Last Saturday, there was a protest rally over at Pan Pacific Park, which is located near CBS Television City, Farmers Market, The Grove and other notable locations here in Los Angeles. I've spoken to several folks who were at the protest and they all said it was peaceful and inspiring and exactly what something like that should be…
…until they showed up, "they" being a contingent of people who were intent on causing destruction and looting. Things got very ugly and not far from where I live, there were clashes with police, broken windows, a few cars and buildings set on fire, some injuries and a lot of anger. Some of it found its way to nearby commercial areas and it was a very horrible, unsettling day here in my city.
Similar unsettlement happened elsewhere, all around the country…and I don't want to make this all about Trump but you sure got the feeling that he looked at all the civil unrest and thought, "I must stop this from hurting my re-election chances" and that was the only thing he thought.
The looters and rioters have been scary…though maybe not as scary as some of the forces put out on the streets to control them. What happened outside the White House when Trump decided a photo op outside a nearby church would help his poll numbers was the kind of thing we point to in news footage from countries ruled by dictators and say, "Thank God that could never happen here."
I try not to be distracted by all this. Really, I try but it's difficult. One moment when my face must have looked like the Edvard Munch painting "The Scream" came when I saw — as we all saw — protesters fleeing from projectiles and gas…and why? Because Trump wanted his photo so he could look "tough." People who do things to look "tough" are almost by definition not "tough," especially when they need to have an army clear the way so they can do them.
And then we have this week's Presidential Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisting no tear gas was used and demanding that the Fake News retract reports that it was. The explanation is that they used Pepper Balls (a form of tear gas) instead of other kinds of tear gas. It reminds me of the scene in The Odd Couple where Oscar tells Felix to get his spaghetti off the poker table and Felix laughs and says, "It's not spaghetti, it's linguini!"
I know I shouldn't feel sorry for Presidential Press Secretaries. Their boss orders them to go out and lie and they have to stand there and lie, no matter what the reporters offer as proof that it's a lie. It reminds me of something I once heard someone say about porn stars: "It's a great job for people who will do absolutely anything for money." I guess it also applies to people who'll do absolutely anything to get in front of a camera, too.
Anyway, today I was over in the area near me where a lot of the looting and destruction occurred — not the worst of it perhaps but some. I was impressed with how close to normal it all seems. A lot of storefronts are still covered in plywood. Most of the graffiti is covered up, some of it with crude temporary paint jobs but the whole outside of Farmers Market looks like it was completely repainted in the last few days. Parts of it look better than it ever has.
With some of the crude temporary paint-overs, the painters added new, benevolent graffiti affirming that BLACK LIVES MATTER and added words like "love" and "peace." And on one corner, I saw two National Guardsmen in their scary combat gear…but folks in civilian garb were talking and laughing with them.
For the most part, it was business as usual…or as usual as business can be when people are wearing masks and maneuvering to stay six feet apart. You find yourself redirecting your attention from one crisis to another but I did feel that the rioting/looting in my neighborhood was history.
Then again, history can repeat itself and there is a peaceful protest scheduled for tomorrow at Pan Pacific Park. I sure hope it stays a peaceful protest. They seem to be accomplishing things.