I was out in Butler County, PA last month. I spend ten days there, every summer at a big, outdoor event. Should you find yourself in Western PA. I recommend you visit the area. Morraine State Park is beautiful, so is McConnell’s Mills. All in all it’a a lovely part of the country. Fairly rural, but then most lovely parts of the country are.
Sadly, Butler County is, also Trump country. I passed I don’t know how many home made Trump displays.
I’m not sure why. I expect Mr. Trump would dismiss the folk there as hicks.
Of course some of them have leased their land for gas fracking. It’s a good source of revenue for them, for now. I’m sure they’ve all been told by somebody that there is no safe fracking, and they are courting disaster. They just don’t want to believe it, because they need the money.
Farming is hard work and it doesn’t pay. Leisure industries pay better, but in this part of the world they are seasonal. Western Pennsylvania winters are not great. People do ski here. But not in Butler County. So the folk who live there were prime targets for frackers.
Western Pennsylvania doesn’t have a large Hispanic community. What few Hispanics do live here, don’t live in Butler County. Which means that people there shouldn’t be worried about brown skinned invaders.
Nor is it the kind of place terrorists would attack. Isis lone wolves seem to prefer urban targets.
But the people who live out in Butler feel kind of left out. On television rural people are, occasionally portrayed as the salt of the earth. Mostly they’re shown as either stupid or deranged. Nobody seems to care much about them.
They see Mrs. Clinton as part of the elite, who laugh at them and refuse to understand them. They see Trump as one of their own. Someone who will reign in the IRS. Let them do what they want with their land. And, somehow, magically, fix it so they make more money than they do now.
Which is fine. Folks in Butler County are entitled to their opinion. The thing is, they’re country people. Country people have guns. They have guns because they need them. I live two blocks from the police station. If I am threatened the police will be here in before I finish the call. I’ve seen it happen. In the country the police may be 45 minutes, or even an hour away. If there’s a rabid animal in your back yard, you may have to handle it yourself.
But what if Trump loses? What if instead of a gracious concession speech on election night, he rallies his followers, and urges armed rebellion?
In 2012, he tweeted that Americans should march on Washington. He left it open as to what they should do when they got there. He may not be so subtle next time.
Fine if some of his followers head into the hills to play guerilla that’s not that much of a problem. Did I mention that winters in Western PA are unpleasant? Living outdoors in rain, sleet, and snow, has limited appeal when there is a nice warm home waiting for you, with a hot dinner and a Steeler game. The guerillas won’t stay in the hills for long.
On the other hand, if they head for the city, where I live. If they come with their guns. If they meet with Trump supporters here. If they come into city neighborhoods. If they come into my neighborhood, which is low income and has a large African American population, not to mention a few Hispanics, and more than a few Muslims.
Best case scenario, if Trump preaches rebellion, I have one bad night, and something new to blog about. None of my neighbors are harmed. Nobody’s home is damaged. I am not harmed. Things go down hill from there. Houses burned, schools burned, men, women and children shot indiscriminately. Angry people don’t think clearly.
Read about the draft riots in New York during the Civil War. Read about the anti Black race riots at the turn of the century. Things can get very ugly, very fast.
I am not going to be too paranoid. But on November 9, I will be sure that I have ice and a supply of non perishable food. I will be sure my cell phone is charged, and I have batteries for a camp lantern. (The best source of light in a power outage.) I will hide my jewelry box, and say a prayer.
On November 10 I will vote, and I will be very nervous for the rest of the day, and hope to gracious my fears are unjustified.
While I’m at it, I will hope that this year’s election is the beginning of a wiser, saner Republican Party. One that doesn’t run candidates like Mr. Trump.