Justice, Is That You?
Chauvin guilty on all counts. Plus 50% of adults vaccinated, America has more guns than people and today is Earth Day.
If you’re in the US and have an iPhone, all links are available on my free app for the best daily progressive content: Ideacracy. If not, no problem! I’ve also included the original links below.
Justice, Is That You?
On Tuesday, the nation held its collective breath and waited for a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd.
The prosecution’s closing arguments to the jury had been dramatic: “You can believe your eyes, ladies and gentlemen. It was what you thought it was. It was what you saw. It was homicide.” Outside the courtroom, President Biden said the evidence for a verdict was overwhelming. And Maxine Waters told protesters “to get more confrontational” if no guilty verdict was reached. Republicans feigned outrage at both of these statements - presumably by suddenly emerging from the public-statement holes they hid in during the Trump era.
After deliberating for 10 hours, the jury found Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts. Celebrations and chanting erupted outside the courtroom. In a brief moment of spiritual catharsis, Twitter took a pause from being the worst.
A lot of people have made great points in the days since. The Minnesota Attorney General said the verdict was not justice “because justice implies true restoration.” He said it was accountability though, which “is the first step towards justice”. Others pointed to the impossible set of circumstances that have led to Chauvin being held accountable while other offices continue to get away each day: the video filmed by a by-stander, a lack of split-second decision-making, police testifying against their own…it’s a long list, folks. Others like AOC have (rightfully) said that the verdict is not a replacement for policy change. True justice is reforming a system that is not working for people of color, and Americans are increasingly realizing that.
You can watch AOC’s insightful video here: on Ideacracy or on Instagram.
50% of US Adults Vaccinated
This week, America hit 2 major milestones: 50% of adults have received at least one shot of the vaccine, and every adult is officially eligible for one. Of course, eligibility does not necessarily mean easy access (especially with the J&J pause, but you all know my feelings on that). From purely anecdotal evidence, I’ve heard of difficulties with booking appointments - if you’re experiencing that and want to vent, respond to this email or comment on the Substack post!
The next front is of course the public battle against vaccine hesitancy. For that, President Biden, former President Obama and various celebrities posted online videos as part of a “Roll Up Your Sleeves” campaign. Obama’s short video with Shaq and Charles Barkley was particularly awesome - not only because part of it addressed vaccine skepticism in communities of colors, but also because it featured him verbally dunking on Barkley.
You can watch Obama’s video here: on Ideacracy or on Facebook.
America Has More Guns Than People
Last week, I wrote about Daunte Wright. After that, news broke of the police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago, IL. Then the police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, OH. And just in case America wasn’t done being America, there’s also been a wave of mass shootings across the country.
One of those shootings occurred in Indianapolis, IN because of an unused state red flag law (a type of law that is supposed to stop people from buying guns when there are say, red flags). The mother of the gunman had previously reported him to authorities because of his instability and access to a shotgun. Law enforcement confiscated the gun but didn’t think they could build a red-flag case in a narrow window of time. The gunman then legally purchased two semi-automatic rifles and shot 8 people at a FedEx facility - four of whom were Sikhs. This double whammy of tragedy and hate crime makes you think: when we have red flag laws, maybe we should make it easy to enforce them?
This made me think of how to describe the gun pandemic in America. For that, I found an insightful Vox article and here are just a few read-outs:
America has more guns than people
There have been more than 2,500 mass shootings since Sandy Hook
States with more guns have more gun deaths and states with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths (editor’s note: no shit)
The states with the most guns report the most suicides (guns allow people to kill themselves much more easily)
In states with more guns, more police officers are also killed on duty
Part of solving a problem is learning how to describe it better - that’s why I liked this particular article. But from another angle, the problem basically boils down to Republican Senators denying basic gun control measures that are sensible to most people, including gun owners. Just in case we needed one more reason to abolish the filibuster!
You can read the Vox article here: on Ideacracy or on Vox.
Today is Earth Day
On a lighter note (I think??), today is Earth Day!
The Biden administration has convened a virtual global climate summit for today with 40 other nations. As I’m writing this, Biden just finished kicking off the summit by formally committing the US to cutting its emissions by half by 2030. This is an even more ambitious goal than under the Obama administration, and follows the US’s re-entry into the Paris Agreement.
Earlier this week, Senator Ed Markey and AOC also re-introduced the Green New Deal. The re-introduced version is even more ambitious. And Democrats seem more ready to counter Republican bad-faithism this time. In a speech, AOC called out the “false notion that we have to choose between our planet and our economy” and that the GND creates “a plan for 20 million union jobs in America to rebuild our infrastructure, restore public housing…[and] expand our access not only to electric vehicles and EV infrastructure, but also mass transit.”
Thanks to progressives, there’s been some climate wins this week and (hopefully) a lot more to come. Least to say, we’ll need to do what we can to make sure the 2022 and 2024 elections don’t f*ck all this up.
You can watch AOC’s speech here: on Ideacracy or on Facebook.
And now for our high note:
That’s all for this week folks! I’m trying to drink less alcohol and it’s miserable but necessary. Stay safe, stay healthy and catch you next week!