"Black Lives Matter. Of course they do. Then multiple black police officers and individuals were killed during the 'peaceful protests.' I don’t see any outrage. Black individually owned businesses burned to the ground. Silence. Deadliest weekend in Chicago. NOTHING!!"

"It is on the basis of the freedoms and rights so defined by the U.S. Constitution that America became the most successful and powerful nation in the world [and] Americans enjoyed freedoms neither previously known in the history of the world nor enjoyed even today in much of the world.... Law-abiding Americans enjoy the opportunity to rise from poverty, to enjoy the benefits of an education, to start a business, to move from state to state, to create wealth and to live in peace with their neighbors without fear of an oppressive government.

"It is tragic that so many young Americans, having grown up with all of the benefits life, liberty and the American Way have to offer, lack understanding and appreciation of the extravagant blessing it is to be an American. It is tragic that a major political party seeks power by dividing Americans over race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or any other invented or imagined ism or status. It is tragic that the culture and character of what has been the most free and successful nation in the history of the world is under assault not just from without but more seriously from within. It is tragic that the Constitution creating and maintaining this magnificent experiment in governance of the people, by the people and for the people is so little appreciated by so many who have enjoyed its unparalleled freedoms. One can only hope and pray that America will not be deprived of that which has made her the envy of the world. It is time for all believing Americans with voice, prayers and vote to peacefully defend as never before truth, justice, and the American Way."

So wrote Robert Turner on May 12, 2019 in "Truth, Justice and the American Way" (www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/05/truth_justice_and_the_american_way.html).

Turner duly acknowledged: "Has America made mistakes? Of course it has. Was the slavery that the newly founded nation of America allowed wrong? Yes, but while wrong it was not at all unique to America and was necessary given attitudes at that time if there was to be a United States of America. Was the treatment of Native Americans terrible? Without question it was. These things, however, make up but a part of our history. We cannot fairly judge the past by the attitudes or mores of the present. We cannot undo the past, we can however learn from the past and this we have mightily done."

My favorite college professor, Dr. Broadus Mitchell, in Great Economists in Their Times, published in 1966, explained:

"It is hoped that the doctrines reviewed will be readily understandable when we see how they sprang from prevailing circumstances. This slant allows us to appreciate progress. We are less apt to condemn shortcomings of analysis in, for example, the seventeenth century, when we keep in mind the stage of economic development which provoked what then seemed to be appropriate beliefs. 'Other men, other minds' is an accepted saying, but changed notions were linked to the passing scene."

The tragic death of George Floyd was not only cause for peaceful protest, but also pretext for rioting, looting, arson, murdering and vandalizing and toppling statues as revenge for discrimination against blacks.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not vandalized, but she wants to remove statues of Confederates from the Capitol.

George Washington, the Father of our Country, and Thomas Jefferson, the author of The Declaration of Independence, each a two-term president, also owned slaves, so the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial, were in danger and President Trump wisely acted to protect them.

It appears that the death of George Floyd was a homicide and the result of a diseased mind, but unlawful protest is intolerable and not a legitimate reason for even a small part of Seattle, Washington to try to exile the police and secede from the Union.

The presidential oath of office taken by President Trump obligates him to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and...to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

President Lincoln did not tolerate secession.

Neither will President Trump.

"Bete noire'" is "a French phrase meaning black beast, used to mean a person or thing that someone particularly dislikes or fears" (www.thefreedictionary.com/bete+noire).

President Donald Trump is the "bete noire" of the mainstream media and both disliked and feared, because he not only does not pander to it, but tweets directly to avoid being "filtered" and counterattacks with the dreaded "fake news" designation.

The mainstream media failed to stop President Trump from being elected and seems obsessed with preventing him from being reelected, as its coverage of the pandemic and the "peaceful protests" of the tragic death of George Floyd demonstrates.

George Floyd and David Dorn were both black.

During looting in St. Louis after George Floyd was needlessly and cruelly killed by a now fired and charged police officer in Minneapolis, David Dorn, a retired police captain, was murdered while trying to prevent the looting of a pawn shop.

Mainstream media covered George Floyd's funeral from before the funeral service to the private burial.

Fox News covered David Dorn's funeral, but not extensively.

All lives matter, regardless of skin color.To the mainstream media, it appears that all black lives do not matter equally.

Black on black crime is not covered the way white on black crime is covered. That's a big part of America's race problem. So too is the depiction of the death of Michael Brown, a large black man shot by a much smaller white police officer, as the result of police racism.

Remember the claim that Michael Brown had put up his hands and said don't shoot but was shot to death anyway? It was a lie. A lie repeated while George Floyd's death was being lamented and the need for the police officer who shot Michael Brown while doing his job to retire from the police force was ignored.

Lies matter too, whether promoted by whites, blacks or others.

When Lillian Carter, President Jimmy Carter's mother, was told by Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show" that "the newspapers are not always accurate in their reporting," she replied immediately, "are they ever?"

The Carters are Democrats.

What is really going on in the United States these days?

There is a determined, opportunistic and significantly coordinated effort to remake America.

James McHenry, a Maryland delegate at the Constitutional Convention, wrote: “A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.”

Keeping it has become become increasingly challenging with fake news constantly targeting President Trump and lawlessness piggybacking on legitimate protest.

Author Unknown is an astute observer as well as delightfully candid in anonymity,

Author Unknown:

"The world has, literally, gone mad.

"I can’t keep up. I just can’t. I'm stressed. I’m exhausted trying to figure out what we’re all supposed to do, believe, and be outraged by next.

"Two months ago, First Responders were all the rage. In fact, they were heroes. We gave them free coffee, meals, and cheers as they drove by. Today we hate them and want them defunded because they can’t be trusted.

"Nurses and Doctors are still cool for now. But they may be unemployed. They too are heroes, unless of course they truly believe all lives matter. Then they’re filled with hate and are part of problem like so many others.

"Just 45 days ago protests weren’t 'essential' and were considered criminal, selfish and a murderous activity. Today they are gloriously critical and celebrated. All of the obvious criminal and murderous activities are simply ignored. If you protest about lockdowns for freedom, you are selfish and you will spread a virus. If you protest, loot, and riot for social justice, you are a warrior and the virus cedes.

"Trust the experts. No, not those experts. Don’t wear masks ... wear masks, but only good ones. Wait, don’t wear masks, wear anything as a mask. Nevermind on the masks. Not sure, but if you don’t, you hate people because you could be an asymptomatic spreader. Wait. That's not a thing anymore?

"For 3 months, NOTHING was more important than social distance. In fact, we gave up all of our liberties for it. We canceled schools, medical and dental procedures, yet allowed the murder of babies, canceled activities, closed businesses, eliminated every spring rite of passage from prom to graduation, denied people funerals, even at Arlington, and we wrecked the economy for it. Then came social justice, and social distance was no more. Now things are more cut and dry though. A thousand people at three memorials for someone they never even met. It's a matter of 'respect.' But you can only assemble 100 or less people.

"Black Lives Matter. Of course they do. Then multiple black police officers and individuals were killed during the 'peaceful protests.' I don’t see any outrage. Black individually owned businesses burned to the ground. Silence. Deadliest weekend in Chicago. NOTHING!!

"I’m really confused now. Look at the data, NO, not that data. Do the math. No, you can’t do the math like that. Only the experts can understand the data and math. What do you mean other cities/states/governors are interpreting the data differently? Pools are safe in Indiana, but not Michigan? Playgrounds are safe in your town but not mine? Amusement parks are safe in Florida but not Ohio?

"Just listen to the black community leaders. No, not them.

"If you are silent you are part of the problem. If you speak, you are part of the problem. If you have to ask, you don’t understand. If you don’t ask, you don’t care.

"It’s all so predictable, tedious, and exhausting. Nothing adds up. It’s one gigantic common core Math life problem, with ever changing denominators that I’m sure the media and politicians are eagerly ready to solve for us....until the next 'crisis.'

"So for now I pray. I pray God will heal our land and bless the United States of America."

Prayer is wonderful, but don't forget that one third of the angels went with Satan instead of God and Hitler's goal was to exterminate the Jews, not live with them.

These days the so-called mainstream media accords a presumption of innocence to blacks resisting the police and a presumption of guilt to police who shoot blacks.

No wonder the police feel under siege when "protest" is not peaceful.

Police should be respected, not badgered, but police too are humans, not robots, and can be provoked into making bad choices.