Ahmaud Arbery’s lynching, a resilient stock market, and Pelosi’s corporatism.

Good mornin’ ya goons! Or you know, maybe something less immediately provocative. In any case, here’s what we got:

• Ahmaud Arbery’s case will go to a grand jury: and if you haven’t heard about this yet, it’s nothing less than a modern lynching. The murder took place over a month ago, but because of footage now spreading across the Internet, there are more eyes on this case than ever.

• The stock market is doing pretty well to be honest: which should come as a shock. With all those unemployment claims and confusion about how we’ll keep small businesses afloat, how is it that big business is booming and keeping the economy seemingly afloat?

• Nancy Pelosi is supporting a push for bailing out corporate lobbyists: and we’d expect nothing less from the corporatist kween! (That’s bad, btw. We’re saying that derisively.)

Bleh! Ugh! Ah! We hates it all. But hey, it’s our reality, so let’s get used to it together.

POLICE VIOLENCE

Ahmaud Arbery Was Lynched in Georgia 

Ahmaud Arbery. Back in February, he was on a jog in Brunswick, Georgia. Then, a former police officer and his son chased Arbery down, supposedly believing that Arbery was a potential suspect in a bunch of recent break-in cases in the area. In the end, Arbery struggled with those in pursuit and was shot twice with a shotgun before falling to the street and eventually dying. That case is now headed to a grand jury.

New Evidence

Now, a video is circulating online of the killing. Let’s look at the details.

• In it, a vehicle is following a young black man—Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery heads towards a pickup truck in the street containing two white men: 64-year-old Gregory McMichael, a former police officer, and his son, Travis, age 34.

• Reportedly, they’d blocked Arbery’s path and forced him to run another way to avoid them. The video depicts Travis McMichael and Ahmaud Arbery getting into a physical altercation for control over the shotgun. Shots are fired, Arbery is left hit, he then collapses to the ground as the video ends.

• The defense: Arbery seemed to resemble a suspect in local break-ins and the McMichaels weren’t certain if he was armed or not, resulting in a brawl and eventual death.

• The reality: Arbery was you know, jogging, a regular thing for people to do. Then a truck containing men with guns approached him so he ran. When they continued pursuit, eventually approaching him on foot, he protected himself and was eventually murdered.

This Case Deserves a Grand Jury

The above “reality” is our perception of the events, but watching the video, it’s difficult to come to any other conclusion. Now that the video is circulating online, it’s only natural that most people would come to some specific conclusions.

• The white men involved in this murder were projecting crime into an innocent black man. They were aware of a crime that had been taking place, they saw someone they wished were the aggressor in that crime, and they sought to invoke vigilante justice.

• But vigilante justice—whether legal or not, and in this case it seems to be a clear case of murder—isn’t always moral. Regardless of whether or not this incident resulted in someone dying, it was still wrong from the get-go.  

Bottom line: these guys deserve prison.

STONKS

The Economy. It Seems Garbage. What’s Up With Stocks?

The Stock Market. You know, all things considered, it’s doing pretty well. Sure, early in the coronavirus, there was a pretty big meltdown. But despite all of that, it’s certainly not bad despite the global pandemic that isn’t slowing down, over 30 million Americans unemployed, and oil prices that are nonexistent. So uhhh, what the fuck is happening exactly?

There Are a Lot of Theories

• The stock market isn’t synonymous with the economy, first of all, so it’s important not to trip up between the two. Still, it feels like the stock market is divorced from what’s happening now and more importantly (at least, according to how stocks work in theory or whatever) what will happen.

• The Federal Reserve: and Congress are both pumping shit tons of money into the economy to help prop up markets. Whether that money is getting to where it ought to be is another question. In any case, they’ve spent about one-third of our GDP in a pretty short amount of time.

• No alternatives: government bonds aren’t offering great returns and many learned a lesson in 2008 about missing out on future returns that can upshot around the corner. People seem to be optimistic, somehow.

• We also don’t know how long this will last. Perhaps what we’re seeing with small businesses will make its impact further on down the line, or there will be future problems with the oil market, but for now? Stonks are surviving.

Bottom line: leave it to America to let da big boi markets stay afloat while the little guy worries about how to pay rent. Some folks are betting everything will go to shit. Others are living in peaceful bliss. Stocks are kinda stupid anyway.

BAILOUTS

Lobbyists May Get Their Own Coronavirus Bailout

Lobbyists. God damn we hate them. It’s not an intrinsically bad idea for representatives of a business or industry to be able to advocate for what they do, but there’s just about no denying that lobbyism in America has caused severe rot. Now, oil, fast food, construction, and manufacturing lobbyists are seeking their own bailout amid coronavirus concerns.

Why Would Anyone Give Lobbyists Money Right Now?

• The Paycheck Protection Program, the bit of the CARES Act targeted towards small businesses and coronavirus relief, excluded most lobbying forces. Now, they’re seeking those funds—and with the help of some senior lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi, they may just get it.  

• “The American Society for Association Executives” is an actual group that represents trade group leadership. Or uh, you know, lobbyists. They wrote a letter addressed to lawmakers saying they need to better advocate for their clients.

• If this happens, and it very may well, it will be because Democrats are complicit.

Bottom line: it’s great that we’re dishing out so much money and all, but uh, let’s use it on folks who need it and not societal vampires.

END OF THE LINE...

That’s it for today.

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The Bread Line

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