The Girl in the Kent State Photo

Good stuff

 

I just heard Neil Young play Ohio at Jazz Fest in New Orleans today!

 

Those national guardsmen were pieces of shit.

 

I can't believe people did not realize it was accurate. Then again, it may be a matter of age

 

I am not so sure I am ready to judge them like that. How old were they? Most national guardsmen are young. Whoever sent armed guardsmen to break up a peaceful demonstration was certainly scum, but the kids in the national guard were just kids.

 

They pointed their guns at fellow Americans who were not threatening their lives and chose to fire. (The indicted guardsmen were between 27 and 38 years old, with most being between the ages of 28 and 30.)

 

I didn’t know. You learn something knee every day. I have never liked anyone who moved from Ohio to Florida. I assume they are all former national guardsmen.

 

14:20 mark.
Governor Rhodes vilified the protectors with some extreme rhetoric to dehumanize them to the point that they were enemy combatants of America. Purportedly the fire started at the rotc building was started by a non student but some of the destructive aspects of the protest seemed to fuel his rhetoric. Not giving the guard a pass but politicians and administrators get passes for decisions and policies while the people that execute their will (pun intended) get all the blame.

I'm sure I'll get roasted but without knowing too much about the specifics it seems like there was at least more to it than guardsmen walking up on some simple protest and opening fire.

"By any force necessary including shooting."

 

It was an ongoing escalation with the same accusations and discussions that are going on today about buildings taken over, vandalism and outside agitators only worse because communication channels weren't as available as they are today so when a governor incites that type of response it might be a little more complex than just saying the national guardsmen were scumbags....which they might have been however the situation was more complex than many are aware about. Sorry about the run on sentence.

Audio Recording: Governor James Rhodes Press Conference · Kent State University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives

Transcripts from governor Rhoden.

My opinion is not to denigrate the dead or justify the action. Far from it. I'm just ready to see policy makers, administrators and decision makers get their share of blame instead of often undertrained and misplaced boots on the ground thrown into shitstorms. Same with police administration, lawmakers, etc.

 

Not defending them but keep in mind that they were very poorly trained, poorly led and essentially fired their weapons when they panicked.

 

But the shooting of Ashli Babbit was (D)ifferent.

 

Poor Ashli Babbitt had the misfortune of being the point person of an enraged and irrational mob of Trumpers who almost certainly would have physically assaulted and possibly even murdered members of Congress were they not stopped. Let's not forget that the mob including Babbitt herself were persuaded by the defeated indicted former president that the election had been stolen from him and that it was their duty to right the wrong. As far as the girl in the Kent State photo is concerned she WAS simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

Great song. Loved Crosby, Stills Nash and Young.
For better or worse that song/event had a big influence on my political views as a teen.

 

The folks at Kent State were protesting AGAINST the government. Ashli Babbit was "fighting" on behalf of the head of the executive branch OF THE GOVERNMENT

 

Ashli Babbitt the troublemaker was committing a criminal act (trespassing) and didn’t comply with police orders. Yes, that was very different.