Well, FWIW, I've now heard from the whitest of white America -- i.e., my Ohioan parents, who hate both Biden and Trump about equally.

Mom did the expected "listen, once you're burning down your own community it's not a protest" dance, but she did actually listen patiently to my counterarguments. And (kinda expected from a Kent State massacre survivor), she's more pissed off at the police than she is about the protests. If her reaction is any indication, yeah, the Midwest ain't necessarily buying the right's line about what's happening.

Apparently the protests are MUCH BIGGER in NE Ohio than I'd expected. Cleveland, Akron, and Canton were virtually shut down. They're also apparently missing my niece and her boyfriend's apartment in Columbus by all of a few blocks. Yikes. There was even a protest in my shithole hometown, but to my pride and astonishment, it was totally peaceful...