Richmond, Virginia, former capital of the Confederacy, is burning once again.  The scenes of destroyed police cars, burning buildings, violence, rampant looting, and burned out city buses may have subsided, but Confederate memorials continue to be targets of hatred.  The demonstrators seem to mirror the tactics of the old KKK, an opposite "woke" version.  They both use intimidation and violence to quiet those who might object.  Richmond mayor Levar Stoney has demonstrated his support by participating in the protests well past his so-called curfew.  It is unconfirmed, but it appears he may have directed the city police to stand down because they have been slow to act as the vandals did their worst. 

Governor Northam is not letting the crisis go to waste and has decreed that all the historic Confederate statues on Richmond's scenic Monument Ave. should be removed immediately.  There are some pending lawsuits trying to block him.  No surprise that the law firm representing the case was vandalized last night, and yesterday, vandals destroyed a landmark statue of Jefferson Davis.  George Orwell figured out the left's obsession with destroying statues and rewriting history (e.g., the 1619 Project).  "The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history."   

Not to be outdone by the rioters, and despite strong opposition from the police, the liberal Virginia parole board just let out cop-killer Vincent Martin, who was serving a life term.  This action was done in the wee hours of the night and was likely to virtue-signal for BLM and perhaps to feed the defund-the-police narrative.  This cop-killer can now become another of BLM's role models. 

The constant blocking of major streets finally succeeded in provoking an actual KKK idiot to nudge his truck past some cyclists who purposefully had him surrounded.  At least one cyclist was slightly injured, and it made the front page of the Richmond paper.  His bail was denied, although most of the vandals who burned buses, destroyed police cars, beat up bystanders, and wrecked and looted stores have been given a pass from the rule of law.  Anarchy is now fashionable and is making Obama's dream of fundamentally transforming America into a reality.

It should be no surprise that this chaos is happening now.  First, it is a presidential election year.  Second, it capitalizes on the success of the radical left over the last 50-plus years to take control of our universities, K–12 education, Hollywood, and the MSM.  The fruits of that achievement are now realized by the many new woke leftists it produced along with an all-powerful propaganda apparatus.  George Orwell predicted this outcome as well.  "If a government could control all media and interpersonal communication while simultaneously forcing citizens to speak in politically controlled jargon, it could blunt independent thinking."  Thanks to Hillary's loss, the government is not quite in the driver's seat, but substitute "schools" for "government" and "students" for "citizens," and Orwell's meaning is clear.  The unique opportunity to use the chaos created by the pandemic coupled with the masses of indoctrinated people and a supportive media may be the left's last chance to prevent another surprise Trump win.  

It should be clear by now that this leftist-driven movement is not confined to the U.S.  Many European countries are also experiencing riots with statue vandalism and general mayhem using alleged systemic white racism as their excuse.  This suggests that the whole thing is being staged by an international web of organizations that includes Antifa, BLM, and many others.  Project Veritas has confirmed some of this conjecture in two undercover videos just released.  Here, George Soros, Tom Steyer, and several Silicon Valley mega-donors are named.  Here are the long term goals shared by these radical groups the MSM does not want known.

Some words from Ben Franklin seem appropriate.  "We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."  Wise up, America, before it's too late.

Image: Will Fisher via Flickr.