The End of Hope
Death of a Protector
I got the bad news yesterday and I have yet to absorb it all. In fact, I haven’t even watched the entirety of the video I am presenting to you. I have my biases about what ought to be said in general and what may be said specifically. For the moment however, you should know that this video is essentially a suicide note - one that was carried out. So give yourself some space before you sit down to consider what follows.
I feel some responsibility to share this as I had earlier last year when I published a video of an LAPD officers briefing in which the commander became emotional about the duty he had to protect City Hall from protesters when the City Council had just been calling cops ‘racist’. What needs doing is the presentation of the harsh consequences of irresponsible leadership, both political and professional, that is done for the sake of national optics rather than people in their jobs and lives. That’s what I’m nudging here. So share this however you see fit. Archive it if you can. You never know what might get canceled these days.
I probably won’t editorialize directly on this matter, but know that this man is family and he’s not the first to suffer an untimely death in my life. I am not stoic for fun, but because I must deal with tragedy with a clear sense of rationality.
As you can see, Google took down the video. I should be able to make a transcript and provide it at some point in the future.
The immediate consensus among my brother, my father and I is that poor R. didn't recognize the deep irony of his talk about affirming life. He was faithless in the end and calculated that his death would be an ultimate catalyst for change. As anyone famous can tell you, your notoriety means what you think it means for about two days, and then the truth of your life becomes controlled by other people's agendas. When you're alive, you can fight back and maybe even win. When you're dead you lose all control over the meaning of your life.
The impact was made. R. had his moment. I will do a bit of curating here and since I do have the archived video, I can put it maybe here or at Patreon or elsewhere. Stay tuned.
I’m so sorry for your, his family, and his friends’ loss. The world at large had a loss as well (even if not everyone knows it), because the world has lost someone who was clearly a good man.
I hope the phrase “only life matters” becomes it’s own movement.