people speaking out

A few hours after yesterday's post, I called 911 from the bathtub again, so I could report yet another round of gunshots near my house. Twice in one weekend. That's a new record for me.

About 2 hours ago, Minnesota governor Tim Walz went on television and gave a very nice speech. I actually agreed with much of what he said. The sad part is that they're just more words. We had a year and did basically nothing, so here we are again. The same day he spoke those words, he declared another emergency. Minnesota authorities decided to bring in more officers from Ohio, Missouri, and Nebraska, because the 3,000 soldiers and every-Minnesotan-with-some-kind-of-badge just wasn't enough to keep somebody around here from feeling scared.

What are they scared of?

• More stories telling the truth about what happened to journalists.
• Students throughout the state walked out of school today to join protests everywhere.
• High school students (the next generation of voters) learning to chant, "National Guard! Go home!"  (So are others.)
• Citizens standing up and stating plainly that "There are more troops in Hennepin County right now than there are in Afghanistan!"
• Everyone watching the price tag go up yet again, seeing plainly the cost of continuing to refuse systemic change.

And, the kicker, what started it all... the trial of Derek Chauvin for the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd has gone into deliberations.  They never planned for police to kill yet another black man during the trial about the last murder.

The establishment is so very out-of-sorts that I'm beginning to think that things might actually change.  At long last.