Tag: Civil War

What Will It Take?

For at least a decade (it really began on 1980 and slowly burst into flames in 2010) we have heard that the US is looking at a second civil war some even think this is our second revolution…..but what will it take for these dire predictions to come to life?

There is a simulation that states we are looking at the beginnings of a new civil war….

What’s the most surefire way to achieve Civil War 2.0 in the United States? According to one wild simulation, it’s exactly what’s happening right now in Minneapolis.

In October 2024, researchers at the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) at the University of Pennsylvania conducted an experiment in which a president ordered a widely condemned federal law enforcement operation in the city of brotherly love.

To carry out the operation, the simulated president tried to federalize the Pennsylvania national guard, which the governor resisted. National guard troops who sided with the state followed suit, prompting the fictional president to order acting US military troops to march on Philly.

According to CERL director Claire Finkelstein’s breakdown of the simulation, newly published in the Guardian, the experiment culminated in a “violent confrontation” between state and federal forces in a major US metropolis.

Finkelstein notes that the war gaming exercise included actual government officials and former senior military leaders, none of whom “considered the scenario unrealistic.” The results were based off the assumption that during a rapidly evolving civil emergency like this, courts would be largely ineffective at stopping federal overreach.

Though the early stages of the Philadelphia simulation closely match the brutal events citizens in Minneapolis have experienced at the hands of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the model diverges from reality in one key way: municipal and state officials don’t seem interested in attacking ICE agents anytime soon.

https://futurism.com/future-society/simulation-civil-war-games

It is a fascinating take on the events occurring today….

How long will the American people tolerate this abuse of government power?

From years ago all the rhetoric about confronting government abuse, you know those fat ass militia twats that were all talk, if this is not what they were going on about what the Hell is it?

I say keep it up do not let this become a standard for us to just stand by and ignore the abuses of Donny and his band of idiotic thugs.

I hope the spirit of 1776 has not been lost.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Coming Syrian Civil War

One of Donny’s clueless sycophants, Rubio made a bold statement the other day….predicting there would soon be a Syrian civil war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress on Tuesday that the US assesses the new al-Qaeda-linked Syrian government could collapse within weeks and that the country could descend into “full-scale civil war.”

Rubio made the comments at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, where he explained the administration’s rationale for engaging with Syria’s new de facto leaders, who the US helped put in power, despite their al-Qaeda roots.

…

“The bad news is that the transitional authority figures, they didn’t pass their background check with the FBI. They’ve got a tough history and one that we understand,” Rubio said.

“If we engage them, it may work out, it may not work out. If we did not engage them, it was guaranteed that it would not work out,” he added. “In fact, it was our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they’re facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse.”

Rubio said that a collapse would lead to “a full-scale civil war of epic proportions. Basically, the country splitting up.”

(antiwar.com)

Two points….first there has been a civil war going on in Syria since about 2011….p0resent day is just a momentary lull in the fighting….second….the country has been split up for years with the Assad government holding the Coast  and the extremists holding most of the east and central parts of the country.

To illustrate my point….just very recently….

While the cooperation between the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government in Syria and the Kurdish SDF originally made it seem like the violence in northern Syria was on the decline, a new round of fighting between those groups has led to increased tensions and concern that the situation is about to blow up all over again.

Syrian media accused the SDF of trying to infiltrate a pair of army bases in Tal Syriatel, close to the Tishreen Dam. This led to what is being called a “limited” military confrontation between the two sides, though the HTS followed by increasing the number of troops deployed in the area around Tishreen Dam in the name of maintaining security.

This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the two sides, as they are conducting joint operations in neighboring Raqqa Governorate, which is mostly under SDF control. The raids are said to be targeting remnants of the Assad government and “drug dealers,” though locals are bristling at the summary detentions of people on accusations of disloyalty.

(antiwar.com)

Just one incident of the on-going war for dominance in Syria.

Rubio broad statement was clueless and not very accurate….but that is what I expect from someone serving on a cabinet of the least qualified.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Escape Into The Night

After 50+ years it appears that the Assad regime in Syria has been eliminated…..what began in late November as a regional conflict blossomed into the the capital city Of Damascus being taken and the Assad family slinking off into the night with their tails between their legs.

The rebel offensive in Syria has picked up speed, with forces moving into the suburbs of the capital, Damascus. Government forces have abandoned the central city of Homs, per the AP, and the location of President Bashar Assad was unknown. The army withdrew from much of southern Syria earlier Saturday, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters, according to an opposition war monitor. The AP reports the redeployment away from the provinces of Daraa and Sweida came as Syria’s military sent large numbers of reinforcements in the futile effort to defend Homs.

The rapid advances by insurgents is a stunning reversal of fortunes for Assad, who appears to be largely on his own, with erstwhile allies preoccupied with other conflicts. Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday that Iran’s military advisers have started leaving Syria. He added that Iran-backed fighters in eastern Syria, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have withdrawn into central Syria. Officials with Iran-backed Iraqi militias said a decision hasn’t been made on whether to intervene in support of Assad. “If he resists and does not allow Damascus to fall, it is possible that the Iraqi factions will intervene,” one said.

The shock offensive began Nov. 27 led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city. The group has its origins in al-Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the UN. The Syrian army said in a statement that it was setting up a “strong and coherent defensive and security belt,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south.

Not going well for the Assad regime and late Saturday word came out that Damascus had been taken by the rebels.

The 54-year Assad family dynasty appears to have come to an end in Syria. Rebels took control of the capital of Damascus without a fight, and President Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be seen amid speculation he fled the country, reports the BBC.

  • Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Assad flew out of Damascus early Sunday, reports the AP. That has not been confirmed. He ruled the country for nearly 25 years after being elected in 2000 upon the death of his father, Hafez Assad. The elder Assad gained power in a bloodless coup in 1970.
  • Leaders of Syria’s army informed officers that the Assad regime is over, reports Reuters. Thousands were gathering at a main square in the capital in celebration. Rebels declared that Syria is “free of the tyrant” on Telegram. Assad had long been allied with Russia and Iran.
  • Syria’s prime minister, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, told the nation in a video address that he would remain in his post and work with whatever new government emerges. “We extend our hand even to the opposition who extended their hand and confirmed that they will not harm any person who belongs to the Syrian homeland,” he said, per the Washington Post.
  • The main rebel group behind the lightning-fast military movement to topple Assad—Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS—says it will work with the prime minister and instructed rebel forces to steer clear of government institutions until they are formally turned over, per the New York Times. HTS broke with al-Qaeda in 2016, though they are still considered a terrorist group by the US. Other rebel factions operate elsewhere in the nation. Read more here.
  • Rebels freed prisoners from Saydnaya Prison north of the capital, notorious for its brutality to Assad’s opponents, according to multiple outlets. The takeover of Damascus came after anti-Assad forces took the major cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs.

Then there is Biden who is taking credit for the fall of Assad….

President Biden on Sunday celebrated the overthrow of the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by al-Qaeda-linked militants, calling it a “fundamental act of justice.”

Biden said Assad’s allies Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah couldn’t defend Syria thanks to US support for Israel and Ukraine.

“The upshot of all of this is, for the first time ever, neither Russia nor Iran nor Hezbollah could defend this abhorrent regime in Syria. And this is a direct result of the blows that Ukraine [and] Israel have delivered upon their own self-defense with unflagging support of the United States,” he said.

Biden also listed ways the US has pressured the Assad government over the years, including through crippling economic sanctions and the US occupation of eastern Syria. “Over the past four years, my administration had pursued a clear and principled policy toward Syria. First, we made clear from the start sanctions on Assad would remain in place unless he engaged seriously in a political process to end the civil war,” he said.

(antiwar.com)

What bull squirt!

Now the question is….where oh where did Assad slink off to to go into hiding?

Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family, Russian state media reported Sunday, and was granted asylum “for humanitarian reasons.” The report could not immediately be confirmed by outside outlets. Russia had supported Assad’s government, and a Kremlin official said Syrian rebels provided assurances, the Washington Post reports. “Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition who have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syria,” per Tass.

Interesting news….Assad has been a thorn in the US ass for years and now there could be one less problem in the Middle East…

That is probably wishful thinking….but we will have to wait and see.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–18Apr24

It is April and the gov of Mississippi signed a statement that no one told the media about…..when was the last time a governor of any state did not want PR for his ‘good work’?

Tater Reeves just signed a proclamation celebrating the Confederacy and slavery…..

In the year of our lord 2024, the Confederate States of America are still being honored in Mississippi. 

Continuing a decades-old annual tradition, Governor Tate Reeves declared April as “Confederate Heritage Month,” the Beauvoir museum in Biloxi announced on Facebook Friday. The site is the historic home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. 

The tradition dates back to 1993 but isn’t publicized by any Mississippi state official or government agency. The only organization that regularly does so is the Sons of Confederate Veterans, or SCV, who first requested the proclamation 31 years ago.  The SCV owns and operates the Beauvoir museum, promoting the “Lost Cause” myth of the Civil War that downplays the role of slavery and white supremacy in causing the war.

Reeves’s record on race and Civil War history is checkered. As a student at Millsaps College in his youth, Reeves was part of a fraternity that threw Confederate-themed parties where members wore blackface. The governor says he never wore blackface while in the fraternity. 

In 2020, he signed a law retiring Mississippi’s state flag, which honored the Confederate flag, but criticized Black Lives Matter protesters at the same time. And Reeves has also denied the existence of systemic racism in the United States. 

Mississippi is the only state that has dedicated a month to honoring the Confederacy in the last three years, although six other Southern states have done so historically. Mississippi will also recognize Confederate Memorial Day on April 27, as state law requires. But those seeking to protest against these policies will have a tough time: The Supreme Court just effectively abolished protests in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

(newrepublic.com)

There you have it….the New South looks a lot like the Old South….at least in the case of racist Mississippi.

If you hate brown people then Mississippi is the place for you.

A state that pretends that the Civil War was something noble….when in fact it was solely about slavery…..period.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

12 April 1861

My readers know that I cannot pass up an opportunity to drop some history….and today is one of those days.

Do you know what day it is?

Hundred and sixty three years ago today the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina thus starting the bloody struggle that has been called the “American Civil War”……

For those that slept through American history class….

By 1861, the country had already experienced decades of short-lived but ultimately failed compromises concerning the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States in 1860—a man who declared “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free”—threatened the culture and economy of southern slave states and served as a catalyst for secession. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the United States, and by February 2, 1861, six more states followed suit. Southern delegates met on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, AL., and established the Confederate States of America, with Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis elected as its provisional president. Confederate militia forces began seizing United States forts and property throughout the south. With a lame-duck president in office, and a controversial president-elect poised to succeed him, the crisis approached a boiling point and exploded at Fort Sumter.

In the South we are taught our state’s history and most book make it seem like the desire to leave the union was overwhelmingly popular…,not accurate….

From its beginnings the Confederacy suffered from a rising tide of intense domestic hostility, not only among Southern blacks but increasingly among Southern whites. Ironically, it was a hostility brought on largely by those most responsible for the Confederacy’s creation. Planters excused themselves from the draft in various ways, then grew far too much cotton and tobacco, and not nearly enough food. Soldiers went hungry, as did their families back home. Women defied Confederate authorities by staging food riots from Richmond, Virginia, to Galveston, Texas. Soldiers deserted by the tens of thousands, and draft evasion became commonplace. By 1864, the draft law was practically impossible to enforce and two-thirds of the Confederate army was absent with or without leave. Many deserters and draft dodgers formed armed bands that controlled vast areas of the Southern countryside.

Wartime disaffection among Southerners had solid roots in the early secession crisis. Most white Southerners, three-fourths of whom owned no slaves, made it clear in the winter 1860-61 elections for state convention delegates that they opposed immediate secession. Nevertheless, state conventions across the South, all of them dominated by slaveholders, ultimately ignored majority will and took their states out of the Union. One Texas politician conceded that ambitious colleagues had engineered secession without strong backing from “the mass of the people.” A staunch South Carolina secessionist admitted the same. “But,” he asked, “whoever waited for the common people when a great move was to be made—we must make the move and force them to follow.”

https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/southern-unionism.html

Even in the South there were enclaves of unionist bravado…..even in Mississippi….Jones county.

The story of Jones County, Mississippi’s Unionist activities has long been clouded by myth and legend, but most historians agree that this small, wooded backwater was the site of some particularly violent resistance to the Confederacy. The pro-U.S. movement in Jones first crystallized a few years into the Civil War, when the county became a haven for young men who had grown disillusioned with the Confederate cause and deserted the army. Led by a mercurial local named Newton Knight, the runaways organized into a Unionist guerilla outfit called the Knight Company and took to harassing nearby Confederate units. Whether Knight and his band were a principled resistance group or mere bandits has been a matter of debate, but there’s no doubt they succeeded in stirring the political pot. The group effectively disabled the county government, and at one point, its activities sparked rumors that Jones County had seceded from the Confederacy and was flying the stars and stripes over its courthouse. The Knight Company’s disruptive reign continued until April 1864, when Confederate Colonel Robert Lowry used bloodhounds to track the guerillas and drive them from their hideout in the swamps. Newton Knight later resurfaced, however, and after the war, he assisted in U.S. reconstruction efforts in Mississippi.

Back in the Dark Ages when I was in school this event was never covered at all.

There were others…..

https://www.history.com/news/6-unionist-strongholds-in-the-south-during-the-civil-war

For more information if interested….

Southerner vs. Southerner: Union Supporters Below the Mason-Dixon Line

You have seen those child soldiers in Africa…..well during our Civil War children as young as 10 fought and died….

Ten times more underage soldiers, from as young as 10-17, fought in the American Civil War than previously recognised, and this had profound implications for US military and legal history. This is a key takeaway from Associate Professor Frances M. Clarke and Professor Rebecca Jo Plant’s prize-winning book, Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era.

“In America’s Civil War era, children remained minors until they turned 21. If they entered the regular army, however, they were emancipated from parental control. To retrieve young sons, parents filed writs of habeas corpus in massive numbers, while the Lincoln administration tried to stymie their efforts by silencing local courts. These disputes led to one of the most significant shifts in US legal history-the federalisation of habeas corpus,” said Associate Professor Clarke, who is a researcher in the Discipline of History.

https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/american-civil-war-prize-winning-new-book-reveals-plight-of-underage-soldiers/

A little history for those that are interested in the American Civil War….

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The Coming Civil War

This may be my only post today for my best friend died yesterday and I need some time to process the loss.

You may think this is a dead topic…..but look around there is still plenty of life left in the old girl.

We all have heard it before that the US is heading for a new civil war thanx to the Orange Man from Florida….actually that is a bit of a bullsh*t piece of rhetoric.

In reality this ‘civil war’ has been brewing for many decades….it got a little closer with the rise of the Tea Party in 2010 and then the shots were fired with the rise of Trump and his minions of sickos.

And now it is here and here to stay for many years until the hatred for others is diminished….and when we start acting like the country we all know we deserve.

This civil war will be fought over political ideology.

There remains an argument that the United States is tragically headed for a second civil war – this one fought over political ideology.

It is seen literally as a war that could be fought between the left and right in this country.  (This is manure!  There is no Left in this country only in the minds of idiots.  All there is is a Right and a moldy old Center.)

“American politics turned hyper toxic several years ago, and ever since commentators have raised the specter of a second civil war. No other historical parallel, it seems, captures so viscerally today’s national division into two hostile camps, each convinced the other poses a mortal threat to the republic,” the Council on Foreign Relations noted in a piece looking at how today is not like the 1850s – the years leading up to the Civil War.

It argued that we are not all that close to the same type of open conflict we witnessed 160 years ago. There are several factors at play that need to be considered.

…

America simply isn’t headed for Civil War because we’re 21st-century Americans. A few hotheads will continue to make trouble – and they should be punished accordingly if they go too far, as they did on January 6, 2021. But an actual American Civil War 2.0 won’t happen because we like our conveniences just too much, while the checks and balances are in place. 

Instead, we are likely to remain in an uncivil war where we just do not like each other all that much. 

A Second American Civil War?

I agree that there will be nothing like our first Civil War….but that does not mean that this one will not be bloody, not in the sense of gunshot wounds but rather in the sense of the loss of rights.

Will you be a spectator or will you be on the front lines to protect and preserve all Americans rights?

Will you sit idly by while group after group loses its way and its privileges?

Will you be a true American can  stand-up for what is right and just?

Will you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Lead Up To The Civil War

Since there are so many right wing dullards that are trying to re-write our history I thought I would join the debate to try and help clarify the events that lead up to the American Civil War….there are more things that lead to the outbreak of war other than the firing on Ft. Sumter….9 to be exact.

After the American Revolution, a divide between the North and South began to widen. Industrialized northern states gradually passed laws freeing enslaved people, while southern states became increasingly committed to slavery. Many southerners came to view slavery as a linchpin of their agricultural economy, and as a justifiable social and political institution.

Throughout the first half of the 1800s, the nation struggled to manage the clash between these two incompatible viewpoints, working out deals such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which sought to balance the number of new free and slave states and drew a line through the nation’s western territories, with freedom to the north and slavery to the south. But in the last decade before war broke out, the conflict gained momentum and intensity. 

“Throughout the 1850s, a series of events increased sectionalism, emboldened southern secessionists, and deepened northern resolve to defend the Union and end slavery,” explains Jason Phillips, the Eberly Family Professor of Civil War Studies at West Virginia University, and author of the 2018 book Looming Civil War: How Nineteenth Century Americans Imagined the Future. “Many of these crises revolved around politics, but economic, social and cultural factors also contributed to the war’s origins.”

Here are nine events from the 1850s to the early 1860s that historians view as critical in the march toward the American Civil War.

https://www.history.com/news/civil-war-causes-issues

This illustrates that there were complex issues that lead to the outbreak of war than the simplistic whitewash that the era gets in history classes these days.

I will do my part to correct the misconceptions….now we all need to do our part and learn our history….all of it….the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Class dismissed!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It Was All About State’s Rights

College of Political Knowledge

American Civil War 

I enjoy history and I try to bring it to my readers for those that are not exposed to it.

State’s Rights is what was taught to me here in the South about the reason for the American Civil War…..and I read that at least in Arkansas that this lie (myth) is still being taught to the children of that state.

I have tried to educate my readers about this in 2020……

https://lobotero.com/2020/04/16/that-confederate-narrative/

But since that post was about as popular as a turd in a punch bowl I feel I need to help fight the lie that is still being taught…..

An argument presented by apologists for the secession of the states which formed the Confederacy is that they did so to defend the rights of states as they were defined in the Constitution. The issue of states’ rights, rather than slavery, was the true cause of the war. They argue the Union violated the Constitution by threatening the practice of slavery in the South. At the time of secession, there were no bills in Congress to eliminate slavery. Lincoln announced, repeatedly and in clear terms, he had no intention of emancipating the slaves. Still, the Southern states, led by South Carolina, perceived the newly elected President as a threat. They voted for secession rather than accepting the results of the election of 1860. In their Declaration of the Immediate Causes, they made clear their primary reason for secession was the protection of slavery within their borders.

As other slave states followed suit they bound together, forming a central government they named the Confederate States of America. They created the Constitution of the Confederate States, which established a federal government. It denied the individual states the right to establish tariffs, print money, and import slaves from any foreign country. It also specified, “No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed”. The Confederacy denied, through its Constitution, the rights of its member states to decide the issue of slavery at the state level, making slavery a federally protected institution. Those arguing the war was fought over states’ rights ignore this inconvenient fact. They also ignore another over the same issue, largely prevalent before secession. The southern states tried to deny states’ rights of their Northern neighbors before the war.

State’s Rights is just a cloaked excuse to try and paint the institution of slavery as something noble.

But do not take my word for it here are a few of the declarations of cessation from Southern States….read their words and know….

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states

My state of Mississippi is in there and after reading their declaration there can be NO doubt why they felt the need for the actions….(that is if you bother to read the declarations)

There are so many myths about the American Civil War and I will try and break the cycle of ignorance.

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That Coming Civil War

There has been lots of ink and bitching about the divisions in the country and the politics behind it.

Then there are all those articles and stuff about the amounts of guns that are flying around this nation.

Put two and two together and we get a coming civil war that could very well end in violence.

I also have made several posts about the possibility of all out civil war….I am hoping that all those predictions are wrong…..

There are those that down play the possibility of a coming civil war…..this is one of those articles…..

A pattern emerged in the hours after the FBI lawfully searched the Florida home of the former president. Indeed, it was deeply familiar.

It goes something like this.

When Bad Thing X happens to Donald Trump – and, given who we’re talking about, there’s always a Bad Thing X – it’s actually Good Thing Y, because it’ll arouse the resentments of his supporters. It doesn’t matter what Bad Thing X is. What matters, for the purposes of propaganda, is that this pattern is used at Trump’s convenience. And, given who we’re talking about, that convenience has come in handy.

But what started as convenience, effective though it may have been, has evolved into a habit, which has evolved into a tic, which has evolved into a tell. Whenever someone says Bad Thing X is actually Good Thing Y, we can have confidence that it’s no such thing.

A new civil war?

After the FBI searched the former president’s home for secret government documents that, according to the Wall Street Journal, he would not surrender voluntarily, online chatter among his supporters tsunamied, according to Vice News, into calls for a new civil war.

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/republicans-insurgency-second-civil-war/

All this could happen before or after the GOP plan to change the Constitution…..(this is possible and very possible)……

If you think the Supreme Court overturning abortion rights in this country was radical and shocking, you ain’t seen nothing yet. There was a convention you should know about this past weekend in Denver, funded by some of the wealthiest men and foundations in America, that has received altogether too little publicity.

Imagine if most public schools in the country closed and were replaced by for-profit charter and private academies — often racially segregated and only serving families who could afford their tuition — because the Constitution required federal compulsory education laws and federal funding for education (at all levels) to end.

Imagine if the U.S. Constitution required the EPA, FDA, USDA, DOT, Department of Education, and Department of Labor to shut down. All union protections are dead, there are no more federal workplace safety standards, and even child-labor laws are struck down, along with the national minimum wage and the income tax, both individual and corporate.

Imagine that the Constitution makes it illegal for the federal government to protect you from big polluters, big banks, and even big food and pharma—all are free to rip you off or poison you all they want, and your only remedy is in state courts and legislatures, because the Constitution prevents Congress from doing anything about any of it. The federal government can no longer even enforce voting or civil rights laws.

https://www.rawstory.com/constitution-gop/

The mid-terms will decide the future of this country….

You decide what is best for this nation.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Is War Coming?

There seems to be a war a week these days…..Ukraine, Russia, China, Taiwan on and on….but this war that I am referring to is a war within our own society…..a Civil War….yet another civil strife that tears this country apart.

We are told that all this could change if we just get out and vote….I do not believe so….the political divide is getting deeper and deeper…..

Our country is in a crisis. On a near-daily basis, evidence mounts implicating the former president of the United States in a coup attempt against our republic. And in just the past two weeks, a spate of extremist Supreme Court decisions have gotten rid of a woman’s fundamental right to make decisions about her own body, our government’s ability to regulate clean air and water as required by law, and the separation of church and state, all while curbing our ability to regulate deadly weapons.

The legitimacy of a democracy rests on the consent of the governed, on the premise that decisions made by civic institutions reflect the will of the citizens and noncitizens they impact. From the January 6 insurrection to the increase in voter suppression, it has become increasingly clear that our country is in the midst of a legitimacy crisis, with the Supreme Court at the heart of it.

But the court’s recent rulings signify more than just a curtailment of our rights. As an immigrant who has seen countries descend into civil conflict, I recognize a familiar trend here: These are the latest signposts in the frightening backsliding of US democracy into authoritarianism.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/democracy-scotus-radical-reform/

Is change coming with the next election?

David Brooks of the NYT has some thoughts on this…..

Look at the conditions all around us:

First, Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the way things are going. Only 13% of voters say the country is on the right track, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll published this week.

Second, Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the leaders of both parties. Joe Biden has a 33% job approval rating among registered voters. About half of Republican voters want to move on from Donald Trump and find a new presidential candidate for 2024.

Third, inflation is soaring. Throughout history, inflationary periods have often been linked to political instability. As economist Lionel Robbins wrote about Weimar Germany, inflation “destroyed the wealth of the more solid elements in German society; and it left behind a moral and economic disequilibrium, apt breeding ground for the disasters which have followed.”

Fourth, the generational turnover is coming. The boomer gerontocracy that now dominates power is bound to retire, leaving a vacuum for something new.

Fifth, Americans are detaching from the two political parties. Far more Americans consider themselves independents than consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans, and independents may be growing more distinct. And there’s some research that suggests independents are increasingly not just closeted members of the two main parties but also hold different beliefs, which puts them between parties. Sixty-two percent of Americans believe a third party is needed.

Sixth, disgust with the current system is high. A majority of American voters believe that our system of government does not work, and 58% believe that our democracy needs major reforms or a complete overhaul. Nearly half of young adult voters believe voting does not affect how the government operates

Things are not looking good for this social situation to right itself……so is there another Civil War in our near future?

50% of the Americans polled think that we are headed for another messy and possibly bloody correction in our republic….

A shocking new study has found that half of Americans expect to see a second civil war within years, while nearly a fifth say they would be armed with guns at a political skirmish themselves.

Distressing levels of “alienation,” “mistrust,” and a growing tendency to resort to violence were uncovered by researchers at the University of California, Davis, in their recent survey of 8,620 adults across the US. They found that more than two-thirds of respondents said they perceived a “serious threat to our democracy,” while more than half agreed that “in the next few years, there will be civil war in the US.” Over 40 per cent noted the importance of having a “strong leader” over democracy, while also agreeing that “native-born white people are being replaced by immigrants.”

According to the study, there is a growing tendency to settle political disagreements with violence. Almost a fifth of respondents told them that it was likely they would be “armed with a gun” at a political flash point in the next couple of years, while four per cent admitted it was likely they would “shoot someone with a gun.”

https://meaww.com/50-per-cent-americans-think-second-civil-war-is-coming-uc-davis-survey

I fear that I may live long enough to see the final disintegration of our republic….it, the republic, is slowly going the way of the dodo.  The slow erosion of civil liberties has been finalized by the Supreme Court.

Is this it for the great American Experiment?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”