Clearing out the clutter.
We’ve all been there, stray thoughts that tend to clutter up our mind. They must, sooner or later, be exorcised from our brain to make room to start gathering more stray thoughts. Well, “sooner or later” has arrived for me. Hopefully, some of these thoughts will be interesting to you.
Breonna Taylor: As we know, Breonna Taylor was, as far as many of us in America are concerned, was murdered in her sleep in her home on March 13, 2020. Yesterday the Kentucky Attorney General reported the decision of the Grand Jury reviewing the case. Of the three officers involved in shooting Breonna Taylor, only one was indicted. The indictment wasn’t for murdering her, it was for firing into the adjoining residence! The shooting of Ms Taylor was completely ignored. Once again, White America has justified murder by police officers.
As a result of this idiotic thinking by the Grand Jury, protests broke out in cities across America. Demands by peaceful protestors for justice for Breonna Taylor was thrown in the faces of Americans, as it should be every day. If Americans must be shown the shame they allow to be perpetrated, SO BE IT! America should not be allowed to continue the systemic racism that does exist, regardless of the opinions of Donald Trump and the Republicans in the country.
I fervently hope the protests never stop until America in remade into a nation where true equality and justice for all is the truth, not the convenient mirage Americans hide behind. I urge everyone to support Mutual Aid groups around the country helping those in need and protestors with supplies to sustain them during protests. These are volunteer groups of activists, not any government agency. They depend on the generosity of donors to their vital work.
Louisville Protest: Last night, as a reaction to the grand jury result, a protest went on in the city by protestors enraged by the decision. During the protest two Louisville PD officers were shot. A suspect was arrested by police and was “charged with wanton endangerment and assaulting a police officer,” according to an online BBC article. The alleged shooter was identified as Larynzo Johnson, a 26 year-old Black man.
We know damn well that Mr Johnson won’t be excused by an grand jury for his alleged actions. We know that when he is convicted he will suffer the full weight of the law at sentencing because he is a Black man. The racist White America will demand it. The system will use him as an example to others considering violent acts during protests. After all, they will say, the officers were just doing their job protecting the public. To me, they were doing their unstated jobs of suppressing lawful protest, using violence, and intimidating people they are also allegedly suppose to protect. The police must ensure the nation’s elite maintain the stranglehold over us.
This is how justice is meted out in America. Cops slide for their unlawful acts, while Black Americans suffer the heavy hand of the police, up to and including being murdered. Whether you want to accept it or not, systemic racism is a foundational base instituted by whites, for whites against all non-white people.
Donald Trump: How would any day be complete without thinking of Donald Trump? I’m being truthful and sarcastic at the same time. As usual Trump has continued his harangue on mail-in voting being rife with fraud (a lie). During his afternoon press conference he was asked if he would guarantee a peaceful transition of power after the election. As reported by CNN, Trump refused to guarantee the peaceful transition. Trump stated, “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.”
Folks, Donald Trump has decided and is prepared to create a constitutional crisis after the election. He’ll begin by fighting the results in court and when he loses he’ll get his Republican Supreme Court to rule he is the lawful winner of the election. The Supreme Court will deny the will of the people, destroying any faith the people have in the “democratic” election process.We already know the national election process for selecting a president isn’t democratic because of the Electoral College. His grip on America after that will be stronger and America will really suffer. He’ll tighten his fascist regime’s control over every aspect of American society. You have now been warned, again. At least some Republicans are pushing back against his lunacy. I want to be wrong about this, but I fear I’m not.
Yesterday, Dr Stephen Hahn, FDA Commissioner, stated that vaccine approvals will be based on the science, not politics. Donald Trump responded to this statement, at his afternoon press conference, “We’re looking at that. That has to be approved by the White House, we may or may not approve it. That sounds like a political move,” according to a CBS News station. FDA rules must be approved by the White House, so Trump could have them changed.
Many, many Americans will decline to take the vaccine, as will I. No one should be put at risk for political purposes. Trump doesn’t give a tinkers damn who gets ill or dies from the side effects of or failures of a vaccine. He’s incapable of empathy and sympathy, like all sociopaths. He only cares about himself.
This is a pure political move so he can get a vaccine approved before November 3rd. He wants to be able to claim all the credit for the vaccine. He wants to use this, like everything, in his campaign. Why that matters, I know not. The election, in Trump’s mind, is going to be false and he’ll try to hold power regardless. However, it will be America who suffers if science isn’t used to determine a vaccine authorization from the FDA. How many will become ill? How many will die? How many children, for which there haven’t been any trials of a vaccine on children, will suffer? How many more families will mourn?
Speaking of Trump some more, he showed up this morning at the Supreme Court to pay his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As he stood looking towards the cabinet, he was wearing a face mask. So was Melania Trump. So, why now? I know there have been a few, very few, occasions he’s worn a mask, but it is still out of character for him. I believe he and Melania wore masks because he is not able to arrange the area to be “safe” for him. He feared the coronavirus. We’ve all seen at his rallies how he doesn’t wear a mask, as almost all of the crowd doesn’t. But, he is positioned well away from anyone while speaking at his rallies. He feels confident since he had control over the environment. So, obviously, as he also said to Bob Woodward, the coronavirus is dangerous and deadly in his mind.
One more thing on Trump and masks. Trump has said that his rallies should be called protests. That way they can legally, he believes, ignore masks and social distancing requirements, just like the protestors do. However, look at footage of several, or more, of the protests that have been happening since the George Floyd murder. In the footage, the wearing of masks or face covers are the general rule protestors follow. While, they aren’t staying safely distanced, they have masks on. Why has no reporter asked Trump about this being different, on mask wearing, at his rallies? He’d make up some lie probably, so why bother asking him.
Whew, that’s enough on Trump for today.
The US Supreme Court: Love them or hate them, they are a branch of the US Government. For now we have no choice about it. Anyway, we all know of the push by Trump and Senate Republicans to fill the chair of Justice Ginsburg. They have the votes to turn the court into 6 – 3 majority for Republicans. Yes, the Democrats in the Senate can slow down how fast it happens, but it will happen.
This spells ill for the country. A 6 – 3 majority will be able to attack and reverse many of the rights the Court placed into the legal fabric of America, like Roe v Wade for example. This concept of Mitch McConnell ramming through a new, Republican, justice to the Court has angered Democrats. Democrats are now saying that they will pack the Court in 2021, should they hold the House and flip the Senate.
Lets say Democrats try this. There are some things they must insure to get this to happen. If Trump holds the presidency, a Democratic Congress will have to have the votes to override a sure veto from Trump. The Democrats must have 2/3rd’s of the votes in each chamber of Congress to override any veto. That means some of the Republicans in each chamber would have to vote to override a veto. They wouldn’t. If Joe Biden is elected, then the Congressional Democrats have to insure the legislation would be signed by Biden. If he vetoes, back to trying to override the veto.
If the Democrats do get to pack the Court, their “victory” would be fleeting. You have to believe the Republicans will do the same when they regain power. Hell, if they all keep it up, in time the whole Country will sit on the Supreme Court (lmao). While having five ideological conservatives on the Court will be ugly, a Court packing war would ultimately be worse. The Democrats need to drop this stupid idea, like yesterday.
OK, we need a laugh. Check out this photo:
That’s what our Chihuahua would be nutty enough to do. That poor Rhino is thinking while he runs, “What the hell is that little thing?” It just keeps making me laugh.
OK, my mind has been sufficiently uncluttered for now. We’ll do this again in the future.
Until next time
American Dystopia 