

Given the current circumstances I have no intention to ask myself, or anyone else if this year of our Lord, 2020 can get any worse. As the old adage says, don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer.

Indeed.



5-31-20