The Sacrificial Anode

If you have ever spent time around boats in sea water, you probably have heard of protecting the metal parts of a boat from corrosion by means of a sacrificial anode. Simply put, the sacrificial anode is a small piece of metal, typically zinc, set up to suffer corrosion that would otherwise occur to other metal parts of the boat.

Similarly, we have the humorous expression, "take one for the team." On April 20, 2021, Derek Chauvin took one for the team. Derek Chauvin was the sacrificial anode.

On an otherwise unremarkable Monday in May of 2020, police officers encountered a lifelong criminal, George Floyd, while responding to a call about a counterfeit $20 bill. I do not believe for a minute that anyone could have predicted that this relatively minor call would become the focus of national attention. But, it did.

It led Americans down an investigative and analytical path filled with twists and turns...and several surprises.

First came the video that seemed to portray Derek Chauvin as a sneaky, psycho killer with a badge. Then, more video surfaced, and Derek Chauvin began to look less guilty, perhaps even wrongly accused. The real killer was revealed to be fentanyl and other drugs that George Floyd had ingested.

Should Derek Chauvin have been kneeling on George Floyd's neck, shoulder, "neck area", or any other part of Floyd's body? No, because that act of kneeling on him set the public image of what killed George Floyd.

In America, police and military are separate roles. The military is supposed to fight America's enemies, but only after receiving their lawful orders. The military is geared toward using its full might, like jets and bombs and missiles.

Police function, in theory, at the other end of the spectrum, using the minimum force required to protect the public. This is why police use pepper spray, Tasers, and other techniques, only using firearms as a last resort when, in their split-second judgment, nothing else will do.

George Floyd was handcuffed, face-down, with Officer Derek Chauvin's knee either on Floyd's shoulder, neck, or "neck area", depending on what you believe. It looked bad to many people. Keeping George Floyd handcuffed face-down looked bad, too. They looked "military" and not "police". These certainly gave the critics riot fuel.

Whatever drugs George Floyd had consumed, and whatever role they played in Floyd's death, Chauvin's knee got the attention.

You can try to ban people taking videos all you want, but we live in a surveilled world. Nearly every store, school, business, and government building, has security cameras.

Then there are the issues of training and policy. The training and policies which Derek Chauvin followed may have been flawed, but Derek Chauvin didn't develop the training or those policies. During his trial, Derek Chauvin's attorneys argued that he simply followed them as he'd been taught.

It would seem much more justifiable to charge the people who taught and ordered the procedures which many believe, rightly or wrongly, were responsible for George Floyd's death. The way I see it, if Derek Chauvin was high enough up to make department policies, he probably would not have been responding to a counterfeit bill call.

Then, there was the trial. What should have been a matter decided in a courtroom, became a 21st century mob lynching. The mob, in this case BLM, was led by an obnoxious collection of "celebrities" and politicians. Their message was very clear, "Convict Derek Chauvin of everything, or we will burn and loot and completely destroy Minneapolis and other cities."

As troubling as this was, I was far more upset at the government leaders who surrendered to the rioters and looters.

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? What happened to due process? What happened to a society ruled by laws?

Even a few of my neighbors said for more than a month, "I hope they find him guilty, so we won't have any riots." Yeah, maybe we should also convict Ronald McDonald so I don't overeat.

Then, late on the afternoon of April 20th, the jury convicted Derek Chauvin. It was a great, big plea of, "We will give you Derek Chauvin. We will declare him guilty! Please don't burn down our homes, our churches, and our businesses!"

And so, by sacrificing Derek Chauvin, Foot Locker, Dollar Tree, and Target were saved.

Right and wrong went out the window. The rule of law, and thus civilization, were suspended.

About 30 minutes before the Derek Chauvin verdict was announced, a teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio named Ma'Khia Bryant, was shot and killed by a police officer, identified in the news as Nicholas Reardon. What Officer Reardon did was the very essence of "protect and serve." Officer Reardon was not protecting himself; he was protecting the intended victim, a young unarmed woman wearing a pink outfit.

To protect her identity and avoid confusion with the popular singer, I'll call her Pinky. Ma'Khia was attempting to stab her with a rather impressive looking knife. Were it not for Officer Reardon's quick reaction, Pinky would have won an all-expenses-paid ride to the morgue.

The police officer's body camera showed Ma'Khia with a knife in her hand attempting to stab Pinky and another unidentified female. Without the video to show what was happening when he fired his weapon, the police officer might already be Derek's new roommate.

Police will quickly learn that being slow to respond to calls will make them less likely to encounter dangerous criminals backed by riotous mobs. Avoid the mob, avoid becoming a sacrifice.

Criminals will quickly learn that they probably need not fear arrest. Soon, criminals will be brazenly attacking people in broad daylight in big, Blue cities. Oh, wait, they already are!

What happens when the mob leaves downtown and visits your neighborhood? With no one on the "911 end" interested in confronting the mob, what will you do? Let's hope the mob doesn't set fire to your house, apartment building, or employment, because if the police can't or won't secure the fire scene, the firefighters might not show up either.

Organize your neighbors, you say? I hope that works for you, because most of my neighbors would cower in the kitchen, with maybe a paring knife to protect them, as tears streamed down their little, Liberal cheeks.

I know someone who actually did that. I'll call him "Bill" (not his real name). On a Thursday afternoon one summer, Bill berated my pro-Second Amendment position. Unfortunately for him, karma bit him with the ferocity of a Doberman at 8:30 the following Monday night, when a rather large drug addict decided to force his way into Bill's house.

The police arrived and Bill survived. Tuesday morning, Bill signed up for a concealed carry class. At least Bill took the steps to improve his situation for the future.

"Tom" and "Karen" (not their real names) were at home, in daytime, when their alarm sounded. Tom and Karen live in a really nice neighborhood - a gated community with a part-time security patrol. The alarm monitoring service notified 911. A neighbor saw one of the burglars, a teenager, flee into a wooded area and notified the responding police.

What did Tom and Karen do? By their own admission, they hid in a closet until the police told them it was safe to come out. Tom is a big guy, physically strong, and smart, but Tom is psychologically weak. Karen should be embarrassed that she had children by Tom.

Ah, but if the mob can frighten a jury to convict the police, will they not hang you, too? Yes, they will - and that's something to think about.

Don't expect bystanders to come to your aid. Whatever likelihood has existed of a bystander intervening to aid a victim has just been reduced. Would you risk your life, your family's lives, your freedom, your career, everything, to save a stranger who was the victim of an ongoing crime?

I would like to think that each of us would be so honorable, but with the once-magnificent American justice system now replaced by a two-tiered kangaroo-court system that exempts the powerful and forces mob rule on everyone else, honor may not prevail.

Even if George Floyd was a victim,  he certainly was not a role model, and Derek Chauvin should not be sacrificed to appease the mob.

With their ravenous appetite for power and stolen goods,  the mob will always crave another sacrifice... and thanks to our lily-livered leaders and citizenry, they will receive it. Like the stereotype of a primitive society making human sacrifices to appease a volcano, so the weak politicians and bureaucrats will offer up one or more of us.

History shows us that sacrifices are futile, both to mobs and to volcanoes. If we insist on offering human sacrifices to solve our problems, don't be surprised if hot orange stuff starts flowing past our feet, too.