The Civil War on America’s Horizon | The American Conservative
“You accuse us of overturning our patrie by rebellion, but it is you, who, subverting all principles of the religious and political order, were the first to proclaim that insurrection is the most sacred of duties.” — French Royalist rebel to the newly-installed Jacobin government in 1793
Source: The Civil War on America’s Horizon | The American Conservative
I disagree with the author of this piece's knee-jerk anti-Trumpism, and more generally his assertion of what amounts to moral equivalency between the President's supporters and America's radical Left. But that doesn't mean the essay's depiction of the situation in which we find ourselves is wrong. Sadly!
But I like better the analysis of both the article and the situation it describes, from Clergy in Support of the 2nd Amendment, which posted a link to this article:
All that is needed is a spark.
Sadly, I couldn't agree more. This nation is divided in countless critical areas – arguably much more divided than just before the Civil War. We have completely different moral codes. We are divided over the place of religion in our culture and over religious freedom. We are divided over what kind of economy we want. We are divided over the place and role of government. Government and much of the media is viewed as corrupt and deceitful. Last week Democrats outright threatened the Supreme Court – telling them that they had better rule the way they want or they might act to "fix" the high court. Worst of all, increasingly each side does not view the other as fellow Americans with whom they disagree – we view the other side as evil and dangerous. Identity politics is the norm on both sides of the political divide.
More and more Americans are fleeing the deep blue states for solid red ones. I personally know more than ten families who have fled California for deep red states. The result is that we are divided along both political AND geographic lines. In both red and blue states there has been talk about splitting the nation in two. When there was talk about California leaving the Union, the vast majority of people in the red states were all for it. One of the leaders of CalExit was asked if he was concerned about the massive exodus of middle class Californians to red states. His response? We want them to leave and make room for all of the new immigrants from Mexico. Additionally, 14 California counties have formally asked the state government for permission to leave the state.
All that is needed is a spark or a flame – and Democrats are running around with a blow torch. Some Democrats are seriously talking about trying to confiscate 30-50 million firearms. Many of these semi-automatic firearms are owned by combat trained veterans. Many local and even state law enforcement leaders and governments have gone on record, saying that they will not help any such efforts. Some have talked of actively opposing it. Red state America looks at Venezuela - where guns were confiscated – and sees such confiscation as the first step towards tyranny. In fact, polling shows that nearly 2/3 of Americans believe that the 2nd Amendment is a critical safeguard against such tyranny.
If such a law were to pass and federal agents began raiding homes or going door to door in search of the newly banned firearms, this would not be a spark – it would be likely running around a house full of gasoline fumes with a blow torch. I cannot think of a better way to plunge America into a 2nd civil war.
Should this happen, it would be a catastrophe beyond imagining. One Democratic presidential candidate, when warned of the possibility of a civil war if guns were confiscated, shrugged it off, stating that the war would be short because he would use nukes. You read that right – he threatened to use nukes on his fellow Americans. Not a single Democratic lawmaker or candidate condemned his remarks. Not one. Let that sink in.
[The individual in question, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) – who made the comment in the context of a debate over gun confiscation by the Federal government (stating that if Americans resisted confiscation, "it would be a short war my friend. The government has nukes") – later claimed he was joking, and ultimately (in July) dropped out of the running, polling at zero percent after the first Democratic debate. Nonetheless, the fact that not one single member of the Democratic field criticized him for his comments is chilling. Causes one to suspect that he said what they were thinking, but dared not say aloud...]
Thankfully, we do not have to go down that road. We can negotiate a political settlement we all can live with. IMHO, it is time to restructure America. Perhaps the solid Blue states would want to leave and form a new nation, leaving the red states to operate under the current constitution. Perhaps a federation of two nations could be established in which the blue and the red nations would have autonomy over their internal affairs, but would maintain a common military and foreign policy. In short, we need to get creative.
Whatever we do, we must do something – because eventually something is going to light the fuse........
As a friend of mine puts it: "Storm's a-brewin'."