Just when I thought we had everything on our plate that we could handle in 2020, another problem erupts.
Violence in our cities. Civil unrest.
Whatever has caused peaceful protests to turn into violence is beyond me. But sadly, it has, and now it’s an issue.
In fact, the recent violence in America is such a big issue that I think it might even eclipse the Coronavirus pandemic as the core issue in the 2020 election this November.
And as you can imagine, the two sides couldn’t be more different.
On the one hand, you have the President blaming the left and preaching law and order in response to the violence. He has even threatened to send in federal forces to get control of things—although Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers had already deployed the National Guard.
On the other hand, you have Joe Biden blaming the President for stoking the violence and calling for peace and an end to the unrest.
So that’s where we are. Civil unrest in America. How did we get here?
I guess you can trace the beginning of all this to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Two unarmed Black lives taken by police. We all witnessed the protests that followed. They started peacefully, then some got out of control.
In some places, like Portland, the protests have continued every night since May.
Now cut to Jacob Blake, the unarmed Black man shot in the back seven times in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The protests there have only escalated.
A New York Times piece chronicles what is happening from there. “As Guns Get Drawn at Protest Sites, Demonstrators Fear a Volatile New Phase.”
Where protestors had been going at it with law enforcement for their abuse of force, they are now facing right wing groups and turning even more violent.
Three people have been killed in recent days. Two in Kenosha. One in Portland.
What all this means for the November election is anybody’s guess. It’s going to be an issue. We are already seeing it. Trump and Biden are going at it.
Trump says Joe Biden and the rioters share the same agenda. “The rioters and Joe Biden have a side — they’re both on the side of the radical left.”
Biden says we are facing multiple crises in America. Crises that under Donald Trump have only multiplied even more. “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected? We need justice in America. We need safety in America.”
An angry country. That’s what America is in 2020. You want to believe it will get better… I’m not so sure it will.
Whoever wins this election in November will have a job ahead of them. Uniting a country once again.
The United States of America.