Day: May 29, 2020

by William Skink

If they are not occupying their second homes yet, they soon will be. Let’s hope they are not all entitled assholes like Sara.

I’m sure it’s just jealousy motivating me to opine so harshly. I mean, who wouldn’t land their helicopter on the banks of a river in a wilderness area if they had the resources, am I right?

This poem is for you, Sara.

ENTITLEMENT
for Sara Schwerin

they want to escape
and have bank accounts
that allow them to set
their helicopter down

in a wilderness area
where motors are banned
horsepower means horses
in this wild land

but when you’re a banker
perched above laws
with rust on the guillotine
there is no pause

want to cast line
the first day you can?
fuck yeah, they say
this land is our land

by William Skink

Can a summer of rage translate to electoral support for Democrats? I’m sure the strategists hope they can exploit this latest tragedy of a cop murdering a black man, but will they be successful?

Mint News has a piece out about how Minnesota’s chief prosecutor between 1999-2007, Amy Klobuchar, played the broken windows game to appear tough on crime and further her political career:

Activists allege her embracing of the broken window-style policing was a deliberate strategy to win support in the white suburbs of Minneapolis, to the detriment of the city’s non-white communities, bolstering her successful run for senate in 2006. A case in point is Elsayed Salim, who was convicted of failing to declare a secondary income that put him above the threshold for welfare and food stamps. A judge sentenced Salim to 364 days in jail – deliberately attempting to protect him from deportation by keeping his sentencing under a year which downgraded the case from a felony to a gross misdemeanor. An outraged Klobuchar appealed the decision, lobbying for an upgrade and condemning the state’s judges for “letting offenders off the hook too easily.” Mr. Salim was subsequently deported.

While it may not be the first city that comes to mind, data shows that Minneapolis is among the most racist cities in the United States for racial profiling and police stops. The police force’s own data shows that, while black people make up only 18 percent of the population, they were involved in nearly half of all police stops. Conversely, whites make up 60 percent of the population but figured in less than 21 percent of the stops. 62 percent of body searches and 63 percent of people whose cars were searched were also black. Thus, Floyd’s killing is merely a viral example of a wider phenomenon, a spark that ignited a powder keg of resentment that had been building for some time.

With this Klobid-20 context in mind, here is a poem in honor of our upcoming presidential election:

ELECTION

they’ve given us a gift
look at these two men
they think you will take it
again, again, again

Joe besieged the hood
because “super predator” kids
were used to spread THE FEAR
making prison CEOs rich

but black man question Joe
he’s helping evil Don
Dems expect your vote
their tent a prison song

the other swinging Dick
Don, from NYC
knows where the tapes are
so has them on their knees

don’t underestimate
the scope of their dark goal
when all is said and done
they aim to own your soul

by William Skink

The reopening is weird.

I think I engaged in some civil disobedience yesterday with my daughter. Let me explain.

Yesterday we went on a morning bike ride adventure to allow my boys to better focus on the shit-show of remote learning. We started at McCormick park and headed toward the Good Food Store to get some food for lunch.

The grocery shopping experience was my daughter’s first commercial retail experience since the shelter-in-place order was proclaimed by our Governor in March.

She was so excited.

I had my mask, which the store requires, but not a mask for the little one. Luckily the grocery store provides bandanas at the entrance for anyone who isn’t prepared, so I tied one on and we procured our lunch.

With our food packed, we proceeded to bike along the Clark Fork river trail toward the worst performing University flagship in the country. As we approached, the smell of chemicals hung heavy in the air, which was confirmed by signs indicating all the grass had recently been treated.

So we biked onward, toward Bonner Park.

We arrived around 11:30am. We found a picnic table and settled in. My little girl wanted to play, so she played. There were about 4 or 5 other kids playing as well, the progeny, I deduced, of two women sitting on a park bench. Should I snitch and expose them for sitting closer than 6 feet away from each other?

Here’s another question: did I see the sign that said the playground was closed before allowing my daughter to play? Yes, yes I did. And did I allow her to play and make a new friend anyway? Yes, yes I did. And did two police officers bike through the park and ignore all this rule-breaking going on with our children? Yes, yes they did.

I was briefly worried, as was my mom, who arrived just as the cops biked through the park. But there was no need to worry; this park is in the University district, which means lots of deep-pocketed Caucasian Karens bring their kids here, and since I am blazingly Caucasian, the cops just breezed on by.

The next phase of reopening Montana for the tourist hordes hits June 1st. With an alluringly low case count, we better prepare for a massive influx of cabin-fever-crazed tourists flooding the state.