Shit shit shit. Keep it together.
AH, YES
The more depressing conversation around the dinner table that evening, as the bottle of Jameson made its way around the table, comes as we’re sitting discussing the Black Lives Matter movement and the most recent killing of Keith L. Scott in Charlotte, NC. There’s a video on the New York Times.
Full disclosure: haven’t seen the video.
After stomaching, somehow, the beheading of James Foley and then later the strangulation of Eric Garner, I decided that I would no longer watch public executions. With the frequency that these have been happening – and we’re just talking about the ones caught on tape – it seems that every week brings with it another senseless death.
And so, weekly, we sit in front of our computers and TVs, in front of our phones and tablets, and watch a public execution. Just like the good ol’ days.
Full disclosure: Fuck that.
How desensitized are we, really?
How do any of us sit by idly while innocent people are slain in the streets? But there are movies to watch and football’s back, and I have to worry about my own family.
But do not mistake it. If you watch these videos and then do nothing, you are, effectively, watching a public execution for entertainment purposes. Nothing more.
The most cynical comment of the night comes from a friendly and intelligent, well spoken man who says, what if this is just the world that we live in now? Terrorist attacks are just always going to be a thing, and cops are going to keep killing innocent people.
It’s not so much the statement itself that makes me reach for the bottle of Jameson, as it is the confidence with which it is said. As if, like so much else, there is nothing we can do.
Next up: Madison.
Full disclosure: nothing political happening there, just another night of debauchery to wash away the taste of the past week.
And then: Michigan.
Question 23: is any of this worth it?