Oh, I know that they know exactly what they are doing.
Bu they are completely misjudging and miscalculating what the consequences will be. They will not be able to control it the way they imagine.
While many Obama watchers have speculated on whether he would try a "Reichstag Fire Gambit," to consolidate power, the focus might be better on a slight modification. Out of control racial conflict could certainly lead to an attempt to declare Martial Law & Rule by Decree. Then everything would depend upon factors not completely predictable.
Note, I am not suggesting that any part of the attempt would be what the Constitution would authorize; but it would be entirely consistent with the ethics of the man who years ago called for a new para-military Federal force, to be as strong or stronger than our Armed Forces; who laments that the activist Courts did not decree redistribution of wealth; who has routinely employed Hitler's crowd manipulation techniques; and who sat in a Church for 20 years, where the Pastor damned the American tradition; and whose Attorney General is actively seeking to enjoin States from protecting the integrity of future elections, etc., etc.
We may be hideously close to an historic moment. Will it be one of truth or just horror?
Still, your optimism may offer a ray of hope.
William Flax