There is symbolism in the brutal suffocation and killing of a black American, George Floyd, by Minnesota police officers. Mr. Floyd’s cry for help, “I can’t breathe,” is a metaphor for centuries of
black oppression and mistreatment at the hands of a governing white majority, both here and abroad.
It also symbolizes a newer threat to our Republic : a president who has firmly planted his knee on the neck of American democracy. Retired Marine Corps General John Allen warns that Trump’s actions could signal “the beginning of the end of the American experiment.” Helping the president carry out his corrupt schemes is a posse, led by Attorney General William Barr, who doggedly shoves justice aside to feed the desires of a wannabe dictator. And, finally, there are the Republicans in Congress – including our own Sen. Daines and Rep. Gianforte – who, by enthusiastically defending the president against any accountability, have sold their souls to bolster their political ambitions.
Come November it will be time for voters to right these wrongs and reclaim our democracy.
Steven Sweeney
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letter to the Editor 7/5/20