April Tuesday

 The jury is deliberating in the Derek Chauvin trial.  I would like to correct an earlier post when I said that Chauvin had his hand in his pocket during the murder of George Floyd.  An outline of Chauvin's position during the trial shows his black gloved fist resting on his left hip.  

In the original video his hand blends in and was not visible to me.  I would apologize for my crude interpretation, but in my mind that is and was the only rational explanatioin for his expression facing the camera while he slowly suffocated a human being.

Since Chauvin refused to testify, we do not know what he was thinking, or what his motivation was during the video. He does not appear to be angry, caught in some sort of beserker rage.  He is calmly staring at the camera and group of bystanders.

Is he challenging the group to intervene?  One would think he would crack a satisfied smirk at their helplessness.

Is he then a cold blooded killer?  He stayed in position three minutes after Floyd was dead and showed no remorse while waiting for first responders.  He refused aid for Floyd from a bystander who was an off duty first responder.  

Did we get Chauvin's background?  We heard about Floyd's history, did we get to hear Chauvin's history?  Early in the case someone had come forward and suggested that Chauvin and Floyd had history, but that went away and was retracted very quickly.

It is much easier to kill something with a gun.  One bad moment and a squeeze of a trigger and that bullet cannot be recalled.  But over 9 minutes of suffocation-and there was no doubt he was being suffocated as he cried, "please officer, I can't breathe," TWENTY times.

One can only draw the conclusion that when Chauvin got FLoyd on the ground his intent was to put an end to his life.  Once that mission was accomplished, he showed no remorse and prevented any action from bringing aid to Floyd.  In fact, staying on his windpipe for three minutes after he died was insurance that Floyd would never get up again.

I sincerely doubt that all 12 jurors will find Chauvin guilty on any count.

Yesterday the Willow and friend were at an intersection in a Maine city when a convoy of vehicles with flags and Trump signs blew through a red light in front of the police station and no action was taken.  

I try to understand such blind devotion to such a terrible human being whose policies and actions put the whole country in danger on many levels, from climate change to insurrection.  

The only thing I can come up with, which was the same conclusion regarding the devotion to our former Governor Paul LeRage-their outspoken advocacy towards racism.  Finally closet racists had someone in charge to openly express their personal views. 

What other conclusion can one draw, when Trump supporters openly display symbols of racism?  Even up the road some local dimwit, who is actually in a position of power via the local volunteer fire department, displayed a homemade sign several months ago..."All lives matter."

I wonder how that person would be feeling if it had been a black cop and a whte person?