People talk about Donald Trump missing the “empathy gene,” as if that was some kind of genetic excuse for his poor presidential performance. This is no freak of nature. Trump’s lack of empathy or care whether other people live or die is a choice and an extremely dangerous attitude. Compare that to Joe Biden’s response.
Presumed Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden is a walking-talking empathy machine with strength forced in those tragic fires. The loss of a wife and his little girl in a car accident, then later his eldest son to cancer forced him to look beyond himself — also a choice.
The nation saw a police murder of George Floyd, known as a “gentle giant” in slow motion and from many directions. Biden has urged the protestors to stop the violence across the country. There was some question about whether the violence was spontaneous and emanated from a crowd mentality or from out-of-state anarchists. Biden’s statement read, according to Axio:
‘Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not.’
The former vice president continued:
‘Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not. The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.’
Biden added emphatically “to protect and serve” meant “to protect and serve them:”
‘As President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless of race, believes that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve them.’
Then, the candidate added that “I can’t breathe” is a “tragic reminder:”
‘Watching his life be taken in the same manner, echoing nearly the same words as Eric Garner more than five years ago — “I can’t breathe” — is a tragic reminder that this was not an isolated incident, but part of an ingrained systemic cycle that exists in this country.’
Unfortunately, Trump chooses not to do that. Instead, he whined and complained that he was a victim. Both of these are very poor qualities in a man up for election in November.
Joe Biden talked to Floyd’s family and urged Americans to demand change when it came to police brutality against African Americans:
‘[N]one of us can stay silent. None of us can hear the words “I can’t breathe” and do nothing.’
Conversely, Trump tweeted:
‘[W]hen the looting starts, the shooting starts.’
In addition, the president said he talked to Floyd’s family, too. Floyd’s brother said that he could not even get a word in during the conversation. Trump said:
‘[A] close, decent, honorable family loving one another.’
In addition, POTUS noted that Minneapolis protestors were “thugs…dishonoring” the memory of this latest victim:
‘One of the things everyone must be able to do: Breathe. The original sin of this country still remains today, and sometimes we manage to overlook it. We just push forward with a thousand other tasks in our daily life, but it’s always there.’
The former vice president addressed the problem of black Americans killed by police. These included Breonna Taylor, who was from Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery, who was from Georgia. Biden said:
‘It’s a list that dates back more than 400 years.’
Biden urged the country to think about the systemic inequity between whites and other people. He said:
‘Imagine if every time your husband or daughter, son or wife left the house and you feared for their safety from bad actors and bad police. Imagine if you have to have that talk about not asserting their rights, taking the abuse given to them, just so they could make it home.
‘[A] n act of brutality so elemental it denied him of his very humanity, it denied him of his life.’
The former vice president spoke about Floyd’s murder during a virtual roundtable with Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania. They compared it to the murder of Eric Garner whose only crime was to sell cigarettes individually:
‘I can’t breathe’ while a New York police officer used an illegal chokehold on him.’
Former Vice President Biden responded to the endless lines of black deaths at the hands of the police and protesting:
‘Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
