Uanset hvem der vinder, er der udsigt til uro i gaderne efter valgstederne lukker i morgen.
People are on edge. I’ve been grocery shopping and I am staying indoors here in Seattle for the next week or so
No matter who wins, there is a prospect of unrest in the streets after the polls close tomorrow.
The United States has more weapons than its inhabitants. This weekend I shopped big. I should not risk standing at the checkout and paying for a liter of milk while some maniac goes crazy with his automatic weapon.
The mood here in the United States is tentatively intense. Both sides of the political spectrum expect there to be some form of unrest, violence, demonstrations. Some even fear pockets of civil war-like conditions in different parts of the country.
The United States has a president who breathes hatred, both among his supporters and among his opponents. And when he has got the reactions one would expect when using a rhetoric like his, in the form of violence, riots and demonstrations, then he goes out in public and turns the knob that makes the hatred flare up even more.
How much is lying and smoldering beneath the surface in this otherwise absolutely amazing country full of infinite potential, we have seen it in the four years Trump has sat in the White House. And we have especially seen it after the assassination of George Floyd in the month of May.
The United States is the land of contradictions. It requires a leader who can gather and see the strengths in differences rather than incite to an us-and-them rhetoric. Gathering the country requires a leader with format; Trump has long since dumped that test.
Trump shouts and screams his hatred, his lies and his conspiracy theories out on every single occasion he gets. He turns the truth over and manipulates his disciples. It’s infinitely dangerous, and he knows it. But we have seen it throughout his presidency: if he is to go down, he will drag all those he can get down with him, whether that means leaving a country in the democratic crisis of his life.
Yesterday, he reiterated at his five rallies that it is unheard of for votes to be counted after election day itself. But that has always been the case. The difference is that this year there are a record number of people voting by mail because the corona pandemic is out of control and people do not feel safe coming to the polls to vote.
Of course, Trump is well aware that those who vote in the polls are primarily Republicans. He also knows full well that the postal votes are coming in for counting later than usual because Trump back in August did what he could to delay the procedures that get the mail out. And last but not least, he knows well that if the postal votes are counted, then he is apparently finished as president. Therefore, he does everything he can to sabotage the democratic process and encourages his followers to exercise voter oppression and intimidation.
So when Trump already goes out and says that it is absolutely outrageous that postal votes should be counted after the polls close on election day, he is inciting the militias that are ready to introduce the street parliament with automatic weapons over their shoulders.
If Trump goes out and declares himself the winner and in his usual way through bullying methods gets the power unjustly tampered with, then the opposite wing is ready for demonstrations and riots in the streets.
For those of us who simply want a democratic process that works and is respected, both reactions are frightening and unacceptable.
(Google translate)
Danish-American Eyes on Society 