Benjamin Tomes's Blog: Recalcitrance: An Unapologetic Free Thinking Forum, page 16

Hanging in #FortPierce. Nobody said if you wear a Whitesnake...

Hanging in #FortPierce. Nobody said if you wear a Whitesnake shirt out, you accidentally find a hair metal cover band. May the Fort be with you. (at Pierced Cider)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGLySTeHV5aH72CWSNDDHjJQcZMF6d7X6DEa0A0/?igshid=3m1cpz1shjh4

Let’s play a game. It’s called What’s the Difference Between...

Let’s play a game. It’s called What’s the Difference Between Wisconsin and Maryland….on another note, reminiscing about that one time I got married at a biker bar. (at Archie’s Seabreeze)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGLGNbEH1HYMa6JD5KhGiCSJZUF_t_J_Q861AA0/?igshid=69pqztt0zlfj

The birfdays land differently after dropping them off in random...

The birfdays land differently after dropping them off in random wilderness locations in the Dakotas. No beatdown, no wet willies, no pranks, no cake…just a reminder that we’re all getting old, including the male offspring, who is 19 today. (at Cold Spring Park)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGAR2tOHBg979cTMe-jHtYtGWUhZt_EA0duxB80/?igshid=1qe00ezm7uedc

…is in a nostalgic time warp. Nine years ago, I picked up...

…is in a nostalgic time warp. Nine years ago, I picked up @odeosbourne at the airport and got him to Carroll’s campus, where I was coaching. after competing for me in high school. While Carroll unceremoniously eliminated us, it started an epic ride through the crazy, rapidly developing world of MMA…all the way to the big leagues of the UFC and working in education to boot. Might not have been the road we planned, but it worked out better than we could’ve hoped. That’s often how college goes, though.

Today, he and I are driving 800 miles to drop the male offspring off at school, to start his collegiate career and wrestling journey at Minot State University. It’s a surreal day, but having seen firsthand how unusually cruel 2020 has treated graduating seniors, my sadness is buoyed by knowing he’s got more to do that isn’t in a family bubble. I had a chance to be his teacher, and coach…and, although one of those was easier than the other, I was fortunate to have the chance to do both.

I don’t know how this will go for @zandertomes , but know the end result will be amazing. And, just to clarify, not just because he’s majoring in Weed. (at Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHYYNdns3w724Hczm52fqCacgp1xD0w9FYzao0/?igshid=1ntvp9asxup1u

Yeah, you’re gangsta af, but are you home alone on a Saturday,...

Yeah, you’re gangsta af, but are you home alone on a Saturday, watching an old ass tv that watches you back? #thuglife (at Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD8NN2oHanyK_ApD5Ubv2pZm42FhG2gTcSE1lM0/?igshid=12caaijpvujcs

We’ll have UFC fight news soon for a couple of our guys coming...

We’ll have UFC fight news soon for a couple of our guys coming up for July and August. I love this team. Fighting all sorts of good fights in #Milwaukee right now. @puravida_bjj_mma (at Pura Vida BJJ & MMA)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqkwwnHtlXgxHqP8ZCyDG_RdogVEAGkkObgh80/?igshid=15w0lwaugnwnt

More fun from today’s endless round. (at Pura Vida BJJ &...

More fun from today’s endless round. (at Pura Vida BJJ & MMA)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqjoHLnp3l-PV2hpZ61O9TTs7Fr_IukxeIKQk0/?igshid=1xzwe6v7uppt7

…annnnddd, we’re back! First full team #MMA prctive at...

…annnnddd, we’re back! First full team #MMA prctive at @puravida_bjj_mma since March. Team thought we were doing 5 minute rounds. Mighta turned the clock off and done an hour straight. Other than a few slightly dirty looks, everyone champed their way through it. Been in this sport over a decade now, the vibe on this team is the best I’ve ever been around, with a level of talent to match. (at Pura Vida BJJ & MMA)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqjWArHvH-non4Bub4gRhBFnEHld4rEHImGfU0/?igshid=37tkufwti4lu

I’ve seen and experienced a lot of things in life, but am fairly...

I’ve seen and experienced a lot of things in life, but am fairly sure I’ve never had a more surreal 48 hours. Yesterday, my son graduated from Carmen Northwest High School, where I teach. I will be forever grateful to have been able to present him his diploma in our drive through ceremony, which was amazing and much more personal than I thought it would be. Just a 24 hours earlier, I spent the day with @zandertomes and @odeosbourne, marching in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. While I’m proud of my son for how hard he worked, I’ll never forget how we spent the time before the biggest day of his life, and is what I’m happiest about. He spent two years attending the #urbanschool on #Milwaukee’s Northwest side, and his acceptance by students and overall experience couldn’t have been better. I also got to watch a group of young men I spent the past two years with get their diplomas too. I don’t have a clue what kind of world they’re heading into. The last few days have shown me this, though; a ton of people my age and older love to denigrate younger generations, but what I’ve seen, they’re all more than capable of repairing and improving a world that has been ridden hard and put away wet by several prior generations. The present is going to be hard, but there’s real hope for the future. I’ve seen it, and it’s impressive. (at Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJX1OmHoHBm_dNI5WPTZDvbTVXwpUy8Xp6TCc0/?igshid=mb6o16p91bez

This one landed differently. What I’m about to say is probably gonna land differently too. Don’t...

This one landed differently.

What I’m about to say is probably gonna land differently too. Don’t start this unless you have a bit. It’s on the long side, a Snickers Bar and a beer might serve you well if you attempt to get through this.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why this killing of an unarmed black man by law enforcement gripped the nation and the other ones it any worse than the litany of other incidents that went almost completely unnoticed by both White America and other police officers?. This one is terrible, no doubt. But so was the shooting of Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Dontre Hamilton, and Charles Kinsey, just to name a few. I’m glad it has been noticed by the public, but we’re now onto a new phase of life that should’ve happened 55, 155, 244 or 401 years ago, depending on what you think about US History.

There was no reset button pressed, though. You can pick any point in US History, drop a random pin on it, and it will land where no real, tangible changes were made to ensure America was equal for everyone.

The new reality is that there’s a captive audience that sees the problem, but has looked away for so long, some can’t seem to enter the conversation without causing folks to get upset with them. Much of the inflammatory comments on newspaper articles and social media, I see a lot of genuine confusion over why there’s anger over seemingly ‘innocent’ comments. Those new to the issue, there’s a level of frustration and fatigue that’s been built up for years that is hard to get past. In Wisconsin, it’s so rare that white and black people do things together, simply starting a conversation on race presents its own set of issues.

Sadly, that’s going to be the easy part. What’s been recognized by those who see the issue for the first time is a tiny, corner piece of a section which, if panned out and looked at from a wider lens, is a familiar entity. Because it’s us.

Like an addiction, someone hooked on a vice has no real chance of beating it until the problem is admitted, owned, shared and attacked. It’s time for all of White America to look in the mirror and concede that there is an issue, and the issue is us.

America, we have a race problem. White people are out of control.

It’s not funny, because it’s true.

If its hard to hear, there’s a great chance you’re not part of the problem; you are the problem. This is the part of the show a few of you tuck your racist tail between your legs and wander away from the discomfort. To that end, please unfriend me. Not just here, but in life. I want to make it clear; if you are a racist, it’s best that you stay away from me. This isn’t going to get better until racism goes back to being a non-negotiable again. I can’t know you, won’t know you, if you engage in things that are racist. That’s because of how I feel.

Because of how you feel, there’s a second level of this. The status quo is changing. The micro-aggressions and passive-aggressive commentary on public forums aren’t going to be dismissed the same way as before. The toxicity from it is going to stand out more than you know. When this four year drama is finally over in November, an awful lot is going to be different. They’re not going to be quick to explain it to you anymore. If you’re one of the pack of people that hump posts on race like horny dogs that can’t wait to smear it with little snippets of white wisdom, don’t. People are fed up with you.

I’m not cynical enough to believe all white people are problematic. To be clear, though, this country was plotted, formed and planned on a color-based system and the statistics tell us it still is. An awful lot of white people have recognized the issues, and been involved for the common good, for years. That said, there are some wise words from both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King about the most dangerous faction towards racial equality, and that comes from liberal minded white people.

For today’s world, I would amend it a touch; primarily to include white folks convinced of how racist they aren’t, but actually are and don’t realize it. Might they be liberal? Sure, and some of them most certainly are. Of recent note, Amy Cooper and her fear of the terrifying black birder; she was sporting a mask in public, and even using politically-correct terms while trying to get him in trouble for existing while black. I don’t know what way she slants, but if I were a betting man I’d say left.

Prior to the last four years, I quite honestly, didn’t care what direction you leaned. I do now. I’d love to separate from politics, and prior to 2016, I could. I’ve had conservative friends for years, and in a previous context, I found nothing wrong with that word. I do now. My standards haven’t shifted, but what composes conservatism has. I can’t sit here and pretend that we’re in some past era, where the difference between political parties was marginal; split upon how monies should be collected and allocated, foreign policy, and the validity of some domestic programs or policies.

To pretend that’s where things are now is disingenuous and colorblind.

Conservatism had been long been rooted in financials; and still is, but it was not synonymous with hate. It is now. You can spin it, justify it, deny it, or look past it all you want, but the reality is the movement climbed in bed with racists, supremacists, billionaires and fascists. The current GOP is a Frankensteinesque mix of different groups with oddly grouped agendas, strange relationships and little in common with one another outside of their skin color. It’s no accident that the only real thing they have in common is race.

When Republicans decided to look past the open homophobia, xenophobia, racism and questionable past of Trump, they altered this country in the wrong way. Predominantly white voters, voted for a white supremecist campaigning on extra white lies, to sit in the White House.

Four years later, here we are with the worst economy in 70 years, the first legit pandemic to ravage this country since 1917, cities burning, 100,000 Americans dead, 40 million unemployed and the racial strife in this country is so bad it’s hard to tell tell if white people jumping in on riots is solidarity or a setup. It’s safe to say, that the great experiment of 2016 has been a colossal failure. Trump didn’t drain the swamp. He jumped in it and made it dirtier. In Washington DC, that’s almost impossible to do. But yet, here we are.

Despite being over 3 years in to his term, prominent white people are taking to the airways and blaming Obama for every single Trump failure, including racial tension.

If this is you, do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up. Now.

I grew up wrestling and then got into fighting as an adult. If any athlete I knew issued blame like the excuse-making racist in the White House, they’d be written off instantly as a loser. Yet, I see people that would never tolerate that from anyone they know personally, celebrate it publicly as they retweet things written by a sitting US President that should embarrass everyone, if for no other reason that we put someone in charge that can’t even apply fucking grammar and punctuation to his messages of hate.

Just because the nonsensical speeches and single word syllables made sense to you, didn’t mean it was correct. If you read the Tweets, the rhetoric and don’t feel a bit insulted, I’m or ignore the bouncing ball in DC, you’re not smart enough to be involved in the conversation about it.

America’s become a laughing stock to the entire world. We put the most vile, crude, brain-dead simpleton in charge of this country. This isn’t a difference in political ideology. This is a difference in human decency. Most of you were so blinded by rage and hatred of Hillary Clinton that you lost sight of simple human decency. The signs were there. White America just didn’t care about them; just like they did with other killings of unarmed black men by law enforcement, dating back to eras most of you aren’t ready to hear yet. This didn’t start with Rodney King.

It’s not that they went unnoticed; folks saw it. Instead of trying to understand, they became a jaded peanut gallery. I think they’re aware they’re being shitty, but don’t realize what they’re actually saying aloud when they comment publicly on videos of police brutality or any other racially charged post.

I’m not sure what inspires some of you to post publicly things like, “well, let’s see the rest of the video” when someone without a weapon on them was killed by a cop.

I see whatcha did there. You probably felt so witty, too. You wrote your lil comment and felt all proud. Thing is, what you really wrote was “I revel in the murder of black people.”

I get that isn’t what you wrote, but it’s the exact message you send.

Another unarmed minority is killed by law enforcement. The story hits. You comment again, “Well, if they would have just complied…” Or, better yet, you witty ones that opted to show just how racist you weren’t by hashtagging #alllivesmatter in response to the BLM movement.

Again, you make your lil statement, feel all proud because you publicly supported the police. Good job. Corn Bread Trophy for you. Hacksaw Jim Duggan would be proud of you. So too would Kid Rock. And fucking Chachi. You can do that. You can say things like “law and order” and “war on crime”. You can say you #backtheblue. I still see you for what you are and what you are doing.

So too can anyone that has spent time in the black community, or is part of it. Every time you write it, what is read is that you revel in the murder of black people. It might not be what you meant, but it’s how it lands. John Ehrlichman and Lee Atwater already laid out your codespeak, and if you don’t know those names, you aren’t really looking much into the side you align with. You are just dropping to your knees and blindly supporting them.

When kids like Trayvon Martin are killed, those same people wrote that he should have just complied. Oh, not Zimmerman, who disregarded law enforcement and went after an innocent kid any way. The racism runs so deep, people thought Martin should’ve listened to the fat vigilante. He didn’t, nor should he have. Zimmerman started a fight, got his ass eviscerated by a teenager, so he shot him, claiming self-defense. I read, from people I knew, that justified it as if Zimmerman were a cop.

It’s funny, cause I can go back and read things people wrote, and it’s no coincidence they were sporting red trucker hats a few years later. You can call your red MAGA trucker hat whatever you want. I call it a Klan hood. You can say thug as many times as you want, I know what you mean. Whatever level of slick verbiage you think you wield, you don’t.

The level of hypocrisy from so many of the problem is sickening. When Martin was killed, I read comments justifying it from people that actually ran away from cops with me, side by side, in another lifetime. I, for one, am thankful that when I ran away from cops when they busted keg parties in the 1980’s and 90’s, I was never shot in the back. Call me crazy, but if a member of Door County’s finest shot your son for running from a kegger, Karen would lose her mind. She’d scratch her Back the Blue bumper sticker off the next fucking day.

Even for the folks that are involved and see the bigger picture need to do more, including me. We all owe it to ourselves, the country and the population of people America set up to fail from the start. If you don’t agree with that, it’s time you educate yourself on the reality of your existence.

If you’re my age, it’s quite likely the history you were taught was wrong. At best it ignored the worst of us. At its worst, we were fed a ton of propaganda. We just never knew it, and unless you’ve pushed yourself to think openly and do independent research, it made you highly vulnerable to the actual fake news that’s been pumped into our social media streams by foreign outlets.

I cringe as people struggle to decipher a difference between a bullshit, unproven bit of looney bin material in memes and politically charged gifs and repost them without a thought. To be clear, I don’t care if you’re a boomer, a hick, or just plain stupid. Most of the stuff that gets passed around would look suspect to anyone that looked at it critically. Between the failure to recognize bogus material and the chosen oblivion of obvious signs Trump was a mistake, white credibility is severely damaged in America right now, even if you weren’t part putting Trump’s idiotic ass in office.

Too many people didn’t say a word while a fucking presidential candidate advocated putting Muslims on a register. Instead, you cheered and voted for him, despite this being a clear constitutional violation. Who cares, right? It didn’t impact you , and even though you didn’t know any Muslims, you’re sure they are bad. Also, you weren’t smart enough to consider how quickly that would radicalize people and create the problem you proclaimed to fear.

He mocked disabled people. You voted for him anyway.

He mocked women. You voted for him anyway.

He denigrated the outgoing black president and questioned his birth certificate. You voted for him anyway.

He called Mexicans rapists and criminals. You voted for him anyway.

He called for a wall to keep “illegals” out, while he was employing “illegals”. You voted for him anyway.

He said Mexico would pay for the wall. They didn’t. You voted for him anyway.

He told the country he’d eliminate the health care for the majority of America’s minorities. You voted for him anyway.

He called cast members on the Apprentice the N Word. You voted for him anyway.

He called black and brown countries “shithole countries”. You voted for him anyway.

He made a known homophobe his vice presidential candidate. You voted for him anyway.

He called Collin Kaepernick a son of a bitch for protesting peacefully. You voted for him anyway, and like robots, hated Kapernick because your master told you to.

So yeah, if you voted for him despite that, the case to make that you are not racist is pretty hard to do. If you regret it, own it. Publicly. If you stand by the decision and think it’s been a great four years, well then, just call yourself a racist so at least we know to write you off from here on out.

He was sold as a change from the bad norms of Washington DC. Before elected, it was widely known that:

He had sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant. He paid her off to stay quiet. You voted for him anyway.

He invited unethical and likely illegal help from a foreign nemesis. You voted for him anyway.

He had ties to Jeffery Epstein. You knew. You voted for him anyway.

He was backed by the KKK and other hate groups. You didn’t denounce them and voted for him anyway.

He refused to disclose his physical and accepted his boasting of amazing health and voted for him anyway.

He bragged of sexual assault. On camera. You voted for him anyway.

He gave speeches that were legitimately nonsensical. You voted for him anyway.

He screamed America first but put you in MAGA hats made in China. You voted for him anyway.

He refused to release his tax returns. You voted for him anyway.

He mocked prisoners of war, from his party. You voted for him anyway.

He dodged the draft. Not only did you vote for him, you somehow branded him a military president.

People predicted a disaster, and boy did we get one. Every sign that this could go terribly wrong were there, and White America voted him in anyway. It’s been no better since then. It doesn’t make anyone look less racist to blame Obama for problems going down now.

When a white supremacist killed a white person protesting white supremacy, he called the white supremacists “very fine people”. You defended him and would’ve voted for him again.

Under his direction, Latino kids were placed in cages, separated from families, and sexually abused. You would’ve voted for him again.

His cabinet dropped like flies. Many called out illegal activity as they left. You’d have voted for him anyway.

His aides ended up in prison. You would have voted for him again anyway.

He sought out foreign help in an election, again. You’d have voted for him again anyway.

He was convicted of fraud through a cancer charity for kids. You’d have voted for him again.

He incited violence during a pandemic, calling for states to liberate themselves. You’d have voted for him again, anyway.

He’s referred to as a Foreign Agent by Russia. You’d have voted for him again anyway.

He eliminated the Pandemic Office and blueprint for how to handle one. You’d have voted for him again.

He called the virus that killed 100,000 Americans a hoax, and mangled the response. You might have voted for him anyway.

The man told America that they could inject fucking Lysol and play with some UV light to solve a virus. You…..were…..gonna….vote…for…

I can’t. I just can’t. Neither should you. This presidency is going to topple hard. When it does, whatever has been known about how shady the entire Trump family was will pale to what comes out from behind closed doors.

The Trumps are not alone.

Just a month ago, rallies were held by white people in even whiter communities surrounding the most segregated metro-area in the country, because, you know, hair cuts and money. So, sitting there, publicly demanding the entire state be reopened while black and latino people of Milwaukee were being disproportionately decimated just two miles away by the virus. It was no accident that the universal flag for racist losers and Nazi memorabilia were on prominent display. This disease preyed on communities already suffering from years of abuse and neglect, with armed white protesters screaming for the state to reopen. You can make the case that it was celebration of minority death. I mean, why bring universally racist icons if it isn’t?

For the life of me, I cannot recall a single supporter, present or otherwise, condemn it. Did anyone call out the people that brought the symbols of hate there? No. They looked away from it and accepted it. Not a soul said anything about it. To clarify, If you sport either one, you’re a fucking racist. Let’s finally drop the Southern Heritage thing. For fuck’s sake, Wisconsin isn’t even down south. If your heritage is rooted in treason, ownership of people, and preserving an inequitable society, you’re a racist. You can convince yourself of whatever you want to, but it can’t make you any less of a racist piece of shit. You’re either racist, dumb, or both. I am guessing both.

Racism needs to become a deal-breaker again. It won’t, until it is identified, put on blast, attacked and destroyed.

I’m done being patient with mouth breathers, and to beat it, there’s no room for it. There are way too many people with access to keyboards in small towns they never left, but are quick to declare themselves as experts on issues of race and diversity. If that’s you, stop it. If you haven’t been involved significantly in situations that provide context, you need to sit at the kids table on this one.

And, on that note, if you have spoken a negative word about the peaceful protests of Colin Kaepernick, and are silent now, shame on you. Trump’s rhetoric was bound to have explosive consequences. If you did that and are loud about the looting, you are a hypocrite of epic proportions. You also know nothing about violence, non-violence, or riots. You might not have tossed a brick but your fingerprints ended up on this mess anyway.

Racists are bullies by nature. If you’ve dealt with these folks, you might’ve concluded that there’s only a few stimuli that stands them down. Typically, a significantly bruised ego and violence do the trick. Violence is a hot topic of late.

Let’s be clear; MLK’s protests were hardly non-violent. The opposition to racial equality was so unbelievably strong, violence was automatically factored in before they even started. MLK knew he’d be beaten, sprayed with hoses, arrested, and demonized by the FBI and American public. White hate ran synonymous with violence. He knew his life was in danger. The hostility was so thick against equality that it wasn’t really peaceful as it was no -retaliatory. There was violence, and a lot of it. And, it was started by white people.

Looking at the videos from yesterday and the day before, it appears as if its is that way once again. If you are going to invoke the word of MLK, keep in mind, staying peaceful didn’t make things equal. The shit he was protesting for continued. In fact, every legal step in the history of this country to level the playing field for blacks and whites was met with immediate white resistance.

While we’re on the topic of MLK, he had a lot of worthwhile material that you won’t find on Pinterest memes used to passively show black people how you feel they should protest. For instance, he called rioting the voice of the unheard.

I think that last statement is telling, and a perfect way to close this out. I don’t know a thing about the Minnesota Governor, but read a quote of his that I whole-heartedly agree with, albeit on differing premises. He said, something to the effect of, “This has nothing to do with George Floyd anymore.”

To that I agree.

This is about a whole lot more. This is about the similar cases of brutality that were fumbled by justice. This is about a tone-deaf system that ignored the skyrocketing costs of things like college and rent, and growing disparity between the haves and have nots. This is about a refusal to make resources equitable. This is about unresolved residue from years of redlining. This is about disparities in education. This is about an America that, for the first time in history, won’t be a white majority.

And this is about the last four years, while people tolerated your intolerance and warped ideology. The rhetoric was wrong. If you can’t call the grifter in the White House a mistake as our country sits in the most epic pile of shit its ever been in, fuck you and the colorblind white horses ass you rode in on. Mistakes happen. Own it and move on.

I began working in urban education in 1995, when the nearly all-white college I went to, refused to place me in an urban setting, so I did it on my own. Since then, I’ve worked almost extensively in the black communities of Milwaukee and West Palm Beach, with a couple of short exceptions. 25 years, tens of thousands of hours and a lifetime of experiences…I have to tell you, though; the same bullshit doesn’t happen in reverse.

Again, not in Florida, not in Milwaukee. On this, I have context.

If you’re on a fence, don’t be. In 21 years I’ve spent much of it where I am the minority, I haven’t ever, not one single time, been made to feel bad for my race. I’ve not once been treated like I didn’t belong, didn’t fit in, or didn’t have a spot at the table.

When my son transferred to the urban school I teach at, he experienced the same. He’ll be one of two white kids in his graduating class, but was instantly treated with acceptance and inclusion. Why is that? You don’t have to be a historian to know if distrust and hesitation are going to exist, it should be coming from the other direction. It isn’t, though.

What I’ve almost never had, was a request to see what I do. The post humpers love to tell everyone what they think, but don’t really seek understanding. I make it pretty clear where I work and what I do. Nobody ever asks if they could shadow me, and see what I see.

And I wouldn’t mind it if people would.

My experience working with the black community has been profoundly positive and if you are sitting on a fence, the route to getting off of it requires getting involved in something.

There are answers to the issues we have, and they start with an overhaul of the US presidency and current state of affairs with American policing. As a fight trainer that’s been around a number of gyms, I can tell you that very few police officers put time into their skills in restraints. I am beyond positive that more time spent doing that would immediately reduce some of the issues.

It doesn’t solve the racism, but it does solve some of the things that are leading to needless death. It’s just one example that it is not an impossible issue to brainstorm on.

I have seen, for the first time, officers from other districts put out videos, passionately calling for you not to lump them in with the bad ones. It’s the first time I’ve seen this, and it is a massive step in the right direction. The next step is to get the good ones to validate they are the majority. Standing up to bad colleagues is a good starting point. I saw an example of that today, which is also a first. The window for good cops is open, but on a short timer. The good ones need to know the whole world is watching.

When your partner abuses someone, what will you do? In my profession, I’m a felon if I don’t report potential abuse I see. It made my profession better. Will you step in front and prevent a death?

Would you accept me defending teachers that got it on with your kid? If a colleague beat your kid, and I blamed the kid, would you think the same of me? I wouldn’t, and be honest, you’d be fighting mad. I’d be lumped in with it simply for my defense of it.

As bad as this is, I strangely feel like there’s finally hope for tangible change. I don’t like seeing the looting or violence, but we’ve had black folks in this country for exactly 401 years now, and there’s not been a single one that you could call a good one for African-Americans. Some have just been less painful than others.

I agree that riots can be the voice of the unheard, but they’re also not immune from manipulation. I also know they’re highly predictable, and based by similarly predictable public comments condemning the looting. It inadvertently provides proof there’d be incentive to nudge it along. I’d not confuse perceived tolerance with an acceptance of looting; rather, a wait for judgment until all video comes out. Sounds familiar, right? Other than the irony, there’s good reason to reserve judgment. I have questions. I’ve seen trays of bricks left out in streets on videos and have a ton of questions to be answered before I blindly take that bait.

It doesn’t even truly matter right now which side it came from. The only way things are going to finally level off in this country is with a complete blow out and with better leadership. That ain’t on the menu for November. Americans deserve better than the two candidates presented to us, and if the two on the ballot are the best we’ve got, we suck.

To be clear, I’ll have no issue with the Republican Party if and when they the hate is run out of it. There’s no place in any party for homophobes, racists, xenophobes or idol worshipers. If anyone is excited about an unopposed Democratic Party, you shouldn’t be. The party might not have the same hate in it, but its brass is not in-tune with people willing to vote for them. I don’t trust them to make the decisions without a solid differing voice.

Right now, the differing voice calls pandemics hoaxes, skipped holding their own primary, and treated election security bills like a kickball. Or it attempts to justify violating first amendment rights by taking over social media. Until there’s no overt hate or deceit in that voice, it’s a game of lesser evils. Sorry, but presence of hate sells out the one on the right.

For now, anyway. Time will tell what happens from here.

Coming out of a 2.5 month lockdown, with 40 million unemployed and 100,000 plus dead from a virus mishandled by a man that stared directly to an eclipse, that time is now.