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Trump seems to think it’s essential to be violent against people who are peacefully complaining about violence

Police in front of Georgia's State Capitol during standoff with protester: Reuters
Police in front of Georgia's State Capitol during standoff with protester: Reuters

There are many possible outcomes to this unrest in America, and one issue to consider is if America saw any other country behaving like this, it would use the chaos as an excuse to invade it.

So Donald Trump may have watched the news on CNN a few times and said, ‘That’s a dreadful country, terrible country, let’s have a war with them,’ and the troops will all be ordered to fire on themselves.

Trump’s supporters claim the protestors are causing the violence, and to be fair we can’t know for certain who’s responsible. It might be the crowds we see in T-shirts carrying home-made cardboard signs or on bicycles. Or it might be the trained lines of armed police in full protective equipment marching forwards in military formation behind riot shields, serving a president who declared he’s happy for shooting to start. There’s no way of knowing which of these groups is being the aggressive one.

Any amount of violence from the police seems to be justified, because it’s keeping the streets safe from violent protests. So it’s essential to be violent against people who are peacefully complaining about violence, otherwise the streets will be full of peaceful people, and no one can tolerate that as it could lead to violence.

It’s an imaginative way of getting things done, like a damp-proofing company that turns on a hose in your living room for four hours, to make sure it never gets wet.

At one point Trump did what anyone would do to resolve an explosive situation: he had a crowd teargassed so he could walk past them and hold up a Bible. This is a classic pacifying technique used to ease tension, which is why one of the most popular apps for people who meditate is the gentle drifting sound of the National Guard battering people.

It’s fitting that Trump posed with the Bible, because if Jesus stood for anything, it was supporting the armed authorities when they arrest and kill an innocent person from a group the ruling powers didn’t trust. That’s why his last words on the cross were: “Forgive them father, for they can’t allow people like me to cause havoc on the streets of Jerusalem.”

The White House press secretary insisted “no tear gas was used” in dispersing the crowd for Trump’s walk, despite all the footage showing police firing something that looked extremely gassy. Maybe they were firing scented candles, and people ran away from them crying because the aroma brought back an emotional memory they associate with butterscotch.

Trump also claimed the crowd were throwing objects, though CNN reporters and camera crew in the middle of the crowd all agreed they saw no one throw anything. But the president says they were throwing things, and he was in a bunker under the White House so he had a far better view.

And it must have been coincidence, that they did all this throwing at the exact moment Trump wanted to do his Bible walk.

But it’s a tricky position, to try and defend the actions of a police force that has been filmed having gone so rogue that it murders an innocent man. So obviously, the most effective way to delicately restore trust is for them to randomly attack more people in a series of cities across the whole country.

Most reasonable people would also consider it smart to impose a curfew, like those imposed in the major cities. “Yes,” I imagine learned people would say, “if an institution has become so out of control it carries out a murder such as the one of George Floyd, it’s only fair they’re not allowed out any more after dark.“

But with all that’s going on, the paperwork must have got mixed up, and the curfew has been imposed on the group that identifies with the murdered person, and the only people allowed out are the force that did the murder.

Despite all this, there are people who object to the slogan “Black Lives Matter”, making the reasonable point that “ALL lives matter ACTUALY.”

They make a good point, as long as you ignore the fact that obviously all lives matter, but clearly many people, including armed police, don’t think black lives do matter.

It’s like ringing for an ambulance after a heart attack, and being told, “Why are YOU so important, surely ALL hearts matter?”

Or if a serial killer on trial for murder said in court: “But your honour, why are we obsessing about these few people who I’ve put in boxes in my freezer, surely ALL lives matter?”

It’s an impressive effort to find a reason for condemning the protests on this issue. But a collection of commentators manage to say: “I can understand it’s frustrating, when an innocent man gets systematically choked to death because of his colour, but if you can’t respond by staying at home and not shouting, you’re every bit as bad as the murderer.”

So it’s good luck for all this to happen, while there’s a president ideally suited to deal with it. This is how America works, by ensuring balance. We’ve had a black president, so to balance things out we should now have one that supports White Power. It’s the natural checks and balances of the American system.

But what I hope we’ve learned from this episode in this country, is if medical staff want to make sure they always have a full quota of protective equipment, instead of waiting for months, just write to Trump and say you’re a branch of the National Guard peacefully clearing the streets because someone has a Bible. Within an hour you’ll have enough to last your whole career.

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