America has the world’s best functioning political system, but the protests are putting the world’s last well functioning system on the edge of collapse. America has to make a real decision about these riots. Not only are lives in danger, but also American democracy itself. But the threat comes from the Democratic Party that is at war with the country and is willing to collude with terrorist hate groups such as Antifa, whose clearly stated agenda and goal is the destruction of America. Antifa is not typically thought of as a single organization; it is a movement or coalition of leftist groups, each of which claims to combat fascism, a political ideology whose definition they have been arguing about for many years. The word Antifa means anti-Fascist or anti extreme left or right. American political leaders from the left and the right are cowards, and none of these fringe iconoclasts stand for America. This is how a nation collapses, when those with authority cannot keep order. Often people fail to do what they know they should do, because they are afraid of the push back. Sometimes when a person tries to take the right action, he or she encounters such resistance and opposition. We need to recognize that the American people are not enemies of each other, even though some portray them as such to divide them. What we see now is that the misfits in the American society have taken control of the streets. They did nothing to build America, but now they are trying to destroy it. This is unacceptable.
The question is how should the law abiding factions respond now? On the one hand, the public is not safe, their businesses are not safe, and their lives are not safe, so the country needs to protect their families and businesses. What America is facing is an indecency, and America should not let that happen. Some protesters claim that there is systematic racism, but they steal shoes, watches, jewelry, and bags as well as beat those who carry individual flags. Political leaders are pitting people against each other for their own benefit. Americans should not fall into the trap but instead continue to love their neighbors, even if they do not like each other or do not share the same political view, ideology, belief, or skin color. They should love one another first, because they are all human beings and second, because they are all Americans, and mutual love and respect is the glue tying them together.
But leaders in power and those seeking power are ripping these ties apart, and Americans should refuse to succumb to their malicious propaganda. Hardworking individuals labor their whole lives building a business and mobs turn it into ashes or rubble within minutes. When the agitators ravage one business who knows how many dreams and lives they ruin with it because that business may have been the legacy for many future generations.
Violence and looting are not political expressions. This is a national emergency. All of the leaders, including celebrities who themselves enjoy the political system, pretend that everything is peaceful even rallying more to take to the streets offering two battle cries, “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe.” Their war-cry comes from one death, George Floyd. While it is tragic that an innocent person died, and while the nation should mourn the loss of any life of its citizens, it cannot be allowed to sink the ship of democracy.
What are the protestors demanding? If Congress wanted to enact legislation, what bills would they propose? Some wanted Police Officer Derek Chauvin charged with murder, and he was; others wanted the three other veteran policemen arrested as accomplices, and they were. Others cry for an end to racism. An internet joke circulating argues that if forty percent of media coverage were blocked, we would have eighty percent fewer problems. Perhaps if leftist American haters like CNN news broadcasters, did not replay the same eight minute and forty second horrific death multiple times a day and did not film and repeatedly show the most incendiary protests, fewer would enflame the already tense scene. Did CNN show the six police who were shot by the anarchists on just one day? Does anyone know of David Dorn, the Black police chief in a small Missouri town who tried to stop a looter who shot him? The media should avoid do race betting. If I get killed tomorrow, how many building will be burned, businesses destroyed, churches defaced, innocent people murdered? How many police precincts will be set on fire, memorial statues destroyed, police cars drenched in gas and matched for my name?
What I see is an attack on the American idea of politics in an attempt to tear down the fabric of the most effective political system to date, but the destructors fail to understand that the system is what will lead to changes in police relations, in racial equality, and in justice in the courts. By using force, these misguided mobs want to replace our current ruling authorities with a new system, a system that would respond to what this minority voice demands. If the system does not respond to their demands, they say, “We will hurt you.” Democrats embrace this approach. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s staff members donated bail money to secure release of the protestors although Biden argues he will do away with bails, and some of these staffers joined the riots. Since Barak Obama’s presidency, every homicide perpetrated by police is attributed to racism, as Heather MacDonald of the Wall Street Journal explained in an article this week, “George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis has revived the Obama-era narrative that law enforcement is endemically racist,” and Obama tweeted to reinforce this myth, bigotry “infects our institutions and our hearts.” Interestingly, the Washington Post reports that police have used lethal force during arrest more on whites than on blacks.
Killing is not progress. Even some of the conservative foundations, like the Heritage Foundation, claim racism is still a problem in America while also wanting to designate Antifa as a domestic terror organization. But, if America is a racist nation, how did President Obama become the President of the United States, how did Dr. Ben Carson become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, how did Condoleezza Rice become Secretary of State and National Security Advisor; and if America is a nation of racists, how could Collin Powell become Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? How many black mayors from Dallas and Houston to Atlanta and Chicago and police chiefs across America hold prominent political positions? Why do all Americans have to pay for one bad cop’s sin? Why do innocent people have to be beaten? Why are all Americans being held responsible for the death of George Floyd? Government already arrested the bad cops; moreover, the Attorney General who is leading the Floyd case is black. The protest signs say, “Enough,” but has America not had enough protesting?
President Trump must attend to the law-abiding citizens who voted for him, he must secure all residents under his care, he must stop this chaos, and he must show courage and be tough to end this violence, not meek like Democrats acting behind the scenes and through agents. People will not forgive weakness. This riot is a single test for the re-election of the Trump. People should not use race as a scapegoat. If we are concerned about the rise of right wing extremism, if blacks try to use the racial identity card, and if elected leaders, news correspondents, as well as celebrities continue to use toxic rhetoric claiming racial hatred is endemic, then there will be a rise of extremism. The anarchists have to remember that not only blacks live in the country, but other races live there too. They are not going to just sit and watch the destruction. From the scenes of rampant violence plastered across television screens around the world, no one would want to live in America because those enflaming images signal an end to the American dream.
Enforcing law is not an act of white supremacy or racism; asking people to follow rules and laws is not racism; on the contrary, it is answer to racism. Law maintains that every one is equal; therefore, everyone should defend it. If the protestors do not simultaneously defend the law, rule of law will fail and part of society will break down. Blacks claim they are being targeted by police, but even as African American Atlanta mayor advocates, they also should learn how to obey the law. Playing the blame game or the victim card never leads to improvement, to healing; instead, confession is the beginning of healing. As Martin Luther King said in his famous Letter from the Birmingham Jail, to wage a non-violent campaign, protestors should use four steps: investigation to see if injustice exists, negotiation, self-purification, and finally direct action; the third asks them to engage in an inventory to see if they have guilt, or if they are willing to resist retaliation or go to jail, but these steps prepare for non-violence. Strangely, the leaders arising to combat this movement are weak, and the predators know it.
When President Trump tried to re-open the American economy in May, Democratic governors and mayors issued orders to arrest individuals violating their social distancing because the Covid-19 was still rising all over America, and, therefore, it was not safe for them to open businesses. As a direct consequence of these imposed shutdowns, forty millions American lost their jobs. The goal of Democrats was clear, to depress the economy and blame the consequences on President Trump. Evidently the Corona virus does not, however, spread during looting and rioting. This mask was unveiled when the protest begin in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The same leftist Democrats mayors and leaders, with their mouthpiece CNN, asked the masses all over America to come to the streets walking arm in arm and bowing on a knee. These leftists have serious blindspots in their reasoning ability that need to be addressed because they constantly shift back and forth. Hypocrisy only matters if it is to their benefit. Social distancing now is unnecessary. Floyd’s death ended the corona virus in America. We do not need to panic anymore. CNN does not air commercials using actors with masks or doctors giving public service announcements about COVID-19. Their focus shifted to the “race virus.”
The Democrat party made American streets war zones and destroyed the small business communities that are the life blood of the American system. When the country was attacked by a deadly virus from China in January, the Democrats attacked President Trump’s efforts to stop it at the border, and then blamed him for the more than 100,000 death that followed. The majority of Democratic Congress, governors, and mayors control most American states and cities. Yet, what have they done to address the social equality and disparity? President Trump did not invent racism in America. President Trump has repeatedly condemned the killing of George Floyd and even called his family immediately after the killing. No one has defended the killer cop.
President Obama was the first black president, and if racism is rampant, how could he become the President? And what did he do to address social disparity in America? President Obama was a community organizer in Chicago, but what happened to Chicago during his two terms? These terrorists, led by the communist organization Antifa, used the protest as a cover for violent and hate filled attacks on innocent people and their businesses. As these attacks escalated into the torching of city centers and the devastating of poor communities, the hypocrites of leftist Democrats made their true goals clear.
Granted, people have the freedom and right to assemble and peacefully protest. It is foundational to America. People who loot, riot, vandalize, assault, commit arson, and murder are dangerous criminals and should be treated as such, not as peaceful protestors. However, people engaged in violence are not protesters and given the scale of their violence and destruction, they are not just angry people expressing their hurt and frustration. What we see is a megascale of violence indicated by the number of cities that have been destroyed; it is a war against America. Let me be clear, placing a knee on someone’s neck for almost nine minutes while he says he cannot breath and pleas for his life is evil. But also, rioting, looting, and beating innocent people are evil. I do not see any peaceful protests; what I see are angry mobs on the streets full of hate destroying America and the American civilization. Perhaps others have access to media covering racial harmony and love.
This has nothing to do with racial equality nor basic human rights because fighting for basic human rights does not involve burning stores, throwing Molotov cocktails at police, or perpetrating violence against others on the streets. Many front liners are afraid to go hospital to help sick people. A police precinct station has been overrun. The Lincoln Memorial and the World War Two memorials have been defaced. One of the historic churches was set on fire. Police have been killed and fired. Innocent people have been attacked or shot. Are these the acts of a peaceful protest? These are acts of hateful bigotry and terror, crimes against humanity, not a peaceful protest.
For the most part protests over the death of George Floyd are a form of tyranny and a threat to every American. The indiscriminate use of violence by mobs is a threat to every American of all colors, backgrounds, and political beliefs. Democracy cannot exist when people riot, loot, steal, and destroy others’ property or lives. Violence and rioting have nothing to do with democracy or peaceful protests; they are a form of oppression. What America wants most right now is an end to this destruction and an era of safety and peace.. Weakness invites aggression and chaos. President Trump must take decisive action to enforce safety on the streets, not expecting these leftist governors or mayors will protect American businesses or communities. Also, President Trump should make a commitment to find the funders, organizers, and activists who are escalating the terror in America. Every individual has to make a choice between defending America and defending those who would destroy America. The government should help reopen stores, rebuild homes, and reestablish community buildings. Ironically, many smalls businesses are already weakened by the Corona virus shutdown, so they simply do not have the resources to rebuild. If entire neighborhoods collapse with no stores and no jobs, then American haters will have planted the seeds for even more people to join their movement. Instead of staging a photo op, President Trump must take on the mantle of President Lincoln,”With malice toward none, with charity toward all, let us bind up the nation’s wounds.”
Dr. Aland Mizell is with the MCI, SETBI and a regular Mindanao Times.You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com
