Well, naturally, Woke Hollywood staged a riot in tribute to George Floyd at this years Grammy awards, complete with police (actors) shooting a black man (another actor) in the back, a demagogic harangue for justice, equity, policy, and everything else, and a stage-set of burning buildings in the background a harbinger of things-to-come? Havent riots become another form of entertainment this restless pandemic year of lockdowns and shutdowns? And how else might youth occupy itself, especially these fervid days that presage the loamy heavings of springtime?
Its about systemic racism, you understand, because how else do you explain the rather spectacular failure-to-thrive in such a big demographic chunk of the US population? By an odd coincidence, in the slot just before the Grammys, CBSs 60-Minutes showed how: spotlighting St. Louiss Circuit Attorney (equivalent of DA) Kim Gardners battle with the citys police department, who arrest too many black men. Left out of the argument by CBS correspondent Bill Whittaker was why they are arrested. Might it be for committing crimes, you know, robbing stuff, killing folks. 60-Minutes didnt want to know and didnt ask.
It happened anyway that the weekend was ripe for fighting in the streets. After the long, dull, semi-lockdown winter, riots resumed in the irascible West Coast cities of Seattle, Portland, and LA, purportedly in honor of Breonna Taylor, member of a Louisville, KY, drug-trafficking outfit who got shot in a police raid on her apartment after her boyfriend opened fire on the cops. This was a few years after the dead body of one Fernandez Bowman was found in her rent-a-car, and she was unable to explain to the police how it got there. She must have been turning her life around when she got shot. Now, its game-on for Antifa and BLM. The coronavirus hasnt been hard enough on small business owners, so lets smash some storefront windows and, by the way, attempt another insurrection at Portlands long-besieged federal courthouse.
So far, not a peep out of Washington, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and company. They are still too busy objurgating over the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol building, which has so far led to charges against 400 people. Federal prosecutors have asked for a 60-day delay in further action, saying, While most of the cases have been brought against individual defendants, the government is also investigating conspiratorial activity that occurred prior to and on January 6, 2021. Yet last week federal prosecutor Kathryn Rakoczy told federal district court Judge Amit Mehta that there was no evidence of conspiracy in the matter. I guess will have to wait for the new Attorney General Merrick Garland to sort all that out. Buy New $719.98 (as of 04:00 EDT - Details)
Meanwhile, up in Minneapolis, where jury selection is underway in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, the City Council approved 13-to-0 a $27-million wrongful death civil settlement to Mr. Floyds family. Say, what ? The way its supposed to work is that a civil case for wrongful death follows the criminal trial for how would you know whats rightful or wrongful in a matter before the facts in the case have been adjudicated? Sounds like Hennepin County, MN, may not be the right venue for these proceedings.
Should Mr. Chauvin face a jury that will likely have heard news reports that the city council already decided the verdict, and in the most imprecise terms possible? Mr. Floyd died because the weight of the entire Minneapolis Police Department was on his neck, Floyd family Attorney Ben Crump said when the suit was filed. Systemic racism, you see. Following the George Floyd riots last year, the Minneapolis City Council announced its plan to defund the police. In February 2021, the council announced the release of $6.4-million to hire more police, following a dramatic uptick in crime. Such are the strange inconsistencies of life under the crypto-Jacobin revolution in America today.
Speaking of Joe Biden, alleged to be president, he was oddly absent altogether on the front page of Mondays New York Times, leading the curious to wonder if last Tuesday nights Coronavirus Action speech drained his dwindling mojo for the rest of the month. The curious might also seek to know why Mr. Bidens team is still so wound up about eradicating Coronavirus, yet eager to let tens of thousands cross the border illegally from Mexico, many of them live vectors of the virus, who are then bussed all over the USA under the revived catch-and- release policy. Mr. Bidens honeymoon period is about over. The country had not quite discovered just how leaderless it is. Will it come as a shock to find out? After all, isnt this what you voted for?