There was a time when rioting was a rare and noteworthy occurrence. Back in those days, the sight of a crazed mob torching a business for no discernible reason, or invading and burning a police station, or beating bystanders unconscious, or murdering elderly men who get in the way — any one of these incidents by themselves — would have shocked the conscience and become instantly seared into our memories. But now we call events like these a normal Monday evening. Anarchy and lawlessness are an utterly routine part of the contemporary American experience.
As we survey the damage from the Black Lives Matter riots in Wisconsin prompted by the police shooting of a man wanted for sexual assault and other crimes, it is hard to feel as shocked as we should. The scene is appalling. Entire car dealerships burned to ash. Police officers assaulted with bricks. An old man beaten unconscious while he tries to protect his store from looters. A woman left in tears as she looks upon the wreckage of the business she and her husband had spent their lives building. We are infuriated by the injustice and heartbroken for the victims. We are enraged at our elected leaders who either sit by like useless lumps and do nothing to protect their citizens, or actively encourage the mobs. And we are exhausted — exhausted by the ceaselessness of the carnage, and the knowledge that it will not be over tomorrow or the next day or the next. But we are not shocked because this our new normal. And we have Black Lives Matter and its enablers in the media and the Democratic Party largely to thank for that.
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