You're so welcome, friend. ?
I personally found it to be so filled with grace that it was humbling, awe-inducing. It moves me to tears to think about it now. It's hard to hold such a profound paradox, maybe, because of course it was also an utterly senseless and brutal scene on this side of the Veil. One that demands justice and deserves the outrage it's inspired. But I think we owe it to his memory to try.
Oh my yes!! So very awe-inducing. You have given us a gift tonight by sharing what you saw and gracefully honored his passing.
Ok, everyone. I have a couple of observations, and I hope that you will comment to let me know if I am off-base.
First, the situation is probably going to get much, much worse.
Consider the fact that Trump is in charge of the country right now. This is a man who, just weeks ago, was telling his followers to protest against Democratic governors for daring to impose social distancing orders to save lives during this pandemic. Remember how he encouraged his followers to march and protest against the Michigan governor? How he tweeted for her to "negotiate" with them after they paraded around the building with their guns?
But now...suddenly Trump doesn't like protestors. You won't hear him say "there are good people on both sides" here. Because now we have a new group of protestors who are bringing attention to the fact that..well, African Americans are not so happy with a country run by Trump.
Now, I am not saying their shouldn't be protests. People can protest peacefully whenever they wish to. But what has made this situation so volatile is the fact that Trump has disrespected our state and local officials for so long. He has constantly harrassed and belittled investigators, governors, etc. that any attempts of telling people to respect authority (aka-police officers) is simply not going to work. How can you ask citizens to listen to the badge when you constantly disrespect the law?
Basically, we have a huge population of young people and a sizable African American population who are ticked off. They have been ignored and belittled for so long while they watch Trump at his rallies with his followers going around protesting with their guns. When the virus hit, many of them lost jobs and had to watch loved ones suffer from Covid 19.
Trump, of course, will continue to flame the fire. He will try to frame himself as the "law enforcement" president in an attempt to get voters who are disturbed by the riots to vote for him. He will portray Democrats as "anti-law" and do whatever it takes to use his fear-mongering to scare enough voters to his cause.
I admit it. The riots scare me too. I don't want people coming to my office and breaking my stuff. So I sympathize.
Having said that, many of these protestors are not taking part in the rioting and violence, and I am seeing footage of some who are keeping the perpetrators of these actions from escalating (by standing in front of businesses and urging the rioters to go away, etc.)
I think the time has come for Democrats to get mean.
Not now, of course. Wait until after the Democratic convention, when you have Biden and his VP make their appearances. Keep Biden the same way that you would keep the back-up quarterback (The back-up quarterback is always the most popular person on the team when no one sees him play and the current quarterback is struggling. It makes the fans start to beg the coach to make a change.) By limiting him now, you give Republicans less time to come up with material to use against Biden.
Having said that, Democrats do need to get mean. They need to play adds showing the death toll for Covid-19. They need to show ads with the historic unemployment numbers. They need to show shots of cities burning and protests over the last few years. Then they need to ask "Do we need another 4 years of MAGA?" or "Is this Trump's vision when he said he could make America great again?"
Further, Democrats need to point out, over and over again, that if Trump is elected to another term, then he will gut social security so that he can build his signature wall. They need to point out the fact that Trump already diverted funds from the military to do this, and so it is realistic to assume that he will do the same with our benefits. Just as Republicans say over and over about how Democrats are "socialists" and want the country to become communistic, Democrats need to portray Republicans as uncaring capitalists who don't care if people die on the streets from hunger so long as they get their tax breaks.
The Covid 19 and these riots have pretty much ensured that the country is spiraling out of control right now. The economy will continue to get worse, many businesses will close their doors as consumer spending will continue to be limited, and you have a sizable portion of the population who are at the breaking point in terms of frustration. However, Covid 19 will continue to make its run in rural America, and people like myself who have been largely shielded from the virus and the riots will feel the effects of the pandemic soon enough. Already, meat and vegetable prices have skyrocketed. A pack of meat that was 2 dollars is now at least 8 dollars. Milk and other items are becoming more and more limited.
Trump knows this. And he always tried to take the focus off the country by doing something so outrageous that it dominates the news cycle and distracts people. He is desperate to get back to his followers again and have rallies that he can televise so that he can try to intimidate the rest of us.
But people are tired. So, so tired of this. And hopefully the younger generation is so fed up with Trump that they will make their votes count in November.
But....there is something else. I don't know what it is, but my gut tells me that something big is about to happen. Something that will bring attention back to Trump, but not in a good way. I can't explain it, but I sense that something huge is about to happen in October. I don't know why, but I sense that someone has something damaging on Trump. A piece of information that is so bad that it could ruin Trump forever.
Why October? Because of the infamous "October surprise." You don't want to give Trump and his team time to reframe the issue.
The Democrats and Trump's enemies have been just too quiet lately, if you get my meaning. And I suspect that it is intentional. Despite all the big mistakes Trump is making, Democrats are being remarkably low key in their responses. They know he will never resign (even if he shot someone in broad daylight), so someone is waiting to release their information when it will make the biggest impact.
Does anyone else have this feeling? That someone who hates Trump is making preparations to release something huge in October that will result in a landslide for Democrats? Or is this wishful thinking on my part?
Oh, I agree completely. My point is that they announced that she was divorcing him. This tells people that (1) she is not to be associated with him, so they should leave her alone, and (2) she may get all the property from the marriage, so if protestors target the property, they may be hurting her, an innocent third party.
Regardless, this announcement for a divorce is strategic. She is protecting herself and the property. It doesn't matter if she is doing this while hating the officer's guts or if she is doing this at his direction so as to ensure that their property is spared from the inevitable "wrongful death" lawsuit. Many women are typically taught to "stand by your man," so the very public announcement tells me that this divorce is at least partly for strategic purposes.
It occurred to me the Chauvin might have been an abusive husband, or that his wife was somehow afraid of him. Cops sometimes used other cops to help them inflict fear on people they want to control (as we can see from the other cops who stood by and let Chavin kill). His wife is safe now, at least and until he posts bond, if he does. She's got a window of opportunity during which she can file to divorce him and be safe, and she took it. That's what I'm getting. Protecting assets is secondary.
To all of you living in the States, my heart goes out to you. This situation is quite horrible and reminds me of previous deaths in the past few years. Philando Castile comes to mind. It is mind boggling that these things can still happen in a Western country. I cannot phantom the fear African Americans still feel going about their daily lives. It's horrifying that this is real.
I have always touched upon racism like this in my lessons. Using these topics to help my students understand/learn about the English language gives extra weight to my teaching. It is not simply teaching a language, but to help people to wake up and think about what kind of human being they want to be. Little things like that help, I hope, to spread light and awareness of what is right and wrong on a very basic level.
That said, we have seen this before, many times. This kind of behavior, the callous divide, has been part of the States for a very long. The outrage and protests won't be enough. Changing certain people's minds when it comes to people of color won't either. So, as Americans, what is it that you all think should happen?
I think the time has come for Democrats to get mean.
Not now, of course. Wait until after the Democratic convention, when you have Biden and his VP make their appearances. Keep Biden the same way that you would keep the back-up quarterback (The back-up quarterback is always the most popular person on the team when no one sees him play and the current quarterback is struggling. It makes the fans start to beg the coach to make a change.) By limiting him now, you give Republicans less time to come up with material to use against Biden.
Having said that, Democrats do need to get mean. They need to play adds showing the death toll for Covid-19. They need to show ads with the historic unemployment numbers. They need to show shots of cities burning and protests over the last few years. Then they need to ask "Do we need another 4 years of MAGA?" or "Is this Trump's vision when he said he could make America great again?"
Joe Biden's campaign has been producing digital ads that put the COVID death toll and the unemployment figures front and center and place the responsibility for them squarely on Trump. I don't know if they're also featured on TV, since I don't watch TV. What I like about these ads is that they're very focused and consistent. They don't throw spaghetti at the wall about all the bad things Trump has done–it's COVID and the job losses over and over again.
I suspect that the Biden campaign campaign is plotting out its strategy over a longer timeframe and will kick in with the healthcare message in late summer/early fall, when most people begin to tune into the election. The Democrats were very effective in conveying the healthcare message in the run-up to the 2018 midterms.
As to October: The period from October 4-23 is particularly challenging for Trump astrologically. During that time, Pluto will be opposing his Saturn and Saturn will be opposing his Venus. Both of these influences are at work on Trump throughout 2020, but they converged for one week at the end of January/beginning of February. Now they will do so again for three weeks leading up to the election.
On another astrological note: The upheavals we're experiencing in the US are related to the US Pluto return that is exact in 2022. That is, Pluto is returning–for the first time–to the place it was at when the US was founded. Pluto (ruler of Scorpio) is the planet of transformation, and will dig up something and reveal it to the light, in all its messiness, so that it can be healed. It's no surprise that slavery–which was tacitly accepted in our founding documents–and its legacy are being churned up by Pluto now. We made progress on the legacy of slavery in the Civil War. And again during the civil rights movement. But Pluto is saying we have more work to do to heal. I don't expect it to be easy–in fact, Pluto-related issues often are (or at least feel like) a matter of life and death–even after Trump exits the presidency in January. We all have to contribute to the healing, and casting Trump out will be a victory, no doubt. But his departure won't mean the end of the work we have to do.
ETA: I wonder if the Pluto return will also bring up the shameful treatment of Native Americans that is another legacy of the founding of this country? Their needs should not be forgotten, simply because they are a smaller percentage of the population. The humiliation and trauma that Native Americans have endured over the centuries is almost too painful to think about.
George Floyd left this dimension in very much the same state that he first entered it—surrounded by the weightless peace of his mother's love, and the love of something far greater.
@vestralux, This brought streams of tears to my eyes. Thank you for stepping into the Liminal to give us comfort. His death has weighed so heavily on me, as if it was the sum total of all the aberrant injustices served on black lives & I’ve had to step away from media. Your words are soothing to my soul.
Meanwhile, I’m open to suggestions on how to constructively channel my own mounting anger & frustration - how do we ensure that these baseless, indefensible, unjustifiable deaths will stand for meaningful, tectonic-shifting change?
@lynnventura The moment I heard she filed for divorce ... just hours after his arrest ... I sensed that she felt safe to do so, and that he had been abusive. A cop that has gotten 18 misconduct violations over 19 years seems likely to have a temper or be abusive at home. And she is Asian (Vietnamese), which makes me think he wanted to feel superior to his spouse and have that power. She was quoted, after one of his violations, saying he was "a big softie" at home, and that rang warning bells to me. I could be way off base, but my gut said "abuse," not "asset protecting." Then again, I'm more of an optimist. I do worry for her, though, if abuse is her reality, because she is going to have an evil police union wanting her to stay quiet in order to protect Chauvin.
Thank you so much for posting this... what a beautiful and encouraging message is Biden's!
And what a contrast to the scumbag(s) in the WH, undoubtedly cowering down in his burger wrapper littered bedroom watching his surrounding big screens and fuming at his own impotence.
Joe Biden is really stepping up, and manifesting not just his desire to win, but his true character as a deeply concerned and grounded spirit with everyone's well being at heart. He has deep reservoirs of strength that may not have been readily apparent to most, but do shine in a crisis as we are all going through this time of mind boggling Plutonian transformation and abject chaos.
I see that Biden is a Scorpio w/Sagittarius rising and a natal Pluto retrograde, so he's no stranger to profound soul gripping changes, like the storms of transformation that have us all enthralled currently. Coincidentally, Bobby Kennedy had the same birthday as Joe's, November 20, and I am mindful of the parallels.
Biden needs our prayers for protection and gratitude for being the voice of reason and a real source of optimism in this time, as I know President Obama would have been in the midst of it all were he still in office. Perspective is all important now.
I drew an I Ching hexagram this morning on the current explosive energies surrounding us , and perhaps it resonates with Joe Biden as well as our collective soul...
"Wounded Brightness"...
'Beneficial is laborius persistence'