Former Sioux Falls mayor Knobe: Trump is squeezing life out of country. Congress must awaken and act

Here’s an image for you. No picture. This requires using your imagination.

You, me, the country, are George Floyd. The Minnesota man who died as the result of a police officer continuously applying knee pressure on Mr. Floyd’s neck while he lay, helpless on the ground. Three other officers did nothing as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe. The crowd was shouting for the officer to stop. He did not.

Floyd died a horrible death. What followed was weeks of citizen outrage across the country. Ultimately things calmed down. Lots of damage.

The cops were charged, tried, convicted. I believe all are serving time.

In a figurative sense, the cop with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s (our) neck are three people — Donald Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk, who are squeezing the life out of our country, out of me, out of you.

The cops who are doing nothing? They are our senators and congresspeople. The crowd is citizens protesting the obvious abuse being done.

For the record, I’m not implying, suggesting, or promoting violence as a reaction to the knee on our neck. I believe in organized, focused, peaceful protests. Let’s keep it that way. Maybe our senators and congressional folks will snap out of their coma and stop the abuse on our behalf.

Rick Knobe is a former mayor of Sioux Falls and a longtime radio talk show host who is now retired but remains active and involved in his community and state as an independent political observer and commentator. His columns appear regularly on The South Dakota Standard. This essay previously appeared in Change Agents of South Dakota

Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons