I have been in deep depression this weekend. I was already down after the ridiculosity of the TNC* and violence of last week. But I have a college age niece who lives in Portland… The images of Trump supporting, crassly immature, wanna-be real men driving their phallic symbol pickup trucks as they acted out some kind of video-game fantasy by shooting randomly at people (paint balls can hurt people and mace is a weapon) raised my ire.

This clip by John Oliver contains some foul language**, but it puts into words a lot of what I’ve been groping to express.

The one thing I would add is that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a really good team to get this going. They are not some kind of compromise, which many on the far left are implying. Between them they have experience and knowledge of current laws, how to draft legislation, and understand both law enforcement and the justice system. The complex systemic problem of racism cannot be solved with a simple “one and done” approach. To meaningfully address racism requires an evolution of the system itself. It takes knowledge of the system and a strategic approach.

This is true of police reform as well, one reason that I was so happy that Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate: her understanding of law and law enforcement as well as experience with racism can lead to real change that works.

* Not a typo: per wiki “A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a ‘public matter’, not the private concern or property of the rulers.” Applying that word to the political party which held a convention last week is misleading, to put it mildly. It seems to me that T-party is more appropriate, in more ways than one.

**When my son was little I lectured him about swearing. I told him that the curse words do not actually communicate. It is better to say things like “I’m frustrated” or “I’m angry” because they communicate what is actually wrong and can help lead to a solution. I believe he came to regard my lectures as a form of punishment. We have also had some conversations since he became an adult. These days I am getting more lax: There are so many frustrated and angry feelings that it is hard to wrap cogent words around them these days.