“All the ruffians do what he says; and what he says is mostly: hack, burn, and ruin; and now it’s come to killing. There’s no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let ’em lie, they burn houses and build no more”.
This chilling passage comes from The Return of the King, specifically, “The Scouring of the Shire”. After the four, brave, little hobbits saved Middle-earth, they returned to their beloved Shire only to find it ravaged by Saruman and his evil flunkies. They had destroyed “the hobbits’ buildings, trees and monuments, for no other reason than to remove all markers of memory. . .The trees of the Shire were not just bark and branches, they are where children climbed and hunted, and under whose leaves the people gathered to enjoy warm August nights. . . ‘This is worse than Mordor!’ said Sam. ‘Much worse in a way. It comes home to you, as they say; because it is home, and you remember it before it was all ruined’.” –“Mordor, USA” (https://reformclub.blogspots.com/2020/06/mordor-usa.html)
I use this verbiage in the title because the War Between the States was not a “civil war,” technically speaking, but a fratricidal conflict in which one side sought independence in the form of secession and the other side sought to suppress it. This can’t be stressed enough: the Confederacy did not want to take over the Federal City and impose its writ and mores on the rest of the nation. They simply wanted out of a Union they felt was in the grips of a radical party that wanted to exterminate them as a people and a culture. Like the American colonists, they, too, were worried that an oppressive power was looking to “incite rebellions” among them (as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence).
Having said that, the demarcation line between North and South was relatively clean. The Mason-Dixon Line served as the border between North and South and for the most part, the rules of war were observed.
If current events continue to get out of hand, what we are going to experience in America will probably not be so neat and clean, mainly because no such solid demarcation exists today. And thus it won’t be a war “between” the states but a civil one in which the party that wins will control the Federal government and impose its will on the rest of the nation. Our present civil war (which appears to be in its early stages) will look more like Spain’s or Greece’s fratricidal conflicts than what we experienced in the 1860s.
Some context is required here: The Red-State/Blue-State divide is a messy one with a Red interior of contiguous states, and Blue states hugging coasts, with islets of Blue cities interspersed in-between. For example, Illinois is a “Blue State,” but it is so only because Chicago overrides the votes of the 90% of the state’s landmass that is conservative. The same is more or less true with New York State, Washington State and Oregon. Similarly, entire swaths of California and Nevada are rural and patriotic to the core.
This is true in the reverse, as well, with Texas a Red State, but Austin, Dallas, and Houston quite Blue. The conundrum, therefore, is obvious as there is no foreseeable Mason-Dixon Line. To make things even messier, there are secessionist movements within the Blue States. The rural/exurban areas of Illinois, New York and Colorado are examples. Likewise, the eastern parts of Oregon and Washington State are looking to integrate into a “Greater Idaho,” while ninety of the counties of Virginia are seeking inclusion into West Virginia.
The correlation of forces is not geographic and the order of battle, therefore, would be difficult to envision. Under such circumstances, the likelihood of civilian casualties would probably be high, as they were in Belfast and Lebanon during the last half of the previous century. For a picture of what we are dealing with, I can think of nothing better than the “Clinton Archipelago”:
Compare this with the counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2016:
Now, if we examine what the country looked like during the years 1861-1865 in the War Between the States, Washington City and Richmond were within striking distance of Generals Beauregard’s and McClellan’s armies, respectively. General Winfield Scott, the supreme commander of the Union forces, crafted the “Anaconda Plan,” which showed a viable strategy to choke off the South, eventually forcing its surrender. The South, on the other hand, pursued diplomatic efforts to entice France and Great Britain (who were heavily dependent upon its cotton exports) into recognizing the Confederacy, perhaps entering into a military alliance with it.
In any case, both North and South pursued strategies that were grand but attainable, based as they were on political goals. The military strategies and tactics of both sides flowed from their respective –and realistic–starting points. As such, non-combatants could expect reasonable protection from military action. (Terrorist militias known as bushwhackers were a later phenomenon.)
And because the political goals were realistic, both sides were flexible as the need arose. Lincoln, for example, was willing to craft a Thirteenth Amendment immediately after his inauguration in 1861, which would guarantee the existence of slavery within the Southern states. All he asked at that point, was that they call off secession. As for the South, whenever any decisive, offensive opportunity against the North presented itself, they exercised considerable restraint. For the Confederacy, the flexibility lay in the fact that they were fighting a war for independence, not conquest.
To be sure, Sherman’s “March to the Sea” was an atrocity, but after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln let it be known that there would be no hangings of the rebels. As for Grant, he ordered Union troops to give provisions to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. In addition, they were allowed to keep their arms and those who had horses could keep them, as well. Sagacity towards the South was to be the order of the day; Lincoln even ordered the Army band to play “Dixie”. The horrors of Reconstruction arose after his assassination.
Regrettably, no such magnanimity exists today among the partisans of the Left. Also lacking is any commonality or unity of purpose. There is no “loyal opposition” anymore. That concept has effectively been destroyed. This is obvious to those of us who have eyes to see: one side is burning American flags, the other isn’t, hence my assessment that only one side is “patriotic”. As for their tactics, the partisans on the Left have shown no proportionality or willingness to negotiate. Worse, as a whole, the Democrat Party has been pulled into violent extremes, something neither Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama would countenance. The fact that Biden is compelled to violate his own best instincts, which have always been moderate, shows the Democrat Party is unable to break free from the radicals which have seized control of the venerable party of Jefferson and Jackson.
Given their obeisance to the violent measures of the hard Left, should the Democrats win, there is every expectation that the violence will continue. At the very least, it will be turned on and off as they see fit in order to exert the necessary terror to drive their programs. The fissures seen in the 2000 Bush v Gore debacle will continue to grow. Indeed, they must, otherwise the Left will lose control.
Problems would immediately appear, which would threaten their grip on power. For example, the lower ranks of the armed forces, most of whom come from the South and the Midwestern heartland, would probably disobey the orders of the politicized generals, should these orders include disarming the population. Given their attrition, most brigades would find ready excuses, others would “lose” the orders and still others would desert. As for the demoralized police forces, as well as the Federal police forces, e.g. the FBI, DEA, DHS, etc., it is hard to envision them suddenly making nice with politicians who are calling them storm-troopers and want to defund them.
In a balkanized America, the de facto end-state would be a contiguous Red-State confederation of interior states, that would not include the East and West Coasts. As for those interior states, with their huge, dysfunctional metropolitan areas, potential Red-States such as Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota might have to be ceded to the official government. The Blue cities of Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston and St Louis would certainly be irritants to a neo-Confederacy, but because of their geographic isolation, their ability to foment a military insurgency would be minimized.
In fact, it would probably be snuffed out, as supplies to these cities could be cut off within short order. This is happening, as we speak. Truck drivers, for instance, are refusing to deliver supplies to Blue States. Some are doing this out of principle, others are doing it out of fear for their own safety. This embargo would be magnified tenfold in a Leninist America. The anarchy that has been unleashed would ensure the attrition –if not the outright destruction–of these Blue Cities, as they would continue to drive out the productive classes from within them. This is already happening in the cities of Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle, for example.
That doesn’t mean that the Globalists and their minions in America aren’t ready to do whatever it takes to prevent President Trump’s reelection. In the following article, Mark Nuckols envisions a chilling scenario in which things could fall apart rather quickly. In his estimation, the rules of war would not be followed should the Democrats eke out a victory in what is likely to be an extremely hotly-contested election. I highly suggest you read it for yourself. https://townhall.com/columnists/marknuckols/2020/07/21/is-a-new-american-civil-war-possible-yes-n2572768.
As for myself, I take issue with some of Nuckols’ scenarios. Would a Biden Administration invite the Blue Helmets of the United Nations to come in and disarm the white majority (particularly in the Red States)? Things would have to be completely out of control in those locales for that to happen. As we can see from the present hostilities, the Red States are very quiescent –for now. And let us be clear: although the present hostilities are mostly manufactured, should Biden win in November, he will not be able to call off the various rage-mobs as some on the Right imagine. The mob, once let out, will not gladly go back into its cage, as Ted Wheeler, the leftist Mayor of Portland recently found out, much to his chagrin.
On the other hand, should the rage-mobs go full Bolshevik, Kurt Schlichter, a retired colonel, has posited the following scenario (spoiler alert, we win): https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2018/03/12/why-democrats-would-lose-the-second-civil-war-too-n2459833
(I have some problems with Schlicter’s premise as to the causality of the War Between the States, but overall, his strategic vision as to the order of battle is sound. In any event, the picture is not a pretty one.)
Regardless of whether Biden or Trump wins, peace and calm will not carry the day, of this we can be fairly certain. But it is only under a re-elected Trump that a reinvigorated Department of Justice and Homeland Security will be able to restore order in the Blue cities, or at a minimum, contain the violence to them. Nevertheless, they will continue to smolder. Certain cities, such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and New York City, are beyond repair.
The fires of revolution will burn out in them, eventually (because they always do), but not before they destroy their infrastructure and drive out their tax base. The parasitical classes that remain will only accelerate their demise. Put simply, they will have nowhere left to go. And this time, they won’t have to worry about being gentrified out of existence by urban, white hipsters. And anyway, where would the needed infusion of capital, necessary to restore them, come from? Russia? Doubtful. China? Should things go south in the Middle Kingdom, the Chinese have their eye on Vancouver. Increasing numbers of wealthy Americans are taking out foreign citizenship. American Jews can always decamp to Israel should things get rough for them. (The nexus between BLM and the Nation of Islam is a very strong one.)
As for myself, I can hardly envision a future for the great cities of America no matter who wins. Detroit, East St Louis and Baltimore are their unfortunate archetypes. Whenever great nations experience great collective traumas, they do not easily recover from them. Instead, they find ways to inculcate psychological mechanisms which allow them to avoid painful memories. The memories remain, however, and even if distorted, they drive the historical narrative. If things continue to proceed as they are now, the word “city” will be indistinguishable from “hell-hole” in the American lexicon, in much the same way the Latin word barbarus came to mean “soldier” in the last days of the Roman Empire.
Consider Mexico, for example. After their violent revolution in 1910 they created the PRI, the “Institutional Revolutionary Party” (which is of course an oxymoron). Regardless, it became the only official party. It served the interests of the oligarchy, while paying much lip service to the poor and downtrodden, and thus pursued popular economic programs that appealed to the poor, but in the long run, hurt Mexico. In post-Stalinist Russia there was an unwritten agreement to never engage in the brutal purges that were emblematic of the early days of Bolshevik rule. Likewise in China, where great pains are taken to disremember the horrible excesses of the Cultural Revolution.
To date, America’s national trauma was the War Between the States. Though much has been done to ameliorate it, we are still suffering in many respects from after-effects of that conflict. The destruction and mayhem that are presently engulfing the great cities of America are a sequel of that conflict. On a superficial level, what is driving the anti-Federalist rage in the Pacific Northwest is identical to what animated the South Carolinians to fire on Ft. Sumter. But only superficially: the issue for the South Carolinians was Lincoln’s violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. As to the rightness of their cause, they were willing to cut ties with the United States and give up the economic prerogatives that went along with American nationality.
Today, no such compunction exists on the Left. They want to remain part of America but they want to act like rebels. Are they willing, for example, to forgo the benefits of the Federal welfare state? This includes not only AFDC and Medicaid, but Social Security, and Medicare? Doubtful. The present mayhem therefore is not a principled opposition to the excesses of the Federal government but a massive temper tantrum, a cultural rage driven by blinding hatred for the presidency of Donald Trump and the people who elected him.
What lies ahead is bleak and the choice is stark: whoever wins the presidency, violence will carry the day. Only one outcome, however, will encourage continued economic growth and tranquility (admittedly only one that still adheres to the rule of law). This is because Trump can gauge the situation as circumstances permit. Indeed, we could see a diminution of these riots within a few weeks, as some cities are already coming to heel. Oregon has just surrendered to Trump on his terms. Ultimately, any further such surrenders will depend on how much pain the respective cities can tolerate. Trump is nothing if not a cagey negotiator. Time, believe it or not, is on the President’s side.
Biden, on the other hand, has foolishly allowed the anarcho-revolutionary spirit to be foisted upon him. Thus, ad hoc political violence will be his governing paradigm. He will have no choice but to judge the temper of the mob and rule according to its dictates. The Left will simply not allow any deviance. History has shown time and again that the seductive power of mob rule is a potent drug and it is one that has never been cast aside voluntarily. Once somebody rides the tiger, he cannot easily get off. A Biden presidency would be reactive from day one.
What, therefore, would be the international consequences of a Biden victory? I can easily imagine Biden surrendering in the current trade war with China. He would have to do so in order to acquire the funds required to keep the economy going. This would be necessary to continue the printing of fiat currency to reward the parasitical fringes that make up the Democrat base. But would his controllers be so foolish as to return Alaska back to Russia or the Southwest to Mexico (as Nuckols envisages)? How well would a demoralized military fight under such circumstances, especially when the country would continue to disintegrate? Neither Biden, nor his handlers, see anything wrong with the internationalist policies of the Bush/Obama years. Trump, on the other hand, is nothing, if not a reluctant warrior, and for many on the Right, the pacific, and the honorable Left, he gets major props for not taking us into additional wars.
In any event, a reversion to a relatively “normal” Obamaite status quo ante is not in the cards. Indeed, the seeds of this civil war were planted in 2000, when members of the outgoing Clinton bureaucracy sabotaged the incoming Bush Administration. They sprouted during the Obama years and were fertilized thanks to his weaponization of the Federal bureaucracy. Those of us on the Right well remember the lengths to which the IRS went to in order to punish the Tea Party movement.
Nor can we forget the race riots that engulfed Baltimore and Ferguson. Almost all of the interracial violence that took place during those years was aided and abetted by Obama’s Attorney General, who poured gasoline on the fire. As such, it’s impossible to view the Obama years as a relative golden age, especially when we consider how the living conditions of great American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, rivaled Mogadishu and Calcutta in their squalor. Nor should we forget that under Obama, the credit rating of the United States was downgraded for the first time in history. All of this began on his watch.
Again, what awaits us is not pretty. The post-Reconstruction regime of mercy for the former rebels, as well as the tolerance (and even celebration) for Confederate monuments, is over. The America of Civics 101 and the orderly transfer of power is finished. Unfortunately, this bolshevist iconoclasm has seeped over and destroyed the memory of the Founding Fathers. Religious icons and statues have not been spared either. This means that Christendom, the West and Americanism will continue to be destroyed should this present madness continue. No intellectual quarter will be given: BLM has all the trappings of a religious cult and has co-opted the human resources departments of most major American corporations to act as its Grand Inquisitors. It is already an unwritten policy that promotions for white men are on hold until quotas for blacks and other peoples of color are attained. Policemen will continue to be demoralized and emboldened, feral black young men will be able to commit any and all crimes, short of murder, with impunity.
This is not a civilization.
Rather than heal the wounds of the fratricidal conflict of the 1860s, the cultural commissars will insist they be opened and picked at incessantly. Under this new religion, racism (as they define it) will never be healed and groveling will be constantly demanded. They will do so, not in order to create a new, more egalitarian America, but to endlessly punish those who don’t agree with the new Orwellian order that animates the modern Left. In their eyes, the revolution must always be ongoing. And that is why constant destruction is necessary, as it is the means to that end.
If you’re interested in reading what a nightmare scenario will be like should the election be contested a la Bush v Gore, please take the time to read the following analysis from an astute Russian observer of the American scene:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.myseldon.com%2Fru%2Fnews%2Findex%2F234775044
To all: I realize this was a long (~3,300 word) piece and thus, I beg your forbearance. But I wanted to get a lot of things off my chest and in order to make sense of what we are presently experiencing, I had to take several military contingencies into consideration. Including hybrid/asymmetric warfare.
Again, your patience is most appreciated. Of course, I would appreciate any commentary –pro or con.
Thank you.
Also, I may have been too pessimistic as it looks like the vaunted “Portland Moms” (read: wretchedly hideous riot enablers of indeterminate gender/humanity) are starting to eat their own:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/jeff-reynolds/2020/07/30/the-left-eats-their-own-portland-edition-wall-of-moms-collapses-accused-of-anti-blackness-n731515
On another more, optimistic note, I must revise my prediction that Hillary was going to jump into the race when Creepy Joe soils himself on the debate stage. Some of the indictments have been unsealed this morning and it appears that Slick Willie was indeed a frequent flyer on the Lolita Express.
Mea culpa.
Geo:
Armageddon is near – Wow what a post!
So, will Bill Clinton gets his just dessert??
One can only hope. Truthfully, Slick and Prince Andrew are yesterday’s men, i.e. low-hanging fruit. I imagine that they are going to be the scapegoats in order to protect more recent miscreants. (Basically whoever is in power at present, or is waiting to be back in power again, people like Adam Schitt, Jaba Nadler, Hussein and Michael Obama, etc.)
James “Boy, you gotta pretty mouth” Comey, John Mustafa Brennan, James Clapper, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Eric “Wingman” Holder, etc.
I imagine that Alan Dershowitz will get a pardon because he did The Golden Don a solid during the impeachment hearings.
Whether we like it or not, everyone will be called to account and as St Paul says – Let God deal with them according to their works.
Hi George — interesting article. My guess is the powers behind the insurgents have “war gamed” this as well, perhaps with the aid of complex algorithms or AI. They know they can’t hold lines or carve out territory so they’ll have to fight an asymmetrical war using “flash insurgents” that materialize from different directions in different cars, start shooting at a mall, grocery store, open air event, church, company, etc., only to leave the scene after a few minutes and fade back into the general metro area near the target. They’ll hit trains — a recent strange train derailment near Tempe, AZ might be part of this — and important infrastructure using different means, including drone swarms. This story raises serious questions and concerns —
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/34800/the-night-a-drone-swarm-descended-on-palo-verde-nuclear-power-plant
The police will not be able to handle any of this, especially if these things happen all at once or in close proximity to each other in terms of time. The National Guard would be of mixed value as the battle line and enemy will be no where and everywhere. They’ll take out certain people, creating more stress and fear. As there has been talk of Chinese weapons shipped into the country, they may be better armed than any one expects.
As far as training and effectiveness, the waves of untold illegal immigrants flooding across the boarder may have been cover for importing an untold number of hostiles who will train, or have trained, forward moving troops. The effectiveness of this will depend on the Pentagon and whether or not generals will move with Trump or against him. This also assumes a foreign power like China won’t move on the US in conjunction with activities on the part of insurgents. And, to complicate matters, for at least a few decades rumors have swirled about suitcase nukes being in the country. So, if there is civil war it may begin with random, frequent terror attacks, assassinations (see Russia, circa 1890s – 1915; where is our Stolypin?), supply chain disruption, and COVID-19 hype. Then, at the opportune moment, across the country key infrastructure will be hit, overwhelming the military and police. Then, the hot war will begin locally to gain control of key cities. Quislings in the government will show themselves by assuming command of parts of the military and National Guard. Trump will be removed or the people will be told he is no longer President. They’ll move to stop the war with gun confiscations that they know will not be obeyed in many areas. The clean up operation will begin as people will be assured things will return to normal once these “enemies” — they’ll call them racists or something like that — are neutralized (see China circa 1945 – 1949).
One can only assume that Trump is aware of these security threats and that his administration is taking effective action against any schemes along these lines. But where I am, ammunition and most guns has been impossible to buy. From my discussion with a few employees at local gun stores, it’s clear the insurgents have also started to “stock up” and are adding to the shortages of both.
We do have an example, however, of how to decisively thwart and destroy this kind of thing. It’s not a popular one — Franco and Spain. Franco was able to effectively destroy the communists by keeping supply chains functional. That is what Trump must do at all cost: keep food, prescription drugs, water, heat — basic necessities — available no matter what. He also has to find a way to speak directly to the people about what is going on. I still don’t know why he hasn’t had a Presidential Address sometime in the evening to talk directly to the people.
Stephen, you present a very intriguing analysis. What you are describing however is a Belfast/Beirut scenario, which I think is likely. However it is likely only in the case of a complete breakdown (and I’m not there yet). Please take the time to watch the following video: https://youtu.be/T0ep-u1_0T8. What this describes is a complete, all-out war, one in which we have descended to complete war and battle-lines are a little clearer. The battle-lines being Portlandized, isolated Blue cities and vast expanses of Red, contiguous counties in which materiel and men can move rapidly and mostly unmolested.
However, two can play that game. Rightist militias have already scoped out ways to destroy or disable the electrical grid in the Blue cities as well as how to cut off the water supply. This would result in the further descent into violence of the Blue cities, thus making their ability to serve as staging areas for attack by Blue forces.
In any event, provided that the military remain Red/loyal, your last paragraph describes what/how the patriots can win. Personally, I believe that the high-water mark of anti-Trumpism in the Pentagon was just exposed last month when Generals Mattis and Kelly prematurely showed their hand.
The other wild car is the white majority: will they buy into the cuck-nonsense of the mainstream media and the Romneyite version of Ozzie & Harriet America, in which Orange Man Bad? A couple of months ago, I would have said “yes, they would”. But thanks to the non-stop rioting, nobody with two active brain cells believes that these “protests” are not riots. The Left, as usual, continues to overplay its hand and are driving Normies –both black, white and Hispanic–into the Red column.
As a quick rejoinder — Chiang Kei-shek tried to airlift supplies into cities under siege by the Communists. In Changchun, the Nationalists were able to hold the city until air drops were not enough to withstand the Communist blockade. And then the defections (and slaughter) began. If we descend into civil war, Trump must maintain supply chains.
I think your analysis makes sense. The only wildcard here is whether or not a foreign power like China decides to invade during the chaos. If we’re preoccupied with civil war, China might very well move to take Taiwan and that might ignite a world-wide conflict.
Likewise, Stephen, during the Berlin airlift, which was darn near miraculous, the NATO allies were able to save that city from starvation. For a Minneapolis or a Chicago to be saved via this scenario, a liberal Federal govt would have to control the Air Force or Army airborne divisions. Today, rightist insurgents could knock them down with Stinger missiles.
Correction: I left out the word “neutralized” in my original comment to you. If Red insurgents disable the Blue grids, the chaos that would ensue would make the Blue cities unable to serve as staging grounds for a Blue counter-assault by regular forces. In other words, they would be neutralized.
As far as the longevity of said civil war, that will depend on the Chinese and the Russians as it will be in their respective interests to keep things hopping and thus will supply the losing side with additional materiel.
Still, the very fact that the Democrats cannot/will not condemn the violence that is ongoing is politically suicidal.
Yes, any future struggle that might be called a “Second American Civil War” will be quite different from what broke out in 1861. You have correctly understood that.
But there is one lesson from that year that everyone should keep in mind. In 1861 the Confederacy fired the first shots, by firing on Fort Sumter. Oh, sure, you can say that they had a right to open fire for this-or-that legal reason. But the Confederates ignored how this action would be viewed by the average Americans in many of the Northern states who had been sitting on the fence. The firing on the fort created a belief among millions of them that it was the South that started the war. Enough of the North then rose to support Lincoln, giving the him just enough backing to eventually come out on top.
So it is wise for a national faction to let the moral burden of starting a war be on their opponents.
John, I don’t disagree with your assessment re Ft Sumter at all. The larger point I was trying to make is that both the Carolinians then, as well as the Oregonians today, feel that they can molest Federal property. The difference was the Carolinians were willing to secede from the Union and thus walk away from all the prerogatives that inured to American citizenship. Those Oregonians today that are firing upon the Mark O Hatfield Federal bldg are nothing but a bunch of spoiled commie brats.
Imagine! They closed businesses-livelihoods, childrens’ futures, Churches; yet– they still refuse to disallow protests! Up to AB’s march with the protestor’s, I was so willing to give him the benefit of any doubts I may have had— when our faithful are now invite only rsvp-and the protest movement ad infinitum…I can no longer support him.
On the verge of the Zombie Pocklips, we are.
It’s really hard to say. I could see a mass rebellion in the South, Mid-West and Southwest if Biden were elected and Beto seriously came for our weapons. That would be a violent disaster, methinks.
However, and I retract my race war prediction, it is hard to see this turning into a shooting war or widespread armed insurgency. Conservatives won’t bother and Progressives are already giving it all they’ve got which is low level violence directed mostly at authorities in select cities. I suspect that that is all they have.
What IS happening however may be just as consequential. It is obvious to everyone with a brain that the two American political parties can’t live with each other anymore, the country’s not big enough for the both of us. The Liberals are still in control of the governing infrastructure, though Trump is making inroads. One party must take control by whatever means are effective and acceptable to its base. History teaches us that this can’t go on forever, one party will overcome the other. It is a matter of will and effort.
Those in either party who have not gotten that message are not paying attention. Each side is playing for all the marbles without regard to power sharing. Admittedly, it is a dangerous time. Mostly because of the MSM who have been complicit in the Demshevik Covid farce and cover up of the violent anarcho-Marxist riots.
Yet if all that is happening is rioting in several Yankee cities in deep blue territory, I ask you, “So what?” They reap what they sow. It is an object lesson for us to reform education away from Critical Studies emphases, that much is certain. But the unrest has not really spread to any red enclaves of note. People deserve the government, or lack thereof, for which they vote.
Now, normal Americans of either political party are watching all of this and, despite unreliable polling to the contrary, making decisions to vote for Trump and Republicans in November. I’d bet the farm on it. All he has to do is ratchet up his leadership perception by dealing with the riots as decisively as federalism allows and rebooting the economy. It’s not that tall an order for someone who presided over the prosperity we had prior to Covid. The economy is the main thing. Anyone who has studied the matter looks to economic satisfaction or dissatisfaction to determine election outcomes.
My prayer, my vote and my donations are all directed at the re-election of Trump, holding the House and retaking the Senate. If that happens and Trump shows real leadership in decommissioning the Democratic Party, then there is hope. Lots of damage has been done, of course. Some of it irreparable. Yet the decisive victory of the Trump Republicans in this conflict (and that’s what it is, a civilizational conflict in the sense of what happened in the Balkans but with much lower level violence) would be the first step in recoiling from the abyss and beginning to rebuild American culture.
Misha, it’s interesting but you’ve hit on something, or should I say, reinforced something which I observed about the Blue cities that are presently engulfed in flames. And that is this: they are destroying themselves. It is in reality the hard, anarcho-Left which is going after the soft-to-very Left liberals who rule them.
In a real, Spanish Civil War scenario, the Right will let the Blue cities to continue to smolder. Take a look at this video from two years ago:
https://youtu.be/T0ep-u1_0T8
What is missing from this prescient YouTube is the present context, which is that the Blue cities have been turned over to the mobs. If my assessment is correct, then isolated Blue Cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland, etc, and which are already in the grips of a “defund the police” madness, will be driven to internal conflict of a violent nature because they will have already descended into extreme levels of criminality.
Not only with the “Normies” be driven out because of the loss of life and livelihood, but the criminal elements which remain will turn on the radicals which are the only ruling authority within them.
Brilliant.
Fascinating video, George. I don’t know enough about the logistics of military bases to know how accurate it is in the particulars of the practicality of Blue forces joining their enclaves. Other than that, if it came to a battle of regions, he is probably about right.
I think this is unlikely however because of the fact that both “Red” and “Blue” territory are actually heterogenous. The South, during The Great War of Northern Aggression Against The Humble Servants of God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ, was fairly homogenous in its political outlook discounting the slave population. Lincoln had miniscule if any support south of the Mason-Dixon line.
It is much harder for the decision for war to be made under the present circumstances. You have partisans from either side everywhere. How do you counter guerilla tactics, sabotage and subversion? Internment camps? On what evidence?
My guess is that the Red side would conclude that the details of the war would be so awful that they would find some other way to win without actually dividing the country into engaging opposing forces.
Nonetheless, in the event of war, I like your point about criminals and progressives being the main forces on the Blue side. My guess is that in a short time, Blue America would be run by its worst elements who are manifestly braver than their progressive overlords.
If the thugs did take over, they would likely sue for peace asap on the condition that they got to remain the authority in their autonomous regions which would then answer to the Red government regarding taxes, external affairs and alliances.
From the Red perspective, that may be the best possible scenario given a shooting war. It would leave a black mafia subordinate to Red government as the source of authority in Blue areas. Progressivism would be smashed. It would be a huge welfare state dependent on the Red government for support where the Blue authorities do not tolerate political correctness.
Ok, I’ve talked myself into it. Cast the die.
LOL! Regarding your point re the heterogeneity within the Red & Blue camps, I don’t dispute it at all. In fact, I made constant reference to it. Hence my prediction that it will be more Belfast/Beirut than WBtS. In fact, it will be incredibly messy. My inclination is that those of a more bluish tinge in say, Bakersfield, will high-tail it to Los Angeles. Same with blue partisans east of the Cascades in Washington State/Oregon. They’ll head to Seattle/Portland. Blue partisans in Champaign, Ill will get to Chicago pronto.
The problem is that these cities will be even more in flames and/or criminal hell-holes in which women are raped and passersby are shot by feral criminals in broad daylight just because they happened to be crossing the street. In the meantime, those of a more purplish tinge who live in the Red cities will most probably lose some of their bluish views, even if they do go to the local Unitarian or Episcopalian church. That’s the thing about bullets when they start flying: they wonderfully concentrate the mind.
I do agree with you about black mafias and/or Fruit of Islam types making common cause with the Red government and controlling the inner cities. I can also see actual Muslim caliphates taking over sections of Michigan and suppressing progressives.
BTW, I’m going to borrow your name for the WBtS. Love it!
I also liked what you said about the Progressives have “given it all they got” presently. I am inclined to agree with you, that they Blue insurgents have shot their wad and in doing so, have not only destroyed their own infrastructure but alienated the Suburbs all in one fell swoop.
And as much as I am for a moratorium on immigration (legal as well as illegal), the idea that these new immigrants are going to automatically fall into line as foot-soldiers of the BLM army is too ludicrous for words. For one thing, they don’t especially like black people and second, they don’t like the white liberals (many of whom are secular Jews) who are directing traffic.
Bottom line: Asians, Mesoamericans, South Asians and Arab/Muslims don’t have a lot of white guilt that they feel they must atone for.
Signs of hope: John Kass, a Greek Orthodox American journalist has refused to bend the knee to the Millennial SJW mob that wanted him fired from his newspaper gig.
And this:
https://vdare.com/articles/middle-american-resistance-organizing-but-who-will-lead?scroll_to_paragraph=14
I would tend to agree that a violent breakdown in America looks more like Northern Ireland or Lebanon than 1861.
I can’t say I have ever been terribly convinced by the power of maps showing vast tracts of unpopulated land festooned in red. Things don’t look quite so dramatic when you take population into account, and even less dramatic when one allows for shades of purple
https://www.businessinsider.com/2016-election-results-maps-population-adjusted-cartogram-2016-11
As such, I do not find arguments such as in the case of Illinois “90% of the state’s land mass” terribly compelling. Landmass does not vote, people do.
Over the past month I have seen a fair bit of wild exaggeration over the amount and degree of ‘destruction’ visited upon American cities. Proceeding to claim that something that didn’t actually happen as described is going to become even more endemic and widespread is not a prediction that is likely to age well.
But then, I also fail to understand the strategy of pushing an image of Biden as massively senile, setting a bar for him so low that he will easily clear it.
Flavius, landmasses, do indeed vote: as the Blue radicals/SJWs/BLMers and the devastated black population of Chicago and Minneapolis are finding out, food does not grow in the Safeway store (that was just destroyed). It grows in the vast expanse of corn and wheatfields that lie between East St Louis to the Southwest of Illinois and Chicago (which is in the Northeast of that state).
While I agree with you that there are “shades of purple” in the suburbs and even in the exurbs, they turn decidedly redder when the local BLMers start marching ever closer to the lilly-white suburbs and start calling all the white moms there “Karens” and “Beckys”. Because here’s the funny thing about white liberals: they have the mating and migratory habits of your typical Klansman. In a typical election, these high-minded white women would never vote for Bad Orange Man because of his gross tweeting. Unfortunately, the dumbasses who are advising Biden are telling him to go the full Black Panther.
I fear you may not have an understanding of just how much of the “BLM crowd” doing marches and protests in suburbs are members of those suburbs. The danger for the GOP is rather than reversing the electoral damage in the suburbs that was readily apparent in the 2018 midterms, Trump is continuing to make it worse.
Up to a point, Flavius, you are right. We are seeing this phenomenon with the “Portland Moms”. We are also seeing them start to eat each other. Black lives matter is laudable. As is white lives matter, Asian lives matter, all lives matter, etc. Who can argue with such a sentiment? I myself would join a peaceful march recognizing the worth of all lives. WAIT! I did! Several times, when we planned massive marches in T-Town for the sanctity of life. Silly me!
What we are seeing in the “mostly peaceful protests” that have resulted in deaths, mayhem and destruction, is not what the liberal suburbanites signed up for. Ask yourself this: if Trump’s handling of Portland was so egregious and politically hurtful, then why has Gov Katy Brown thrown in the towel? Why have Trump’s poll numbers started to inch upward? (Rasmussen has him at 50% approval, the RCP aggregate has him within striking distance of Obama’s poll numbers right before he won reelection.
One of the points that was made in my essay was the long-term viability of many of these cities. Besides the reelect #s for Trump, wouldn’t you say that people are voting another way in those cities, i.e. with their feet? Where is the capital going to come from to rebuild the devastated areas of Minneapolis? It ain’t. Are you going to invest in Seattle real estate? Are you going to open a coffee house in Portland or build a factory in Minneapolis? Do you know anybody who will?
California is perhaps the most beautiful state in the Union. Yet Elon Musk (yeah, I know, a joker and rent-seeker but a billionaire nonetheless) is packing up shop and moving to Texas. Why? Because he’s a fool or he likes honky-tonks?
These days Republicans and Democrats in suburbia are buying weapons like the AR-15. I remember in the Chicago area (along the wealthy north shore) when the black kids would drive up from Evanston and Chicago into Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest etc. both parties would call the police immediately. I remember often seeing 4 or 5 squad cars surrounding a car full of kids, it reminded me of situations with Barney Fife.
I don’t think the wealthy Democrats will actually go for the insanity because they like security which they find in material wealth and President Trump. I think there is a huge submarine vote, docked in the ports now.
BLM so buy guns to shoot those whose movement you publicly say you support to be good progressive Democrats at work.
I am not going to speculate about what is going to happen to Trump’s approval numbers in the near term, that is a fool’s errand. I am a little confused by your citations of the RCP averages, they do not appear to be in the ballpark either for approval rating or general election polling. At this point in time Obama was basically net zero on approval where Trump is negative eleven points. In polling Obama was plus two where Trump is almost negative eight.
I am also not quite sure you mean by the Oregon governor “throwing in the towel”. Things were quiet, feds showed up and caused protests to balloon and generated lots of bad footage for the white house, feds pulled back and things are quiet again.
For that matter reconciling a belief that Trump is operating from a position of strength while the Senate majority leader is telling vulnerable senators to distance themselves from him if necessary to try and hold onto the GOP Senate majority is a bridge too far for me.
Elon Musk has proven very talented at hoovering up taxpayer funded subsidies. I fear saying that he is “packing up shop” in California is not correct, Tesla isn’t moving out of California, but they are building a new factory in Texas. I guess you should consider yourself fortunate Oklahoma didn’t reach as deeply into your pocket to lure them in as Texas did.
I don’t disagree with your assessment about Musk. Still, he’s no fool and that he’s up and moving to Texas speaks volumes.
As for the RCP averages, that was what was reported this morning.
You are correct to not take too much stock in Trump’s approval rating. In 2016, there was a hidden Trump vote (as we found out on Nov 8). Now there is a hidden monster vote in his favor.
As for GOP senators, I would not put too much stock in what is reported. McConnell has been a masterful behind-the-scenes player. In fact, I’ve written in the past that it was likely McConnell’s parliamentary maneuvers regarding the vacant Scalia seat that put Trump over the top in 2016.
That depends on how bad things spin out of control. My hunch is that should Trump win, then the “in-gathered” Red States will be quiescent and open for business. The infusion of economic and political refugees from the Blue States will bring in a massive amounts of capital.
Seriously, folks, I’ve been to Portland. It’s lovely. San Fran too. I don’t want to see my fellow Americans suffer under the boot-heels of BLM/SJWs but then again, most of the people in the Red States don’t vote for the kind of idiots that rule Oregon and Washington State.
Not my monkey, not my circus.
Flavius, forgive me but I overlooked your criticism regarding the “protests” not getting out of hand until the Feds showed up. Surely you’re not serious. If you are, then you are arguing in bad faith. Nobody in the right mind doesn’t think that these were peaceful by any stretch of the imagination.
Even so, the appearance of Feds to protect Federal property is no excuse for subsequent rioting. In positing this, then you have walked into a rhetorical trap, and that is that there is indeed rioting going on.
Either there is/was or there wasn’t. In any event, there most definitely is now.
You are making an indefensible argument.
I would however have more respect for your opinion and the actions of the Oregonians if they had the balls to declare secession. At least that would be honorable and from my viewpoint, honorable.
I looked at RCP again just now and the election spread is about seven and a half to Biden and Trump is ten and half underwater in approval, so I’m afraid I have no idea what RCP data you are referencing.
I’m also afraid we are going to disagree on ‘hidden’ Trump voters in 2016. He lost the meaningless general vote by a share that was not out of line with polling. I think we can agree that he won the Presidency by prevailing in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to win the Electoral College. But his combined margin of victory in those states was only 79,000 votes.
In 2020 Trump doesn’t have the fortune of running against such an unpopular figure as Hillary Clinton. Biden simply doesn’t carry the same negativity. That bodes ill for a fantastical even larger ‘hidden’ Trump vote in 2020. In that light it is perhaps understandable that the GOP is trying to portray Biden as a senile puppet. But I do believe that is a strategy more likely to backfire than pay off.
I know folks in Portland. The protests were ever only in a tiny area, my assessment is based not just on reporting but accounts from residents, so I stand by it and hardly think it is in bad faith.
Apocalyptic language about cities being destroyed leads one to expect dozens of buildings being razed in cities across the country on a nightly basis, fire departments collapsing from exhaustion, refugees filling previously empty hotels. None of this is occurring, if it were it would be live on Fox every night. By June they were already having to recycling weeks old b-roll from Minneapolis to have dramatic backdrops to protest coverage.
Some general reporting context to the headwinds Trump is facing
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-trouble-thirds-americans-disapprove-handling-covid-19/story?id=72088513
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/31/portland-protests-federal-calm/
Tell that to the three Federal officers who were permanently blinded by the “mostly peaceful protesters”.
Rasmussen has Trump at 51% approval today. It has been steadily climbing since his first break with daily briefings. Over 60 days of riots in Portland is significant, though not a true insurrection, of course. And it’s been happening periodically, to the extent government and law enforcement tolerate it, in about about 15 American cities over the summer.
While it is true that Trump does not have to run against the Wicked *itch of the West this time around, the man he is running against has a host of problems. He’s hip dip in corruption in the Ukraine and China; he was an active participant in the coup attempt by the last administration; and he is obviously – painfully obvious to everyone, though they may deny it – in mental decline, probably some form of dementia (I would guess stage 4 Alzheimer’s).
Meanwhile, Trump has the Durham indictments to look forward to, probably before the election. If the economy improves over the next three months at a rate indicating a quick recovery, he has little to worry about. If you peruse this article and look at the last graph concerning consumer spending, it appears we may rebound at a pace encouraging to the voting public.
Trump has a 65% approval rating in the State of Israel (the only state that matters) so he will probably eke out a victory.
Donald Trump: Making Israel Great Again
https://thehill.com/policy/international/387542-trump-make-israel-great-banners-hung-through-jerusalem
Given the alternative, I just might be willing to live with that this election season. Maybe.
George, given the American love of empty slogans, I suppose it’s just a matter of time before we see “PRO LIFE = BLACK LIVES MATTER” bumper stickers:
https://www.preciouslife.com/news/155/black-sheriff-says-if-black-lives-mattered-theyd-protest-at-abortion-clinics/
Of course the black sheriff certainly makes an excellent point. Yet the so-called “pro life” movement and the “black lives matter” movement are both just empty movements that speak of the sanctity of life, yet in reality they offer nothing actually sacred about life. Only Christ’s Church actually gives us the sanctity of life, and it is through the Cross, through repentance, the sacraments, and the lives of the saints and martyrs who followed after Christ.
Here’s the thing: the liberals who rule (for now) are so besotted with Trump hatred that they can’t see that they are actually destroying their own cities and in the process, helping re-elect Trump.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/30/seattle-mayor-again-blames-trump-after-rioters-blew-open-a-police-station-using-a-van-full-of-explosives-n733400
Does this mean I can kiss my 401k goodbye and abandon my dream for a peaceful retirement?
Dear Mikhail,
My ( just in case) escape route is north to Alaska, Sarah Palin can see Russia from her kitchen window so I’ll be around Wasilla. As far as your 401k foes, you can still pan for 24k gold there, for peaceful retirement options disregard the below link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6IU9RpjS8
See you in Alaska!
Love John Wayne!
The war of 1861-5 was the triumph of the merchant class over the yeoman that America was originally founded for. The Articles of Confederation didn’t fail, they only failed to give Big Finance the amount of control they wanted.
The Constitution, whose only real good points came after years of fighting (the bill of rights), was crafted in total secrecy, under false pretenses, with little or no involvement by champions of the common man. It’s not even clear whether it was properly ratified, having been shoved through without a lengthy vetting by the people in whose name it was written.
That conflict finally bubbled over in 1861, although small conflicts had arisen earlier. In the end, commerce won, and the common man has been disenfranchised ever since, and progressively more so over time. All thanks to Hamilton and his ilk.
Looking to today, if there was a unity on the right, it would be a simple matter to starve out the intra-continental blue islands by siege. Big cities that rule over us would not survive three weeks without a steady flow of goods that red states and counties produce.
Trump has a 65% approval rating in the State of Israel (the only state that matters) so he will probably eke out a victory.
We are seeing the fruits of what Jews call sinat chinam – baseless hatred.
Jews say that the destruction of the second Temple was brought on by sinat chinam among Jews. I would say its destruction was brought on by sinat chinam against Christ. That is what all this chaos is about – the left’s destructiveness is simply their acting out of sinat chinam against Christ. Anything that is even vaguely reflective of Christ’s presence is the world is a target for destruction.
To quote the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “The brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God is a race of bastards.”
Harry Turtledove just felt a shudder run through his body and did an involuntary double-facepalm without knowing why.
I can’t emphasize enough that the operation of the early 21st century American economy is a mind-blowingly complicated interconnected spaghetti of staggering logistics! A reductionist model of rural areas make food and other stuff and cities consume it is so inadequate I don’t quite know where to even start. tl;dr – rural america ain’t some kind of oasis of self sufficiency!
There would be no winners, everybody loses. Big time.
On top of that, apparently “red” America, the faction supposedly the champion of true American values, and for which abortion has been the issue that can trump all other issues….is going to effortlessly pivot into a deliberate strategy of starving millions of children to death.
As if that weren’t enough, I guess the majority of the American military is going to be all ready to get on board with the starving children to death plan.
(record scratch) You may be wondering how I came to be aiming a Stinger missile at a FedEx plane carrying food into Detroit while wearing a March for Life cap. Well, life comes at you fast, what can I say.
GCU, while I don’t disagree with you about the “interconnectedness” of the modern economy, you and I would be surprised at how quickly supply chains can be reestablished on a micro scale. And I mean micro.
Seriously, what essential good or service does Delaware provide to me in Oklahoma? My credit card company is based there but if the fires engulf the home office of VISA I imagine it’ll be readily reestablished in Omaha (where my QT gas car payments go to). Same with the coffee we drink. I realize that the Pacific Northwest has the best beans but at the coffee house I patronize the beans come from Guatemala and Ethiopia.
On the other hand, the farmers of the Central Valley of California can easily redirect their produce to the West if there are no truckers willing to take the foodstuffs to Los Angeles.
On a macro level, we are seeing just how quickly American companies are stepping in to take over the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals from China. I suggest you buy Eastman Kodak stock, which jumped six-fold in one day when it was announced that President Trump has ordered American chemical companies to start producing the raw materials for pharmaceuticals.
Yeah, at the end of the day I’d rather live in a functional city in which people aren’t burning bibles and flags in the streets than in a city where this is actually happening. If memory serves, CHAZ only occupied six square blocks of Seattle. That wasn’t a walk in the park.
I guess I’m not the only alarmist out there:
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/08/02/democrats-war-game-for-election-includes-west-coast-secession-possible-civil-war-john-podesta/
Dicey in Seattle: Police chief Carmen Best entreats City Council for help after protesters visit her home…please tell me if this is/is not reported in the NYT: https://komonews.com/news/local/best-implores-city-council-to-stand-up-for-what-is-right-after-protestors-visit-her-home
“Police chief Carmen Best entreats City Council for help after protesters visit her home”
Just arrest the entire city council, and if local judge tries to spring them, arrest the judge also. Then ignore any state or federal authority that tells you to stand down, by refusing and appealing above them to Trump.
Well, the new bodycam footage released (possibly illegally) by The Daily Mail (a British newspaper) complicates the entire St George Floyd narrative, doesn’t it?
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/george-floyd-exds-fentanyl-methamphetamine /?s=01
I commend Dreher for owning his initial rush to judgment.
I wish the American Assembly of Bishops would condemn the Bible-burning going on in Portland.
https://orthochristian.com/133183.html
That would be fundamentalist, though, wouldn’t it?
That is what has pushed me over the edge. The hierarchy issues official statements about everything from retirements, the death of matushkas, and online singing classes. Bibles being burned in the streets? Won’t touch it. The sheer gravity and weight of this horror – the most Holy Scriptures that are the very foundation of our lives, being burned in front of our eyes – doesn’t even warrant them lifting their hands to compose an epistle to the faithful. It just is my very last straw. In the past there have been instances that I have disagreed with the actions taken by our hierarchs, but this is something completely different. This is not their incompetence. This is not their stance that is maybe something I don’t like but can get over and move on from. This is their bowing to the golden idols of popular opinion and worldly esteem. This is their cowardice. For shame on them for closing our churches and denying Christ’s little ones access to the Body and Blood of our Lord! For shame on them for bullying and berating the servants of Christ who have spoken up and out over the past half year of Caesar regulating what is not Caesar’s to regulate. For shame on them for marching with BLM and Antifa, who are the very embodiment of the communist socialist revolutionists responsible for martyring our Russian brethren. But most of all, for shame on each and every single clergy and hierarch for sitting by in silence watching our Holy Scriptures be burned in the streets!
Christine Fevronia,
it seems to me there is one practical solution only (besides praying):
Join the faithful bishops/priests even if that means changing jurisdictions.
If these riots are as AG Barr says guerilla warfare, we have a problem because in cases of asymmetric warfare where all the traditional power seems to be on one side, the power heavy side looses because the use of power is much more limited than it seems.
The U S will fall.
I don’t consider Michigan red. Its purlish. Trump still has better polling in Texas than Michigan. In fact flyover country has beaten the hell out of the coastal states for years. California poverty rate adjusted for cost of living has went up 7 percent and most of the job creation are in suburban counties in Texas and the south oot the coastal areas. New York City has lost 20,000 people to Tn, Texas and Georgia because its cheaper to live and the jobs pay better in Plano Texas or Franklin Tn than New York City these days. George has the wrong information from the alt-right that doesn’t admit that the south like Georgia, Tn, and Texas has beaten both the upper midwest and coastal states for jobs and housing.
“New York City has lost 20,000 people to Tn, Texas and Georgia because its cheaper to live and the jobs pay better in Plano Texas or Franklin Tn than New York City these days. George has the wrong information from the alt-right that doesn’t admit that the south like Georgia, Tn, and Texas has beaten both the upper midwest and coastal states for jobs and housing.”
Alt-right is a meaningless word that the Left uses to call everyone to the right of Stalin as a Nazi. Who exactly among the non-Left wouldn’t enjoy pointing out that the South has been beating both the upper Midwest (Dems) and coastal states (Dems) for jobs and housing? Men’s Rights Advocates? Pick up artists?
Where I live, the entire state’s schools are closed, from kindergarten all the way through higher ed. Many Protestant churches are having weekly online classes for kids and college students to supplement the online learning. Lots of parents who are weary of working from home while also teaching from home are having their kids attend these spiritual, Bible classes. My neighbor is not even a Christian, but she has her two kids attend a twice-weekly afternoon Kids Bible Study that a local Protestant church streams online. This stuff is a no-brainer, folks. When an Orthodox jurisdiction decides to do something relevant and soul-saving like that, we all should run to it.
Here is a sobering assessment of the Podesta Scenario:
https://americanmind.org/essays/sleepwalking-into-secession/