Trump is the Looter: He Destroys the Nation’s Store of Civility

Police shootings are just another opportunity for Trump to indulge in his penchant for fanning the fires and stoking the anger. And Putin smiles.

We have to say this from the start. We are sickened and frightened by violence. Seriously, though, are we really shocked when riots and violence result after persistent police shootings that seem to our eyes to be unjustified and excessive? Are we really shocked when the double-standard and hypocrisy of the American “justice” system causes paroxysms of violent reaction in the communities most affected?

One cannot even talk about any of this without ritual acknowledgements about how most police are solid professionals. We ought not condemn the medical profession, we are repeatedly told, because a few doctors are unprofessional and dangerous. We shouldn’t disparage a religion because a fanatical few distort its doctrine. We can’t denounce all coaches because some take advantage of their athletes. We can’t tarnish the entire teaching profession because a few of them abuse or sexually stalk their students. And on and on.

No reasonable person expects any profession or occupation to be entirely free of “bad apples.” It’s all about how you deal with the bad apples and whether it is even possible to ascertain how many bad apples there are. It is a complicated story and now isn’t the place to describe the details, but the fact is that police in the United States have made it too difficult to manage misconduct in their ranks and virtually impossible to discover how much police misconduct is happening. It is also too difficult to prevent police discarded for cause from one department from reappearing in other departments.

Yes, there are unique challenges in the policing profession, just as there are unique challenges in many other professions and occupations, such as medicine, counseling, teaching, day-care, or religious leadership. At this time, however, it is fair to ask whether the barriers to ensuring police accountability have gotten too difficult to overcome, with particularly deleterious consequences for communities of color.

Unfortunately, the cynical strategy by the Trump Administration and its allies to muddle the issues and exploit the current chaos to distract media and public attention from their mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis make legitimate efforts to establish greater police fairness and accountability much more challenging.

We know that at some point an ongoing stream of violence and official misconduct directed against long-suffering communities will result in violence or mass demonstrations as a reaction. And there will be those who exploit the unrest. The fog of mass violence, whether in war or in mass domestic disturbances, makes collateral damage inevitable. To recognize this is not to justify rioting and looting. It is to recognize that much of the disorder, including demonstrator violence and looting, stem from the actions of officials abusing the communities they are supposed to serve and protect.

It’s practically an iron law. Looters exploit demonstrations. Demagogues exploit the looting that accompanies mass unrest. Demagogues like Trump manipulate crises and loot what is left of our store of civic virtue. Decent leaders recognize legitimate grievances, address them, and strive to bring communities together as they struggle to reach a better place.

Some looters steal property. Other looters plunder our spirit. That is why Trump is the Mega-Looter. He steals our chance to marshal decency and common purpose; he undermines our yearning for desperately needed reform and reconciliation.