Days of Reckoning

It takes something pretty serious to push the COVID-19 story off the news for a week or more.

Protests against the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, like the protest in New York City shown above, have turned violent in many cities, and they've been flaring up in the least likely places, such as the Mormon citadel of Salt Lake City, and protesters against police brutality have included Amish elders and . . . active police officers.

As soon as the violence subsides, COVID-19 should regain the public's attention, but more importantly, the legitimate demonstrations against the Floyd killing will keep the fact of racial injustice in the news as well.  And Donald Trump will have to deal with all of it. I'm sure some Republicans are secretly delighted with the violence and the rioting, as similar unrest got Nixon elected President in 1968, but if Trump thinks he can run on re-election on a platform of law and order, why hasn't he been able to provide either?

I think the picture above is indicative of those Americans who are determined to end racial injustice in the middle of a pandemic. The young woman in the picture above arrived at a demonstration protected by a mask in this social-distancing-unfriendly situation, but the fact that she doffed her mask long enough to make her voice heard and show her face means that she is all too happy to identify herself for the world as a person ready to change America for the better.  Expect young people like her to show up at the polls - or, if they have the opportunity, mail-in ballots - five months from now.