Friday, June 5, 2020

who will keep order?

An old rule of mine, sometimes badly observed:
Whenever there is a problem, the first thing to do is ... slow down.

And so, at the moment, with tensions of all sorts tugging and nattering, I want everyone to return to a neutral corner. Have a good, wholesome weep. Utter the words you find most compelling and heart-felt.

OK ... got that out of your system?

Now, let's get to work: The emancipation proclamation first given and then rescinded by a white master race said, au fond, "all men are created equal." It is hardly a difficult proposition: "all men are created equal." From muzzle to butt plate, that's it. Equality for blacks, whites, browns, women, men ... tous! All men are created equal.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared, ' "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."' From that evolved the freedom of all.

Someone has to ask Republicans to take a stand. Where do they stand on "all men are created equal?" If they stand with it, they cannot stand with a twerp like Donald Trump. But wherever they stand, they need to be asked and others need to hear the answer.

All men are created equal.

There are calls today for the trimming of police department budgets. Where will things stand if police are no longer a force to be reckoned with? Doesn't someone have to keep order? Who?

"Equality" is not something anyone really wants, if you look into it a little. But still, let's look into it minus what the Brits call the "whinging." I am, and I suspect others are, sick to death: turn any corner and someone's ox is getting gored, someone else is whinging ... lotsa righteousness in the midst of a huge stasis of feeling.

This blog post has no focus. It is essentially a climbing into my rabbit hole and pulling the hole in after me. I turn the TV on in search of news and then turn it off in order to escape its unfocused ministries.

A black man is lynched with a knee on his throat.
Unemployment that would do a tin-pot dictatorship proud.
Covid19, the epidemic chasing around the world ... runs its undaunted course in silence.
People gather and foregather.
Police take a knee in sympathy for those whose equalities have gone begging.
Donald Trump talks in ever-widening ripples of lies and misstatements and the Republicans who want Trump's monied coat tails say nothing, shoulder no responsibility, lift up no honor, and yet want to be seen as blameless. In my time, cowardice was to be shunned; lying was a bad thing; the 2020  presidential election is seen at a distance.
A dictator hovers in the wings, not quite taking shape as yet.

I have a hunch we're going to need the police ... or if not, then perhaps a dictator of the Martin Luther King Jr. ilk. At the moment, Democrat presidential contender Joe Biden attempts to don the mantle of leadership. A good fellow, but a bit icky. We need a bit more pepper in the stew ... Bernie Sanders and his never-adequately-defined-'socialism' come to mind.

Oh well, time to skim the TV channels ... maybe there's a good rom(ance)com(edy) out there somewhere.

2 comments:

  1. What are your issues?
    What topics are your passion?

    With COVID-19 putting most intelligent, thoughtful folks into Staying-at-Home, good investigative reporting is going to be curtailed.

    I have maintained that one needs to do one's research & keep a notebook on issues rather than waiting for the scraps like a dog under the table. I try not to whine when I don’t like the scraps from TV News, but yeah, I do get upset with the anemic coverage.

    The internet helps

    Try Google Advanced Search and Google Scholastic among other search tools.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not completely unrelated:

    “What’s a journalist supposed to be now — an activist? A stenographer? You’re asking the wrong question.“


    By Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post, 
June 7 at 6:00 AM ET

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/whats-a-journalist-supposed-to-be-now--an-activist-a-stenographer-youre-asking-the-wrong-question/2020/06/06/60fdfb86-a73b-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html

    ReplyDelete