A PICTURE (OR A VIDEO) IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. DEREK CHAUVIN LEARNED THAT THE HARD WAY. AND SO WILL DONALD TRUMP.

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     It was January 20th, 2021 - a little more than three months ago - that for the second time in history, America was saved from a merciless tyrant.  On July 4th, 1776, our Founding Fathers gave birth to independence for the people of our land.  As our nation was born, King George III of Great Britain was dethroned from ruling over the new United States.  Nearly 245 years later, a present-day patriarch named Joe Biden - who was duly elected by the citizens of our country on November 3rd, 2020 - was sworn in as our 46th President.

     As President Biden moved into The White House, a criminal sociopath - "Tyrant #2" - was evicted.  We, the people of the United States, must never forget the heinous and treasonous crimes committed by Donald Trump; especially that on January 6th, 2021, he spearheaded an armed, deadly insurrection in an effort to overthrow the U.S. government.  Trump created a chaotic crisis that resulted from a savagely orchestrated siege on the predominant citadel of our nation's democracy; an unconscionable incursion on the chambers that house our elected Members of Congress.

     Trump is a vicious and vindictive villain who must be prosecuted for inciting the violence that escalated in to the storming of The U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.  Domestic terrorists rioted and attacked.  Their goal was to overturn Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election; a contest for which Mr. Biden legally won in a landslide.  But for weeks, Trump extended his personal invitation - nay solicitation - to his faithful disciples and any other people who believed that it was he, Trump, who should have been declared the winner of the election.  Therefore, such a triumphant feat would award him a second term behind The Oval Office desk.  Thousands of Trump loyalists were more devoted and more dedicated to a traitor than to American patriotism.  They - as were Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives for the last four years - put Trump over our country.  Yet, even after the assault on Capitol Hill - which disrupted a joint session of Congress that was assembled to formally count electoral votes and proclaim victory for Joe Biden - these same congressional Republicans refused to impeach and convict Trump for his high crimes.  Democrats controlling the House were, however, successful in impeaching Trump on January 13th, 2021.  He is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice; the first time being on December 18th, 2019.  Having never been convicted by the then-Republican-controlled Senate, Trump would not be removed from office.  It took voters throughout America to accomplish that task.  But Trump asserted by spreading venomous falsehoods - downright vile lies - that the election was stolen from him by fraudulent votes.  

      There's an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.  That adage applies to a video too.  Derek Chauvin learned that the hard way.  And so will Donald Trump.  Video pictures and still photographs also proved the proverb to be true

when a jury in the Chauvin trial convicted the White former police officer for killing George Floyd.  Chauvin, on April 20th, 2021, was found guilty on all charges - second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter - for causing the death of the 46-year old Floyd, a Black man who was being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill - currency that Floyd probably didn't even know was fake - to purchase cigarettes in a local Minneapolis, Minnesota market.

      

      Since May 25th, 2020, people throughout America and around the world have viewed the devastingly disturbing images of Chauvin firmly pressing his knee on to Floyd's neck.  Handcuffed and laying face down with his head pinned to the concrete ground of a Minneapolis street, Floyd's weak and defenseless body was braced up against the wheel of a police car, and - after 9 minutes and 29 seconds - the pressure from Chauvin's knee cut off Floyd's airway so that he could not breathe.  Chauvin callously crushed Floyd's windpipe and, therefore, blocked any chance for Floyd to get oxygen to flow in to his lungs.  As Chauvin literally squeezed the life out of George Floyd, Floyd was crying out, "I can't breathe."  But the inhumane and ruthless police officer and his three insensitive cohorts didn't give a damn that Floyd was choking to death.  As he gasped for air and with his last ounce of strength, Floyd sobbed and whined for his mother who had died two years before.  "Momma!  Momma!"

     I venture to guess that most Americans, at this point, have seen the essential

video that was recorded on the day George Floyd was killed.  Such camera footage was widely circulated on the Internet and broadcast on television.  I want to believe that anytime you catch the painfully chilling and heart-wrenching visuals, you become - as I do each time I watch - more and more pissed off, perturbed and sad.  Thankfully, a quick-thinking teenage girl with a smart phone - and a whole lot of smarts herself - combined her intelligence with her courage and compassion as she captured on video the absolute proof necessary for jurors to convict Derek Chauvin.  Darnella Frazier provided prosecutors with the most vital piece of evidence against Chauvin.  The then-17-year old bystander's guts, brought glory to our nation, as the guilty verdicts sparked celebrations across America.  Those decisions by the jury are a turning point for our country, but not a point of total jubilation and success.  With joy, there is also grieving.  No guilty verdict alone will rid our nation of racism.  Although Chauvin's conviction brings some justice for George Floyd, it's not complete justice for America.  Not yet.  Darnella Frazier's grit, heroism and common sense to digitally document a murder being committed was a risk to her own safety.  The killer was a cop.  However, Frazier's video undoubtedly sealed the deal for convicting Chauvin, as it could not be disputed.  And like the recording itself, Darnella Frazier will go down in history as being a significant witness to an abhorrent, felonious homicide.  Without Frazier and her video, the truth about George Floyd's death may have never been proven, and Derek Chauvin would have likely gotten away with murder.

     A jury of five men and seven women - including four White females, two White males, three Black males, one Black female, and two mixed-race females - came to the unanimous conclusion after less than eleven hours of deliberations, that because of what they saw in the video recording and photos, and because of what they heard from under-oath testimony by numerous witnesses, Derek Chauvin deserves to be incarcerated for taking the life of George Floyd.    

      Sentencing for Chauvin won't be for about a couple of months - June 16th, according to The New York Times - but after he read the three verdicts, Judge Peter Cahill ruled - from his bench in the Hennepin County Courthouse - that Chauvin's bail is now revoked, and he will await sentencing behind bars.  Chauvin is being held in a maximum security prison and is being kept in solitary confinement for 23 of the 24 hours of each day.  The 45-year old Chauvin faces up to 75 years in prison.  That's up to 40 years for second degree murder, up to 25 years for third degree murder, and up to 10 years for second degree manslaughter.  However, it's possible - and perhaps likely - that Chauvin will serve his sentences concurrently for all three crimes, which means he could be in prison for a maximum of up to 40 years; or it could be less.  That ruling will ultimately be up to the judge.

     The three other ex-cops, who were with Chauvin when he murdered Floyd, are accused of aiding and abetting second degree murder, and aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter.  Their trial is scheduled to begin in August.

     George Floyd was not a threat to Derek Chauvin, yet the then-cop squashed Floyd's neck.  Even when Floyd was not moving a muscle, when he was totally motionless and not responsive at all, when there was no pulse, Chauvin continued to apply with irrational recklessness, uncivilized force, by grinding his knee on to Floyd's collar.

     Let's be clear.  We should acknowledge that not every police officer is awful and appalling.  Not all cops are like Derek Chauvin.  As with everything in life, with the good, there will be some bad.  According to data compiled by the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, there are more than 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers currently serving in the United States.  There are other unconfirmed studies that increase that figure to approximately one-million cops who serve us with dignity and integrity every day.  Each one pins on or carries a badge, or a shield.  Each one holsters a gun, and each one knows that on any given day they might fire that weapon.  They also are quite aware that someone could shoot a bullet at them.  We will not be safe without the heroes of our police departments throughout America.  But we need to clean house.  We, the American people, in tandem with our politicians and the police themselves, need to come together in peace as a unified operation, but with enthusiastic energy so that we can all live in harmony.  Participation is crucial by every city and town across the board.  Civilian citizens have the right to contribute and be a fundamental asset in policing our police.  From the top brass, down through the rank and file, the bad ones have got to go.  There can be no exceptions.  There can be no second chances; not when people's lives are at stake.  And the good cops?  They need to be thanked.  They need to be praised.  They need to be respected.  Not all police officers are as wickedly hurtful as the evil one who fatally injured George Floyd.  Only some.  Most cops are honorable professionals and - depending on the circumstances - they are understanding, kind, and even - at times - comforting.  The vast majority of cops are on duty to protect the public.  And they do.  But the sinfully satanic officers who demonically crucify others must be excised - with a pitchfork, if necessary - from police departments nationwide.   

      Following the consequential verdicts, President Biden addressed the nation and he struck a chord of truth about the killing of George Floyd.  "It was a murder in the full light of day, and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see.  The systemic racism.  The systemic racism is a stain on our nation's soul.  The knee on the neck of justice for Black Americans.  The murder of George Floyd launched a summer of protests we hadn't seen since the civil rights era in the 60s.  Protests that unified people of every race and generation, in peace and with purpose to say enough.  Enough.  Enough of this senseless killings."  President Biden is a person of compassion and empathy.  He truly cares about others.  Thankfully - after four years of not having one - we now have a President whose character exemplifies those qualities.  President Biden noted that he spoke after the verdicts with George Floyd's family.  The President told them, "The guilty verdict does not bring back George.  Nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back.  But this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America."

      

      Vice President Kamala Harris presented her thoughts prior to President Biden's.  "A measure of justice isn't the same as equal justice.  This verdict brings us a step closer, and the fact is, we still have work to do.  We still must reform the system."  The Vice President talked about The George Floyd Justice and Policing Act.  It's legislation that she - as a U.S. senator from California - authored last year 

with two other Democratic lawmakers; Representative Karen Bass also of California

and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.  "This bill would hold law enforcement accountable, and help build trust between law enforcement and our communities.  This bill is part of George Floyd's legacy.  The President and I will continue to urge the Senate to pass this legislation.  This work is long overdue.  America has a long history of systemic racism.  Black Americans - and Black men in particular - have been treated throughout the course of our history as less than human.  Here's the truth about racial injustice.  It is not just a Black America problem, or a people of color problem.  It is a problem for every American.  It is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all.  We are all a part of George Floyd's legacy.  And our job now is to honor it, and to honor him."

    

      President Biden's heartstrings were tugged, at the funeral of George Floyd last year, and Mr. Biden shared a personal moment with us during his April 20th speech.  The President remembered a special moment with Floyd's then-6-year old daughter, Gianna, who told Mr. Biden, "Daddy changed the world."  When the President spoke with her after the verdicts were announced, he repeated what he said last year to her.  "Daddy did change the world."

    

      America has been traumatized by both the George Floyd murder and the seditious scene at The U.S. Capitol.  We cannot have police officers being beaten to death by a politician's combatants.  And we cannot have police officers killing their suspects when the cops' lives are not threatened and are not in imminent danger.  Now that a jury has ordered Derek Chauvin to be liable for his actions, what about Donald Trump?  If Trump is indicted in connection with The Capitol assault, a jury in a Trump trial may very well be convinced by Trump's own words, which were recorded in videos an hour before a bloodthirsty band of beasts brutally and barbarically launched their invasion on the stately and sacred seat of our federal government's legislative branch.  Donald Trump directed this agonizing atrocity, which then-President-elect Biden called "lawlessness" and "chaos" by a "mob of thugs."  Therefore - like Derek Chauvin - Trump needs to pay for his crimes.  It is now the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice to legally hold Trump accountable for instigating marauding homegrown terrorists to uncontrollably rampage our sanctuary of liberty in to a bloodbath of ugliness.

        

      Trump's incendiary language resulted in unrestrained, civil disorder and death as his hoodlums vandalized The Capitol complex.  The destruction caused more than $30 million in damages, and more than 400 alleged participants have been arrested and charged with crimes.  Reportedly, an estimated 100 additional people who were involved with the ghastly turmoil of that day are expected to be taken in to custody before the end of April.  Many of the individuals who engaged in the outdoor riot were booked for unlawful entry on to The Capitol grounds.  But those who actually raided the congressional castle - such as white supremacists, among others - have received more serious charges; as have any of the monsters who physically battered and bruised, or killed, someone else.  Nearly 150 people suffered injuries during the revolution, and five people - including a police officer - died.  But as bad as it was - 

and any scrupulous, sane, and virtuous person knows this was bad - it could have been much worse, as these Trump traducers - these anarchists - had constructed gallows on the site of The Capitol so they could hang the sitting vice president at the

time, Mike Pence, a Republican;

and the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.  Therefore, Donald Trump must claim blame for his unlawful transgressions.  He cannot be allowed to escape prosecution for crimes against our democracy.

     The question now is - how do we make certain that justice will be served in a law-abiding manner?  Arresting, indicting, and convicting Trump should not be a partisan affair.  It should not - in the least - be a political problem.  One would think that the video evidence against Trump automatically converts to a prison sentence.  Repeating a phrase that Trump often used when verbally bashing certain Democrats, "Lock him (or her) up," may - in reality - come back to bite Trump in the butt.  One would think that Trump's own words should slam the penitentiary door shut on him for whatever time is left in his life.  But despite the fact that Trump was instrumental in causing misery to families who lost loved ones, and to our country as a whole, even he is entitled to due process under the law, the right to counsel, and a courtroom trial where the outcome is determined by a judge and a jury of his peers.

    

      January 6th, 2021 will be remembered forever as a hideous and dark day in the history of the United States, as people who identify themselves as Americans tried to obliterate the tradition of a congenial and tranquil transition of power from the outgoing president to the newly-elected one.  But because the unhinged Donald Trump would not acknowledge his loss to Joe Biden, Trump betrayed his pledge to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  Consequently, evacuation was imperative.  Senators and House representatives were guided as they were rushed through the hallowed halls of our nation's Capitol in to a secluded area for protection while bedlam broke out in the marble Rotunda of this historic, cherished monument.

        

      Rowdy rabble-rousers turned revolutionists were already emblazed with fire and fury when they amassed on the Ellipse in front of The White House that morning to hear Trump as he added fuel to an intense inferno.  "We will never concede.  It doesn't happen.  You don't concede when there's theft involved.  Our country has had enough.  We will not take it anymore.  You will have an illegitimate president (with Joe Biden).  This is what you will have, and we can't let that happen.  We will stop the steal.  If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."  So

with those fierce and ferocious phrases, the "arsonist-in-chief" lit a match and tossed it in to a tank of gasoline, and thus an explosion of irate rioters ran amok through The Capitol grounds in a shameful demonstration that was comparable to a mission of military warfare.  Some pro-Trump insurgents were weaponized with guns, explosive

devices, and even a Confederate flag as they ravaged and ransacked congressional offices.

Others climbed The Capitol's scaffolding, or used flag poles, crutches, and homemade battering rams to knock down doors and smash windows.  Swarming like wild killer bees, the rebels used steel 

pipes as they thrashed brave Capitol Police officers and clobbered cops from Washington's Metropolitan Police Department.  Nefarious, lawbreaking mobsters looted Capitol offices and stole personal items, including laptop computers.  One person ripped off Speaker Pelosi's gavel, while another individual, who broke in to the California Democrat's suite, was 

photographed sitting in the Speaker's chair with his feet on her desk.

     But here's what prompted these people to act like shipboard mutineers.  They were encouraged by a malicious madman - a dangerously deranged demagogue - who stimulated a treacherous intrusion of our democratic process, with the intent to flip the 2020 election, and thus invalidate the win by Democrat Biden, so to give Republican Trump the gold medal.  Such a movement was a ludicrous obsession as it was

impossible to happen.  It could never be realized.  But that didn't stop these ultra-radicals from going ahead with their obscene quest to attain diabolical havoc and cause a flagrantly corrupt catastrophe.  January 6th was the day when our congressional legislators and the vice president of the United States were scheduled to perform their constitutional duty under the 12th Amendment by certifying and confirming the Electoral College votes.  Their job did get done, but not until about 3:40 A.M. on January 7th.  That's because the cult-like, die-hard and hostile Trump devotees had other terrifying plans.  Their ambition was to promote pandemonium and menacing mayhem after Trump manipulated them as if they were his personal puppets.

     From the detestable desire to demolish democracy, to the despicably distressing demolition of George Floyd's life, the triple conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder and manslaughter of Floyd is a great victory for civil rights and human rights.  It's not the be-all-and-end-all, but as President Biden eloquently expressed, it's "a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America."  Hopefully, with this momentous conviction - this unanimous guilty verdict on all three counts - Floyd's death will not be in vain.  And as tragic as Floyd's murder is, these verdicts should ingrain in the minds of all police officers that they cannot use excessive force of any kind, toward any person, no matter their race.  The voices of the Chauvin jury spoke loud and clear with their guilty verdicts that cruel, heartless, police brutality will not be tolerated in the United States of America.  A police officer should never act as judge, jury and executioner.

     Racism, bigotry and prejudices of all types have no place in American law enforcement; no place in American justice; no place in America period.  We cannot return to the 1960s, or the "Jim Crow" era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  We cannot ever allow anyone in our country to mistreat Black Americans "as less than human," to quote Vice President Harris.  We cannot permit the horrifying and horrendous abuse of any persons; no matter their skin color.  Slavery is a disgusting

and disgraceful part of our nation's past.  America doesn't have another Abraham Lincoln, and we probably never will have one like him again.  But we can come close.  In fact, we have.  We do.  And we will again.  Because we always have people who care.  We always have people who feel - as I do, and as President Biden and Vice President Harris do - that we must profoundly oppose any form of racism, any form of bigotry, any form of prejudice.  I can only hope that the people of future generations will look at others without focusing on their race or ethnicity, and that they will lack the hatred that unfortunately today is widespread in the United States.  Everyone in America - in fact, everyone in the world - should be considered equal.  It's what our Founders wanted.  At least most of them did. And it's the way it should be.

     Racist attitudes CAN change.  It might take a generation or two to do it completely, but such an objective can be achieved.  It's a change that can begin today at home.  Children become racists because their parents are racists.  There's an old song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote for the musical production South Pacific.  The song is titled, "You've Got To Be Taught."  The lyrics begin as follows.

     "You've got to be taught, to hate and fear;  You've got to be taught from year to year; It's got to be drummed, in your dear little ear; You've got to be carefully taught.

     You've got to be taught, to be afraid; Of people whose eyes, are oddly made; And people whose skin, is a different shade; You've got to be carefully taught.

     You've got to be taught, before it's too late; Before you are six, or seven, or eight; To hate all the people, your relatives hate; You've got to be carefully taught."   

     The song goes on from there.  But Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were, and still are, one-hundred percent correct.  Actually, the lyrics were written by Mr. Hammerstein, so it's his words that are right on target.  Personally, I knew it long before I ever heard the song; long before I saw the South Pacific film; and long before I ever was the stage manager and lighting director for my high school stage production of the Broadway show.  My parents taught me when I was a little boy that I should never judge a person because of the color of their skin.  And I learned that even before I was "six, or seven, or eight."

                 

      As the words explain in the graphic on the photo to the right, Labrador Retrievers come in a variety of colors.  They are loved and treated equally no matter what they look like.  Labs don't fight each other because of the differences in their color.  Can't we all learn to live like Labrador Retrievers and be color blind?  Can't we all get along with each other and not care about the color of a person's skin?  Everyone needs to remember that we all bleed the same color.  We all cry the same tears.  Skin color should never matter.  Race should not matter unless referring to the human race; of which we are all part.  Senseless killings - racist or otherwise - have got to stop.  We can be better.  We need to be better.  We must be better to survive.  After all, each of us is supposed to be equal to the other.  If dogs have the smarts to figure that out, so should we.

    

      George Perry Floyd Jr. died at the hands (and by the knee) of a murderer.  George is gone, but let's not forget him.  Let's make the murder of George Floyd mean something.  The man responsible for that death - Derek Chauvin - is a cold-blooded killer.  And Donald Trump is cold and calculating.  Both men sicken me, and each one is culpable for monumental tragedies that our country has suffered over the last year.

     Nobody in the United States of America is above the law.  Not a former police officer.  And not a former president.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

Please express your personal opinions by following the instructions printed at the top of this column.  And thank you for reading The Controversy.

Photo credits:

1 - Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via Reuters (Derek Chauvin)

2 - Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press (Donald Trump)

3 - Darnella Frazier via The Associated Press (Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd's neck)

4 - Screenshot from Now This (Darnella Frazier)

5 - Screenshot from WCVB-TV, Boston, Massachusetts (Judge Peter Cahill reads verdicts as Derek Chauvin watches and listens)

6 - Doug Mills/The New York Times (President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris in the background)

7 - The Associated Press (Vice President Kamala Harris with President Joe Biden in the background)

8 - Erin Schaff/The New York Times (Representative Karen Bass)

9 - The New York Times (Senator Cory Booker)

10 - Gianna Floyd via Instagram (Gianna Floyd)

11 - Jon Cherry/Getty Images (The Capitol Siege)

12 - Screenshot from CNBC (The Capitol Siege)

13 - Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images (The Capitol Siege)

14 - Getty Images (Former Vice President Mike Pence)

15 - Screenshot from ABC News (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi)

16 - Daily Express (President Joe Biden and Donald Trump)

17 - Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images (Donald Trump)

18 - Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images (The Capitol Siege)

19 - Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images (The Capitol Siege)

20 - Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call (The Capitol Siege)

21 - Stephanie Keith/Reuters (The Capitol Siege)

22 - Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images (The Capitol Siege)

23 - Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press (The Capitol Siege)

24 - Wikipedia (Former President Abraham Lincoln)

25 - The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II)

26 - Anything Labrador (Labrador Retrievers)

27 - The George Floyd Family and Ben Crump (George Perry Floyd Jr.)

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