Yesterday's protests over the murder of George Floyd seemed smaller to me. A few hundred people in this or that city. There seem to have been more people on the march in New Zealand than in New York City. From what I can tell the store break ins and looting were likewise reduced. Some people, mostly not protesters, are just using the opportunity. For the real looting is happening elsewhere. Just look at Blackrock.
U.S. President Donald Trump is using the relatively few incidents to divert the attention from his abysmal handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is now all about Trump as "commander in chief" who brings "law and order" for "god and country". If that requires to violently clear a park of peaceful protesters or to teargas a priest in front of his church - all so Trump can stage a photo op where he upholds a bible - so be it. While Trump is in full campaign mode the Democrats seem numbed.
The militarized response the nutters around Trump call for is way out of proportion.
Washington DC has seen a bizarre "show of force" with helicopters hovering much lower than allowed over crowds of peaceful people. The Secretary of Defense has called on governors to "dominate the battlespace". The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Matt Milley was seen patrolling around the White House in camouflage uniform. The cheerboys of the military are not happy with this.
Last night a large number of military transport planes carrying troops of the 82nd Airborne Division, 10th Mountain Division and 1st Infantry Division arrived at Andrews Airbase near Washington DC. These units lost the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. They probably think it is easier to win a war in the midwest than in the Middle East. We'll see ...
But who will they actually be fighting against? The violence enticing Antifa account on Twitter that turned out to be run by fascists in Europe? The "Interim Government of the United Socialist States of America" (@USSInterimGOV)? The "Free American Army" (@FAARMYOfficial)? The Jaish al-Chicago and the KFC Brigades? All of them? Well, that's gonna be a hell of a war on parody accounts.
And a war on the press. In the past four days there were more than 125 incidents in which police attacked journalists. But the media still repeat police reports as if they were the one and only truth:
Despite what our colleagues of color have been saying for years, the clear history of police abusing protesters and the press, too many outlets continue to cover the police credulously.
Policing in the U.S. has been going wrong for a long time:
Commissioners demanded captains deliver numbers and captains began browbeating lesser officers, who in turn pushed quotas on patrol cops, for reasons that often had nothing to do with crime. As depicted in the The Wire, in the stats revolution, “shit always rolls downhill.” The point was to get lieutenants promoted to captain, to get mayors re-elected, and help provide the rationale for the prison jobs state legislators were bringing home to suburban districts. All of this was greased by the lobbying money of construction firms, prison vendors, even private prison corporations – a great business for all, and all that was needed to keep it going was an endless stream of jailable people.
On top of that the IQ of the average policeman seems to be quite low. I mean - why would he do this?
This (vid) must be seen to be believed:
A Fox News reporter tries live on air to stop the police in LA arresting the (not white) owners of a shop who had flagged down the officers to help them stop potential looters. The actual alleged looters ran off. It sums so much up #GeorgeFloydProtests
Replacing the police with the military will only escalate the situation. Violence begets violence. But creating more 'resistance' may well be Trump's plan.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is today meeting with "Tiananmen Square survivors". He will probably ask how China managed to suppress that U.S. sponsored insurgency. Can Trump learn from it? Is a Tiananmen like moment what Trump wants to happen to rally his base? Or is it all just a head fake that will be canceled in time?
Has someone in the White House considered how much damage these bizarre developments do to U.S. soft power and its foreign policy? U.S. adversaries point out the hypocrisy of U.S. behavior at home and its rhetoric against them. U.S. allies just cringe.
An Australian TV crew was punched by police live on air. The Australian Prime Minister called for an investigation. A crew of the German government financed DW News was attacked twice by police plus threatened with arrest. This caused the German Foreign Minister to speak out against targeting journalists.
These U.S. 'allies' have to explain their population why they still succumb to U.S. policies. That part of their job is getting harder and harder.
If Trump sends in the military it will become impossible.
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