Election Day Violence---I Hope Not

The link below takes you to an article entitled Police Prepare for Unrest by Alexander Bolton on http://www.thehill.com/ that has finally factually reported what I have been reluctantly feeling but could not bring myself to verbalize because it just sounds so frightening.

"Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest."

Ever since the August primary election in Missouri, I have been worried about this possibility but have been trying to tell myself that this is a foolish thought. My husband was a poll worker at a local precinct. He came home that night and commented that there was a very palpable difference in this election that was unlike any that he had been involved with in the past. He has been a poll worker in several past primaries and in the 2004 general election. His comment was something like "the Democrat workers and voters are plainly giddy and openly verbalized that this election was THEIRS!" There were even soft comments of "Hell to Pay" if Obama did not win. The article proceeds to quote police chiefs from multiple cities as well as well-known political sources from both parties regarding this possibility and their preparation for it.

"Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large black populations. Others based the need for enhanced patrols on past riots in urban areas (following professional sports events) and also on Internet rumors."

"The Oakland police last faced big riots in 2003 when the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. Officials are bracing themselves in case residents of Oakland take Obama’s loss badly. "


“We’ve seen it on the Internet and we’ve heard that there could be civil unrest depending on the outcome of [the election,]” said Lt. Mark Briede of the Cincinnati Police Department. “We are prepared to respond in the case of some sort of unrest or some sort of incident.”

“If [Obama] is elected, like with sports championships, people may go out and riot,” said Bob Parks, an online columnist and black Republican candidate for state representative in Massachusetts. “If Barack Obama loses there will be another large group of people who will assume the election was stolen from him….. This will be an opportunity for people who want to commit mischief.”

So now it seems that regardless of who wins the election, there may be violence due to the anger, angst and general viciousness that has been born out of this election cycle. While I hope and pray that this never becomes a reality, I will be in prayer for our nation from now through the time that the outcome of the election is made known. How did we get to this point???





The entire article can be found at http://tinyurl.com/5vvtkp