I'm sick of COVID-19. I'm sick of whites vs. blacks. I'm sick of Democrats vs. Republicans. I'm sick of straights vs. gays. I'm sick of Christians vs. atheists. I'm REALLY sick of the media. I'm sick of no one being allowed to think what they want and feel how they do without offending someone. I'm sick of blaming the whole for the sins of a few. When I read those words on Facebook, while I was in bed at 4:30 a.m., I almost threw out my neck nodding my head in agreement.
What the hell has happened to us? This time it started when the whole world got to see the horrible murder of George Floyd by a sadistic cop. Watching officer Derek Chauvin kneel, with his full weight, on Floyd's neck while we listened to Floyd pleading to breathe was the saddest thing any of us has seen on television since 9/11. I say let's convict Derek Chauvin and let the authorities find the prison in Minnesota that has the largest black convict population and have them send Derek Chauvin there. Let's see how brave he is in the prison yard and in the showers. But that's too far in the future. People were justifiably angry when they watched George Floyd die night after night on television, and that anger had to be fed immediately. And so people around the world came out to the streets and marched under the Black Lives Matter banner. When people march, striking out in their frustration, it attracts many good people but also attracts a few bad people who see this as an excuse to loot and destroy. The media loved it all. There's nothing like televised pictures of some poor storekeeper watching his store going up in flames after people have looted everything of value from it. But that was a few weeks ago, at the beginning of the protests.
After a while, it's boring marching and chanting all day long, so the marching mobs needed new subjects to enrage them. That's when some idiots decided that all the problems we have are the fault of some statues that have been gathering pigeon poop for the past 100 years. Let's pull down the statues. Let's blot out history. It will always be thus. I fully expect in 75 years a new crop of idiots will take to the streets and if MeToo is still in vogue, someone will say they heard that the great Martin Luther King liked the ladies a lot, even though he was married, so let's pull down his statues in the name of MeToo. But the biggest problem facing us today is still the hatred many black people feel about the white policemen who they feel threaten their lives every day. Someone shouts let's get rid of the cops and some dumb politicians -- always looking to win over some votes -- decided to defund the police in their city. I think it's a mistake. I know if I have a problem in New York City and I need the police I'm going to get Mayor de Blasio's phone number and ask him if he or if the lovely Mrs. de Blasio can come around and help me. But here's an idea that I think has some merit. Let's recruit as many black police officers as we can. We don't need fewer cops -- we need more black cops. I think black people are justifiably nervous, given the record of their being pulled over in their cars or stopped in the street by white cops. Let's make sure that black cops are there to protect black people. Let's make sure every cop's car is manned by one black cop and one white cop. How do we do that? Let's have the equivalent of the G.I. Bill, which worked so well after World War II, for cops. Let's promise that after 10 years of service there will be some free educational benefits. Let's offer some financial services for all cops. Let's offer a monetary bonus to any cop who after 15 years of duty gets a low number of civilian complaints. Of course, this plan will be an incentive open to all cops, black and white. But the emphasis would be in recruitment of black men and women to be cops. I would be happy to write a free television commercial today to recruit black men and women to the police force. Will it work? All I know is it would be a helluva lot better than what we have now.
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