As Minneapolis Burns

This past week we saw the racism of a city, and perhaps a state and nation, on full display as the police of Minneapolis held down and strangled an African-American to death.  As a result of that horrific act, the aggrieved community has risen up and is in the process of destroying parts of the city and stealing whatever they can get their hands on.  News networks and their “influencers” are taking sides and mincing words to help keep this story alive and growing.  Is the destruction of the city riots and vandalism, or is it simply angry protest? You decide for I guess it all comes down to how you feel emotionally since rational thought seems to escape most of us in these times.

In addition to the racism on display, we are seeing the rise of police states as the various governments deal with the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It is interesting to see how differently the two main political parties handle the fear of a virus we are unfamiliar with, while the anointed medical experts fill the airwaves with guidance that is little-better than informed opinion.  Should we wear masks or not?  Does the virus thrive in sunlight or not?  Is it transmitted beyond 6’ or not?  Will people who flock to a beach, kill hundreds or thousands of others by their action or not?  When is the right time to resume our lives and livelihoods?

We see in the states with the worst impacts – governments who’ve made callous choices for the care of their elderly.  These same governments are praised for their courageous actions by a media that has long abandoned the idea of impartial and unbiased reporting.  These states continue with the pandemic lockdown and daily enforce the idea the government knows what is best and will do whatever is necessary to enforce their will.  The only thing that stands in their way is a citizenry and a court that will hold them accountable to the constitutions that are intended to define and limit the authority of the government.

Minnesota and Minneapolis are governments with a long history of being run by liberal/progressive Democrats.  Supposedly the party of the working man and woman, the party of the African-American, the party of equality and equity, the party of human rights, etc.  What this pandemic should have taught anyone willing to look closely at the approaches of the Democratic politicians, the truth is the party is really about control and domination.  They give lip service to all those ideals they claim, but the bottom line is it is about power and the wealth that comes from maintaining that power.

That thirst for power and control flows from the very top down to the lowest entity and is, in my opinion, why we see in a police force commanded by an African-American such obvious disregard for the rights of their citizens.  Not to single out Minneapolis, for we saw exactly the same thing in New York City where the police executed a government policy of stopping anyone they thought was suspicious, regardless of probable cause.

What seems most unfortunate in these revelations is the principles of the party won’t change.  They will continue to mutter the platitudes they think people want to hear, they will blame their opponents for creating the conditions they have governed to, and the people will continue to believe their empty promises that bigger government is better for everyone.  What we’ve learned is the bigger government is actually only better for the politicians in power.