Siege - Days 81, 82, 83 and 84

I suspect some of the protesters in DC who were gassed and shot at earlier in the week found this weekend's influx of protests by families with kids a little... disconcerting.  "This is not a carnival!" someone cried out to the ice cream eaters.  Because it is hard to think that protesters with kids and ice creams are taking the serious situation quite as seriously.

But, you know, I think having the protests reinforced by ordinary families, regular usually-stay-home people is significant.  A good sign.  For one thing, police and National Guards are less likely to resort to violence with kids in the crowd.  Also I LOVE that the president's playpen fencing is getting decorated by the protesters, turning into a shrine to justice, to black lives, to freedom of assembly.  (Assembling a collage? Go for it!)  Most important, it means that regular not-too-political folks are taking this to heart.  All this in the middle of a pandemic remember - there may be ice cream carts, but this is still taken seriously.

Wholesale public acceptance - that is how change happens.

The abuse of authority and power has to change.  

And, as grim as I felt when I wrote my last post, I think I still managed to underestimate the built-in racism and violence in the police culture generally.  The police have to be reformed massively.  Reconsidered from the ground up.  No more George Floyds should die.

So vote that way!  Vote local.  Vote national.