For the second night in a row, protests against the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police have broken out and resulted in widespread disorder, property damage, injuries and even death. Too many things have come together at once, and the country has finally succumbed to an accumulation of stresses and indignities.

We can start with the main thing, which is a constant drip-drip-drip of black and brown folks losing their lives at the hands of cops who then face minimal accountability. Then we have a president who has done nothing but insult minorities and embrace white nationalism for the last four years. Add in forty million people losing their jobs overnight with a nation living under fear in a global health pandemic that most impacts blacks and people living in dense urban communities. Finally, add in some nice weather that incentivizes already stir-crazy people to disregard basic health advice and abandon social distancing.

This all created a tinderbox, and now our cities are revolting against civilian authority. There are credible reports that white nationalists and even some rogue police officers have been acting as provocateurs, seeing a political advantage for the right in creating a white backlash against the disorder and disrespect.

Trump was clearly heading for a humiliating political defeat at the beginning of last week. Now things are not so clear. Now there’s a debate about whether the non-urban parts of the country will respond the same way they did to the riots during Lyndon Johnson’s president and seek protection from the right, or they’ll turn even harder against Trump because he’s in charge and they’re even more desperate for change. One thing is clear if nothing else. The demographics of the country are different today than they were in 1968.

But if this is a revolt against Trumpism, it’s also a revolt against Democratic leadership. The mayors of these cities are all Democrats, and the same is true of most of the governors and attorneys general. If they’re unable to reestablish order, the party will pay a heavy price.

This spasm of protest isn’t politically strategic in any traditional red/blue sense, but more of a rejection that either side is likely to produce satisfactory answers. Anyone who thinks they can easily turn it to the advantage of their side of the political divide is being too optimistic.

As for Minneapolis, they have not handled this well. Waiting until their city was ablaze to arrest the main cop (and only the main cop) responsible for George Floyd’s murder sent the message that riots are both necessary and effective, but still not sufficient. This contributed to riots breaking out all across the country on Friday night.

Since order must be restored, the sympathies will quickly turn back to the police if the rioting persists. That’s not only what Trump is hoping for, but it’s possibly his only hope of being reelected.

But it’s not just the right that needs to get the message. People aren’t looking for the status quo ante and it’s not going to be enough to promise to go back to a time before Trump.

Meanwhile, the total disregard for social distancing involved in these protests will almost assuredly result in a spike in Covid-19 cases in our cities, making it harder for the country to resume normal economic activities. This will make Trump look like a fool, but it will also keep everyone under the kind of stress that caused this convulsion in the first place.

The stakes were already sky-high in this election year, but now they’re astronomical.