Militarization and the Police in Response to Protests After the Extrajudicial Killing of George Floyd

I found the obvious murder of George Floyd to be enraging.

But...as a fat person with high blood pressure and being over 60, I'm doing all I can to avoid COVID-19. So while I've participated in many protests over time, I have not been out yet to protest his murder or the overreaction of the Trump regime to it.

I have called Senator Toomey (pointless, I know as he doesn't listen to Democratic constituents). Today I sent the following letter to my senators and several others:

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I am extremely troubled by the militarization of police to try to "quell" protesters. Yes, there have been some outside agitators causing trouble, but the vast majority of the protests have been peaceful.

There are unidentified military all over DC, some of whom are rumored to be border guards, which is ILLEGAL! (https://www.southernborder.org/border_patrol_gloating_on_twitter_about_being_deployed_to_clamp_down_on_protesters?fbclid=IwAR2lZm4L8Jj57puJI_-jvBGep43n4Uhq6pw6KdGVc7fWKWb8D7ycZwS5zUs)

Can the Senate act in some way to suppress this obvious abuse of power on the part of Trump? I have not been out protesting due to concern over COVID-19. When I do choose to go out and protest, I feel like I'm going to have to have a motorcycle helmet and something like armor in addition to a face mask because now I'm beginning to think the police could be a bigger danger than the virus.

Remember When 45 Said...

I did not write this, but I completely agree with it. We must keep track.

Remember when 45 said...

• ...he was going to donate his salary? Well he just accepted his second paycheck
• ...Mexico was going to pay for the wall? He has asked Congress to appropriate the $25 billion of taxpayer money to cover costs
• ...he was going to divest from his businesses? Changed his mind
• ...he was going to release his tax returns? Changed his mind
• ...he wasn't going to go on vacation or play golf? 5 of the last 7 weekends he went on vacation and played golf, costing taxpayers $11.1 million
• ...he was going to use American steel to build these dangerous pipelines? Russian steel arrived last week for the Keystone Pipeline XL
• ...he said would defeat ISIS in 30 days? He still doesn't even have a plan
• ...he said he was going to appropriate money to HBCUs? He lied to get a photo-op
• ...he was going to drain the swamp of Washington insiders? His cabinet is filled with lobbyists, oil and Wall Street executives
• ...he wasn't going to cut social security and Medicare? The Republican bill does just this
• ...he said that nobody on his campaign has any communications with Russian govt? 7 of his people have now admitted they spoke and/or met with Russian officials, AFTER they lied and got caught
• ...he said that the Obamacare replacement would cover more people at lower cost? The AHCA that the GOP and 45 are now pushing; they now admit will cover fewer people at a higher cost

Share so everyone can remember what a liar this so-called president (45) truly is. If you agree, please copy and paste this to your timeline or at least link to it.

Not a Happy Time in Real Life

I have no reason to complain. Jim and I are comfortably retired, while we can't travel, we are in a rural area with relatively little COVID-19 spread.

Still....

The behavior of some cops in some cities, the installed President Trump and much of the Congress is utterly appalling.

I have been disgusted by Trump since at least 1989, between his treatment of women and his call in a full page ad to execute some young black men, without a trial, whom he said had attacked a white jogger. While the teens were convicted of some of the crimes (without physical evidence), they were later exonerated when someone else confessed to the attack. Trump has never apologized for calling to execute black men before their trial, and I knew he was a dangerous racist.

And over the last week, his inciteful behavior again shows us that he and his administration are all dangerous racists.

How low will Trump go?

Very low. Here is an excellent example of how Trump is misusing his office for the sake of a photo op:

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A Force to Be Reckoned With

by Gini Gerbasi
Rector at St. John's Episcopal Church, Georgetown, Washington DC
Former Assistant Rector at St. John's Church, Lafayette Square

Friends, I am ok, but I am, frankly shaken. I was at St. John's, Lafayette Square most of the afternoon, with fellow clergy and laypeople - and clergy from some other denominations too. We were passing out water and snacks, and helping the patio area at St. John's, Lafayette square to be a place of respite and peace. All was well - with a few little tense moments - until about 6:15 or so. By then, I had connected with the Black Lives Matter medic team, which was headed by an EMT. Those people were AMAZING. They had been on the patio all day, and thankfully had not had to use much of the eyewash they had made. Around 6:15 or 6:30, the police started really pushing protestors off of H Street (the street between the church and Lafayette Park, and ultimately, the White House. They started using tear gas and folks were running at us for eyewashes or water or wet paper towels. At this point, Julia, one of our seminarians for next year (who is a trauma nurse) and I looked at each other in disbelief. I was coughing, her eyes were watering, and we were trying to help people as the police - in full riot gear - drove people toward us. Julia and her classmates left and I stayed with the BLM folks trying to help people. Suddenly, around 6:30, there was more tear gas, more concussion grenades, and I think I saw someone hit by a rubber bullet - he was grasping his stomach and there was a mark on his shirt. The police in their riot gear were literally walking onto the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with these metal shields, pushing people off the patio and driving them back. People were running at us as the police advanced toward us from the other side of the patio. We had to try to pick up what we could. The BLM medic folks were obviously well practiced. They picked up boxes and ran. I was so stunned I only got a few water bottles and my spray bottle of eyewash. We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear. We were pushed back 20 feet, and then eventually - with SO MANY concussion grenades - back to K street. By the time I got back to my car, around 7, I was getting texts from people saying that Trump was outside of St. John's, Lafayette Square. I literally COULD NOT believe it. WE WERE DRIVEN OFF OF THE PATIO AT ST. JOHN'S - a place of peace and respite and medical care throughout the day - SO THAT MAN COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT HE COULD POSE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH WITH A BIBLE! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!

I am deeply shaken. I did not see any protestors throw anything until the tear gas and concussion grenades started, and then it was mostly water bottles. I am shaken, not so much by the taste of tear gas and the bit of a cough I still have, but by the fact that that show of force was for a PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. The patio of St. John's, Lafayette square had been HOLY GROUND today. A place of respite and laughter and water and granola bars and fruit snacks. But that man turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second. I am DEEPLY OFFENDED on behalf of every protestor, every Christian, the people of St. John's, Lafayette square, every decent person there, and the BLM medics who stayed with just a single box of supplies and a backpack, even when I got too scared and had to leave. I am ok. But I am now a force to be reckoned with.

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Thank-you, Rev. Gerbasi, for your decency and honesty. I wish we had that kind of behavior in our government and on more of our police forces where we need it desperately.

Happy Tales from Set: Oscar Isaac & Me

In 2011, I was an extra for Won't Back Down, a movie about a school in the inner city starring Viola Davis as a teacher and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a parent.

I was part of a big crowd scene. There was a really cute guy up with the teachers. I knew I recognized him but I couldn't figure out who it was and this bothered me.

After about an hour, someone yelled "Oscar!" and the cute guy left the school steps.

I realized it was Oscar Isaac. I turned to a friend and said "The last time I saw Oscar, he was naked!"

Well, naked on TV anyway. A few weeks earlier, I'd seen Robin Hood with a very attractive young actor co-starring as Prince John. The first scene in which Oscar Isaac appeared, he was quite naked.

But I had seen him at least one other time, as Orestes in the little seen-but otherwise excellent movie Agora. Agora starred a way too young Rachel Weiss as Hypatia, a scholar and librarian of the Library of Alexandria after her father's death. Oscar played a very tricky role very well, and I felt he was a potentially very interesting actor.

Like many science fiction fans, I'd read The Sparrow and Children of God, Maria Doria Russell's amazing books about an interstellar-traveling priest/linguist named Emilio Sandoz back in the '90s. There was some talk then that Antonio Banderas was attached to a possible production, and he would have been very good a Sandoz. That disappeared--perhaps the special effects needed to pull these movies off in the '90s wouldn't have been up to the tasks.

A few years later, though, Brad Pitt bought the rights to The Sparrow, and held them for a number of years.

Hmmm....Brad Pitt wouldn't be right for Sandoz...but Oscar Isaac sure would be. And by about 2010, CGI would have been good enough to pull off the necessary special effects.

I almost brought The Sparrow with me the next time I was called to set. I wondered if Oscar Isaac was familiar with the book and would want to be in a science fiction movie or two?

When you're an extra, you're not supposed to approach "the talent." I was usually pretty good about that beyond saying "Hi." Oscar was on set again, and this time there was more mingling between extras and "the talent" as a school festival was being shot. The assistant director sent Oscar over to one corner of the festival, and then sent me to the same corner.

So while we were waiting for the assistant director to call "Background!" (which is the call for the extras to start moving; this is said before the assistant director calls "Action!"), I told Oscar how much I'd enjoyed watching him in Agora (and did not mention Robin Hood).

"Thanks."

"Have you ever read Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow? I hear Brad Pitt has the rights and you'd be a great Emilio Sandoz."

"Background!" the Assistant Director screamed and that was that. I saw Isaac from time to time, but we never had the chance to talk again.

Oh well.

At least we know now he has been in major science fiction movies, and he was very good in Ex Machina and the more recent Star Wars movies as Poe. He looks like he'll be an outstanding Duke Leto in Dune. And he's still not too old to play Emilio Sandoz.