Here are my observations and opinions on the aftermath of the brutal killing of George Floyd.

WITH ALL THE CRAZINESS we are experiencing, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you of the 76^th Anniversary of D-Day, the day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and airborne troops parachuted into France in Operation Overlord.

In 1999, Mrs. Kramer and I had the honor of walking those hallowed grounds, a trip we will never forget.  It was a humbling experience, standing there overlooking the beaches, and walking amongst the massive German gun fortifications.

As I write this, I think about the soldiers, airmen and sailors who gave their lives to protect our freedoms, however, what do I see on television – the tenth day of protests over the police killing of an unarmed black man.  Protests that led to rioting and looting in cities across the nation.

During the week, our World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial were defaced, and in England, a statue of Winston Churchill was vandalized.

Instead of remembering the nearly 3,000 American deaths and 14,000 wounded on D-Day, protests and multiple funeral services are being held for one man, George Floyd.

All Americans who saw the brutal killing of Floyd want justice.  It appears that his family will get that. They hand-picked the prosecutor, Attorney General Keith Ellison, who promptly changed the charge against Police Officer Derek Chauvin to second degree murder, and arrested the other three officers involved, charging them with aiding and abetting the crime.

President Trump has directed U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr to have the DOJ and FBI simultaneously conduct an investigation on the federal level.

That should satisfy the concern of people in the Twin Cities and the rest of America, but there’s talk now about the need for a national conversation on police brutality and racism.

We should have seen this coming, with all of the talk of “white privilege,” and those who felt the need to apologize for being white.  It was most prevalent on our college campuses.

Now, we are all expected to feel guilt for what four police officers did in Minneapolis. But there isn’t the same feeling for the black law enforcement men killed by blacks in St. Louis and Oakland.

Democrats, sensing another means for assuring the defeat of President Trump in November, have falsely accused him of racism and white supremacy, because of his law and order stance.

The Archbishop of Canterbury called on “white Christians to repent of our own prejudices.”

Even Ligella Lawson, the Brit who specializes in cooking and gardening, asked her fellow white people to “acknowledge (that) systemic racism exists” and that we are “complicit in it.”

“White America, if you want to know who’s responsible for racism, look in the mirror,” says the Chicago Tribune.  “White people, you are the problem.” That admonishment from Chicago, where blacks kill blacks every day.

The left is using George Floyd.  They’re beginning with talk of defunding police departments, but it won’t stop there.  There’s talk again about reparations.

Minneapolis city council member Jeremiah Ellison said, “We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.  And when we are done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together. We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted @llhanMN: “The Minneapolis Police Department has proven themselves beyond reform.  It’s time to disband them and reimagine safety in Minneapolis.”

Sending social workers to mediate domestic disturbances has been suggested.

Thousands of people in the streets of Minneapolis booed white Mayor Jacob Frey because he would not answer “yes” or “no” when questioned if he favored defunding the police force.  He meekly walked away as protestors yelled, shook their fists and pointed fingers at him.

BRANDING ALL WHITES as racist isn’t going to work on me.  I am not a racist, and damn it, I didn’t kill George Floyd!

Stop it with that Black Lives Matter line.  All lives matter, regardless of race or ethnicity.

I recently wrote how Washington DC’s Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser, with her obvious hate of President Trump, had the words Black Lives Matter painted in giant yellow letters on the street leading to the White House.  I called it an in-your-face act, but the New York Times called it “a real middle finger” act.

THE WEAK-KNEED Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, folded.  He not only admitted “we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier,” he said, “We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter.

Police excessive force is a local issue, and it exists in a number of cities, but why do we subject the entire nation to more discussions on diversity.  Incidentally, most of those cities are controlled by Democrats and have been for decades.

Even Barack Obama encouraged the development of concrete demands and to focus on achieving change at the local level.

LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS – “We’re literally hunted every day/every time we step foot outside the comfort of our homes,” tweeted the NBA’s LeBron James.  However, black radio host Larry Elder and Jason Riley, a black columnist with the Wall Street Journal, say that the statistics do not bear that out.

Ninety percent of some 600,000 non-homicide black-white crimes each year involve a black perpetrator and white victim, according to the FBI Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Blacks kill twice as many whites (500 in 2015) as whites kill blacks 229 in 2015). Blacks, as 13 percent of the population, commit 50 percent of murders, and 90 percent of black murder victims are killed by other blacks.

“Blacks commit violent crimes at 7 to 10 times the rate that whites do. The fact that their victims tend to be of the same race suggests that black men in the ghetto live in danger of being shot by each other, not cops,” Riley noted in his book, “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.”

But the focus over the past week has been on police killing of blacks.  Police have killed fewer than ten unarmed black people over the last two years.  In 2018 and 2019, the number of police officers killed by black assailants was actually higher, according the Washington Post’s tracker.  And the left-leaning New York Times has reported that several studies have found no racial bias in police use of extreme force.

SO, WHAT NOW? –  Minneapolis Mayor Frey is seeking state and federal aid to rebuild city structures destroyed by rioters – $55 million, according to National Review. I expect Amy Klobuchar will be appealing to FEMA for funds.  Other cities and states will be looking for taxpayer funds, too.

You and I did not kill George Floyd, and you and I didn’t bring the city to its knees.  Why should we be asked to pick up the tab?

I feel for the businesses that lost everything, especially the many black-owned businesses I have heard reported.  Some are quick to blame this on outsiders, like Antifa.  That may be true, but local residents permitted it.  And locals were surely involved in the looting.

IT’S ELECTION SEASON, so you can expect Democrats to use the race card.  Sixty-nine percent of likely voters believe they raise racial issues just to be elected, according to a May 27, 2020 Rasmussen Report.   They are masters at political extortion.

IN CONCLUSION – I couldn’t be more embarrassed for my country.  We have allowed the actions of a handful of bad cops to turn many of our cities into disaster zones.  Where was the concern when a handful of bad white cops in our FBI attempted to bring down the presidency?

May God continue to bless the United States of America.