Tag Archives: protests

national news

Protester suffers brain injury

You no doubt have seen the video.

Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old protester, approached a phalanx of Buffalo, N.Y., police officers armed with shields and assorted riot gear. The cops pushed him to the ground. Gugino hit his head hard on the pavement and blood began pouring out of his ear.

The police walked on by. Someone finally summoned medical help. Gugino was taken to the hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition.

It turns out Gugino suffered a brain injury. He needs physical therapy.

What, though, did the president say about this fellow? The Conspiracy Theorist in Chief suggested that Gugino faked his fall, that his tumble onto the pavement was exaggerated. Donald Trump called him an Antifa “provocateur.”

Let’s just say that the only provocateur in this instance is Donald Trump, who is provoking more anger, more distrust of those who are protesting police brutality … which was the cause of the Buffalo march in the first place.

Get well, Mr. Gugino. As for Donald John Trump, well … I am just hoping he is in the final throes of his disgraceful tenure in the nation’s highest office.

national news

Protests echo Trump re-election effort

Are we witnessing a Donald Trump re-election effort manifesting itself in the form of protests from those who object to governors acting to protect Americans against a deadly viral infection?

The protests are ongoing again today in state capitals where governors have shut down their states. They have imposed stay at home orders, and ordered residents to maintain appropriate social distancing while the world fights against the coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump wants the governors to reopen their states. He has declared his desire to have the nation reopened for business by May 1. That won’t happen.

However, he is egging on the protesters. He is backing them rhetorically, declaring that Americans who are carrying signs and demanding a reopening “like me.” What the hell is he trying to do?

Governors, most of whom are Democrats (and yes, Trump is a Republican), are clamping down with measures designed to inhibit the growth of the infection. Yet we hear now from some protesters who say they disbelieve the warnings coming from pre-eminent medical experts. They don’t trust the experts who say the killer virus is many times worse than influenza. Some of the radical protesters demand that Trump “fire” Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the voices of reason who’s been trying to slow down the reopening movement.

Donald Trump’s behavior should seek to unite the country. Instead, he is seeking to divide us. He is pitting his administration against many of the nation’s governors. Trump continues to rail against Democrats, the media and seeks to rub the blame for his own failure off on others.

The protesters are echoing the president’s disgraceful behavior.

medical news, national news, political news

Protests mar effort to save lives

Economic hardship has run face-first into physical hardship.

Governors across the nation have imposed stay at home, shelter in place and social distancing orders in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Their intent is to save lives, to prevent the virus from infecting people and exposing them to possible death.

These actions have invoked clear economic consequences. Business is hurting badly. People have lost their jobs. Businesses have gone under; those that survive are doing so … barely.

Now we see protests mounting in capital cities. Americans want their governors to rescind those orders. They want the nation to get back to work.

And then we have Donald John Trump weighing in with his ridiculous Twitter tantrums and tirades, sowing the seeds of discontent.

He sent out messages that urge us to “LIBERATE” three state: Virginia, Minnesota and Michigan. The Twitter mantra takes aim at states governed by Democrats. Our pseudo-Republican president wants them scorned by their residents. He wants those residents to vote for him this November when Trump stands for re-election, most likely against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

While everyone understands that dissent is as American as any political act imaginable, we also must understand that dissent must have limits. People’s physical well-being sits squarely on the other side of that barrier.

So, when those folks protest against governors’ orders to protect them against a killer virus, and when Donald Trump tweets his desire to “LIBERATE” certain states, this great American concept of political dissent puts Americans’ health — and their very lives — in potentially mortal danger.

Donald Trump, Sports news

It’s not about flag, military, or love of country, Mr. POTUS

The 2018 National Football League season is about to commence and once again — as we were a year ago — we’ll be talking as much about players kneeling as much as we’ll talk about touchdowns, first downs and superlative athletic prowess.

The NFL has issued an edict at the suggestion of Donald Trump that requires players who are on the field to stand while they play the National Anthem.

Some players are ignoring the mandate. They are continuing to kneel in protest of law enforcement policy relating to African-Americans. Some of them are raising a clenched fist. The players are angry that police in some communities treat black citizens differently from other Americans.

Of course, the president has managed to twist and contort the argument into something it is not. He blames the players — almost of them black — of disrespecting the flag and the military men and women who fight to defend it. He did so again this week. He is demanding the players who kneel be suspended by their team.

C’mon, man! It’s not about a player’s love of country. It’s about policing. It’s about the treatment of some Americans by law enforcement.

To suggest that the players are disrespecting our military, or the flag, or the nation is to reduce this discussion into another litany of maximum demagoguery.

Do I wish the players had employed another method to protest? Yes. However, I recognize what they’re doing, what they’re saying and we should allow them the opportunity to speak out.

Hey, it’s in the U.S. Constitution!