George Floyd and the Ensuing Protests

[Shirley]

This is peak 2020:

[Geezer]

[Shirley]

I don’t have words for this one right now.

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The black soldier mouthing the words of the demonstrators chant reminds me of former Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis' statement, (the bolded part), from a couple of days ago:

IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.
From the July/August 2020 issue: History will judge the complicit

We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.

[...]

[Leawood]

Gutter, think of your Mom’s age. She isn’t going to get it. It’s impossible. So try not to get cross.

My mom, a George McGovern Democrat, hated Obama. She passed at the age of 90. Her last vote was for Romney.

Meanwhile, the protests on the Plaza are totally inconveniencing my life. I take public transportation (The Max) downtown from my building. Because of the protests, re-routes to Home deposit me near Go Chicken Go on Troost. I’m too old to walk 1.6 miles in 102 degree weather. Can’t “those people” demonstrate someplace else?

[ousdahl]

Influencers in the wild is one of the best things on the Internet. Lots of goofy protest moments lately.

This one is the most recent post, and not directly protest related, but still very 2020.

At the very least, I thought of leawood, and thought you’d enjoy.

[sdoyel]

Lies. Lies. Lies.

[chiknbut]

This is peak 2020:

Finally. The right way to protest. About fucking time!

[ousdahl]

[Deleted User 289]

Nothing what so ever going on in Grant Park today.
Decided to take a peaceful bike ride and it was probably the most pleasant day I have had in months.

Last 2 pics are by far my favorites. They were standing in the middle of Lake Shore Drive near Buckingham Fountain. Everyone passing by couldn't help but smile.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Lop/i-9k8RW7 ... 16-640.mp4

https://photos.smugmug.com/Lop/i-n6hPdj ... 30-640.mp4

[Deleted User 289]

Forgive my ignorance. I don't get it. I get "black face", I don't get his purpose/motive.

[Geezer]

Beautiful day.

[ousdahl]

In Wake Of Protests, Democrats To Unveil Police Reform Legislation

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/87162585 ... egislation

that should do a nice job of collecting dust on Mitch McConnell’s desk...

[twocoach]

Speaking of the police, what's up with all these calls to "defund the police"? Are these just nonsensical gibberish calls or do they have any actual merit? Sorry, but I don't think that our nation can behave itself well enough without a police force to enforce the law. Having some law enforcement officers also become law breakers doesn't mean you burn the whole f-ing thing down. I can certainly understand reallocating some money from them to other more community focused efforts but not a complete removal of a police force. Just curious if anyone had looked a little deeper into any of this yet.

[Deleted User 318]

Defund the police isn't abolishing the police, it's specializing public protection. A uniformed, armed officer doesn't need to do everything. Social workers for homeless issues/encounters, counselors instead of cops in schools, more progressive options instead of prison for non-violent crimes, etc.

I think the NYPD is a good example. They have a $6 billion budget. Kansas City, $10 million. If you normalize it for population, NYPD has 35x the budget. Yes, you have things like the U.N. and other big things going on in NYC, but the NYPD pay for military style equipment and more patrol officers it probably could be paying other folks to help with its needs more (homelessness, general dirtiness). Police dept get a lot of stuff pushed onto them (from Karen calling about black folks in Starbucks to mass shootings), so it's probably better to specialize in how to deescalate instead of having Ken come into a situation with a hand on his gun and demanding things from the git-go.

There's a ton of discussion on this topic right now. Just Google, "What does Defund the Police mean"

[twocoach]

When I have the time, I certainly will. I have only seen glimpses of it in various sites and sources and was curious. Right now my brain cycles are busy with work. COVID-19 has shifted a lot of work priorities for I.T. in our organization and it's compounded by our team lead retiring at the end of this month.

I appreciate the initial info; it sounds like the FoxNews crowd is trying to paint these efforts as something dramatically different than what you described. I will try to follow up with some research when I find a quiet hour when my brain is not racing (ha, good luck with that). At the very least, the efforts need to be renamed from "defunding". That doesnt appear to be accurate.

[ousdahl]

I take "defund the police" to generally mean something like, instead of putting more money into military-style weapons and training, allocate it to other social programs and public funds. Even more generally, there seems to be a call to reform "policing" as we know it in Merica, in favor of some "public safety" agency more explicitly to protect and serve.

but yea, I think it also kinda has a messaging problem.

[Deleted User 318]

There seems to be a lot of think pieces and whitepapers going on on how it would work best. If I see some, I'll send them your way in case you have time.

[Geezer]

Also housing and education funding. The dreaded socialism solution.

[Deleted User 289]

Don't know if you need a subscription to view this. Hopefully you do not.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investig ... rc404=true

[Geezer]

subscription

Was that the WAPO reconstruction of events video?