Hits and Misses
Voter turnout was high in Tuesday’s primary, despite it having been moved back one month and with a pandemic still unfolding. Certainly much of the turnout numbers were driven by mail-in balloting, which the commonwealth deployed for the first time in this election. The only downside of mail-in voting, however, is the protracted amount of time it takes to count the ballots. In Washington County, workers in the elections office were given the unenviable task of counting a little more than 22,000 ballots. It’s expected that the counting will be complete today. If the primary served as a dry run for November’s election, it should be apparent that county offices throughout the state will need more resources to count mail-in ballots five months from now, when the turnout is expected to be even higher.
Frank Rizzo, the former police commissioner and mayor of Philadelphia, still evokes heated controversy almost three decades after his death. His police force was known for its ferocity in the 1960s and 1970s, with African Americans and gays and lesbians being specific targets. Rizzo once urged Philadelphians to “vote white.” A statue of Rizzo that has stood outside Philadelphia’s municipal services building since 1999 has been a frequent target of protesters, and Philly’s current mayor, Jim Kenney, decided this week that enough was enough. The statue was removed, with Kenney saying in an emergency order that it has “become a painful symbol of racism, bigotry and police brutality.” The statue will be placed in storage until it is determined whether it will be relocated or destroyed. Given what has happened in Philadelphia and elsewhere over the last week, the Rizzo statue did not need to remain and serve as an additional incitement.
Journalists throughout the country have been covering the protests surrounding the death of George Floyd at great risk to their health as a result of COVID-19. More disturbingly, they have come under attack from police at the protests. According to the Nieman Lab, there have been 138 reported incidents of attacks on reporters since May 28. Many of the attacks appear to have been deliberate. In fact, Australia is demanding an investigation into an attack on two of its television journalists outside the White House Monday night. As one reporter told The New York Times, “If we’re getting attacked, it’s just another part of democracy falling down here.”
A CBS News poll released this week found that only 32% of Americans approve of the way President Trump has handled the civil unrest that has followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, and that number is not likely to grow following the vulgar stunt that had nonviolent protesters cleared out of Washington, D.C.’s, Lafayette Square with tear gas and rubber bullets so Trump could stand in front of St. John’s Church holding a Bible. Religious leaders across the board condemned the photo opportunity, and Wilton Gregory, Washington, D.C.’s, archbishop, was even more blunt the next day when Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, visited a shrine dedicated to the late Pope John Paul II. Gregory said, “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we disagree.” Gregory deserves kudos for his straightforward honesty.