Blood Is All Of One Color (American Revelation IV, Prequel II.)

Blood that has soaked into the sands of a beach is all of one color. America stands unique in the world: the only country not founded on a race but on a way, an ideal. Not in spite of but because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength of the world. That is the American way. ~Ronald Reagan

Minneapolis was on fire last night.

People rioted over the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, a brutal cop who had 18 complaints of excessive force and physical violence against him. He killed a Black man live on camera in front of a crowd on Memorial Day and in spite of the victim's own anguished cries that he couldn't breathe and was dying. Minneapolis cops have a history of bad behavior, crimes and murder, including the killing of Philando Castile. And they tear-gassed a peaceful protest on the thinnest of pretexts. What in the fuck did these fucking people think was going to happen?

It took the county district attorney until this afternoon to file charges against a guy that committed murder on camera four days ago. Yeah, these assholes got fired...but they should have been arrested too.

Perhaps more to the fucking point, why in the actual fuck are American "Conservatives" from the President on down, calling for even more killing and violence? Here's a hint; From the President on down, they are calling for more death in an open, in fact nakedly racist way. "When the looting starts, the shooting starts" was originally said by a racist Southern sheriff who was threatening Black teenagers. Trump is old enough to know that this is racist. He's old enough to know that the stereotype of African-Americans as criminals and looters is utter racist horse shit.Hell, he was himself already an adult when that incident that the quote is from happened. He knows what the fuck he's doing, he just deliberately chooses to be a racist asshole.

And his followers love him for it.

There is no scenario under any American legal system in which property crimes legally merit the Death Penalty. Yet that is exactly what "Conservatives" up and down the board, are calling for.

And to those who believe this world is all there is, there is no greater 'power' than the taking of life. It's important to note here, I think, that David French, who I quote via these snipped Tweets, is an Iraq War veteran, as well as an Evangelical Christian and a Never-Trump conservative. He is also the adoptive father of a little Black girl who was born in Ethiopia.

And French has dealt with harassment and threats from actual Nazis, right here in America.

People who know what war is, who've carried a weapon in the field in the service of their country are not the ones calling for more blood, as usual.

The racists are just mad because Black people started fighting back. And while it's true that peace is preferable to war, in order for there to be peace that is not simple submission to authority there has to be a good faith effort on both sides.

Modern conservatism...unlike even that of Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan...whose own efforts as much as anything else often sought to preserve one part of white supremacy by sacrificing other parts of it...current Republicans and especially Trump are in all respects enamored by the idea of their own still-great yet crumbling power, obsessed with the idea of using force (even though most have never had to face such a thing themselves) and usually uninterested in even the slightest appearance of accommodation or moderation or negotiation. In fact, they thrive on the idea that "Trump fights" and present the President as some kind of pugilistic infighter who seeks to stand up for the interests of "his" people...meaning white conservatives of a certain type and viewpoint...but of course this narrative is entirely bullshit, and when Trump fights, often everybody else loses.

Yet somehow those he causes to lose, that are on his own side, seem not to care. It's like I told my friend CJ this morning, there's a certain kind of usually right-wing person that's great at getting guys to turn off their brains and think with their dicks. It's no accident that guys that fall for that shit are all over Trump's base.

It's a rare Republican that rises above that now, and the ones that do aren't in office.

The Democrats are good at getting people to think using their brains, but when they can also reach people's hearts, as Barack Obama could, then they can really do great things.

And that's where we're at and I hope the hell Joe Biden was paying attention at his last job.

We can choose the light, or the darkness with its fires. We can rise above division and hate and racism and recognize our shared humanity and see that blood is all of one color as even previous Republicans like Ronald Reagan could, or we can die in the blood and mud using our broken rifles as clubs and with our hands around each other's throats while goons like Donald Trump cackle with glee. In the middle of a pandemic that likely means we all die. Again, we must choose between the darkness with its death and its fires, or the light and the risks that come with freedom and tolerance.

It is late.

Choose now.

Because either you stand against the fall of night, or you don't.
There is no middle ground.

Part One.
Next.