The Coronavirus Thirteen Weeks Later - Welcome to the CHAZ

There was an interesting piece in the New York Times by their Seattle bureau chief, Mike Baker, discussing the newly formed "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)," that part of Seattle taken over by protesters either supporting, or part of, the Black Lives Matter movement. I hasten to add that CHAZ is now CHOP, although there does not appear to be a consensus as what the "O" stands for. I have seen "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" and "Capitol Hill Organized Protest." Whatever, it is an approximate six block area of Seattle that the police have abandoned, with one banner over the now abandoned police station reading: "This space is now the property of the Seattle people." Is it now? The banner is reminiscent of a friend's favorite scene from Dr. Zhivago. When the good doctor returns to his home/mansion, after tending to wounded troops during the Russian Revolution, he finds that his home has been taken over by "the people."

Baker tells us: "The entire area was now a homeland for racial justice." Not so much for women, apparently, as the police declared there were reports of rapes (and robberies) in the CHAZ/CHOP. But no matter. Baker: "What has emerged is an experiment in life without police - part street festival, part commune. Hundreds have gathered to hear speeches, poetry and music." Said one occupier: "We are trying to prove through action and practice that we don't need them (police) and we can fulfill the community needs without them." Interesting that these protesters felt the need to put up barricades (a wall? like Trump's wall?) to control ingress and egress to and from the CHAZ/CHOP. And, lo and behold, there were armed people controlling the ingress and egress. Hmmm. Border Police?

I have a question. When did the people who live in, and own businesses in, the CHAZ/CHOP get to vote on this new arrangement? Did I miss the reporting of those election results? Or, as with the Communists in 1917 - "Election? We ain't got no election. We don't got to show you no stinking election." (Okay, I know. Now I'm mixing Dr. Zhivago with Treasure of the Sierra Madre.) But the Mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, had no problem with the CHAZ/CHOP, as she said: "Lawfully gathering and expressing First Amendment rights, demanding we do better as a society, and providing true equity for communities of color is not terrorism. It is patriotism." One woman living in the CHAZ/CHOP did not see things the same way: "I've lived on Capitol Hill for thirty years. The amount of graffiti, the amount of trash, the lack of respect to the small businesses that were here, it breaks my heart." Whiner.

Here is a Tweet from Her Honor, the Moron, I mean Mayor: "The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone #CHAZ is not a lawless wasteland of anarchist insurrection - it is a peaceful expression of our community's collective grief and their desire to build a better world." Just to be clear, according to the Mayor, any group that is grieving and desires a better world, can take over pretty much whatever they want? As I said, moron. Besides, the Chief of Police did not exactly agree with the Mayor. Chief Carmen Best: "Rapes, robberies and all sorts of violent acts have been occurring in the area and we're not able to get to (them)." I think that the Chief is missing the big picture, because, you know, the "speeches, poetry and music."

One reporter from Fox noted that 500 people live in the CHAZ/CHOP, with another 15 to 20 businesses in the area. Sadly, all but a couple of businesses were boarded up. But who cares about the business owners and their employees, when people are listening to "speeches, poetry and music." As Tom Bevan, president and co-founder of Real Clear Politics, said: "If a bunch of MAGAs took over a section of Seattle and declared their independence, the media would lose their marbles. And you know Jay Inslee (the Governor of Washington) would be preening in front of the cameras declaring a statewide emergency instead of pretending he knew nothing about it." (Two days into the CHAZ, Inslee claimed not to have heard about it.)

Meanwhile, it is easy to forget that we are in the midst of a presidential election year. The election is less than five months away, but with the coronavirus we have not seen the usual travel on the campaign trail. I would like to see at least three debates between Trump and Biden. One on domestic policy, one on foreign policy and one open to questions from average people. After the Democrats' attempted coup at removing Trump from office, it is quite amazing to see the lies being told by Biden about Trump and the election. In April, Biden said this: "This president, mark my words, I think he's going to try to kick back the election somehow, come up with a rationale why it can't be held." Really? Based on what, Joe? But this is what Biden said just a few days ago: "My single greatest concern - this president's going to try and steal this election." Again, how would he do that, Joe? Ballots are counted at the local level. These are the same types of lies the media and the Dems have been saying about Trump since he took office - he's a dictator. Except, as previously shown in the May 24 post (The Coronavirus Ten Weeks Later - Back to Politics) it was Obama who regularly acted contrary to the Constitution.

But let us not forget how Biden went after Mitt Romney during the 2012 campaign. While speaking to a largely black audience, and mocking Romney's idea of less regulations on banks, Biden said "unchain Wall Street?" "They're going to put y'all back in chains." Columnist Jonah Goldberg described Romney as a "transparently decent man." But that did not stop the Dems and the mainstream media from viciously attacking him. Goldberg: "The lesson many on the right took from all the Romney attacks was that a candidate can't win by being decent. 'At least he fights' became a kind of unofficial mantra of the Trump brigades." Which is not to say that President Trump has never disappointed me. My biggest disappointment during this turmoil is his failure to speak to the nation (not just on Twitter) and try to be a unifying voice when the country needs it.

Earlier this week it was reported that another 1.5 million people applied for unemployment benefits in the preceding week. That brought the 12 week total to 44.1 million people. As the country has begun reopening, there has been a spike in coronavirus cases, especially in the southern and western states. But I believe the pressure to stay open - both from businesses and the states themselves - will overcome the temptation to reintroduce another lock down.

The latest numbers I saw show the US has had a total of 2,150,772 cases of COVID 19, with 117,604 deaths. New York had 403,809 cases and 30,874 deaths. New Jersey 169,237 cases and 12,696 deaths; California 150,267 cases and 5,062 deaths; Illinois 131,871 cases and 6,289 deaths; and Massachusetts 105,395 cases and 7,576 deaths. Pennsylvania is seventh with 83,210 cases but has had 6,283 deaths. And Michigan is ninth with 65,836 cases but 6,013 deaths.

On June 8, the Chicago Sun Times reported that, over the prior weekend, 85 people were shot in Chicago, and 24 people were killed. On May 31, Chicago had the single most deadly day in about six decades, with 18 people killed that day. So I ask: who is mourning for those people? Who is out protesting and marching? The article told us that one of those killed was a 30 year old black woman, and another was only 18 years old and was in a college prep program, while a third black woman was a college student. Where is the outrage? We should all be outraged over these killings. But they were probably killed by other blacks. Cal Thomas had a piece on Fox in which he cited the FBI's crime data from 2018. He said that 2,925 blacks were murdered in the US that year, with blacks being the murderers about 2,600 times. Where is the outrage?

I will leave you all with this thought from the brilliant economist and thinker, Thomas Sowell: "Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?"