America is facing a lot of extreme challenges … all at once. The country’s role in the world has been wildly diminished, the worst global pandemic of our lifetimes has hit us particularly hard, the economy has suffered an uppercut to the jaw, unemployment numbers have surged beyond imagination, our deep polarization is playing into the hands of of our archest rivals, our longest running and most depressing national storyline has spilled out onto the streets once again, and we are saddled with perhaps the worst president in American history; a leader who not only fails to ease the burden of history, but who, at every turn, actively makes matters worse. Fire, meet gasbag. As I mentioned yesterday, the American nightmare that has diffused from Minneapolis to the corners of the country is actually Trump’s political dream. WaPo with a headline and a lede for the moment: Gripped by disease, unemployment and outrage at the police, America plunges into crisis. “A global pandemic has now killed more than 100,000 Americans and left 40 million unemployed in its wake. Protests — some of them violent — have once again erupted in spots across the country over police killings of black Americans. President Trump, meanwhile, is waging a war against Twitter, attacking his political rivals, criticizing a voting practice he himself uses and suggesting that looters could be shot.”

+ “In scenes both peaceful and violent across the nation, thousands of protesters chanted ‘No justice, no peace’ and ‘Say his name. George Floyd.’ They hoisted signs reading: ‘He said I can’t breathe. Justice for George.'” AP on the protests. National Guard summoned to aid cities amid police clashes. The Marshall Project with a city by city roundup. And here are some photos from The Guardian.

+ The most powerful photo from the protests is not one that features fires or violence. It was a photo of unity. From downtown Louisville, photo shows line of white people between police, black protesters.