Complicated Times With Complicated Issues:

The last couple of months have been emotional and hard. Emotions like fear and anger, and a constants sense of low grade anxiety. All have been a part of my mood since Covid-19 came along, Followed so closely by the riots, or should I say overlapped. Since Covid is still be out there, but likely way less deadly than we thought. Everything feels surreal and it makes me question the current the future and the reality I'm watching.

I find myself struggling a bit to sorting it out.

If you have black and white feelings about all that has transpired this might be a great post for you to skip.

For me both of these issues were magnified by the media narratives being so divisive and ignoring the nuances.

When we are dealing with life and death issues like Covid and Murder and following protests and riots ... people are literally making life and death decisions. However, not just the obvious ones.

The Left and Right media love to present their view as if it is fact and there is no other way to view things, if you question the narrative you are fighting immediately with the other half.

It's taken me this week to sort out how to express my feelings on George Floyd's murder and the response.

First Mr. Floyd was not a perfect man, but that does not give 4 officers the right to execute him in the light of day with people videoing and that sure seems to be exactly what happened. Nothing that happened was worthy of that response, but it isn't the whole story. Because life isn't black and white and people usually are not completely good or completely bad.

First we have to look at George Floyd while the mainstream media will not say it, he had a long rap sheet which did include a couple of violent interactions including holding a pregnant woman hostage with a gun.

He was not a saint and we know from both autopsies he was on drugs the day of his death. Again no excuse for what happened.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who kneeled on Floyd's neck for over 8 minutes and until Floyd died is also a man with a long past and many marks on his record. In 18 years working for the Minneapolis police department there were 18 filed complaints against him which equals about one per year. Only two of the 18 complaints were "closed with discipline," according to an internal affairs summary. In both cases, Chauvin received a letter of reprimand.

Between their long history of police and criminal or the fact that both men did security shifts for the same club for over 17 years.. Did the men know each other? It's unknown at this point.

The club owner had this to say about it. Floyd worked some Tuesdays as extra security. Chauvin worked as an off-duty police officer for the club for nearly 17 years, Santamaria said.
"I wouldn't characterize them as knowing each other," she told CNN's Josh Campbell in an interview. But, she added, "We all worked together certain nights and they would have crossed paths."

Anyone who watched the video of Mr. Floyd's death was outraged and upset by it and during a tense time the racial tensions and sense that Blacks are commonly killed by officers was a spark that set the world on fire.

During the first couple of days I was on the protesters side, but as I watched the media fan the flames and the protests turn to violent riots and looting I felt much of my anger switch from the officers to the murderous and dangerous riots.

I found myself for and against all the sides.

I think police have too much authority and are too fast to use it. I think taking actions to execute someone should be rare, very very rare.

I think those officers acted with complete disregard for Mr. Floyd's life and I am glad they are all being charged. For me, it didn't justify, more deaths, looting, broken lives and the aftermath.

Some of those people want to hold everyone in America responsible for what those 4 men did to Mr. Floyd while I agree we do have racism issues, police brutality issues what we saw unfold was no solution.

Sorry if you want to view this situation from one side, make one side a savior and the otherside evil. That's not how life works.

At least 12 or more people have died as a direct result of the riots, I've heard story of a lost organ trying to get to patient that was on the waiting list for a transplant, A child died in a fire, due to services not being able to reach him. And also the direct murder and beatings on the street.

I don't care how mad you are there is no excuse.

This is the problem when people are expected to take sides in every issues.

Rarely does the real life story meet a narrative where there aren't any gray areas.

If you are out there protesting I understand it, I support it. Please stay safe and peaceful,

#blacklivesmatter

@whatsup