No Excuses

The healthcare system in this country is one big joke, where a $30 test gets billed for $20,000 and then insurance companies tell you, “WOW!!! We save you so much money!” The amount of predatory rent seeking happening here is just breathtaking.

I don’t think anyone is cheering the looting and burning. No one with a stake in the well being of their community wants to watch it burn and crash. The rioting and looting isn’t an indictment of the people who are protesting for their right to be treated fairly and without abuse. It’s a reflection of the sad stage of affairs where historically disadvantaged people can’t defend themselves and their communities because law enforcement doesn’t give a **** about them and neither do the types of losers who burn break and burn things.

You should explain this to the guy who organized the armed black protest, because he seems to think the narrative is correct: He knows he’s taking a risk but doing it anyways, so good for him.

——————- We are not even 10 years removed from white militias, armed to the teeth, pointing their guns in a multi-day standoff at federal agents because a racist cattle rancher wasn’t paying his taxes and following regulations. And the response by the federal government was to pack their **** and go home. In no part of this country could black and brown people do this and get away with it. The privilege of demonstrating a collective show of power using weaponry against law enforcement without much blowback is uniquely reserved for white men in this country, time and time again throughout history. The story of protests in America for black people is one where they have to do it peacefully, while tolerating abuse from police and while simultaneously apologizing for the rioting that ensues because communities that are historically oppressed erupt in anger in complex, destructive ways. It’s bull****. Two different sets of rules for how communities express their frustration against perceived government abuse.

It isn’t a small set of goons but it’s also not a monolithic group doing the looting and rioting. There are parasites who feast on social chaos, whether it’s during protests or celebrations after sporting events. I have no doubt that at white militia protests, a lot of anarchists and black bloc rioters stay away due to the heavy presence of AR-15s and serious risk of violent blowback. I wish minorities in this country could demonstrate peacefully by brandishing guns, to defend themselves from police aggression and to defend their communities against looters. But they can’t. And mostly peaceful protestors bear the brunt of abuse by the police state and the goons destroying neighborhoods.

I think you are doing a disservice to the people who are protesting peacefully by conflating them with the goons who start looting and the police have shown little restraint against peaceful assemblies and even media outlets. Also, black and brown men would never be allowed to enter state capital dressed and armed like white militias. Police aren’t going to escalate tensions when they see armed militias. The heavy presence of guns, in a ridiculous manner, ends up creating restraint on all sides to not escalate and create a mutually destructive scenario. It’s also a privelege only white armed men in this country can enjoy. You will never see black men, armed to the teeth, allowed to assemble like this:

To clarify, I’m mostly speaking about local politics. National Dems under Obama at least started good work at DoJ that was completely dismantled by ghoul Jeff Sessions. Police oversight will ultimately have to be done by local city politicians. I am tired of Democrats propping up losers like Bill deBlasio.

There is zero need for precincts to own military gear and armored vehicles that they are not qualified or trained to use. The second problem you describe, of poorly trained cops acting above the law, directly makes the first one significantly worse.

I am exhausted by sloganeering from Democrats at this point. If you aren’t willing to pick a fight with police unions and go union busting and dismantling their power, then **** you and you’re not getting my vote. I don’t want slogans or tweets or bull**** statements. I want to see you dismantle a police state that is so out of control, that ****ing precincts in bum**** Georgia and South Carolina are better armed than some militaries of developed countries.

I woke up this morning angry at every local elected Democrat who hasn’t had the guts to check local police unions and sheriffs offices. For the party infrastructure that continuously disregards the need for supporting reformist DAs. I have zero expectations for Republicans and I find no value in getting angry at them at this point. They embrace their evil and have no problem owning up to it. But every election cycle local Democrats come begging for the votes of POC and time and time again they fail to do the bare minimum. The NYPD et al function as if they are not even remotely concerned about oversight from the local public institutions they exist within, and they are right. City halls are chalk full of spineless *******.

It’s going to be a prerequisite for every turd politician running for local elections to promise and then enact legislation that seriously curtails the authority of police and allows for their prosecution if they violate civil rights of people. I want to see minimum sentencing guidelines for cops who abuse their power. I am sick and tired of voting for “liberals” in blue communities whose views on the authority of law enforcement are meaningfully not much different than right wing authoritarian goons. I want the police state dismantled and I want all of their military gear thrown into the ocean.

All of this is happening in the backdrop of a total collapse of the economy. We have breadlines nationwide and cities burning. Well done Trump and Republicans. Obama left you a growing economy and playbook on handling pandemics and you decided to gas light everyone for the reality tv star who raw dogs porn stars.

This country is going up in flames in the middle of a pandemic and the worst economic collapse in 100 years. Even in my most dystopian vision of Trump’s America, I didn’t think we would be here.

The collapse of nations in the modern era always coincides with competent people with deep knowledge and key skills being pushed out for lackeys and sycophants, eventually leading to the collapse of key economic sectors and widespread poverty. That’s one of the reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed. The most stark example of this in recent times is Venezuela, which in ideal conditions should have been the most prosperous country on the American continent after the US, but is instead a complete economic basket case. It collapsed because socialists sacked every knowledgeable member of their petro industry in favor of yes-men over a roughly 30 year period. There is no replacing of talent and knowledge. We are not remotely close to such a scenario but it’s possible that can happen here too. We’ve seen hints of it under Trumpism where time and time again, experts have been replaced by sycophants and bootlickers. And it doesn’t help that the voting base for the party is also perfectly comfortable with brown nosing. But I doubt they’ll have unchecked power to wield at least two decades of the type of unchecked destruction needed to dismantle American prosperity. Our future dystopia looks a lot more Cyberpunk than a totally collapsed, impoverished nation. There’s an argument to be made that we’re already living in a Cyberpunk society.

After going through many trails in the area, I’ve come to really appreciate the smaller, off the beaten path trails. Less crowded, just as nice as the more popular ones. There are some really good trails off of Rockville Pike. We really enjoying walking our dog through the Beach Drive trails.