To say that the racist murder of George Floyd and the massive anti-racist protests in reaction to this heinous crime shook the country and world, reconfigured politics, recast the understanding of racism and anti-racism in the minds of millions, revealed new dangers to democracy and democratic governance, and gave new urgency to defeating Trump carries not a hint of overstatement.
The floor on which people dance out their lives has changed in dramatic ways. Unforeseen and unpredictable events have washed away the old floor, replacing it a floor, both larger and differently configured. On it more people, many more, gather to dance. But they don’t dance to old familiar tunes. Nor is choreography of the past repeated. They move to a new rhythm and snap their fingers to a new beat, while swinging with new partners long into the night.
Looks like Martin Guino, the 75 year old man who was pushed to the pavement by police in Buffalo and remains in the hospital, is nothing but a troublemaker, an “Antifa Provocateur,” Trump tells us? Or maybe something worse? Who knows. I’m sure Trump will help his polling numbers with this crazy gambit.
Once again we are going through another momentous re-imagining and remaking of our state, economy, and society in which two great camps face off against each other. While this still unresolved clash didn’t begin with the interlocking political, economic, and health crises that tightly grip the country now, their confluence when combined with the sudden, sustained, and massive marches protesting the brutal murder of George Floyd can only give this clash new energy.
But more to the point, they have triggered, I believe, a governing crisis that has laid bare for millions to see the bankruptcy, immorality, and sheer incompetence of Trump and his Republican gang of immoral misfits in the Congress. Meanwhile, the other camp composed of the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate Joe Biden, plus a broader democratic coalition tacking in a progressive, social democratic direction has gained in support, confidence, and understanding as the country convulses in a manner that finds no rough equivalent since the sixties.
As election day draws closer, and with the resolution of the triple crises still waiting resolution and no abatement in the demand for radical criminal justice reform and other anti-racist measures, the clash between these two political blocs can only reach a fever pitch. And whatever the outcome, this frontal collision of powerful political coalitions will continue after all the votes are counted and a winner declared. But in case it needs to be said, the winning side will be politically positioned, especially if it wins decisively, to remake the state, economy, and culture in accordance with its vision. In this light, the dangers are as frightening as the possibilities are palpable and exciting.
I wonder if Trump is entering a zone of unpopularity and illegitimacy where there is nothing he can do or say to change his standing among a broad swath of people. In this zone, everything he says sounds hollow, insincere, duplicitous, self serving, not to be trusted. He is, it seems to me, increasingly becoming the embodiment of an emperor with no clothes and not just to long time anti-Trumpers.
