Protests rocked the country; instigators and antagonists interjected themselves into the middle of things - and that includes the president; and yes, there's still a pandemic going on.
Here's your week in review, in case you weren't able to get the posts in real time.
We started off with Sunday School and strong female voices, including Florida Rep. Val Demings, who reminded us of what President Lyndon Johnson once said about addressing 'social ills that cause decay" in African-American communities, and added her own thoughts on institutional racism in the US.
... some believe that, you know, in order to be fair, if you will, that you treat communities the same. Well, it's not that simple, unless communities all start in the same place and we know that's not true... racism in America and the injustices that comes with it is nothing new. And so we have to get serious about, number one, admitting there is an issue. And number two, working together.
The regularly schedule was tipped on its head a little after the president pulled his little stunt, and a Trump in Transition bubbled out of my fingers. The post addressed the protesters, the photo op, masks, and more, as if the president were talking to a close friend - you know, Sean Hannity or somethingn- about his little trip to Lafayette Park.
And I didn't even tell anyone we were coming! HA! How's that for showing how STRONG I am! I'm not going to tell you I'm coming, I'm just going to SHOW UP and hold up this Bible, and it's going to look good, in front of your church, they call it the 'Church of Presidents', right? Historic church, historic. All of the presidents have come here, they say, since that Madison guy. We like him right? 2nd Amendment? Yeah, we like him a LOT! I'll always protect the 2nd, gotta protect that one, right? 2nd!
I told a friend I was furious when I started the post, but as it progressed, it became a cathartic effort and I felt much better by the time I was done, thank you very much for asking.
Back on track, I offered some Extra Credit for folks who could sit through National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien's classroom visit. In included this nugget, part of his conversation with George Stephanopoulos.
Trying again, George referenced the specific tweet below, with its dog whistles and racist language, and other presidential comments. (The tweet was also sent out by the White House Twitter account, and flagged there as well.)
George wondered if the president should take accountability for his comments and tweets. O'Brien said "I think what the president said about those tweets is that he wants to de-escalate violence and doesn't want people looting."
I was still trying to wrap my head around that comment when it was time for Wondering on Wednesday, and while there was a lot of stuff related to the protests, there was also this, about the coronavirus pandemic, in the middle of which we still firmly planted.
And one more thing on that: the president repeatedly says we have done more tests than any other country, but he normally bases that the sheer number we've done, which of course does not allow for comparing us and other countries. And, in case you're wondering, there are many countries that are doing (or have done) more tests per million people than us, which is something that he doesn't like and chooses to ignore. Among them? Russia. Spain. Denmark. United Arab Emirates. Ireland. The UK. Israel. Latvia. Estonia. Australia...
Suddenly, it was TGIF and among other things, it was time to look at a current politician with the 20/20 vision that hindsight gives us. In the hot seat this week? Minnesota's Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a former Dem candidate for president and, according to some, one of the women on Biden's short list for vice president.
Before she became a senator, Klobuchar was the prosecutor for Hennepin County, and according to this 2019 article, when she had the opportunity to prosecute alleged police brutality, she didn't.
Klobuchar, however, chose not to criminally charge any fatalities involving law enforcement . Instead she routinely put the decision to a grand jury, a process widely criticized for its secrecy and for mostly allow the police version of events.
Some see this as dooming her probably limited chances of becoming Papa Joe Biden's veep and I was actually waiting to see if someone modified one of her 'hot dish' messages into a 'hot mess' message. I'm sure there's one out there somewhere, don't you agree?
And yesterday, when I was looking on the White House website for the transcript of the president's jobs report/campaign rally/Hopefully George memorial service, I found an item about Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's statement on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, I found myself staring at The Irony Board.
In her statement, McEnany called upon China to live up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to act appropriately to ensure all of the Chinese people had their rights; I compared some of her points to what's happening right her in America today.
So, where's the irony? Well, let's take a look:
- The student protesters were advocating for a free press; the president of the United States calls the press the enemy of the people, threatens to or actually sues major publications, tries to block reporters and citizens who criticize him, and regularly denigrates female reporters, particularly women of color.
I'll be back later with today's Sunday School.
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