The thought has been rolling about in my head for a while, and I’ve spent quite some time thinking about it. Now, I’ll try to put some words to it.
I absolutely don’t want to imply that I don’t love the country–I did, after all, spend 20 years in its service in the military, and I’m still working in a similar line of work. But I’m not certain we’ve got much more left in us.
Oh, whatever path we take, the nation will continue to appear to be trundling along. But I think that the next few years–a decade, at the absolute outside–will determine just what path that is. And I worry that it won’t be a truly “small-D democratic” path, continuing to strive towards our founding ideals (“all men are created equal,” and such).
There’s a sizable portion of our population that seems to dearly want a theo-/autocratic state. Possibly with a dash of oligarchy thrown into the mix. They’ve wanted it for quite some time; the Civil War was a large, early clash in this struggle.
I think we might be hitting a pivotal point, and one of the factors to push us in one direction or another will be the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin.
Were it me on the jury, I’d already say that the preponderance of evidence shows that Chauvin is guilty, beyond reasonable doubt. Sure, we might quibble over the sentencing–but I’m for a guilty verdict. The past 30 years or so have me unsure that we’ll see it, though. (I remain hopeful, but somewhat skeptical.)
If he’s acquitted, then we’ve shown that, in essence, we’re living in Judge Dredd’s comic-book MegaCity, with the “Law Enforcement” acting as judges, juries, and executioners. We’ve seen too many instances of “death by cop,” with no significant push-back by the authorities.
I’m heartened that some states are revoking, or at least starting to peel back, qualified immunity. That’ll certainly help. But is it too little, too late?
I’m not certain what to do about it (except, you know, vote–which might be getting more difficult–plus calling your local, state, and federal legislative people).
But if we do head down that darker path, I suppose at least we’ll be ready?
leftwingsurvivalist 
Just FYI, “a preponderance of the evidence” is the lowest standard in civil proceedings. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” is the standard in criminal proceedings. A preponderance of the evidence pointing to Chauvin’s guilt could result in an acquittal. I believe –and I surmise that you do, too–tht Chauvin is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Not a lawyer… Just using words wantonly, like the linguist I am. I believe Chauvin is guilty, and I believe it’s beyond reasonable doubt–but I also believe he’s to be treated as “innocent” until the jury finds him to be guilty. This, everyone should note, is not the standard that Chauvin used on Floyd–which is, basically, the problem.
I’ve been reading McCullough’s book “John Adams” – really good to understand how we came to be the America we all believe we were raised in. I am finding it hard to reconcile myself to the media-corporatizing of every information outlet I seek answers from. I no longer trust or believe anything I hear on the radio, or see on the nightly news. If Chauvin is found guilty or acquitted, does it make that much difference when everything has been turned on its head in our society? If he is found not guilty, BLM will riot and burn down more Wendy’s and loot more liquor stores. And all the tech monopolies will be right there egging them on. If he is found guilty, will that stop the looting, rioting and killing? Probably not. As usual, we’re on our own- no real government, no real recourse except self defense.
See, I’m not so certain that BLM is behind all of the looting and rioting. (The protests, even if 100% peaceful, aren’t helping matters with regard to the looting and rioting, to be sure. But–well, there are enough things wrong there to take an entire other post on the blog…)
And “no real recourse except self defense”–defense from whom, exactly? Unless you find yourself in the middle of the aforementioned rioting and looting; in which case, the best thing to do is *be somewhere else.* Quietly, calmly, and peacefully.
The radio and news can be trusted, to an extent–but you definitely have to be aware of the various biases of the different sources. Even Fox will show real events–but they’ll cherry-pick the images, and put far too much spin on their sound-bites…
Agreed- everyone puts their spin on whatever is happening. Self-defense for me means being self-sufficient at home and ready if the angry mobs come up my hill. I certainly won’t be going out looking for them.