CommentsTHE DOCTOR IS IN - This article may be a toughie for those who want to read this.
I recommend you move on if the harshness and blunt brutality of the wording below will offend you. I respect the need to keep things level-headed, but the cruel callousness of this one so-called "cop" has led to death and suffering throughout this nation.
And Derek Chauvin is as harsh and brutal as any American we have ever witnessed in recent history. Police officers and civilians alike now suffer, and have long suffered, and will continue to suffer, because of the outrageous behavior of this one man...and who did something to George Floyd that was emblematic of his career as a so-called "officer of the law".
There are those who will proclaim that all police officers are NOT brutal thugs like Mr. Chauvin. They are CORRECT.
There are those who will proclaim that too many police officers (despite them being a small but violent minority of our nation's law enforcement) are guilty of what Mr. Chauvin have done--but some have simply gotten away with their behavior and misdeeds, because we just haven't learned of their illegal actions. They are also CORRECT.
There are those who will proclaim that George Floyd had a horribly checkered life, was no "gentle giant", and who is anything BUT emblematic of our nation's black Americans who are honorable and law-abiding individuals.
They are also CORRECT.
There are those who will proclaim that George Floyd, past history or not, did NOT deserve to die in such a horrible death.
They are also CORRECT.
There are, however, those who proclaim that Derek Chauvin was guilty only of doing his job, and that he's gotten a bad rap.
They are absolutely INCORRECT.
There also those who will proclaim that George Floyd's drug-induced state was the true cause of his death, and independently so of his being inappropriately restrained even after he was no longer resisting and even after he'd lost consciousness.
They are also absolutely INCORRECT.
There are those who will proclaim that the riots that followed George Floyd's world-witnessed death were and are justified, despite them leading to the deaths of numerous civilians and police officers alike, and to the trashing of businesses and neighborhoods who did NOT deserve such a fate.
They are, too, absolutely INCORRECT.
There are those who will proclaim that the empowerment of the more shady parts of Black Lives Matter (not those who earnestly are trying to peacefully and diplomatically do the right thing to unify us all, but the grifters and opportunists who know what exploitation they're doing for economic and political betterment) is appropriate collateral damage to our nation, and no big deal.
They are absolutely, entirely INCORRECT.
And there are those who have leaped on a ridiculous "Defund the Police" slogan, and who have caused a sequence of city, state, and even federal misdeeds to tar and feather and strip away the dignity of our law enforcement, and who have caused a jump in violent crime throughout the nation while our police are terrified now of just doing their jobs.
And they are absolutely, miserably, and horribly INCORRECT--you're no better than this miscreant piece of scum that is Derek Chauvin.
The targeting of our brave heroes in law enforcement (again, terrified to just do their jobs), who protect our nation's minorities more than any other group they're assigned to protect?
All sparked by Derek Chauvin's (and, to boot, his police partners in crime at the scene) condemnable murder of George Floyd (who, again, did NOT deserve to die).
The wave of "smash and grab" crimes in major U.S. cities, and particularly those who've been guilty of thug-laden police forces and empowering hideously-callous and crime-enabling politicians and district attorneys?
All sparked by Derek Chauvin (or at least put into fast-forward mode).
The empowerment of moronic idiots like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who are actually blaming the retailer victims for the looting of their own businesses?
All sparked by Derek Chauvin (or at least outrageously exacerbated).
The empowerment of crime-enabling politicians like Lightfoot, and who are diverting their own blame towards the equally-guilty district attorneys while not taking responsibility for the cities THEY are elected and paid to run?
All sparked by Derek Chauvin, who have turned us all against each other when we needed to come together the most during this pandemic and politically-charged time.
So, Derek Chauvin, allow me to suggest that--illegal and unconstitutional as it would be--were you to be meted out the same fate as George Floyd (and he wasn't that unusual a case with your stained career, was it?), I wouldn't shed a tear.
And if you don't make it through your future imprisonment for what you've done to this nation--and especially our nation's law enforcement--I wouldn't shed a tear.
I would even call it justice--because the justice you denied George Floyd is also the justice and peace you've denied the rest of America.
There will be very little justice, and very little peace, because of you, Derek Chauvin.
May you rot in Hell, Derek Chauvin. You've earned that fate.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 9, years and is also a Board member of the Westside Village Homeowners Association. He previously co-chaired the MVCC Outreach, Planning, and Transportation/Infrastructure Committees for 10 years. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, the grassroots Friends of the Green Line (which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection), and the nonprofit Transit Coalition His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
