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.

At the urging of my daughter and thanks to a birthday gift from one of my closest friends, I began reading,”How to be an Anti-Racist,” authored by Ibram X Kendi, last night. So far my daughter is right: Great book! And is there a better time to read it than now?

One objective of protest action is to speak truth to power, but another is to win the sympathy and support of people who aren’t yet actively engaged and may never become activists. In the unprecedented protest actions over the last two weeks (they were on a scale most of us didn’t imagine), demanding justice and accountability for the police murder of George Floyd, both objectives were achieved. If you have any doubt about the latter one, check out new public opinion polls.

Barr would like us to believe that the problem of policing can be explained away by a “few bad apples” in police ranks. It’s not “systemic,” he says. This poor excuse for a human being is an ideologue and enforcer of right wing , white nationalist, democracy breaking, constitution breaking authoritarian rule. Like Trump, he still hopes, even if his hopes are fading some, that the November elections give them an opportunity to consolidate this form of rule for the long term.