Saturday, October 27, 2018

Death in Pittsburgh

Yesterday we saw the quick arrest of a Trump supporter who sent more than a dozen bombs to political leaders, the largest American assassination attempt since the murder of Abraham Lincoln.  Copycats were expected. This morning we saw an anti-Semite murdering people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh; and the police gathered there to engage the terrorist. Three officers have been shot, many Jews dead, shooter in custody.

Conspiracies of hate are not new, but our current President, a mentally ill slob, has emboldened the KKK and American Nazis and the violent Right. What stands between us and them is the police. Many of us have a somewhat adversarial view of the police, and people of color fear law enforcement with good reason. But how quickly we turn to the cops when the need arises. Patrol officers run into gunfire because that's part of their job.

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