This article, by political analyst Ronald Brownstein, which was published in The Atlantic two years ago the week before the Supreme Court killed Roe v Wade, is only more true today than it was then, and a good analysis to keep in mind over the next five months of the 2024 campaign.
Earl Warren said that the most important decisions during his tenure didn't involve Brown v. Board, but actually were the reapportionment cases. And that's really what republicans are fighting, and where we have the red/blue divide. Where I live in Nevada, Clark County (Las Vegas and environs) is blue, but with red. Washoe County (Reno and environs) is bluish but with ample red. The 14 rural counties are redder than a bleeding beet, and have maybe 7% of the state's population. But yesterday The New York Times posted one of those stories that reminds us that it can be a great newspaper, about a rural Nevada county clerk who is the subject of a recall effort because republicans there are convinced that she put her thumb on the scale against Pol Potbelly ... who won the county with something like 82% of the vote. And the people signing are "friends."
That brings me to a friend who said we should never let politics get in the way of friendship. What too few grasp is that you cannot be friends with a loyal republican. That person is incapable of loyalty to this country, and incapable of loyalty to an individual. I can like them, and I do. I can think they're fun to be around, and I do. But a friend? No. If they get back in in 2025 and their Gestapo comes, that supposed friend won't hide you or help you.
Sadly, I agree. For me, it's a matter of completely different values. I'll give the shirt off my back and they most likely would steal a shirt off the back of a homeless person.
I agree. And it was during COVID that I realized that my empathy had limits. I felt badly for people I knew who got COVID, including one who died. But one of them who almost died got it when he made what he admits was the mistake of exposing himself. And what happened was that he and his family had gone somewhere, and were about to eat. They took off their masks, and a group of MAGA hats surrounded them yelling at them about being woke, and it's all a fraud, etc. And my friends all wound up in the hospital.
Now, there are people who would think those actions were wrong, but they will still vote for republicans. And at the risk of referring to a terrible old trope, they deserve whatever bad things happen to them, and they are asking for it to happen to them.
I also live in Las Vegas and had my first and last confrontation with a die-hard Republican at my doctor’s office on Monday. If I didn’t already believe Republicans were unhinged and dangerous, I do now. I've seen the face of evil up close and personal, and I see no path to reconciliation in this fractured nation.
Another good one, Tom. How do you manage to remember where you put all these gems after you last read them? I have hundreds of them around here somewhere.
I can't like this article Tom, but I do appreciate it very much. Unfortunately it aligns with my vision of a future in which we become three separate Countries: The Northeastern States of American closely allied with the Western States of America, and whatever the hell the remaining 24 contiguous dumbbell States want to call their new country. If this ever comes to happen I hope they allow a five year period to give a chance for those democracy supporting people in the "red" States to move to either the Northeast or West, and any dumbbells remaining in the 'blue' countries. Hopefully it can be a bloodless transition. The US and Europe are roughly the same size and the European countries manage to coexist (with periodic wars) We should be able to do the same. I just can't see those of us who live in the liberal progressive states being able to live under fascism.
In this day and age, I think the Northeast and the West can be one country, and I don't see why it shouldn't be a bloodless transition. My only misgiving is that it might become impossible to "drive across the country," or bicycle across the country, both of which I've done. (Three x-country trips by the time I was 8 were formative experiences of my life. When I was 10 I figured out that I could bicycle x-country within a summer vacation.) And no Cannonball Run.
I suspect that after 10 years of such a change, it would be obvious to the South that we, the North, would be doing better, that many might want to join us. And then it might once again be possible to bicycle or drive across the country.
Please all of you just stop this stupidity over secession. Tell me how, if it should happen, seniors in the seceded states would get their social security payments from a federal government their state government was rebelling against, and how any of that would lead to those people supporting the secessionists?
Then please tell me what happens to all the Democrats in Houston and Austin, and every other blue Southern city? What happens to all the black folks in the South who certainly are not supporters of fascism?
That's just to scrape the top 1% of the secession insanity. We are, like it or not, hopelessly bound to each other by a tangled web of conjoined interests that cannot be broken without creating more harm than the act of insanity would deliver anything good.
Come on, the thing I really like about the community of people who have joined TAFM is the high level of group intelligence. Yes, politics today are frustrating and if you don't think too much about the aftermath, removing the people you don't like seems a good idea - of course, that's why more the goddamned southern MAGAts are promoting it than any other group. Consider that - you really want to agree with Marjorie Traitor Goon about ANYTHING???
The idea of secession is the Number One Dumbest Idea In American Politics. It beats Term Limits and the Balanced Budget Amendment.
I think Lincoln actually got the whole picture. He understood that the South would still become the enemy of the North if it seceded, and he would have no legal authority over it. If ending slavery was integral to saving the republic, his only option was to refuse to accept the southern secession. An independent Confederate republic would have challenged the remnant union aggressively for western territories, possibly ending up at war in any event. The legacy of such a conflict could very well have come to mean that those of us who grew up in western states would experience a completely different reality than the one we have known. By keeping the South part of the republic, Lincoln just might have given me the opportunity to learn about the legacy of slavery in a light that never would have been lit in a pro-Confederacy culture, for which I am very grateful.
One counterpoint: I suspect that had the South been enabled to secede, it would have been quite inferior. economically, to the North, and the North would likely have won almost all battles for the West. People work harder for themselves, starting businesses, inventing new ways of doing things, etc., than they do for others. And see Susan Knox' comment directly above yours.
Yes. It's also why, so long as the North maintained its focus on victory, the South could never win. Other than cotton, the rest of the southern economy wa 15% of what the equivalent sector was in the North.
Thanks David. I knew I was opening a speculative can of worms. You are probably right in the main, but settling the west would have been a messier picture. One thing would have been very different for me personally. My grandfather went to Montana from Texas on a cattle drive. He met my grandmother there and settled down. Without a definitive end to the Civil War, it’s possible that doesn’t happen. And then there’s the 20th century wars in Europe. It’s easy to imagine the Confederacy staying out of the first and aligning itself with the Axis powers in the second. Does the Normandy invasion happen without southerners in large numbers? I’m not well enough read here to go farther on this, topic but I can’t imagine a hostile southern neighbor would have left the US to develop as it did but just without the South.
Without the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi will wipe out all the industry on it's way to the delta. In 1973, John MpcPhee wrote in the Control of Nature, that if Nature is allowed to take it's course, WWII would do less damage to Southern Louisiana and the oil industry in the bayou, and all the industries in the "American Ruhr". The Old South can not survive without Northern experience and expertise.
I made one Sacramento to Austin Texas round trip for work and another Sacramento to Washington DC Round trip, also for work. the rest of my work travel was via plane. too many to remember. That plus many National Park vacation trips. We have the good fortune to live in a beautiful country. It is a shame that all of us can't or won't understand that we are all the same Genus and species. I lived in Gainesville and Lakeland, Florida for a combined 17 months, that was all I could stomach of racism and southern drawl. When I went back for a short family visit in 1989 they ad managed to despoil the once beautiful white sand beach with black tarry oil, Yuck
Thank you for your comment Faye. I live in the PNW and they are already migrating here seeming exponentially. For the last few years there have been many more license plates from Florida, Texas, Alabama and more. In the last several months I've noticed an even greater uptick. They aren't tourists.
They know exactly where they're going on the roads. There new plates just haven't arrived yet.
Well, he lays it all out. No argument here. But, even though the cult has roots back to our founding, it is still a cult. Not a cult that the founders would have approved of despite the fact that the country really had a problem with that “equality” thing. They aspired for us to be better than that. The cult wants to destroy our democracy and install authoritarianism for ALL the land. And they are well on the way. The fact that …”2020 election deniers running for offices that would provide them with control over 2024 election machinery…” is the scariest statement in This post. They want no freedom for any in this country. Just follow the rules for Project 2025 or be the designated enemy. The Handmaid’s Tale. And all for the poorest excuse for a human that was ever born, who is the useful tool for the movers and shakers. And Putin. The majority may decide that they will not accept an election result won by the most outrageous machinations. The cult expects that the Dems will play nice, no matter what. I say to dems, qualify what you say about the election results. The election results for 2000 and 2016 were suspect and should have been contested. Am I the only one who is loathe to living in Jim Crow America. Or in a world where America has lost the ability to do the right thing, even after trying everything else.
I live in Nevada that had two cities that has the majority of the state’s population. Only 11% in the rest of the state. We have a Democratic super majority in our state except for a very very amoral Republican governor.
Will Nevada stay Blue in the 2024 elections? One can only vote and pray.
It’s infuriating that the sparsely populated areas have so much clout in Texas. It is deliberate and the result of decades of dirty tricks. I remember a time….
Red state job growth! Indeed corporations don’t want unions, they want cheap labor! Those states give away tax incentives while turning a blind eye to corporate fulfillment of their end of the agreement!
If the divisions and the MAGA program described in the article continue unabated, then inevitably, just by random chance, we will get a GOP House and Senate and President. At that point, it’s game over. We really need a plan to defeat the Confederates in addition to reelecting Joe Biden. That would buy us 4 years but then what?
I agree with the idea. Too many of us have been "asleep at the switch" for too long.
Heck we cant even manage to get background checks on gun sales in many places!! But our "representatives & senators" sounds like a place to start. Possibly we might want to establish some actual ethics requirements and then there is the Citizens United decision.
I see the MAGA movement as a calculated plot to twist electoral rules, locking Democrats out of Congress and the White House indefinitely. If they pull it off, the right-wing Supreme Court will enforce red state policies across the entire nation, ignoring the will of the majority. Minority rule will become the new norm, silencing the voices of the people.
This isn't just politics; it's a direct threat to democracy. Tens of millions will recognize this for what it is: illegitimate and intolerable. Trust in the democratic process and the system itself will crumble. We will be plunged into a political abyss, with a fanatical faction pushing their agenda over the will of the people.
Chaos is inevitable. Protests will erupt, and when peaceful demonstrations are ignored, violence will follow. The conservative court won't stop at Roe v. Wade. They will strip rights from women and countless others, turning the nation into a battlefield of polarized camps.
Most dangerous of all is the MAGA embrace of nullification – the rebellious cry of states defying federal law. Echoes of pre-Civil War defiance resound. If red states reject federal authority while MAGA controls the helm, the nation's very fabric could tear apart.
Picture escalating crises: protests morphing into insurgencies, red states clashing with blue, political violence spreading like wildfire. We would be hurtling into the unknown, a new civil war igniting from the wreckage of democracy.
This scenario isn't just terrifying; it's a direct route to a second civil war. Entrenched polarization, minority rule, the erosion of democracy, and the insidious doctrine of nullification form a perfect storm. The dangers are clear, growing by the day, demanding immediate action. We must confront this head-on. The survival of American democracy hangs by a thread, and we cannot afford to let it snap.
I would imagine that if I lived in a Blue state I'd feel some reassurance from this, even if it is misguided, but I live in North Carolina; have for the past 25 years and have deep roots here. My brother has deep roots in Texas. We "Blue" Americans are scattered all over this country and we will all be impacted, as will all of the "Red" Americans who aren't filthy rich.
Well very interesting but the main message I get is how f…ing important this election is and will be—only 20 weeks away folks. Please democrats and independents and sane non MAGA Republicans— please vote for the only sane unvengeful candidate. And start reading the riot act to those on the fence still.
Okay. If the Reds want it that way, there will be no military alliances. They can set up their own tyrannical government, military,* and legal system and put up a wall to keep the immigrants--including the Blues--out. Passports will be required in both directions, and the borders militarized. They can develop their own tax system. They can use their own ports, energy, and water supplies. The Reds can speak their own language. Oh, wait, they already do. And when their territory becomes unlivable due to climate change they can negotiate with Russia and China for relocation to Siberia and Mongolia. I can think of nothing in the Reds' area that I can't live without.
* Of course they will forfeit half of the defense materiel and Blue-born military personnel currently located at Red bases. And all the NASA scientists educated in the Blue areas will be repatriated to the Blues. (No wonder Canada is worried about us. They know there will be fallout from our once proud nation's self-destruction.)
That's a very good question. The "regular forces" will likely remain loyal. The strong Fundamentalist demo in the military is questionable. The special operations forces are particularly in that group - SEALs consider themselves "Christian crusaders," so there's that.
Very interesting and seemingly.Correct but this part is obviously dated.
"No state in the blue section has a law on the books banning abortion before fetal viability, while almost all of the red states are poised to restrict abortion rights if the Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority, as expected, overturns Roe v. Wade. "
Earl Warren said that the most important decisions during his tenure didn't involve Brown v. Board, but actually were the reapportionment cases. And that's really what republicans are fighting, and where we have the red/blue divide. Where I live in Nevada, Clark County (Las Vegas and environs) is blue, but with red. Washoe County (Reno and environs) is bluish but with ample red. The 14 rural counties are redder than a bleeding beet, and have maybe 7% of the state's population. But yesterday The New York Times posted one of those stories that reminds us that it can be a great newspaper, about a rural Nevada county clerk who is the subject of a recall effort because republicans there are convinced that she put her thumb on the scale against Pol Potbelly ... who won the county with something like 82% of the vote. And the people signing are "friends."
That brings me to a friend who said we should never let politics get in the way of friendship. What too few grasp is that you cannot be friends with a loyal republican. That person is incapable of loyalty to this country, and incapable of loyalty to an individual. I can like them, and I do. I can think they're fun to be around, and I do. But a friend? No. If they get back in in 2025 and their Gestapo comes, that supposed friend won't hide you or help you.
Sadly, I agree. For me, it's a matter of completely different values. I'll give the shirt off my back and they most likely would steal a shirt off the back of a homeless person.
I agree. And it was during COVID that I realized that my empathy had limits. I felt badly for people I knew who got COVID, including one who died. But one of them who almost died got it when he made what he admits was the mistake of exposing himself. And what happened was that he and his family had gone somewhere, and were about to eat. They took off their masks, and a group of MAGA hats surrounded them yelling at them about being woke, and it's all a fraud, etc. And my friends all wound up in the hospital.
Now, there are people who would think those actions were wrong, but they will still vote for republicans. And at the risk of referring to a terrible old trope, they deserve whatever bad things happen to them, and they are asking for it to happen to them.
And to us.
This post is one of your top best, TC. I will share it .
👍
I also live in Las Vegas and had my first and last confrontation with a die-hard Republican at my doctor’s office on Monday. If I didn’t already believe Republicans were unhinged and dangerous, I do now. I've seen the face of evil up close and personal, and I see no path to reconciliation in this fractured nation.
Not fit for a poetic diescription, sadly, tragically.
👍
Another good one, Tom. How do you manage to remember where you put all these gems after you last read them? I have hundreds of them around here somewhere.
I can't like this article Tom, but I do appreciate it very much. Unfortunately it aligns with my vision of a future in which we become three separate Countries: The Northeastern States of American closely allied with the Western States of America, and whatever the hell the remaining 24 contiguous dumbbell States want to call their new country. If this ever comes to happen I hope they allow a five year period to give a chance for those democracy supporting people in the "red" States to move to either the Northeast or West, and any dumbbells remaining in the 'blue' countries. Hopefully it can be a bloodless transition. The US and Europe are roughly the same size and the European countries manage to coexist (with periodic wars) We should be able to do the same. I just can't see those of us who live in the liberal progressive states being able to live under fascism.
Respectfully, we are past the cusp of beginning of Hilter’s overthrow of Germany in this country. There will never be “playing nice” with Republicans.
Agreed, that's why I'd prefer to split, difficult as that would be.
I agree, Fay.
Wouldn't Putin be pleased if we divided.
Lincoln should have let the South go.
In this day and age, I think the Northeast and the West can be one country, and I don't see why it shouldn't be a bloodless transition. My only misgiving is that it might become impossible to "drive across the country," or bicycle across the country, both of which I've done. (Three x-country trips by the time I was 8 were formative experiences of my life. When I was 10 I figured out that I could bicycle x-country within a summer vacation.) And no Cannonball Run.
I suspect that after 10 years of such a change, it would be obvious to the South that we, the North, would be doing better, that many might want to join us. And then it might once again be possible to bicycle or drive across the country.
Please all of you just stop this stupidity over secession. Tell me how, if it should happen, seniors in the seceded states would get their social security payments from a federal government their state government was rebelling against, and how any of that would lead to those people supporting the secessionists?
Then please tell me what happens to all the Democrats in Houston and Austin, and every other blue Southern city? What happens to all the black folks in the South who certainly are not supporters of fascism?
That's just to scrape the top 1% of the secession insanity. We are, like it or not, hopelessly bound to each other by a tangled web of conjoined interests that cannot be broken without creating more harm than the act of insanity would deliver anything good.
Come on, the thing I really like about the community of people who have joined TAFM is the high level of group intelligence. Yes, politics today are frustrating and if you don't think too much about the aftermath, removing the people you don't like seems a good idea - of course, that's why more the goddamned southern MAGAts are promoting it than any other group. Consider that - you really want to agree with Marjorie Traitor Goon about ANYTHING???
The idea of secession is the Number One Dumbest Idea In American Politics. It beats Term Limits and the Balanced Budget Amendment.
I think Lincoln actually got the whole picture. He understood that the South would still become the enemy of the North if it seceded, and he would have no legal authority over it. If ending slavery was integral to saving the republic, his only option was to refuse to accept the southern secession. An independent Confederate republic would have challenged the remnant union aggressively for western territories, possibly ending up at war in any event. The legacy of such a conflict could very well have come to mean that those of us who grew up in western states would experience a completely different reality than the one we have known. By keeping the South part of the republic, Lincoln just might have given me the opportunity to learn about the legacy of slavery in a light that never would have been lit in a pro-Confederacy culture, for which I am very grateful.
Very interesting points.
One counterpoint: I suspect that had the South been enabled to secede, it would have been quite inferior. economically, to the North, and the North would likely have won almost all battles for the West. People work harder for themselves, starting businesses, inventing new ways of doing things, etc., than they do for others. And see Susan Knox' comment directly above yours.
Yes. It's also why, so long as the North maintained its focus on victory, the South could never win. Other than cotton, the rest of the southern economy wa 15% of what the equivalent sector was in the North.
Thanks David. I knew I was opening a speculative can of worms. You are probably right in the main, but settling the west would have been a messier picture. One thing would have been very different for me personally. My grandfather went to Montana from Texas on a cattle drive. He met my grandmother there and settled down. Without a definitive end to the Civil War, it’s possible that doesn’t happen. And then there’s the 20th century wars in Europe. It’s easy to imagine the Confederacy staying out of the first and aligning itself with the Axis powers in the second. Does the Normandy invasion happen without southerners in large numbers? I’m not well enough read here to go farther on this, topic but I can’t imagine a hostile southern neighbor would have left the US to develop as it did but just without the South.
Without the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi will wipe out all the industry on it's way to the delta. In 1973, John MpcPhee wrote in the Control of Nature, that if Nature is allowed to take it's course, WWII would do less damage to Southern Louisiana and the oil industry in the bayou, and all the industries in the "American Ruhr". The Old South can not survive without Northern experience and expertise.
Let’s not forget that the northern insurance companies sold insurance policies to slave owners which insured the slaves!
The stain of slavery did not stop at the Mason-Dixon Line!
Southerners have always been good cannon fodder.
I made one Sacramento to Austin Texas round trip for work and another Sacramento to Washington DC Round trip, also for work. the rest of my work travel was via plane. too many to remember. That plus many National Park vacation trips. We have the good fortune to live in a beautiful country. It is a shame that all of us can't or won't understand that we are all the same Genus and species. I lived in Gainesville and Lakeland, Florida for a combined 17 months, that was all I could stomach of racism and southern drawl. When I went back for a short family visit in 1989 they ad managed to despoil the once beautiful white sand beach with black tarry oil, Yuck
Thank you for your comment Faye. I live in the PNW and they are already migrating here seeming exponentially. For the last few years there have been many more license plates from Florida, Texas, Alabama and more. In the last several months I've noticed an even greater uptick. They aren't tourists.
They know exactly where they're going on the roads. There new plates just haven't arrived yet.
God to hear!
It might be or it might not, depending on why they’ve come.
Well, he lays it all out. No argument here. But, even though the cult has roots back to our founding, it is still a cult. Not a cult that the founders would have approved of despite the fact that the country really had a problem with that “equality” thing. They aspired for us to be better than that. The cult wants to destroy our democracy and install authoritarianism for ALL the land. And they are well on the way. The fact that …”2020 election deniers running for offices that would provide them with control over 2024 election machinery…” is the scariest statement in This post. They want no freedom for any in this country. Just follow the rules for Project 2025 or be the designated enemy. The Handmaid’s Tale. And all for the poorest excuse for a human that was ever born, who is the useful tool for the movers and shakers. And Putin. The majority may decide that they will not accept an election result won by the most outrageous machinations. The cult expects that the Dems will play nice, no matter what. I say to dems, qualify what you say about the election results. The election results for 2000 and 2016 were suspect and should have been contested. Am I the only one who is loathe to living in Jim Crow America. Or in a world where America has lost the ability to do the right thing, even after trying everything else.
No. I am solidly in the fight back and defeat the enemy whatever the cost.
It won’t be a cake walk, as I’m sure you know. Some are more optimistic than I, but they likely live in a blue state.
I live in Nevada that had two cities that has the majority of the state’s population. Only 11% in the rest of the state. We have a Democratic super majority in our state except for a very very amoral Republican governor.
Will Nevada stay Blue in the 2024 elections? One can only vote and pray.
It’s infuriating that the sparsely populated areas have so much clout in Texas. It is deliberate and the result of decades of dirty tricks. I remember a time….
Ann Richards vs. Greg Abbott. Shudder.
Loved Ann and Molly. Greg is the antithesis of public servant
I won't even fly over states below the Mason Dixon line.
I think that would be safe, if not in a Boeing plane
Yes, the negligence is scarry enough, but the racist atmosphere on the airports is enough to choke on.
Since I’ll never fly again, I’m sort of relieved….
Sadly there are groups of low participating voters who will be surprised at how bad life will be if we do not defeat Trump.
So sad, frustrating, and enraging. All I can say is VOTE!
The "divide" is clearly evident
here in Arkansas. Tom Cotton
and Bruce Westerman would
like nothing more than to see
1950 Arkansas again. Don't
even get me started on our
governor, Sarah Huckabee
Sanders. She has ruined the
public school system here.
This state bleeds RED.
I am very careful what I say
and do here. I am basically
estranged from most of my
family, due to irresponsibility
about Covid, which they've all
had, a few more than 1 time
that is still here, and various
other infections that they've
all had, as well as my political
beliefs. If I were physically
and financially able, I would
go home to update NY.
Red state job growth! Indeed corporations don’t want unions, they want cheap labor! Those states give away tax incentives while turning a blind eye to corporate fulfillment of their end of the agreement!
If the divisions and the MAGA program described in the article continue unabated, then inevitably, just by random chance, we will get a GOP House and Senate and President. At that point, it’s game over. We really need a plan to defeat the Confederates in addition to reelecting Joe Biden. That would buy us 4 years but then what?
We continue electing sane
representatives. Do extensive
background checks on
anyone who wants to
represent the people in all
3 areas.
Let's face it, we have been
too derelict in really taking an
interest who is running our
government, both state and
federal, until faced with
Trump. But look at Santos,
Menendez and some of the
others. Look at the
Supremes.
The "people" have to be more
involved.
I agree with the idea. Too many of us have been "asleep at the switch" for too long.
Heck we cant even manage to get background checks on gun sales in many places!! But our "representatives & senators" sounds like a place to start. Possibly we might want to establish some actual ethics requirements and then there is the Citizens United decision.
The list is so very long.
Then there is the electoral college - now that IS scary when you consider the number of state legislatures that are being overrun with the Repubs.
They are here to stay. You asked the hundred million dollar question.
I see the MAGA movement as a calculated plot to twist electoral rules, locking Democrats out of Congress and the White House indefinitely. If they pull it off, the right-wing Supreme Court will enforce red state policies across the entire nation, ignoring the will of the majority. Minority rule will become the new norm, silencing the voices of the people.
This isn't just politics; it's a direct threat to democracy. Tens of millions will recognize this for what it is: illegitimate and intolerable. Trust in the democratic process and the system itself will crumble. We will be plunged into a political abyss, with a fanatical faction pushing their agenda over the will of the people.
Chaos is inevitable. Protests will erupt, and when peaceful demonstrations are ignored, violence will follow. The conservative court won't stop at Roe v. Wade. They will strip rights from women and countless others, turning the nation into a battlefield of polarized camps.
Most dangerous of all is the MAGA embrace of nullification – the rebellious cry of states defying federal law. Echoes of pre-Civil War defiance resound. If red states reject federal authority while MAGA controls the helm, the nation's very fabric could tear apart.
Picture escalating crises: protests morphing into insurgencies, red states clashing with blue, political violence spreading like wildfire. We would be hurtling into the unknown, a new civil war igniting from the wreckage of democracy.
This scenario isn't just terrifying; it's a direct route to a second civil war. Entrenched polarization, minority rule, the erosion of democracy, and the insidious doctrine of nullification form a perfect storm. The dangers are clear, growing by the day, demanding immediate action. We must confront this head-on. The survival of American democracy hangs by a thread, and we cannot afford to let it snap.
I would imagine that if I lived in a Blue state I'd feel some reassurance from this, even if it is misguided, but I live in North Carolina; have for the past 25 years and have deep roots here. My brother has deep roots in Texas. We "Blue" Americans are scattered all over this country and we will all be impacted, as will all of the "Red" Americans who aren't filthy rich.
Well very interesting but the main message I get is how f…ing important this election is and will be—only 20 weeks away folks. Please democrats and independents and sane non MAGA Republicans— please vote for the only sane unvengeful candidate. And start reading the riot act to those on the fence still.
Okay. If the Reds want it that way, there will be no military alliances. They can set up their own tyrannical government, military,* and legal system and put up a wall to keep the immigrants--including the Blues--out. Passports will be required in both directions, and the borders militarized. They can develop their own tax system. They can use their own ports, energy, and water supplies. The Reds can speak their own language. Oh, wait, they already do. And when their territory becomes unlivable due to climate change they can negotiate with Russia and China for relocation to Siberia and Mongolia. I can think of nothing in the Reds' area that I can't live without.
* Of course they will forfeit half of the defense materiel and Blue-born military personnel currently located at Red bases. And all the NASA scientists educated in the Blue areas will be repatriated to the Blues. (No wonder Canada is worried about us. They know there will be fallout from our once proud nation's self-destruction.)
Speaking of the military, which side of the fence will they sit on ? Havebyoub
That's a very good question. The "regular forces" will likely remain loyal. The strong Fundamentalist demo in the military is questionable. The special operations forces are particularly in that group - SEALs consider themselves "Christian crusaders," so there's that.
Judging from the positions of some of their reps, they will contract with the Russian mercenaries.
Very interesting and seemingly.Correct but this part is obviously dated.
"No state in the blue section has a law on the books banning abortion before fetal viability, while almost all of the red states are poised to restrict abortion rights if the Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority, as expected, overturns Roe v. Wade. "
Another difference between then and now would be international interference in our elections.
Also, I suspect we are in for gangland warfare like the Roaring 20s. May they slaughter each other and leave the rest of us in peace.