Post Election Civil Unrest... Meh

Will we have riots and revolution on November 9th? Not to spoil the ending, but the Muse doubts it. Trump's pledge to "wait and see" before honoring the results of the election is an empty threat. It is increasingly clear that, while his handlers cannot control him, he is not the head of some powerful "movement". True, he has brought to light some of our worse fears and least savory undercurrents as a nation - but on November 9th I expect the adults to pick up the mantle and begin to deal with those issues in a serious manner.

Donald, meanwhile, will find ways to keep his "movement" afloat so that he can attempt, over the course of whatever years he has left on this earth, to wreak revenge on those who betrayed him. If this does not sound familiar to you, let me recommend the movie "Downfall". Why am I so sanguine about the possibility of violence? Two words - historical perspective.

In our haste to remember the 60s fondly we often forget the unrest that accompanied our last cultural upheaval. Here's a quote from a times blog article, "1969, a Year of Bombings":

"The hearing, part of an investigation led Senator John L. McClellan, Democrat of Arkansas, concluded that from January 1969 to April 1970, the United States sustained 4,330 bombings — 3,355 of them incendiary, 975 explosive — resulting in 43 deaths and $21.8 million in property damage."

That's right - the US experienced 4300 plus bombings including 975 explosive bombings (as opposed to fire bombings) in a 15 month span. Detroit riots in '67 saw 43 dead and 1100 injured. Newark NJ riots of the same period left 26 dead. In contrast, protest riots over Freddy Grays death in Baltimore were short lived and resulted in zero fatalities. There were none killed in Ferguson protests riots.

Certainly we have had fatalities and violence in the last 2 years. Police violence continues to be a problem in some jurisdictions. Issues of justice are at the top of the agenda in minority communities who suffer an undue burden from unequal treatment. That's the Muse view born out by many studies and a great deal of evidence I find compelling. Five policemen were shot in Dallas and the gunmen himself killed. The horror show of the pulse nightclub illustrates the danger of terrorism, lone gunmen and virulent bigotry.

Such shootings and protests all have a political taint to them of course - but none of them are really central to this campaign. There is no equivalent to the Weathermen or the Black Panthers working overtly to bring down our government by violent means. If you think the circus of WWE fans at Trump rallies yelling the F word and breaking out in fisticuffs amounts to the same thing as the bloody confrontations of the 1968 democratic convention, you need to watch the footage of that event to see what real unrest looks like.

So I'm not on pins and needles worried about alt-right rioters in the streets. I'm sure there will be some (hopefully casualty free) side shows of men playing soldier in the South and West. But overall I still expect a peaceful transition of power. But I will say that it does suck that I have to come out and say that.