A bunch of people are unhappy with my post, “Do you know what really killed George Floyd?” Spoiler alert here, but addiction killed him.
So I’m just going to double down and say it again, addiction killed him. It isn’t about fault, blame, and the worth of a life, of course his life had great value and it mattered. But addiction comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Addiction doesn’t “care” if your life matters.
I know this because people whose lives mattered to me have been killed because of their addiction.
Some people through absolutely no fault of their own were robbed, murdered and set on fire. They weren’t even addicts, but you know what? Addiction still killed them.
Friend of mine was murdered by her husband. You know what really killed her? His addiction.
A local kid was killed by the cops in Seattle. You know what got him killed? Addiction.
Several years ago some gals I went to school with laid down in the middle of the highway in dark clothing and got run over and killed. You know what killed them? Addiction.
A friend of mine, someone I cared about very much, blew his head off long ago. You know what killed him? His addiction.
Another friend of mine also shot herself. You know what got her killed? Her addiction.
My grandmother was shot in the head and murdered after picking up some hitchhikers. Their addiction got her killed.
Not long ago someone I know overdosed in the parking lot of a hospital. His addiction killed him.
A while back a woman riding a bike got hit by a car and killed. What really killed her? Her addiction, twice over because the driver also had addiction issues.
For some reason this is really controversial where I live and has been for some time. I actually get to say the most ridiculous things like, “heroin and meth will kill you.” And people will actually rebuke me, they will say to me, “I don’t think that’s really fair the way you are so judgmental.” People just have mental health issues…. People are just self medicating…. It’s a lifestyle choice…. Not all drugs are bad!… Cops just need to stop the violence….. It’s racism, it’s oppression, it’s the economy, the system is screwed, the deck is stacked, etc, etc.
All those things may be true, but none of that changes the fact that addiction gets people killed. It is the greatest public health threat this nation has ever faced. More people have died from drug over doses than died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. More people have died in a very short span of time from addiction then died in the entirety of the Vietnam war. More people have died of addiction just in the US, then have died globally from covid 19. Heck, more people have died from drug overdoses in my town, than have tested positive for covid! Here locally, covid has killed nobody. Every last person has recovered.
Not true of addiction.
I have a lot of grief, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration, a lot of suffering that comes from watching people die, and from being forced to stand by kind of helplessly on the sidelines, watching this totally invisible epidemic, steal, kill, and destroy, for decades. Year after year after year, and my grief in this community has often been met with complete indifference.
It’s a whole lot sexier, a whole lot more politically correct, a whole lot more culturally relevant, a lot more popular to yell about racist cops, systemic systems, greedy politicians, to blame anything and everything for the cause of people’s misery and suffering, but drugs.
So I don’t wish to hurt any feelings or offend anyone, but my wounds matter, my suffering matters, my life matters. Watching this community completely ignore those I care about, for years, while hysterically running about donning masks to prove how much they allegedly “care” about their neighbor during covid is just like pouring salt in that wound.
I don’t believe you, because all the decades of not caring, decades of complete indifference is now deeply embedded in my soul.
George Floyd would never have broken in and robbed a pregnant woman at gunpoint if it weren’t for his addiction. George Floyd would never have gone to prison if it weren’t for his addiction. George Floyd would never have terrorized a clerk with a counterfeit 20 dollar bill and stole a pack of cigs if it weren’t for his addiction. George Floyd would not have remained in the parking lot with his group of friends, after he was told to leave and the police were called, if it weren’t for his addiction.
Not one single person on social media or in my local community cared one whit about George Floyd or even knew his name when he was just shooting fentanyl tainted heroin and snorting meth. Not one single person cared…….until they thought it might be advantageous for them to do so, and they were invited to partake in the exploitation of his death for their own gain.
If any of you had encountered George Floyd a day before the media made him famous you would not have cared one bit about him. You would have either rolled your eyes and muttered something about “tweakers,” or you would have rendered him completely invisible with your indifference, or you would have called the cops hoping to get him cleared out of your path, to.
And some of you probably would have been quite happy to just sell him some more meth or heroin and line your own pockets…..
So, you can just put away all the self righteous moralizing and endless virtue signaling. I ain’t buying it. If you think my opinions are “crass and racist,” then go find someone who will tickle your ears and tell you what you want to hear.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
Truth matters little these days, it’s all about a narrative.
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Yep, I’m afraid so! Young people especially need to know the truth because culturally we tend to romanticize or idolize some really self destructive lifestyles.
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Reminds me of the lawsuits that narrow minded attorneys file only to line their pockets regarding people who are ‘wrongfully terminated,’ ie, fired.
But it doesn’t sneak by the watchful and fair eye of the judge who has to remind the ‘suit and tied’ squeaky clean looking photo shopped accused…….. that no, he was not singled out because of race or religion, but because he was a lousy employee, being late 9 out of 10 days, leaving early every day, and that when he entered the elevator, people got off because he never showered, and that his obnoxious loud mouth caused visitors, customers, employees stress to the nines/ so no, he was not entitled to gave a job where he was a defect and not an asset.
And the attorney should have held his head in shame to try to make a case. Did the ‘system’ get him fired, was he treated unfairly, or was he simply a lazy person with a zero work ethic?
But why was he hired in the first place ?
Quotas and stupid govt law.
Great follow up post btw msb.
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Good point, Colorstorm. These large, sweeping generalizations, leave common sense out in the cold. You just can’t legislate morality in that manner. The government has little or no power to change hearts, in fact, they usually just make things worse with their so called “solutions.”
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While being true that Floyd died in the hands of an officer, (and nobody is stupid enough to ignore that) your larger point should not be ignored either.
Many things occurred Before that fateful day, and a different set of choices could have prevented what finally happened.
And I also do not know why sooo many are quick to accuse a cop of murder—— as far as I hear, doesn’t something have to be proven….. after ALL evidence is heard?
Then again, I think I know why.
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How ironic to suggest that “nobody is stupid enough to ignore that” and then ignore that for the “larger” point. The world exploded with indignation at what they saw and yet we all missed the real issue. And who’s virtue signaling. As if the world doesn’t have reason to accuse that cop of murder.
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@cal
Of course we ‘all’ saw more than 2 people/ one on the ground/ and an officer with a knee.
Unlike you, my eyes did not see a murder occurring. Tragic yes. Unfortunate yes. But murder as in aforethought and planning to execute? Nooo, I did not see that, YET.
I’m pretty sure this is why there are trials.
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@ColorStorm. What really are defending? Are you defending due process? Are you making a case for Floyd’s life choices? Are you making a point about addiction? All these are come together to say what? Were you outraged at what you saw? Does the digging past what you saw into Floyd’s life before that moment soften what you saw? Does the leveling out of the nation’s revulsion by pointing out Floyd’s past without pointing out the cops past, make you feel better about mankind? Or did you just land on a notion that makes you feel better about you own lack of heart for that person of color’s life. Oh, I’m sorry you did mention that his loss of life was “unfortunate.”
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Did u miss the place where I said it was ‘tragic?’
And my point would be identical if the officer had a knee on a white man btw.
But the greater rage is hearing the justification for de-policing cities/ burning precincts/ stealing from stores/ as if ALL policeman are thugs.
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@Cal
George Floyd was apparently killed by a bad cop employed by a Liberal Democrat city in a Liberal Democrat state. Nobody has defended what the cop did, and we still don’t know the cop’s motive. Yet, racism was presumed from the get-go. That’s racist!
insanitybytes22 points to addiction. If we want to make something of our lives, then we must learn self discipline. That includes the discipline to avoid substances and activities (like endlessly watching TV) that usurp our self control and keep us from a purpose driven life. Floyd died because he lacked that self discipline. He was hooked, and so he was in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Otherwise, he never would have run into that bad cop.
Would that bad cop have killed someone else? Who knows? Would that bad cop have kill a black, yellow, red, or white person? Who knows his motivation?
The riots have not been about race. They have been mindless, misdirected acts of rage committed by people (not necessarily black, yellow, red, or white) who either don’t know or don’t care about how they are being used. Such stupidity doesn’t have anything to do with race. It has to do with a lack of proper purpose and discipline.
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Citizen Tom doesn’t this sound familiar to you; I mean historically familiar? Black people in America screaming and responding to violence at the hands of white people, slave masters, slave catchers, sheriffs, police(if you didn’t see it, that was a progression through time). While white Christians are not only silent about the violence or judging it necessary because of the threat to white life, culture, and security, they were also supportive and vocal in the defense of this white supremacist ideology.
Doesn’t the search for a reason into Floyd’s life to justify what you saw sound like an age old argument in this country? Your arguments are a resounding effects of “The Birth of a Nation.” Don’t you recognize the same old fight? And don’t you see who’s side of the old fight you have chosen. Are we really doomed to repeat history? Or are you still fighting for “the lost cause?”
How do we explain the white southern pastor who preached from the pulpit the defense of the indefensible? How do we explain why white Christians would not allow black people to hear the Bible taught among them for fear they would hear the message of the freedom of the gospel and demand freedom from slavery? Can’t you hear the voices from the past saying, “we don’t have a race problem, our negroes are happy down here?” Don’t you know why the South Baptist had to issue a public apology for the stances they took at critical moments in our nation’s history? My own seminary didn’t admit people like me until the 1970s.
History has judge the previous generations and many were found to be on the wrong side of that history. Many gave explanation then that history proved insufficient. You and IB are choosing a familiar side. Your grandchildren may find it hard to explain your words one day when the judgement of history has a more advanced racial morality.
In a country known worldwide for its racism, for a white Christian to suggest that our presumption of racism as a response to ANOTHER black man dying at the hands of a white authority is racist, I find smug, dismissive, cocky, belittling and just plain monstrous. I don’t know if I am more moved to tears or profanity.
Citizen Tom we all die because we lack self discipline; though the Bible calls it being slaves to sin. Yet God still commands that we not commit murder. And He still expects man to respond to murder with justice.
Finally, I find it lamentable that a Christian, would use political language to make a point about the human condition. It demonstrates at minimum a syncretism of faith and politics, as if the limits of the faith can be recognized or marked by these political term; also historically familiar.
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“How do we explain why white Christians would not allow black people to hear the Bible taught among them for fear they would hear the message of the freedom of the gospel and demand freedom from slavery?”
How do we explain the miracle though, the fact that Jesus got through anyway, in spite of our best efforts to stifle Him? How do we explain that now, because of salvation, we are all privileged, we have all I inherited a kingdom as full sons and daughters? We are not who the world says we are, we are who Jesus says we are. We have now been invited in, to sit with Him at the right hand of the Father. We are all so tremendously blessed, so hugely favored, and yet we are out in the world acting as if all this favor, all of His grace is not sufficient. We seem to forget that we are all really privileged in Him. As to worldly justice, there has been arrests made, trials planned, protests, and the murder of several more black men, including cops and teenagers. What will it take to satisfy this lust for revenge? How many more should die? Do we burn down the whole country like some are chanting?
I love you Cal, I don’t want to be hurtful, but what is happening is wrong, it is not how we find justice, it is not how we make the world a better place, and it is not what Jesus taught.
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IB you don’t get to tell us how to find justice. You don’t get to tell us about your unproven methods when you won’t listen to us. When you won’t heard us. When you write with little sympathy for our pain. You lost that with me when you chose to make a valid point about addiction in an extremely hurtful way using an ugly display of disregard for human life to do so. Then you let and participated in your followers hurtful comments. Did you say anything to the commenter who suggested that Chauvin was being lynched? He suggested that our demands for him to stand trial was a lynching. Really? A known racial trigger he applied to the cop. Where was your love of Christ for me when he said that. Didn’t you know how that would sound to people of color. His choice of words was not incidental.
The love of Jesus Christ leads to you proving to be a neighbor to those who are beyond your neighborhood. Without it we will not inherit the kingdom. Just as Jesus told the Jewish lawyer, “do this and you will live.” A faith that does not result in a love for God and your neighbor, with the quality of the Samaritan in Jesus’ story, is a dead faith. By faith we will fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.
I believe you know or should know that George Floyd’s death did not happen in a vacuum. The response was not about one man. He was, at the time, the latest in a long list of names for which the black community and beyond did not take to the streets as we waited for justice. The mother of Elijah McClain had been wait since last year with no movement toward justice. And Elijah was not on drugs. The mother of Ahmaud Arbery had been waiting since February with no movement toward justice. We had just seen, the same day Floyd died, Amy Cooper tap into the vein of racism and police brutality against men of color when she threatened to call the police on him. When she changed her tone sound in eminent danger. Breonna Taylor’s mother had been waiting for some amount of justice. Philando Castile, and no rioting. Eric Garner, Michael Brown, the 12 year old Tamir Rice, Botha Jean, Rodney King, Emmitt Till, the men and women Greenwood, and Rosewood, and the countless black men who died by lunching and murder at the hands of riotous mobs.
So when the latest died and you didn’t mention the officers with his hands in his pockets and his knee on Floyd’s neck until he cried out for his mother and stopped moving, or respond when I pointed it out to you, then yes I question your live for me. I want to believe you, but I just can’t.
Much of our disagreement come from one place. I believe there is racism, systemic, individual, historical, and institutional, in our country and I don’t think you do. And I believe you lack of belief in them is not neutral to me. I believe your denial of racism and the collective denial of it allows it to continue and continue to hurt and even kill people like me.
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Or if you’d rather, I suppose you can just disregard everything I’ve said, refuse to listen, and be hurt and angry. Then you can make a point of separating yourself from the likes of me by assuming I’m a horrible person who just wants to see more people continue to get hurt and killed.
Regardless, I assure you I’m not the one trying to tell you how to find justice, Jesus is. There is no justice apart from Him. There is nothing we can do in this world on our own to heal those wounds. Burning down the country, rioting, and getting more people killed is not going to bring justice or healing to anyone. It’s not going to end racism. It’s not going to get rid of bad cops. It’s not going to strengthen families. It’s not going to save lives. It’s not going to make the world a better place and it’s not going to heal any wounds.
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Then let me listen to you IB. What will help? How does Jesus tell us to find justice?
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We have to trust in Him, we have to trust that He sees and He knows what we have suffered, and that He is just. He fights our enemies for us. We have to realize He suffered and died for us, for our sins personally. The more we ourselves are forgiven, the easier it becomes to show grace towards others.
We are privileged now, in a way that is unjust, unfair, but we have been saved, chosen, adopted as sons and daughters, invited to sit with Him in victory. We need to step into that role.
We have to turn to him and let Him heal us, restore in us what has been stolen and lost ten fold over even, and we have to forgive those who have hurt us. It is a journey, a process, it takes time.
I don’t l know anybody who likes to hear those words, certainly not rape victims, not victims of domestic violence, not addicts, and not those who have been hurt by racism. Just the same, that is what Jesus has called us to and that is how we change the world. Jesus knew injustice better than any of us ever will and He still said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” That mindset, parking our heart in that place is how we change the world around us.
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I will try IB. I’m an emotional wreck and I need His healing. Blessings my sister.
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May the Lord bless you with His grace, love, and peace, Cal.
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@calhouns
Frankly, a cop with his knee on the back of some one’s neck does not sound familiar to me. That’s strikes me as weird, particularly in Minneapolis. What’s happened to that place?
The cop has been charged, probably overcharged, with murder, but he will most likely be convicted anyway because of the bloodthirsty mob that is after him. Black or white the police in the minds of Liberal Democrats have become the latest enemy of the people. This is not about race; it is about the pursuit of power.
You do realize Black Lives Matters is a Marxist organization, and Antifa is not much different? In reality, scientifically, multiple races don’t exist. There is only one human race. Therefore, those people who wish to dominate other people invent excuses, mangled and tangled ideologies, that give them an excuse. Organizations like the KKK and the Nazis use “race”, and the Communists use class warfare. But there is nothing new under the sun. Slavery is at least as old as recorded history. The word “slave” came from the name for the Slavic peoples. They are white skinned BTW.
So, stop trying heap false guilt on me. I am not your enemy. Our enemies are those people who want to sow hatred, to divide us into hostile factions so that they can conquer and enslave us all. Our enemy is Satan, and this is his world.
Look at yourself You are a well educated man, but look at what the race hustlers are doing to you.
Look up the etymology of the word “prejudice”.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/prejudice#etymonline_v_19410
In a country known worldwide for its racism? The United States? How obsessed with nonexistent human races do you have to be to make such a statement? Whatever our failings, the people of the United States are not the world’s most ungodly. The people of this country have fought racism with blood of its wounded, the sweat those anxiously building engines of war, and the tears of those who survived the dead. If our racism is known, it is because we have looked in God’s mirror — His Word — seen our reflection, fought temptation with the help of the Spirit, and not hidden our battles.
Look at yourself. Look at your own reflection. Instead of trying to follow Christ, are you are trying to use the color of your skin — something the Bible defines as meaningless to brothers and sisters in Christ — as an excuse for self righteous bigotry?
Think! You know full well that the blacks in this country have bigger problems than racial discrimination. Didn’t James say that the Bible serves us as a mirror (James 1:22-25)? When we don’t obey God, we have no greater enemy than our self.
You are an educated man. You know the value of an education. If you cannot see the harm being done to those with dark skin and white by race hustling politicians, then you need to open your eyes. What is the state of the family, our schools, and the knowledge of the Word of God where those race hustlers run things?
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Citizen Tom, I just realized you were the blogger who suggested a legal lynching of Chauvin was in process. I hadn’t gone back to look until now.
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@calhoun
Are only people with white skin bigots. Then anybody can be lynched. It is not ethical to suggest otherwise.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=lynch
Freedom of speech requires the ability to make use of words. So nobody owns our language we share it. However, that doesn’t stop people with their agendas from distorting words to suit their purposes. Think about the word “gay”, for example. “Gay” use to have an innocuous meaning. Some people have the word “gay” for their first or even last name. Now? Well, some devious people took over the meaning of the word.
Anyway, I grew up watching cowboy movies. Can only innocent cowboys be lynched?
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It’s all about choices— the choice to take drugs and or drink— then the nasty and destructive cycle of addiction and the repercussions begin— the tentacles reach far and wide, effecting all who come near— the known and unknown and it effects generation after generation—
People don’t care about George Floyd, he’s simply a convenient excuse for the unbridled chaos of a civil war—
Truth is also a victim of addiction-keep doubling down IB!!
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Yep, choices play a huge role. We really do a grave disservice to people by not stressing personal accountability. Not condemnation, not blame, but accountability where you become aware of your own power to make good choices.
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Obviously we don’t find that a fun thing so we’d rather go mad— 😑
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IB, you lost your credibility with this accountability issues when there is no mention of the cops accountability. In fact, you have not held any cop responsible for their action on your blog like you did George Floyd.
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@calhouns2013
Think it though. Being a policeman is a job. The police are hired by the people we elect. If the the people we elect hire bad policemen, we don’t hold — not if we are thinking — the police accountable. We hold the people we elect accountable. When are you going to hold the Democratic Party accountable? They have in been in charge of the big cities for decades, and they hired all those policemen you are angry about.
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IB I am with you all the way> Having been led to that “turning-point”t and having been blessed with that “moment of clarity” that addiction wanted me dead and that I was by Grace offered the opportunity to be done. I got honest. In my humble opinion and that of many others Addiction or Substance Abuse Disorder Syndrome (which is the fancy diagnosis name of the day), is a spiritual disease with a spiritual solution. I think that is why nearly all can’t or refuse to acknowledge how addiction is wreaking havoc and is the primary contributing factor in the loss of life today.
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Thanks, Jeff! You’re right, addiction really is a spiritual disease, needing a spiritual solution.
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If people would only get addicted to the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ..this world would be a better place.
The devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy; And that scoundrel is doing his job. He’s started sowing seeds of dissension between Christians of different races, when this is the time that we all should be coming together to pray and work towards sharing the Gospel with those who are lost.
I truly believe all of this craziness is setting the stage for the Antichrist and his one-world government.
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Yes, amen! That’s how you change the whole narrative, get yourself addicted to the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ! Addicted to joy? Peace? Praise? Whatever parts you love the most, regardless, Jesus changes everything. 🙂
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I think that all reasonable people agree that drug addiction is bad. There are a lot of organizations that help drug addicts, so I am not buying that people don’t care.
Police brutality is also bad and doesn’t just happen to drug addicts. For some reason you are trying to distract from abusive policing practices by complaining that people who support police reform aren’t doing enough for drug addiction. Do we have to let the police routinely violate our civil rights, commit assault and murder because drug addiction is a thing? Is that really a good reason to give up on our constitutional rights and let the police commit crimes?
I have a relative who is currently a police officer. The only time he’s ever had a gun pointed at him or feared that he would be assaulted or killed involved police officers. He’s never committed a crime or taken drugs, but abusive policing nearly got him killed. Many people have had similar experiences, most of them black, but some who are not.
BLM wants to “defund the police”. Sounded nuts at first, but it turns out that they want to reallocate some of the budget from cops to the kinds of programs that help drug addicts and other people improve their lives. Maybe they will be successful in some areas and people will help the drug addicts instead of kneeling on their necks until they die.
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I wish people understood there is a huge difference between believing that black lives matter and the organization, “BLM.” BLM is an institution, a “corporation” with a great deal of money, heavily invested in dismantling the traditional family, promoting transgenderism, celebrating Marxism, and advocating in favor of abortion. They do not care about the lives of black people, they wish to defund the cops and dismantle society as we know it. There will be no spending money to help drug addicts.
The other day some people were shot and killed over in “chaz,” the cop free zone in Seattle. When you take away cops, our problems with violence don’t just go away. Those problems are often heavily fueled by addiction.
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I’ve read some things on BLM inc. that I certainly disagree with. However, police reform is necessary and no one else is trying to get it done. The BLM movement has been effective in some areas. Think of it as how white conservative Christians support Trump in large numbers. Sure they don’t care for some of blatantly unChristian things that he does, but he is the best shot at getting some of the things that they want. Of course Trump supporters didn’t get much for their votes in the end. BLM has already gotten further on police reform than I would’ve thought possible a month ago.
As far as “dismantling the traditional family” goes, we’ve already done that by making it almost impossible for poor people to marry and have children and by making it increasingly difficult for the middle class to do so. What do you think BLM is going to do that will keep people from having traditional families? I don’t see how stopping the police from violating our civil rights and giving some of their budget to education and social services is going to stop people who want traditional families from having them.
But maybe there is a some scheme that I am missing.
Step one: police reform
Step 2: ????
Step 3: No more traditional families
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We do understand the difference.
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So when you had an opportunity to reflect on your first post. When you heard how hurtful it was, you doubled down.
I don’t disagree with you about drug addiction. I believe it kills. I know it does. But you took one of the most explosive and emotional events in our nations recent history, to make a point about his addiction. When the nation and the world responded with revulsion at what we saw; when people of color are screaming they are hurting and we can’t take this anymore, you stood in the corner suggesting it’s not the cops knee we should be responding to but Floyd’s choices that got him under the knee. Your timing stinks. It has the odor of insensitivity at best, and the stench of the nation’s racial history at worst. And right now I’m leaning towards the latter, though I really want to believe differently.
I will wait to see how you respond in sincere hopes that you will show just a hint of self reflection; that you heard and considered at all. If not I will move on from you. I will not read your blog anymore and I will not comment anymore. I hope having me as a reader matters enough to give real consideration to my comments. If not, I will regrettably leave you to your amen corner, knowing you will not be the better for it.
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I’m sorry if it’s hurtful. It’s still the truth and I have to speak it. Also, when you say crazy things like, “the most explosive and emotional event in our nations recent history,” it makes me feel like I’m talking to people who are completely out of touch, totally disengaged from what goes on everyday in the real world. I just gave you a list of personal things that I found pretty darn “emotional and explosive” and you just chucked them all aside, as if they don’t even matter at all.
“…you stood in the corner suggesting it’s not the cops knee we should be responding to but Floyd’s choices that got him under the knee.”
I think we can do both. In fact, I think we should do both. The thing is, Floyd’s addiction left a trail of victims who suffered at his hands through no fault of their own. You could take all the cops off the street and change the story so he never meets up with cops at all, but all those victims of his would still suffer and Floyd’s addiction would still continue to kill him.
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I see.
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Thanks for your continued grit. To ‘double down’ on an unpopular stand (especially a righteous one) takes courage and conviction sadly lacking in many naive followers of organized agitators. Your reiterated points emphasize the ignorance of mob mentality that merely hopes to exploit any current tragedy, rather than facing the real problems.
The blame game has become the favorite go to solution for the left, who have nothing more substantial to base their proclaimed grievances upon. Chaos and anarchy are preferred over truth and reason. Obstruction, denial, and distortion of facts have long since replaced genuine evidence once gleaned from legitimate research. While destroying decency, the old adage holds true for them, – tell a lie enough times to enough people, and it becomes truth to them.
Keep on punching IB. You don’t stand alone!
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You attempt a thankless and hopeless task. In a world where it appears impossible to address police brutality without making a criminal drug addict deadbeat dad an international hero, showered with posthumous awards and murals portraying him with halos & wings (apparently people in this country of ours don’t understand the ruling principle that we must advocate for impartial legal treatment of criminals, without making heros and role models of them); where the brother of a dead criminal is made into a multimillionaire by virtue of that death — when none of those multimillions will go into effecting any necessary reform at all — such a world simply doesn’t want to hear anything that makes sense.
I see no racism in this incident. there was no racial profiling. The police were called because a crime was committed and arrested the man pointed out to them as the perp. He was sitting –inexplicably, sitting instead of simply leaving the scene –in a car with a felon who was wanted on 3 felony warrants, including firearm & drug crimes.
This very stupid criminal and the very stupid cop who did not give him the medical attention he obviously needed, have caused numerous deaths and injuries and huge economic community losses and acceleration of racial strife. Meanwhile blameless victims and heroic victims and their families go without help of recognition. It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.
And of course you are right. The drug epidemic in this country which has become multigenerational in my community, and which breaks up families and sends children into the infamous foster care system, continues to generate so much profit on so many levels that it will continue to undermine our society forever.
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Very poignant post IB, very well said.
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Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
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I agree with you and have a personal testimony. I grew up in a middle-class home, with my mom and dad and us five children. One night, after I had been married a few years, my grandmother called me in the middle of the night and told me that I had to drive from SC to VA right away because my parents were packing up and leaving our hometown forever. My husband and I got ourselves and our small infant ready as quickly as possible and drove most of the night only to find that when we got there, my family was gone. They were gone from me for almost two years. I had no idea where my parents and three younger siblings were…for two years! Why? Because of my father’s addiction. He had gotten himself in debt up to his ears in our hometown and was running from debt and probably drug dealers, too, although he never admitted it. The next three decades were filled with ups and downs. My father was in and out of jail and my family survived in FL, where they had moved and where I found them after my mom contacted me again. She wanted to see her grand babies. So, my mother died because of my father’s abuse. Because he was addicted. My siblings have thrived, but only through their own efforts. Because my father was addicted. For over twenty years, my siblings had nothing to do with my father. I insisted that their bitterness was only hurting them, so they chose to forgive him, but none of us ever trusted him again. My grandparents never got to see my family again.Because he was addicted. My father died two years ago with congestive heart failure and all kinds of other health problems. I was fortunate to get to tell him good-bye via Skype. I will always miss the man he was when I was growing up as “daddy’s girl.” But I don’t miss the man he was when he was addicted and destroyed my family. Addiction is real and it kills. It kills more than the addict. It destroys families, neighborhoods, communities and friendships. Addiction is real, and it kills daily.
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Thank you for sharing that testimony! Well said. Addiction is a thief that causes so much suffering and just destroys everything that is good.
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Insanitybytes22
Who can be blamed for the millions of drug addicts in the USA?
Something has gone terribly wrong with our society.
Regards and goodwill blogging
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I believe there probably are some specific people who can be blamed for the millions of drug addicts in the USA. Much like the British Opium Wars, these are man made disasters with a lot of collateral damage.
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Insanitybytes22
After reflecting on your reply, I figured out who to blame. If Interested, I reposted a post you commented you liked last year.
https://rudymartinka.com/2020/07/04/king-solomon-who-killed-god-family-and-community/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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Thanks for the link, Rudy. 🙂
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Well stated and definitely ballsy. Your perspective on addiction and its many negative implications is bang on. A national crisis now for decades. Yet your assumption that addiction is the cause for that of George Floyd’s death — seems to me presumptuous at best. And it still doesn’t explain the unnecessary violence that led to his death during his take-down.
Even if addiction ‘did’ play a role in George Floyd’s death, his death as a black man while being incarcerated, still evokes racist undertones. — After all, more than one thing at a time can be true!
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And, addiction has killed over 200,000 Americans and counting. What are people addicted to? Lies. And this is an addiction that not only kills those who are addicted; no, just like the many people who are the victims of drunk drivers, this is an addiction whose victims are not just the addicts but innocent people of all ages and races and genders, with and without pre-existing conditions.
https://petersironwood.com/2020/06/28/essays-on-america-happy-talk-lies/
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