We often state that one thing or another was the straw that broke the camel's back or some other substitute term. Well, we have reached not only the straw, but many straws. The system has cracked wide open, the fractures that have been maintaining some integrity have failed. There are leaks and damages all over, straws piled everywhere. Truly, more than backs have been broken.
I am white, but have no 'white privilege'. My people, my religion, my faith's homeland - all have been the victims of prejudice, even unto, and mainly, death by the millions. We have been on the same signs that bar dogs. We have been denied jobs, promotions, homes, leases, rights, life - in all countries of the world. There have been Jewish quotas in universities - especially right here in the good old USA. The world has stood by silently as we were slaughtered, and still, the old and evil canards repeat themselves, and still, people believe them! Time for some mameh loshen - plain talk.
Jews have been on the front lines of civil protest, walking hand in hand with the crowds at Selma, at all places where protests were held, serving as lawyers, as doctors, as donors, as believers in the rights of all mankind, for they know so well the horrors, the straws, of discrimination and hatred. Our backs have been broken in every way imaginable.
But there must be a line. Violence has no place other than the last resort. It raises opposition where there would have been sympathy. It irritates the people standing on the sidelines and they come down on the side of "law and order", a synonym for military intervention, for the threats of such as Trump whose goal has been exactly that all these years - to bring in the armed forces, destroy the press, the reporters, kill the opposition off through slander and the cowardice of his GOP, especially that creep, McConnell, and impose his version of 'law and order' upon the land. It is not a new sequence. It is not a unique sequence. No, it is ugliness personified, the reflection of his ugly inner soul, the end of America. It has happened elsewhere. It can happen here too.
The protesters know this and for the most part they have been peaceful. Angry? Yes. Hurt? Yes. Terrified? Yes. Worried for the future? Yes. Tired of their people being killed in summary judgement, if we speak the truth, at the place of an alleged crime, for the crime of just being there? Oh, yes. Most will walk, cry out, chant, protest - but then there are the others. Those white young men who smash windows and urge violence. Those black wannabees who think this is a great time to loot and get those goods for sale. The police, who threaten and shoot at journalists, throw them to the ground, douse them with pepper spray for the crime of being there and doing their jobs. And there is righteous anger that will burst through.
Yes, there are righteous cops who join the peaceful protesters, kneel with them, protect them. There are protesters who have protected the cops, but there is too much violence for it not to be organized, a nefarious plan of someone, some movement, to garner points for itself. You read, listen, watch, and make your decision. I know where mine falls.
And should you state that oh, no, the cops never do anything wrong, they are all neutral -how wrong you are and unfortunately the bad apples are more noticeable than the good ones there in bulk. How do I state this with confidence? Because I KNOW. Many years ago, a friend of the family was driving a repaired car back to the owner, my dad, a distinguished man, a man who loved justice, a man who did not single out anyone for dislike, other than those who broke the law, displayed injustice. He was stopped, and accused of stealing the car. Why? Who knows? They were bored on patrol? They hated that brand of car? They were nasty? He was black? Pick your choice.
He called my dad, who came out, with my brother, to take care of the matter. Instead, at the first word of explanation, he was jumped, by both of the cops, young, healthy specimens who needed to vent? To prove manhood? By beating up a middle aged man? Again, you interpret. My brother, to his great credit, jumped in to save my father. Needless to say, he, too, was beaten up and they all were arrested, cuffed, thrown in cells, alone, and even tried to drown my brother in the cell's toilet.
When the desk sergeant saw the group trundle in, he turned white. "Do you know who that is? Do you know what you did? That is Judge .....!" The harm of that beating, the disillusionment, the legal shenanigans to protect the city and the cops - why? What for? So do I and my family know the rightful anger that can arise? The anger that makes one want to smash something? Yes, for sure.
A well known figure in the sports world, white - so no snarky remarks - said it all, laid the blame where it rightfully falls. “It’s unbelievable. If Trump had a brain, even if it was 99 percent cynical, he would come out and say something to unify people. But he doesn’t care about bringing people together. Even now. That’s how deranged he is. It’s all about him. It’s all about what benefits him personally. It’s never about the greater good. And that’s all he’s ever been.” The straw is there in the Oval Office. The coward is there, hiding in a darkened WH, hunkered down in a bunker, frightened of and by his own countrymen. We need to understand the powerful import of all that.
We need to understand the true goals of all the attempts to deny voting rights to so many, to the rants against a well known and good form of enfranchisement - the mail in ballot, which I do myself. We need to understand the war against the press that he has waged, encouraged, to the point of violence and open attack. We need to understand his twisted plans and mind, the unthinkable that would happen should he lose - oh please! - and refuse to peacefully concede, turn over the government and go! Far way! Anywhere but here! If he does not, if his cowardly, immoral weaklings of the GOP refuse to join in condemnation, then what? Civil war, blood in the streets, a country riven once more unto the breaking point? A world turned upside down?
Read, think, watch, listen, think, understand, follow the points to the end of the sequence, think some more, and then ask yourself what you really understand and know, like it or not.
Only if we do that, will we have a chance to Be Well and Stay Safe - and our country as well. Time to hoist those bales and replace the straws in their proper places. November is the date. Be there.
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