Black Lives Matter, A Radical and Dangerous Group.

I am frightened. Truly frightened. And you should be too. I am not frightened for me, necessarily, personally, but for where I fear America is heading. I will explain below.

Like most of you I have been watching and reading the media’s reporting of the demonstrations and the rioting. Additionally, I watched some of the coverage of Floyd’s funeral today. Not to diminish the grisly manner in which he was killed, but I thought the event was a bit excessive. It was as if a Head of State had died.

Like everyone else, I think the brutal murder of George Floyd was horrific, and I hope and expect that the criminal justice system will mete out the appropriate punishment to the four policemen for their crime. But, I have to say that, at this point, the rioting and demonstrations have gone far beyond honoring George Floyd. It has even gone beyond addressing police brutality and racism, real or perceived, in a calm, rational manner. If the protesters really want meaningful changes they need to tone down the violence and the rhetoric a little.

I will stipulate that people are within their constitutional rights to demonstrate peacefully, and many have done so. In this blog, however, I am referring to the rioters, who have been far from peaceful.

To wit:

1. Like most people, I was surprised at how quickly the rioting spread to dozens of other cities.

2. I was shocked and dismayed by the fact that the rioters have been allowed to destroy property and attack police and innocent law-abiding citizens. In many cases, the police just stood by and let it happen. In other cases, perpetrators were arrested, but, due to no-bail laws, they were released immediately and returned to the streets where they reprised their rioting.

3. Many police officers and innocent bystanders, some of whom were trying to protect their businesses, and many of whom were minorities or immigrants, have been assaulted, beaten, shot and/or murdered. These crimes have been underreported by the media, because they do not fit its narrative.

4. Now, the rioters, no doubt emboldened by their success, have radicalized their demands. No longer satisfied with railing against perceived police racism and violence toward minorities, they are advocating defunding the police. In some cases, defunding means cutting funds allocated to policing. That is bad enough, but in other cases they are demanding to eliminate the police entirely. As I explained in a previous blog this idea is simply insane. All citizens, white and black, rich and poor, young and old, healthy or infirmed, rely on the police to protect them, to maintain law and order. Law-abiding people living in poor neighborhoods, which consist, disproportionally, of minorities need (and want) them most of all.

5. I believe that, at times, African Americans have been singled out and treated disrespectfully by some police and that needs to be addressed and rectified. I also believe these instances have decreased in number as more minorities and women have joined the police. On the other hand, there is substantial data that indicates systemic police racism is a false narrative, created and perpetuated by radical groups and the media. Yes, there are some bad apples, but I don’t view it as systemic as some have claimed. Peter Kirsanow, an African American member of the US Commission on Civil Rights, supports this conclusion. In his opinion, the data shows that African Americans are “not disproportionally more likely to be shot [or] killed by cops.”

6. I know that data can be twisted every which-way, but the reality is very few unarmed minorities are killed by policemen. It’s just that when an incident does occur it is front-page news, because it “sells.” For instance, we all know about the murder of George Floyd, but how many of you know about the murder of David Dorn. Dorn, a retired police captain, was murdered a few days later by a vandal who was breaking into a pawn shop that he was guarding. He was shot and left to bleed to death on the sidewalk while callous bystanders recorded his last moments on their cell phones. That was just as tragic, but because he was shot by a black looter, not a policeman, it has been underreported.

7. A small, but aggressive, vicious and vociferous minority has been pushing the insane defunding idea. “Black Lives Matter” has emerged as the driving force. BLM has even suggested substituting a private police force (consisting of BLM members) to replace the police. Yikes!

8. Even though recent polls show that only 16% of the public is in favor of defunding police at the moment, BLM, with a big assist from the progressive media and some far left Dems, has succeeded in intimidating the rest of the populace into silence. I believe few mainstream lawmakers, Dems or GOP, are in favor of this but so far none has been willing to speak out.

9. Elected officials in various cities, such as NYC and LA, are now advocating reducing funds for their respective police forces to the point where their effectiveness will likely be degraded seriously. It has been suggested that unarmed social workers, rather than cops, should be sent to deal with domestic disputes. That is a terrible idea. Any cop will tell you that domestic disputes are the most dangerous and dreaded calls. Unarmed social workers are not remotely equipped to deal with them.

10. Minneapolis, however, “takes the cake.” Its city council claims to have “veto proof” support for eliminating its police force entirely. With what would it be replaced? Not clear. Apparently, the geniuses on the council haven’t thought it through yet. When a CNN reporter asked City Council President Lisa Bender, whom she would contact if someone were to break into her home her disdainful reply was that calling the police was a sign of “privilege.” Huh? I guess in her mind, living is also a sign of privilege. As the lyrics from the song, Bad Boys go, “what ya gonna do when they come for you?”

11. Mayor Jacob Frey attempted to have a rational discussion with one group of demonstrators regarding this issue. Big mistake. They drowned him out with hoots and boos and told him to “get the f**k out,” which he did.

CONCLUSION

So, why am I so frightened for America? Where do I fear this is headed? As I said, I believe that BLM is a small, aggressive, vicious group of agitators that has managed to intimidate the rest of the populace. The truth of the matter is I believe most people agree with Dr. Ben Carson that ALL lives matter – black, white, Hispanic, Asian, young, old, men, women, children, yours and mine. That’s an opinion that needs to be expressed more often, but most people are too cowed to say it, at least in public. I say it now. Every life is precious. All lives matter. We only get one apiece, and as my friend, Marvin, says, “this ain’t a ‘dress rehearsal.’ ”

In the current political and social climate no one is allowed to criticize BLM and its ideas. Those who do, are likely to be ridiculed, labeled a racist, fired from their jobs, and/or attacked verbally or physically. As a result, the majority, which, as we know from polls, opposes their ideas, is nonetheless remaining silent, hoping, no doubt that the group will simply go away.

Well, I’m not so sure that they will, and therein lies the crux of my blog. In my view, this group is extremely dangerous. It reminds me of similar small, aggressive, vicious minorities that started out as insignificant, were ignored by the majority and metastasized until they controlled the country. History gives us many examples, but I will cite just a few: (1) the Bolsheviks of Russia in the 1920s under Lenin, (2) the Chinese communists of post-WWII under Mao, (3) the Nazis in 1930s Germany under Hitler. and (4) the McCarthy movement of the 1950s in the US.

I hope I am wrong, but I feel strongly that the potential is there. The 2020 presidential election will be pivotal. Dems running for election will be caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place” between the hard left who want radical, over-the-top change and the more moderate mainstream Dems who comprise the majority of the Party.

Biden, who even in highly controlled public appearances has demonstrated the inability to put a few sentences together cogently and who changes policy positions depending on his audience, is still leading in most polls. There are various reasons for this, which I have discussed in previous blogs and will again prospectively. But, suffice to say, I fear he would be incapable of standing up to BLM. I am not even sure he would want to. In that case, there is a good chance that my fear will come to fruition.