How might Derek Chauvin and Nancy Pelosi be the same?
Asking relevant questions and doing some deep thinking led me to see some similarities between two significant figures of our time
The infamous Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who is guilty of igniting last year’s racial protests and riots, will soon be tried by a jury of his peers to determine whether or not he committed murder during the performance of his duties. Since the victim of this tragedy is black, the media and our political class have made the assumption that he is racist. This narrative has been so constant and so unified that a huge number of average citizens, who rarely keep up with current events have decided that Chauvin is so racist he must be a Grand Kleagle of the Klan. But is he? Do any of us have any actual proof at this point?
In reality, he may not be guilty of racism. Pre-trial, we really don’t know. But he must be guilty of something. An individual died needlessly under his authority. Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes. Floyd appeared comatose for much of that time. Clearly Chauvin stopped paying actual attention to his assailant. Yes, Floyd resisted arrest, but surely this should not result in his death. His was an extended cry for help that had our entire country up in arms about police brutality and unchecked authority of one man over another.
Now, to be clear, pre-mediated murder in this case is an improbability. Not even the most rabid, anti-racist police protester should be capable of believing that Chauvin was willing to ruin his career in order to kill a black man in broad daylight with mobile cameras running religiously, showing his every move and utterance. Even if Chauvin is a committed racist, he would not be this stupid.
So I’ve pondered. What, if anything, do we KNOW Chauvin is guilty of?
I thought of a good word to describe Chauvin in this moment. It is used with great import in the movie, the Shawshank Redemption.
There is a scene in the latter part of this movie where an innocent prisoner, Andy Dufresne, is asking the warden of the Shawshank prison to help him clear his name and allow him to prove his innocence so he could become a freeman. The warden cuts Andy off each time Andy suggests something that could prove he did not commit murder. The warden tells Andy there is simply no way he could be found innocent even though clearly it is worth trying to do just that. Finally, Andy has had enough and asks, “How can you be so obtuse?” That word stuck out to me when I first watched this movie. I had always thought I knew what obtuse meant; that it was a clever word for dim-witted or stupid. But it is actually much more than that. According to Dictionary.com, the primary definition is “not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant.” This is what came to me as I pondered Chauvin’s actions. Obtuse. Anyone who watches the video where Derek Chauvin had his knee on the neck of George Floyd recognizes that Chauvin is being obtuse. If he had been less obtuse, perhaps Floyd would be alive today.
I’m not sure what the legal penalty for being obtuse is, but I recognized that many of those in authority today are also guilty of this. Obtuseness in our population is a pandemic today more common than the coronavirus.
Which brings us to Nancy Pelosi and Congress in general. This institution is saturated with obtuseness; along with the media, big tech, big pharma, the CDC, the FBI, academia, and many more of our authoritative institutions.
January 6th provides an excellent example. Many of our representatives in Congress, particularly Democrats, suggested breathlessly that white supremacists were staging an insurrection at the US Capitol building. These “racists” were there because Donald Trump told them to go and storm the building to steal the election from President-elect Biden. A great narrative. None of it is true.
Were our authoritative institutions not so obtuse, they might have actually asked some people why they were protesting at the capitol. Of course, not being obtuse they would have listened to those answers. They would have learned that 99% of the people protesting that day were there because they have serious concerns about the fairness of our elections. That there were numerous anomalies with the election. Many sincerely felt that the election was stolen from Trump and that since no court was willing to hear their case they turned to the only way they knew to make their voices heard — through protest. It worked for BLM, why not disenfranchised voters? Like it or not, the people protesting that day represent the voiceless, the powerless. The media used to work aggressively to have those voices heard. No longer. The media simply assumes the worst in certain people and moves to protect the powerful.
Now, personally, I have no proof that the election was stolen from Donald Trump and his supporters. But there appears to be several inconsistencies about the 2020 election that creates questions for the non-obtuse, pensive observer. One example of a serious election irregularity that deserves further investigation is that more black people voted for Biden in Milwaukee County than voted for Obama in 2008 or 2012. This happened even with a decrease in county population from 2010 to 2020.
So a free thinking person has to believe that Biden, with fewer potential voters, had no ground game in Wisconsin, campaigned from his basement, and held no rallies; got more votes than a black candidate, Barack Obama, who did all of those things and more. And all the while in many other urban areas, like Cleveland, Houston, Miami, etc., Biden did much worse than Obama while Trump performed much better among minorities than he did in 2016.
There were many more head-scratching datapoints in the 2020 election. But the Courts, the FBI, Congress, and Election Commissions have no interest in taking a closer look. The media, mainstream and social, actively censors any point of view that suggests Biden did not win the election fairly. And instead of listening to concerned citizens with reasonable questions, Pelosi ordered National Guard troops from around the country to turn the Capitol into Baghdad complete with German Shepherds, razor wire, and Humvees. All to protect Congress from an imminent threat conceived inside her own twisted mind.
Congresswoman Pelosi, how can you be so obtuse?
Of course, Jan 6th is only one example of recent obtuseness in our society. To be honest, most of us are obtuse, most of the time. But those in authority should be very aware of this natural inclination and fight against this urge at all times. That is part of what is supposed to make them good leaders. They are failing us.
The COVID-19 response, illegal immigration, transgenderism, China relations, cancel culture, and much more are all dripping with next-level obtuseness. No one in power is listening to regular folks. Those in power are not being observant over their stewardship. They have an agenda, and come hell or high water, everyday citizens are going to get with the program regardless of whether or not we desire it or deserve it.
The citizenry of the United States is crying for help, just as George Floyd cried for air. Just as the system failed Floyd, it is failing each of us — parents who want schools open or Texans who want the Southern border properly managed, or girls who want to compete in sports on a level-playing field — they have been silenced and marginalized.
Which brings us back to Derek Chauvin. This court case will be fascinating to witness. Based on some reports I’ve read; Minneapolis police officers were trained to use various choke holds to keep perpetrators from hurting themselves or others. If this is true, then it will be hard for an honest jury to convict Chauvin in a court of law. To further complicate matters, George Floyd appears to have had fentanyl in his system, which could have helped usher his demise. I have no idea if he will be able to get a fair trial. And I seriously doubt that the courts in Minneapolis are interested in giving him one. If he gets off, then Minneapolis will enjoy a summer of riots and looting — all because our institutions have worked so hard to ensure that the population is uninformed about the complexities of this case. The only thing a potential Minneapolis rioter knows about this case is that a white authority figure killed a black man in cold blood. No further questions needed.
This spring, Minneapolis will engage in a grand social experiment. Do we still adhere to the rule of law? Or is our judicial system ready to embrace the rule of the mob? Ironically this mob will share a kindred spirit with those Southern mobs that lynched black men accused of sleeping with white women. Perhaps there should be a penalty for being obtuse in this case. But if that penalty is equal to being a racist murderer, I shudder to think what is in store for the rest of us.
Chauvin is expendable in the eyes of our cherished institutions. But those same institutions see the common folk as expendable as well. That is the irony. The institutions will punish the obtuse Chauvin by being obtuse themselves. Layers of obtuseness. That is what we’ve become. It is time to break that chain and it starts with each one of us making an effort to be more perceptive, better listeners, more observant, and with an increased humility — and then pressing those in authority to live by these same tenants. It’s the only way the George Floyds or the capitol protestors of the world will ever get the air they so desperately need.
