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