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Monday, July 27, 2020

Cuing Up the Next Civil War


Remember early on in this Administration, the common thought was that Trump regularly committed outrages just to divert attention from the prior outrages, so there would be so much out there, no one knew where to turn first?

I feel like it’s kind of like that now, only larger. It’s not just little things like he’s violating the emoluments clause, or asking the Russians for opposition research, but now he’s allowing tens of thousands of innocent Americans to be killed, stoking nationwide protests that haven’t been seen since the 60s, and forming a private army with the express purpose to violate the 1st Amendment rights to free speech and assembly.

If ever there was evidence that what political leaders say matters, it’s his denial of the seriousness of the coronavirus and denunciation of wearing masks. Once he put that out there, “his people” have been using it as a rallying cry to “defend their rights” and spread the infections farther and faster.

I’ve seen the meme that says that if Hillary were president, we’d all be eating in restaurants and going to ballgames by now. I don’t think so. Hillary would have been like Round Two of the Obama Administration wherein whatever she said was opposed and denounced by the Right, and wearing masks would have been one more example. Trump and the others of the radical right, along with talk radio and Fox “News” would be in lockstep, decrying any kind of mask mandate as federal overreach and tyranny. (Just like they are now.) But it would be even worse because it came from her. Can’t you just smell the misogyny?

The initial impressions were so strong that now, even after Trump reversed course on masks, his followers still tow the original company line. It seems like they’re ready to ride that horse right up until the moment they catch the ‘Rona themselves, and then release an “Oops, my bad” statement.

Or maybe they don’t trust what he’s saying now because they know he’s only reacting to the polls, which overwhelmingly disapprove of his handling of the outbreak. And they’d have to admit they were wrong, which you know will never happen.

It’s finally coming to pass that the anti-education and anti-intellectualism that Republicans traffic in is now killing people.

They deny the science, which has been established for decades (regarding how to mitigate a virus), they deny the media reports as “hype,” deny the body count because they were told (by Fox, talk radio and some schmo on Facebook) that the counts are inflated, they promote idiot conspiracy theories that either China or our own renowned infectious disease expert created the virus to unleash on America, just to damage Donald Trump.

I think Joe Biden should contact Dr. Fauci and tell him to speak his mind at all times and that no matter what sanctions this Administration imposes in retribution, he’ll get his job back on Day One of the Biden Administration. Of course, to do that, Joe’s got to be confident he’ll be able to overcome Republican voter suppression actions already in place, plus other general fuckery expected to be unleashed in the next three months. Good polling only goes so far.

Trump is already screwing with the mail, to create doubt as to the security of mailed ballots. The GOP is creating a team of 50,000 people to become “poll watchers,” allegedly to “fight fraud,” (which no one can prove exists), but in reality to harass and intimidate voters, especially those who look foreign. How much do you want to bet that these “poll watchers” look and dress an awful lot like those “police” in Portland?

I think his and Barr’s creation of a private army for the Bible Stunt felt pretty good to the president. With this hand-picked army, there’s no messy chain of command issues or petty Constitutional problems to worry about. He has a privateer army made up of sociopaths and miscreants from ICE and Border Patrol, with a smattering of prison guards, who are used to not seeing other humans as “people” and love nothing more than to gas these “animals” and crack some heads.

I think the problem with this personal army is going to get much worse before it gets better. He’s plainly stated that he plans on using it exclusively in cities run by Democrats. Funny how he never sent anyone to those State Houses where heavily armed white men shouted as lawmakers and local police officers because they wanted to go Hair Cuttery and the gym again.

But in Portland, his un-labeled army gasses mothers, charges and beats medics who are treating people, and have performed countless acts of savagery toward people who are exercising their Constitutional rights.

Right-wing media always shows the people attacking fences, throwing rocks or yelling at Donnie’s Militia. They completely ignore the hundreds of recorded atrocities like this. I once posted a link roster, on Facebook, of over 700 videoed instances that showed jacked-up police or these Portland thugs attacking unarmed civilians. All my conservative friends would do is argue about side issues. Not one would even mention the evidence I put under their noses. And I regularly see them grumble about the Portland “lawbreakers.” If they don’t see it, they’re not responsible for defending it.

It's sobering to think that if the original Rambo movie, "First Blood," were released today, 40% of the audience would be rooting for the cops.

That’s your modern Republican… they love America so much they completely reject the 1st Amendment, unless it’s their own people. (The 2nd is sacrosanct, of course. When their opponents show up with guns, their answer is “more guns.”)

 Republicans: “Gas them. They deserve it.”  (Source: Daily Mail)

Republicans: [Crickets]  (Source: Getty Images)

I keep reading that local Portlanders say the protests were basically dying off before the Trump Army showed up. Maybe to continue that trend would take the wind out of their sales. What if someone threw a riot but no one showed up? Civilized protesters will never win against a heavily-armed and unrestrained military force. Nor will uncivilized protesters. Like we learned from the WOPR computer in “War Games”, the only way to win is not to play the game.

Sure, Trump may keep a force on the ground to prevent recurrences, but at least that’s a bunch of troops who aren’t gassing people elsewhere.

Ultimately, the best tactic is to vote every one of these bastards out. And then once we have a Democratic Senate, pass a law that prevents a president’s personal army from going to war against his own people.

Then again, I take that back. We better wait until we know a Biden Army won’t be necessary. I can definitely foresee a time where these jackedbooted Trumpies refuse to follow their leader back to the fringe. They’re going to want to fight it out, now that they have a taste for it. We may need an army of our own.

And thus does the country split itself apart.



9 comments:

  1. One thing to remember about the Trump Army: numbers. This whole mess in downtown Portland is happening in an area of two to four blocks. The number of Trumpshirts deployed is barely enough to deal with a few hundred protesters (they've been forced to retreat several times), never mind dominate the city. I know someone who has to go to downtown Portland one day a week, to an office building about five blocks from where all this is happening, and she's never mentioned even noticing anything going on. It's an extremely small-scale operation.

    Barr may have chosen Portland because, while it's a very liberal city, the police-department culture is pretty Trumpazoid. They might not obey orders to take down the Trump Army, if it came to that. In other major cities that's less likely to be a problem.

    Like so much Trump does, this is a Potemkin show to make him look tough in the eyes of his base.

    As to what happens if Trump loses in November and tries to use the Trumpshirts to stir up trouble, this country does have a real army, which is sworn to defend the Constitution and whose leaders have been massively pissed off by Trump several times. Against that, no illegal effort to hold power could succeed.

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    1. That's what brought me to the idea of another Civil War... 2 rival military forces fighting it out on our city streets. And then when the random 2nd Amendment Boyz join in, who can tell who's fighting who?

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    2. Hence my point about numbers. A few hundred or at most a few thousand goons vs the US Army wouldn't make for much of a civil war. In fact, the regular police could handle these guys. I only brought up the army to point out that they wouldn't back Trump in a coup attempt, which would make such an attempt hopeless.

      As for the "random 2nd Amendment Boyz", the last time they tried to actually do something, they managed to seize an undefended bird sanctuary visitor kiosk in the middle of nowhere for a few weeks and forgot to bring enough Cheetos. They write a lot of menacing-sounding crap on the internet, but that's about all they're good for.

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  2. Not for nothin', but doesn't Posse Comitatus prevent the use of US Military on American soil? Maybe there's an out for defense from an internal force.

    I don't know that the regular police forces wouldn't be on the side of the Trump Army... They both seem to like the opportunity to beat up on protesters, especially those protesting the police in the first place.

    Anyway, I continue to note the overwhelming silence from the Right, who seem deathly afraid of government troops occupying city streets... unless it's in support of THEIR guy. Phony patriotism, phony Americans.

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    1. doesn't Posse Comitatus prevent the use of US Military on American soil?

      There would have to be exceptions in case of defense. What if the country were invaded? If an enemy army were to land on the beaches of San Diego and attack the city, the US Army would certainly be able to go there and fight to expel them.

      For that matter, the entire Civil War was fought on what the US government maintained was US soil, against Americans in revolt against Constitutional authority.

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    2. No question they could be used against foreign invaders. (And the Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878, during the "Reconstruction," so it post-dates the Civil War.)

      I just wonder about using the Army against American citizens that they don't like for purely political reasons. Maybe Trump gets around this prohibition because these guys are not the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.

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  3. It's definitely scary. I lived through the 60's and early 70's. I marched in DC on May Day. What a shit show that was. I'm old now. But I will fight in this Civil War for the justice that this country and every citizen who lives here deserves. Donald Trump has made a mockery out of everything we hold sacred as Americans. We no longer are about brotherhood and freedom for all. He's from NYC, yet I would venture to bet he couldn't tell you what the Statue of Liberty cries for the whole world to hear.

    Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
    Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

    ~Emma Lazarus~

    Donald Trump has no heart. He and all his enablers need to be removed and put somewhere where they can do no damage ever again. And anyone who follows him needs to follow that same path. If you play, you pay. It's as simple as that. He's a dangerous man who has spread hate and discontent like a virus. Those who have fed into his whole embodiment of corruption are just as bad or maybe even worse than he is. I don't know any more. I used to think they weren't to blame, but now I see they're they fuel that keep him lit. He feeds off their energy and it's scary. Anyway, thank you for your food for thought. I definitely agree with you and so do many, many others. We just need to band together and be strong!

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    1. He's the symptom of a very toxic political point of view, wherein the government exists for the upper class's benefit and no one else's. And to win votes from the people they need to screw, they have to give them someone to shit on... Blacks, immigrants, gays, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, liberals... Whatever gets people riled up. Trump and the modern Republican party are the embodiment of the lowest common denominator.

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