Map of recent Russian advances in Ukraine - from the BBC, 17 March 2022, 2100 GMT. Click to enlarge.
The cruel juggernaut lumbers on, the slow strangulation of a nation continues - George Floyd's death repeated over and over and over, with blood and bombs.
Sky News reports - "The life is being drained from Mariupol":
Sky News reports: Kiev residents say "Putin's trying to kill us":
Sky News reports: Rescuers dig frantically through steel and rubble to save one life:
CBS News reports: An American was shot to death in Ukraine while standing in a bread line to get food for his partner and other hospital patients:
President Zelensky warns that if Russia is not stopped now, it will embolden other aggressors to attack their neighbors:
Because we are night owls here, out of sync with the rest of the world, and because we don't watch TV news, your Head Trucker often does not see the big stories until a day or two after the rest of you.
Overnight, I had a chance to get caught up on the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And I am furious. Not all the details of what happened are yet available, it seems, but the HORRIFIC video shot by a bystander clearly shows Blake walking away from several policemen following him with drawn guns.
By the time he reaches the door of his SUV, one officer is close enough to grab his shirt. As Blake continues to open the door and tries to get into the vehicle, the officer starts shooting him in the back - seven or more shots can be heard.
Why shoot a man in the back who apparently was not armed and not threatening the officers? Walking away from police who were yelling at him to stop was a totally stupid thing to do, granted. But from what I can see on the video, there is NO EXCUSE for what the cop did. He could have stopped him several other ways besides shooting him.
And it seems Blake's three young children were in the SUV at the time, watching all this. HORRIBLE.
Blake is in hospital fighting for his life. And rioters are tearing up the city of Kenosha.
Has no one told the police in Kenosha - and all through the rest of the USA - to fucking STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE?
Three months after George Floyd was slowly, agonizingly murdered on a pavement in Minneapolis, and this shit is STILL HAPPENING?
DOES NO ONE HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER THE COPS ANYMORE?
IS THIS AMERICA OR AMERIKKKA? IS THIS A POLICE STATE? Does anybody CARE??
Sorry to sound so extreme, guys, but there's no reason for this shit to still be happening. Every cop in the nation should have gotten the word by now. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE COPS ON THE STREET, AND WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING ABOUT IT???
I don't condone or excuse all the rioting and violence at all. But obviously, it's not going to stop as long as the cops keep MURDERING people at will, with no punishment and no control. Of course the country is going to fall apart if it doesn't STOP RIGHT FUCKING NOW.
And if the cops are a law unto themselves, then NOBODY IS SAFE. They can kill anybody they please, anytime, anywhere. You or me or Grandma or Uncle John. Anyone.
Black lives matter. Justice matters. Simple human decency matters. I don't know what else to say.
I know I don't want to hear pretty words of sympathy and sorrow from any goddamn politicians high or low, left or right. I want somebody to take real action, take control of the cops, and STOP THE MADNESS NOW! STOP KILLING BLACK PEOPLE!! JUST STOP STOP STOP IT!!!
God bless Jacob Blake and his family. God help us all.
P. S. , 8/26/20 -- I just saw an opinion piece by a journalist in Wisconsin saying, "I don't believe any police academy trains them to murder someone like that." Oh, but they do. That's the problem.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
While watching one of the memorial services for George Floyd last month, at which several people spoke from the pulpit, I was struck by the remarks of a grieving young woman, perhaps a teenager, who in the middle of saying her piece asked, contemptuously, "Make America Great Again - when has America ever been great?"
And while listening to newscasters and protesters and professional chatterati of all stripes during the past month, I have been distressed to hear pompous expressions and condescending judgments that seem to be based on the notion that nothing at all has changed in this country since 1965 - or indeed, since 1865. Which seems quite wrongheaded to me; remembering vividly the segregated society of my childhood and youth, I could write a long list of things that have changed markedly for the better just in my lifetime, for all kinds and conditions of people, despite whatever seems to have gone wrong at present.
That is not to say that our country, or any one of us, has reached perfection yet. We never will. We can only continue working and reaching toward a more perfect union, even though our reach exceed our grasp. Though we may always fall short of what we seek, the persistent striving for it is what counts.
How the nationwide disgust and outrage over the brutal murder of an innocent man got diverted into refighting the Civil War is a bit more than I can understand. That conflict was ended, settled, and done with two centuries ago; and our enduring union was bought dearly, cemented with the blood of brothers from all parts of the land, all part of our one big American family: Americans all, before and after the fight.
The enmities of that needless, senseless war were laid to rest long ago along with the bones of those who sacrificed themselves, as brave men in every age have done, in defense of their homes and families, and for what seemed to them the greater good in that day and time. Mistaken or not, may they all rest in peace. There is no North or South, no East or West, in the grave.
It is certain that those on both sides who survived the bloodshed were anxious to move forward as one people and bind up the nation's wounds, not tear them open again. How much more so should we humbly desire to heal and reconcile with one another, we who live in this vastly different modern age, knowing and understanding so much more than they about all aspects of life on this fragile planet?
It seems to me that today's perils, conflicts, and injustices are what deserve our earnest attention and steady focus now. The past belongs to the dead, who are beyond all praise or reproach; it is the present that belongs to us, the living - along with the sacred duty to carry on the good work that was begun, not ended, in 1776. Lazily to castigate the past, which cannot be changed, instead of working hard to repair the present, which can always be improved, is a useless waste of time and spirit.
So today as we celebrate the nation's 244th birthday, I offer these musical selections as a reminder of the permanent possibility of progress - now quick, now slow, but always upward - that has made the United States an inspiration to all the world from its beginnings, and will continue to do so, if only we remain one united people devoted to liberty, equality, and justice for all - in the enduring bond of brotherly love and mutual respect.
That is much easier to say than to do, of course. But we must try anyway, and not be foolishly diverted from the essential issues that now confront us. Though the forces of intolerance and disunity abroad in the land are bent on tearing us apart, I believe it is not yet too late for the better angels of our nature to prevail, and lead the American experiment onward to ever-greater heights.
Red and yellow, black and white, male and female, straight and gay, we are all Americans; we are heirs of the past but not bound to repeat it. Let us fix what is broken and mend what is torn: good neighbors and fellow workers in all the good we can do for our country. Let us be friends; we must not be enemies.
Early or late, progress happens. The story of how the following performance came about is too well known to repeat here. The great American contralto Marian Anderson sings "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939:
The late actor and author Ossie Davis attended the concert as a college student, and here recounts what it meant to him:
In September 1942, Miss Anderson christened the Liberty ship Booker T. Washington in a shipyard in Los Angeles, and sang "The Star Spangled Banner" (the second half of the clip is silent):
Bonus: Miss Anderson sings Schubert's "Ave Maria" in the original German - one of the loveliest renditions I know of this sacred melody:
As a movement grows in American cities and suburbs to overhaul police departments and confront their long records of racially unjust, violent enforcement, Camden [New Jersey] is one rare—and complicated—success story, a city that really did manage to overhaul its police force and change how it operated. And it took a move as radical and controversial as what some activists are calling for today: Camden really did abolish its police department.
And then the city set about rebuilding the police force with an entirely new one under county control, using the opportunity to increase the number of cops on the streets and push through a number of now-heralded progressive police reforms. And with time, the changes started to stick in a department that just years earlier seemed unfixable.
Over the past two weeks, Camden has become an example of reform that works—cited in articles, tweets and on network shows as an example of what can go right. And it’s true that the reforms produced real change in the statistics: The excessive use of force rates plummeted. The homicide rate decreased. And new incentives laid the groundwork for a completely new understanding of what it meant to be a good cop.
“You had to change the underlying principles of the way police officers were being trained and taught, and the culture in the department,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who supported the changes in Camden. “The most effective way to do that was to start over.”
Then and Now: CNN asked black activists who were on the front line of civil rights protests in the 1960s to comment on the current demonstrations. Excerpt:
It's not that things have gotten so much worse (now). It's just it is so much more obvious and apparent to everybody.--Charles Black, a leader of the 1960s Atlanta Student Movement
You've never seen as many white people marching (as now) -- never in history. We've been carrying this burden by ourselves, and you feel, they say, (like you are) carrying the cross. You feel like the cross is a little lighter today because you see other people carrying the cross with you.--Miller Green, one of the Freedom Riders
What's different is the variety of people at those marches, and that is sweet sunshine from heaven to me ... This is a wake-up call, and more people woke up this time than before.--Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine
Dancing in the Street: Last week in Atlanta, National Guard troops and protesters danced together - something that never happened in the 1960s:
Also last week, Politico interviewed ten National Guard troops about their presence in Washington, D. C., in the now-notorious Lafayette Square photo op:
Many Guardsmen said they felt uncomfortable with the way they were used to handle the unrest because demonstrators lumped them in with the police. They felt that while they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, their presence at times intimidated Americans from expressing their opinions and even escalated the tension.
And in the case of Guardsmen involved in the Lafayette incident, some felt used.
“As a military officer, what I saw was more or less really f---ed up,” said one D.C. Guardsman who was deployed to Lafayette Square last Monday and who, like some others, spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely. The official line from the White House that the protesters had turned violent, he said, is false.
“The crowd was loud but peaceful, and at no point did I feel in danger, and I was standing right there in the front of the line,” he said. “A lot of us are still struggling to process this, but in a lot of ways, I believe I saw civil rights being violated in order for a photo op."
What I Say: It has done my heart good to see the innate respect for civil liberties and American ideals shown by many police and military all across the nation, from the front lines right on up to the highest command levels. Despite the killings and beatings and horribly bad decisions some have made, it does seem to me, surveying the scene from my seat high up in the digital bleachers, that the majority of police and military people are - like most civilians - aghast at George Floyd's brutal murder as well as committed to safeguarding every American's inherent right peaceably to assemble and to seek redress of grievances.
Last week, a two-block-long parade of demonstrators marched right by the house here, and the police were marching with them, escorting them through town with police cars fore and aft: protesters and police all moving together with a common goal of peaceful assembly at the town square - which is as it should be. Unfortunately, your Head Trucker was asleep at the time; had I been awake, I would have gone out and waved my American and rainbow flags in support.
If you were to survey the list of recent protests all across the nation, especially in the South, as I have done over on Wikipedia, and if you were to take the trouble to look at the source citations, as I have done, and watch the local news videos from all sorts of small towns and small cities, as I have done, you would notice crowds of blacks and whites mingling freely with united purpose. This would not, could not have happened in my childhood in the segregated South.
This is not to deny the existence of racist attitudes in all parts of this country, as the nightly news keeps reminding us. To be sure, hateful bigots still infest the backwoods and back alleys of the South and North - some of them are highly placed, and some are even pillars of the church - but there are many good and decent folks in those small towns too. And in almost every demonstration I looked at in those small Southern towns, the police, the sheriff's deputies, and often the mayor were out in force - not against the protesters, but in solidarity with them, guaranteeing their right to safely protest.
In other words, they and we are all one American people, in or out of uniform, regardless of race, creed, sex, or color: a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And that gives me hope that we will all get through this time of outrage and sorrow together, make right what is wrong, and build a more perfect union - the unending task and high duty of every generation in these United States.
I have found a couple of horrifying videos that confirm what I have suspected for some years now: the police have been systematically trained to kill as an automatic response, without hesitation and without remorse: human killing machines. And they have been loaded up with tons of military gear just like soldiers going into battle. No wonder all these simple traffic stops and sidewalk arrests result in cold-blooded murder of civilians. No wonder.
And has there ever been one single city, county, or state official or administrator, not a law enforcement officer, who reviewed these brainwashing practices and said, "Oh no, this is so wrong, we can't have this"--? And if not, WHY NOT?
A policeman is not an executioner. This is so simple and so obvious, it shouldn't even need to be said. And further I will say, without consulting any lawbooks, that from the moment an arrest is made, the police have a bounden duty to protect that suspect and deliver him safely - and alive - into the hands of the justice system. No other interpretation of their duty is possible - unless the "rule of law" is merely an empty phrase.
The videos that follow go to the heart of what is catastrophically wrong with the police forces in this country. I'm sure there are still plenty of good cops doing the necessary work they were hired to do - and it is imperative that they be recognized and rewarded and encouraged in a dangerous, difficult, but honorable profession. The bad ones must be expelled or reprogrammed, starting right now.
It's late at night as I post this, so I will skip further commentary and just put these videos out here for everyone to see - and I hope every citizen of the United States does.
The Police Trainer Who Teaches Cops to Kill (2017), from the New Yorker:
Trailer for Do Not Resist (2016), independent film by Craig Atkinson:
It all makes sense now - and what a ghastly picture it is - the utter perversion of the duty to "protect and serve."
How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody (June 1, 2020), from the New York Times, brings together films of the murder from several vantage points:
Thank God for Darnella Frazier and her courage - MSNBC report (May 30, 2020) on the teenager who stood her ground and filmed the murder for all the world to see:
After his funeral in Houston today, George Floyd was carried
to his final resting place in a horse-drawn hearse.
- - - o o o O O O o o o - - -
As I said in Sunday's post, I can't keep up with all the news that's going on right now, but I will continue to post from time to time, under the above heading, my thoughts about where we are as a nation and where I think we ought to go, and how.
And let me say, for the benefit of any new readers, something that I suppose has been apparent to my longtime truckbuddies: I represent a party of one, and this blog is my personal forum in which I express my own independent thoughts, not all of them necessarily in tune with the zeitgeist of the modern world. My party's platform includes the Golden Rule, the Golden Mean, and the Baptismal Covenant, as well as a plank in favor of the Oxford comma, and another one denouncing the use of gift as a verb.
Being fairly well versed in the English language, I say what I mean and I mean what I say: it's my privilege as a free, though flawed, man in a free, though flawed, country. I don't want to argue with anyone. If you don't agree with me, just move on and find someone else you do agree with: that's your privilege. There are millions of other voices in the world, and mine, small and obscure, has no influence over the course of events, one way or the other. Which may be all for the best; at least it passes the time for me here in retirement.
- - - o o o O O O o o o - - -
"Defund the Police" Needs a Rebrand: It certainly does, for all sorts of obvious reasons. As Kevin Drum says:
We can write thousands of pieces telling people that “defund” doesn’t really mean defund, but honestly, you can hardly blame people for nevertheless thinking that defund means defund. That is, cut police budgets to zero and get rid of them entirely.
There’s not a Democratic politician alive who thinks we should do this, and keeping the phrase in use is just an invitation for unnecessary conflict between politicos and their base. Maybe it’s too late, but can’t we come up with something better? Rebuild the Police? Reform the Police? Demilitarize the Police? There’s got to be something.
Notice how Senator Kamala Harris, a former state prosecutor, struggles to explain what the phrase really means - "not that we get rid of the police, of course not" - which is baffling to any intelligent listener who believes that words have meaning:
Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis was booed out of a protest march on Saturday after he refused to accede to the demand to "defund the police." He was quite right to decline, in my opinion. Here he explains his stand:
Now I certainly agree with Sen. Harris that increased funding for public schools, healthcare, job creation and training is necessary to make better communities: you get what you pay for. Although I do have to wonder why, more than fifty years after LBJ called for the building of a "Great Society" in America - and the countless billions of dollars that have been spent on those very issues - why is our society not great? Why are black communities still impoverished, with all the unhappy outcomes that go with poverty? Why have fifty years of massive federal aid to cities and minorities had no better effect on its intended beneficiaries than what we see today in this country - the richest and most powerful in the world?
Please understand that I do not know the answers - I am simply asking the questions. Questions that are long overdue a proper answer free of bias, one way or the other.
Some uninformed people in this great country think that it was established as an exclusively Christian nation and intended to be such forever. The facts are otherwise, but even if that were true, they should not boast about it, but weep. Jesus did say, "The poor are always with you." But this hardly justifies complacency about the fact; I think it likely that He was quoting, in part, Deuteronomy 15:11, where God commands the Israelites:
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
And of course, Jesus himself told the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, enjoining those who love God to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, care for the sick, and comfort the prisoners; in other words, to do whatever was needed to alleviate poverty and misery. In the Sermon on the Mount, He blessed the poor, saying the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to them.
Now, you need not believe in God or Christ or the Bible to grasp the exalted moral imperative here, which is expressed in different words in all other religions worthy of the name: love your neighbor as yourself. Believer or non-believer, conservative or liberal, rich or just getting by - if we are not barbarians, we must as individuals and as as a nation do what needs to be done to help and heal and lift up the poor among us - poor in body, mind, or spirit - and that is what will truly Make America Great Again.
What it's all about: liberty and justice for all. From Wikimedia Commons.
Well, fellas, during this momentous week just ended, I've posted a number of reports and videos that I thought were especially significant, out of a sea of memorable words and deeds that keep on flowing past our eyes and ears. But I am an old man, whose physical powers are not what they used to be - and to my dismay I find that a similar decline seems to be occurring with my mental powers, which were always keener than the former. I simply don't have the stamina to keep pace with all the frenzy of events now happening, though I hope perhaps what I have already posted has reached someone, somewhere, who might not otherwise have seen it, and opened an eye or sparked a new thought. Knowledge is power.
Never before in all my life have I seen such a united and nationwide outpouring of public protest, not even in the turbulent 1960s. The horrific murder of George Floyd has galvanized the whole nation, if not the whole world, awakening the consciences of millions to the urgent need for reform, and return to fundamental American values. Though tempted to despair, somehow I feel sure that out of this dark night in the nation's history, a righteous dawn will come, and soon, if we seek it together - all ages, races, and sexes. A way must be found to knit this country back together again as one united people - how to do it, I don't know, but it must be done. Or else.
Today is Sunday, ostensibly a day of rest and reflection - though how often in our busy modern world do we work or play even harder on Sunday than on the other days of the week? - and instead of once again spending hours combing and sifting through the news, the best thing I can think of to honor the Sabbath Day is to present for your contemplation the sublime words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948 as the sum of human aspirations for a world of liberty, justice, brotherhood, and peace. Now is exactly the right time to remind ourselves of what the life of this nation, and of all mankind, can be, and should be.
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
People across the U.S. and other parts of the world are gathering in major demonstrations on Saturday against racism and police violence, marking the 12th consecutive night of protests since the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last month.
In Washington D.C., thousands of people are expected to stage what could be the city’s biggest demonstration yet, and the police department there said it will close many streets until midnight. Massive demonstrations have also broken out across the world from Europe to Australia, with tens of thousands of protesters calling for an end to racism and police brutality in their own countries.
More than 43,300 National Guard members are on duty on Saturday in 34 states and D.C to respond to protests, many of which have been peaceful. In some cases, peaceful protests have been followed with looting and violence at night.
All living former Presidents Condemn George Floyd's Murder, Call for Justice, Reflection, and Reform:
What I Say:Of course any halfway intelligent person who speaks English recognizes instantly that the phrase "Black Lives Matter" does not at all imply that only black lives matter. There is no "only" at the front of that phrase; but there is an implied "too" at the end. Even a first grader would understand that without being told. Anyone who thinks differently is being willfully obtuse and dishonest: a racist bigot. And that's all that needs to be said about it.
Former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi Warns: "I'm calling the next five months in the history of our country the coming chaos."
Watch: Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin, keeping it real in a powerful statement at the memorial service for George Floyd held today in Raeford, North Carolina, near Fayetteville, where he was born:
We, as law enforcement authorities, don't have the authority to bully and push people around and kill them because we have on a badge and a gun. . . . Enough. Don't let the life of George Floyd be in vain. It has become a sacrifice.
One more thing: I missed this outrageous news story when it happened last year, but I'm utterly appalled that this rich white bitch down in Houston was NOT charged - of course - for assaulting a biracial couple taking birthday pics of their 1-year-old. It doesn't rise to the level of murder, but her arrogant attitude sure does need to change. It's despicable.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: "Who are we? Where are we? How did we get to this place?
Cuomo lays out a plan for police reform, and the necessity of avoiding false dilemmas.
This is the clearest, most intelligent response to the current crisis I've heard yet. Damn, why is Cuomo not President?
I should also tell you that when I first saw the video of 75-year-old Martin Gugino being violently knocked down by bully-boy police, I thought, "That could be me." I'm not all that much younger than he, and subject to stumble and fall on my own without any help from others. Though I must also say that your Head Trucker would not have the temerity to step in front of a marching phalanx of armed men as he did.
This, of course, is just one of many stories of egregious,sickening police savagery occurring, with most grievous irony, during this week of nationwide protests against police brutality. Unfortunately, I can't find videos of all of them in a format I can post here. But likely you have seen some on TV or the internet already. Police reform must be the first step of reformation and healing in this country. I can tell you, even from my very mild, infrequent brushes as an old white man with traffic cops in the last two decades, police in Texas have gotten very heavy handed and mighty damn arrogant. Who taught them to behave like that? I shudder to think what they have been like with blacks and other minorities, here and across the nation. No more!
The experts maintain that their messages are consistent—that they were always flexible on Americans going outside, that they want protesters to take precautions and that they're prioritizing public health by demanding an urgent fix to systemic racism.
But their messages are also confounding to many who spent the spring strictly isolated on the advice of health officials, only to hear that the need might not be so absolute after all. It’s particularly nettlesome to conservative skeptics of the all-or-nothing approach to lockdown, who point out that many of those same public health experts—a group that tends to skew liberal—widely criticized activists who held largely outdoor protests against lockdowns in April and May, accusing demonstrators of posing a public health danger. Conservatives, who felt their own concerns about long-term economic damage or even mental health costs of lockdown were brushed aside just days or weeks ago, are increasingly asking whether these public health experts are letting their politics sway their health care recommendations.
The WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan stressed that putting on a fabric mask is primarily about preventing the wearer from possibly infecting others, rather than self-protection.
Lester Holt of NBC News summarizes the day's events:
The Reverend Al Sharpton: "Get Your Knee off Our Necks" Excerpt from the memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis today; the full sermon here is something all Americans should watch.
Houston Police Chief to Trump: "If you don't have something constructive to say, please keep your mouth shut." Followed by a great exposition of what American policing should be.
Pope Francis speaks out: "We cannot turn a blind eye to racism"
Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr George Floyd. My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life. At the same time, we have to recognize that “the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost.” Today I join the Church in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and in the entire United States, in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism. Let us pray for the consolation of their grieving families and friends and let us implore the national reconciliation and peace for which we yearn. May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America, intercede for all those who work for peace and justice in your land and throughout the world. May God bless all of you and your families.
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks out: "We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this”:
Rosalynn and I are pained by the tragic racial injustices and consequent backlash across our nation in recent weeks. Our hearts are with the victims’ families and all who feel hopeless in the face of pervasive racial discrimination and outright cruelty. We all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination. But violence, whether spontaneous or consciously incited, is not a solution.
As a white male of the South, I know all too well the impact of segregation and injustice to African Americans. As a politician, I felt a responsibility to bring equity to my state and our country. In my 1971 inaugural address as Georgia’s governor, I said: “The time for racial discrimination is over.” With great sorrow and disappointment, I repeat those words today, nearly five decades later. Dehumanizing people debases us all; humanity is beautifully and almost infinitely diverse. The bonds of our common humanity must overcome the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.
Since leaving the White House in 1981, Rosalynn and I have strived to advance human rights in countries around the world. In this quest, we have seen that silence can be as deadly as violence. People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say “no more” to a racially discriminatory police and justice system, immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks, and government actions that undermine our unified democracy. We are responsible for creating a world of peace and equality for ourselves and future generations.
We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this.
Former Defense Secretary James Mattis Denounces Trump as a Threat to the Constitution: "He tries to divide us. . . . We can unite without him."
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.
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.
James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 [Note: Actually, it's Federalist 41, third paragraph--Russ.] that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.
Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.
We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.
Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.
For my overseas truckbuddies who may not catch all the allusions to our Constitution and history in Mattis's unprecedented censure, CNN provides an annotated version here.
"Trump Must Be Removed": George Will, the dean of conservative pundits, a fine writer and a brilliant one, has written a masterfully scathing denunciation of Trump and his "invertebrate" enablers in Congress, published in the Washington Post yesterday. Excerpt:
This unraveling presidency began with the Crybaby-in-Chief banging his spoon on his highchair tray to protest a photograph — a photograph — showing that his inauguration crowd the day before had been smaller than the one four years previous. Since then, this weak person’s idea of a strong person, this chest-pounding advertisement of his own gnawing insecurities, this low-rent Lear raging on his Twitter-heath has proven that the phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron.
Presidents . . . can set the tone of American society, which is regrettably soft wax on which presidents leave their marks. The president’s provocations — his coarsening of public discourse that lowers the threshold for acting out by people as mentally crippled as he — do not excuse the violent few. They must be punished. He must be removed.
Social causation is difficult to demonstrate, particularly between one person’s words and other persons’ deeds. However: The person voters hired in 2016 to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” stood on July 28, 2017, in front of uniformed police and urged them “please don’t be too nice” when handling suspected offenders. His hope was fulfilled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Minneapolis pavement. . . .
Those who think our unhinged president’s recent mania about a murder two decades ago that never happened represents his moral nadir have missed the lesson of his life: There is no such thing as rock bottom. So, assume that the worst is yet to come.
In stark contrast to the fake president in the White House, former President George W. Bush has published a beautiful, inspiring appeal to the nation on his official website. Excerpt:
Laura and I are anguished by the brutal suffocation of George Floyd and disturbed by the injustice and fear that suffocate our country. Yet we have resisted the urge to speak out, because this is not the time for us to lecture. It is time for us to listen. It is time for America to examine our tragic failures – and as we do, we will also see some of our redeeming strengths. . . .
America’s greatest challenge has long been to unite people of very different backgrounds into a single nation of justice and opportunity. The doctrine and habits of racial superiority, which once nearly split our country, still threaten our Union. The answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals — to the fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights. We have often underestimated how radical that quest really is, and how our cherished principles challenge systems of intended or assumed injustice. . . . We can only see the reality of America's need by seeing it through the eyes of the threatened, oppressed, and disenfranchised.
That is exactly where we now stand. Many doubt the justice of our country, and with good reason. Black people see the repeated violation of their rights without an urgent and adequate response from American institutions. We know that lasting justice will only come by peaceful means. Looting is not liberation, and destruction is not progress. But we also know that lasting peace in our communities requires truly equal justice. The rule of law ultimately depends on the fairness and legitimacy of the legal system. And achieving justice for all is the duty of all.
This will require a consistent, courageous, and creative effort. We serve our neighbors best when we try to understand their experience. We love our neighbors as ourselves when we treat them as equals, in both protection and compassion. There is a better way — the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and a peace rooted in justice. I am confident that together, Americans will choose the better way.
This is exactly how a real President should speak, and what he should say. I don't know how you fellas feel, but Mr. Bush has just redeemed himself in my eyes.
The president held up the Bible at St. John's Church yesterday. I just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it. If he opened it, he could have learned something: that we are all called to love one another as we love ourselves. It's really hard work, but it's the work of America.
Wikipedia map of weekend protests with more than 100 participants.
Minneapolis is marked with a red circle.
You can see the interactive map and more at List of George Floyd protests.
I use that title for this post because something has got to change in America - now, for real, for ever: a revolution of hearts and minds.
While there may be many problems and many issues to consider, the police in this country MUST be reformed immediately. Far too many times in the last ten years or so - since the advent of ubiquitous phone cameras - we have seen white policemen killing unarmed, unthreatening black civilians. And the brutal, deliberate murder of George Floyd, which has sickened every decent American and horrified the entire world - is the last straw. It MUST be the last straw - or I'm afraid the country will simply fall apart, or rather, be torn apart in a terrible way. We can't let the haters win.
You know, when I was a little boy, my mother - a teacher who had worked with what we would now call "school resource officers" where she taught in a large urban school - used to tell me, "Don't be afraid of the police. The policeman is your friend." Who tells their children that today? And whom can you trust, if you can't trust the police? Of course there are still many good cops - but the bad ones are out of control, it seems to me. That's got to change NOW.
I certainly don't want to live in a country where any sadistic brute with a badge on his shirt can wantonly and openly kill someone, and get away with it scot-free - while his cohorts just stand around watching a man die in prolonged agony, and don't lift a finger to stop it, a scene out of a Nazi concentration camp.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT. NONE. It might be the black dude down the street today - but tomorrow, it just might be YOU. And apart from any personal considerations it is simply and unarguably wrong - EVIL - by any moral code, no ifs, ands, or buts about it: Thou shalt not kill. Not even the extensive police power of the state extends to cold-blooded murder for no good reason.
The moral imperative to respect the dignity of human life transcends all questions of race or politics. I believe in one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for ALL. If it's not for ALL, it's not America, and anyone who doesn't stand up for equal justice for ALL is not an American.
That's my considered opinion. And this is me, old, decrepit, and virtually housebound, doing what I can to help. You look at these videos and see what you think you can or should do about it.
CNN's Van Jones tells it like it is, plain and clear:
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter decries the "incredible insult to humanity" of George Floyd's murder:
On Saturday, Sheriff Chris Swanson in Flint, Michigan, just might have started something big when he laid down his baton and joined the protesters:
Sixty-five years have passed, and I still remember the face of young Emmett Till. It was 1955. I was 15 years old — just a year older than him. What happened that summer in Money, Mississippi, and the months that followed — the recanted accusation, the sham trial, the dreaded verdict — shocked the country to its core. And it helped spur a series of non-violent events by everyday people who demanded better from our country.
Despite real progress, I can't help but think of young Emmett today as I watch video after video after video of unarmed Black Americans being killed, and falsely accused. My heart breaks for these men and women, their families, and the country that let them down — again. My fellow Americans, this is a special moment in our history. Just as people of all faiths and no faiths, and all backgrounds, creeds, and colors banded together decades ago to fight for equality and justice in a peaceful, orderly, non-violent fashion, we must do so again.
To the rioters here in Atlanta and across the country: I see you, and I hear you. I know your pain, your rage, your sense of despair and hopelessness. Justice has, indeed, been denied for far too long. Rioting, looting, and burning is not the way. Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand-up. Vote. Be constructive, not destructive. History has proven time and again that non-violent, peaceful protest is the way to achieve the justice and equality that we all deserve.
Our work won't be easy — nothing worth having ever is — but I strongly believe, as Dr. King once said, that while the arc of the moral universe is long, it bends toward justice.
N.B.--As a young man, Rep. Lewis put his life on the line many times in the cause of non-violent protest. He endured beatings by enraged mobs and rioters as one of the original Freedom Riders in 1961, and four years later, on what came to be called "Bloody Sunday," he received a skull fracture when truncheon-wielding police charged the peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, harmony; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
and welcome to the Blue Truck, a blog for mature gay men with news and views on gay rights, history, art, humor, and whatever comes to mind. Plus a few hot men. The truck's all washed and gassed up, so hop in buddy, let's go.
CAUTION: For mature gay men only beyond this point. Some posts and links may not be suitable for children or the unco guid. You have been warned.
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Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?
It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
Note, 9/15/26: For the past week, Blogger has not updated most of the posts in this sidebar. I don't know what to do about it. You can still access the websites below by clicking on the titles of each one.
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