- It’s definitely starting to feel like the Summer of 2014 again, with the shooting of Michael Brown and the ensuing protests.
- It might have been 2.5 years before the 2016 election, but don’t think for a moment those protests didn’t have a role in the election of Donald Trump. It wasn’t just Hillary Hatred. Those protests gave racists incentive to look for someone like Trump to vote for. I wonder if the same dynamic will play out in 2020.
- The George Floyd protests aren’t just about George Floyd. People are just generally pissed off right now after 2.5 months of coronavirus-inflicted stay-at-home orders (even people who agreed with them).
- Oh, and with 30-40 million people out of work (again because of coronavirus), there are far more people now than in the past with time to protest. Seems (relatively) full employment is a big factor in keeping a country stable.
- Even legitimate protests bring out the worst in some people. I’ve seen video of white kids people looting stores. I’ve seen video of kids kicking a store owner in the head multiple times. I’ve seen video of over-militarized national guardsmen shooting people (with beanbags?) on their front porch in Minneapolis. Cops in Louisville actually killed someone.
- Protests can also bring out the best in some people. I’ve seen video of protesters in San Diego fist-bumping cops watching them. I’ve seen video of cops taking a knee in George Floyd’s remembrance. I’ve seen video of protesters locking arms to prevent looters from entering a store.
- The national and local media seem only to focus on the worst of the protests. At least that’s >90% of what I’ve seen over the last three days.
- The protests are definitely going to set back “re-opening the economy” for some time. Wall Street doesn’t seem to care much; stocks were up a bit today.
- “Fog of war” applies in protests as well as, well, war. Apparently most of the arrestees in Minneapolis late last week were from Minnesota, after all (and not out-of-state). The guy who drove his semi tanker truck into a crowd of protesters on I-35 may just have been clueless, not malicious. Not everything is as it seems at the moment.
- The cops in a lot of places seem to react to protests about bad policing by becoming worse police themselves. Peaceful protests during the day seem to turn into riots and looting after dark. Mob rules tend to apply on both sides after a while.
- The Lincoln Project has produced a number of good anti-Trump ads. The last three days has given them the subject matter for another: Trump’s weakness and cowardice. “While protests erupted around the country, Trump poured gasoline on the fire. He had no statement to give the country because he literally had nothing to say. And when protesters showed up at the White House, he turned off the lights and cowered in the dark.”
Hopefully this will turn out to be a better week.