Oh Won't You Help Me To Understand

An NYPD guards City Hall in front of graffiti that reads KILL ALL COPS

P rode out to City Hall on the 4th of July to get a read on what was going on in the Occupy camps out there. It's hard for numbnuts like me to understand this extremely complicated issue that has come to the forefront after the George Floyd incident.  Images like these make my head spin.  Trying to separate the idiots that graffitied these hateful messages on the walls of City Hall from the ones being spoken across the street was the first obstacle.  The differences between defunding the Police verus abolishing them is in the details but even the thought takes me to frightening places for a city like New York.  I have confusion and a million questions like many of us.  I don't understand the plan around who replaces the authority in an extreme threat situation for example.  I'm hearing from BLM that those types of calls are very rare, yet I'm also reading the uptick in gun violence in NYC with over 650 already which is almost doubled over last year.  I want a trained officer of the law with authority and a gun, I don't know about you, but maybe I'm not seeing reality.  We've had break ins, attacks and robberies but the cops can't be there during, they only come after.  They didn't help afterwards, there was really no way for them to.  They're more peace of mind to me, assurance, insurance.   But say for a domestic issue, maybe they aren't the best choice.  And I do see many ways we use them where they aren't the best response unit to come and they'd probably be thrilled if they didn't have to as well.  The actual long term detailed plan sounds interesting to replace the militant way of policing with a healthier response and proper resources of prevention so that people are less apt to escalate to these extremes.  I want to believe we're all becoming more enlightened or even capable but on the other hand, I see more Godless society behavior all the time.  What I mean by that is people operating void of any sense that we are together, that they are part of the world or have any responsibility to contribute or that doing good things matter or has affect.  I see a lot of islands.  This could only result in worse before it gets better.  But having spent some time trying to understand what this BLM is pushing for, it's less militant than I suspected if indeed I do understand it correctly.  People chanting police obscenities in the marches didn't help, graffiti that says Die Pigs, I Wonder What a Cop Tastes Like, etc can turn people off to explore further, assume it's another radical hate movement.  I hope they had nothing to do with those sentiments but it's not clear who's who anymore.  We read anti semitic messaging a couple of years ago in conjunction with this group.  Our cool Chief Monahan who took a knee with protestors weeks ago, was attacked while policing a peaceful protest.  He still says it's militant groups infiltrating the marches, so I trust he knows but outside looking in at these photos, I'm hard pressed to get behind any of this.

Black Lives Matter

P witnessed this encounter with a black women who entered the zone wanting to understand the issues by talking to protestors black and white, and then finally taking a photo with a white cop.  She was in support of our NYPD, most likely a republican but super respectful and kind to everyone and her voice is just as if not more important than those preaching to the converted out there.  All angles need to be heard and a middle age black woman's voice is very relevant.  I hope hearts are in the right place but I still have such doubts about these college-aged white kids being the voice for black people, it just doesn't jive with logic.  Walking and marching alongside, yes, I'm totally down with.  I'd call them and this woman brave.  

While P was off in the world, I was still hunkered down enjoying my favorite breakfast, yogurt, fruit, nuts and a crumbled Nature Valley Bar.  It's like dessert for breakfast but provides a ton of energy to fuel my pea brain.