Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal has accurately labeled the current impeachment battle "World War Trump," and there's no way we can improve on that description...or deny it. Wars are messy things, and a lot of people and institutions get hurt. Collateral damage can be high. And all of the above is exactly what the Leftist politicians and media want.
President Trump has made it clear that he's not going to just roll over and assist the Democrats with their latest coup attempt. This fight is going to the courts and, quite possibly, the streets.
We're sick of it. This isn't what we want to write about or to live with. But neither can we ignore an absolutely unprecedented situation in which an attempted Presidential overthrow is being staged right in front of us.
And just try averting your eyes...you can't. Our culture is now experiencing a saturation bombing campaign of entirely specious non-stop messages about Trump being some kind of monster. Fox News and the Drudge Report have now largely fallen into lock step with the rest of mainstream media, which only adds to our sense of frustration and isolation.
We're not calling out these "news" sources because they're reporting stories we don't like, we're calling them out because their stories are all overhyped spin and bullshit. No wonder polls are showing growing support for the removal of the President - people are being force fed lies on a 24/7 basis. Without taking the initiative to dig deeper into stories or (God help us) actually use their heads, it's unsurprising that so many are coming to believe the relentless propaganda.
Make no mistake, this is much more than a skirmish over a President. It's a battle about the very nature of our Constitution, our freedoms, our way of life, and whether or not elections will ever again mean a damn in this country. The fact that those outcomes are currently unclear underscores what a perilous and historic point we're at.
There's simply no escaping "World War Trump," although we have a fantasy about a place safe from fake news, social media, and the ambitions of those who mean our nation harm. Some place to enjoy a little sanity until the fallout clears...
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| And please, slap them hard. |
"Slap them hard..."
ReplyDeleteThe line forms on the right.
Time to go all Skin Bracer on 'em...
ReplyDeletelet's start with a solid buttsroke. to hell with the slaps.
ReplyDeleteAmen Brother Stilt. My feelings exactly. I cannot understand these polls with an oversample of like 14% as in what is the point of a fraudlent poll? With Republicans, President Trump's approval is at 90% and generic poll is 54% so where does this horse hockey come from?
ReplyDeleteThese butt-munchers don't know who they're messing with. POTUS from the Queens will not roll over and grovel to these nabobs. I have a sense of impending Doom coming in the form of an 800 lb. rabbit DJT is going to pull out of his hat. Ignore the bogus polls and the verbal threats spewing from all the mouth-breathers. He'll blind side all these seditious bastards and send them packing. Mr. Trump know where the bodies are buried. Get ready for a major carpet bombing attack that will send them all back to the stone age. The Deep Staters won't know what hit them. Time to Unleash the Kraken !!
ReplyDeleteI think it's most telling that we're seeing all this during one of the best times in our country's history. Personally, I haven't gotten raises this big in 30 years. My retirement accounts are three times bigger than I had planned them to be by this time in my savings. I'm even getting job offers. It's as if the left appears to be outraged and at war at my good fortune.
ReplyDeleteIs that what they're mad about? That working hard and saving your money is paying off for us under this president? Are we supposed to think, instead, that there is no hope for us but to vote in a bunch of socialists who will force us to live in poverty?
How dumb are they?
You'll be in that shelter for generations I fear. Nice guys finish last ? I'm wondering if they finish at all.
ReplyDeleteThe only ones playing by the rules is us .....and look what that has gotten us in the last almost 60 years? This Mrs Rogers vs Freddy Krueger is working out exactly as anyone would expect.
I am grateful we have a leader who when the media/left kicks us in the bollocks - he kicks back. Sadly he has to kick with the weight of the entire media holding his leg back.
I have a fantasy where we do preemptive unimpeded kicks but that would be ruled "unfair". (course for some odd reason it's never unfair when the left does it)
The good news is I am old and will not have to live long in the hell they are building. It's like marrying a nice Baptist girl from Dallas ..... it won't extend you life or make you live longer. But ya sure as hell will no longer wish it didn't have to end so soon. Makes ya look forward to the end.
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ReplyDeleteThe safe space is OANN
ReplyDeleteWhat started as a virulent sore loser case by a perhaps historically profoundly unqualified and unfit POTUS candidate has metastasized into a coup d'etat attempt.
ReplyDeleteBesides this blatant coup d'etat attempt (stop calling it impeachment!), I see the "progressive"/neo-facist end game as nothing less than to eviscerate, crush and otherwise destroy and render impotent the Republican Party.
Remember who the real enemies of our Republic are.
Ps @Stilton: Have you found a bottle of Triple Smoke whiskey yet?
Another thought.
ReplyDeleteRead recently in a summary of a Census Bureau report on household income, that household has risen and continues to rise since President Trump assumed office, compared to the deep ditch household income lingered in during the Presidency of the worst electoral mistake since the peanut farmer from Plains, GA.
And the enemedia and its enablers would have us believe a phone call is more important?
Spot on Stilt. I, for one, believe that those of us who can soon will need to soldier up. THat does not speak well for the state of our "civil" society...
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for that link, Mr. Deadhead, sir!
I think an outright shooting war would be prevented, if 40% of employers opted out of taking taxes from paychecks, and told the government to bill the taxpayers. Within sixty days, there would be a strong effort by public servants to appease those they depend on.
ReplyDeleteGee, I wonder what the outcome will be when a mob of antifa types holding two by fours with a nail driven into the end facing a 'group' of patriotic, military trained, pissed off veterans armed with real weapons? 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the "ratings" on Drudge this morning with Mad Cow Maddow leading all "news" shows? WHAAATTTT????? No freaking way. I have no idea who is paying Matt Drudge off, but WTH?
ReplyDeleteI've been clicking on Drudge since the Horndog in Chief/Monica Lewinsky show. I can't believe the left-wing turn. He has received my last click. I agree with @Regnad Kicn above. When the indictments start falling on the heads of those smug bastards - Comey, Clapper, Brennan, et al - even the scumbag media won't be able to cover that up. I suspect the clamor for impeachment will die down then. At least I pray for that to happen. In the meantime, middle America is seething and growing in ranks. They see this for what it really is as you so succinctly wrote, Stilton.
ReplyDeleteBravo Stilt! Couldn't have said it better.
ReplyDeleteThere will be mountains of skulls and rivers of blood.
ReplyDeleteThe only question that remains is whether they shall be our skulls, or those of our enemies.
Choose wisely, for we, as a society, must develop the moral fortitude to kill or die. There are no other choices remaining to us.
Should civil war break out, the right will trounce the left, until China and Russia send help. That is our biggest problem. Today, the left remains in the protective embrace of global leftists. So, if we think it will be a fair fight amongst two American factions, wake up. Global Leftism will be pouring aid into the hands of the DSA like Obama sending pallets of cash to Iran. Brace yourselves.
ReplyDeleteSo true about Drudge who emphasizes by sensationalizing every negative BS charge put out by the usual suspects. Drudge is now largely a leftist news aggregator. And Fox cable News as it is now run by Ruprecht's boys (movie reference to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels character intended)has given Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace Cavuto and Rivera more emphasis. Fox Radio is a reliable outlet for anti-Trump sensationalism. As I am in my vehicle a lot listening to radio I can get more objective reports from the likes of ABC.
ReplyDeleteI can't add anything really. The future of our system of self-government, all of our cherished freedoms, everything is at stake. May God help us. We will certainly have to help ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWay past time for secession of the Red States, with a different Constitution favoring the producers of the new Union and requiring stringent, well enforced voting eligibility requirements. The animals are about to get control of the zoo. Universal suffrage was the terminal cancer of the USA.
ReplyDeleteTry OANN...better than what FOX used to be. Online or cable.
ReplyDeleteFellow armed America, it's almost time to Lock and Load.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stilt, for perfectly expressing what so many of us feel. Personally I am filled with rage at what is being done to our President as well as our country. It is time to storm the heavens with prayer. Evil walks the earth.
ReplyDeleteThey, on the opposite side, continually underestimate our resolve. I have to admit there is actually a "bad moon rising, one eye is taken for an eye." After this is over, I hope there are historians left to document what happened. However, as some say, history is bunk. Whatever it is, it is damn certain to be repeated. Ammo is as cheap as it will ever be.
ReplyDeleteCry the beloved country.
Rem1875 - I used to think Southern Baptist jokes were funny. Then I moved to Texas. They are not funny at ALL!
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats know they have a big problem: They suck. Progressivism world-wide has been an abject failure. Even supposedly communist China has demonstrated that free(er) markets trump collectivist control. One of the reasons the left embraces the fascist agenda of "climate change" is because it's both a diversion from dealing with the problems they've caused and an excuse for more control. And worst of all, they know that their slate of candidates for 2020 really suck. They suck so badly, that there are now credible rumors of Hillary entering the race.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's that bad for them.
So all they have to go on is to tear down Trump via political warfare and procedural blockage since they know they're going to lose at the polls next year.
And it really doesn't matter who the President is. If if the incumbent was swamp-dweller Mitt Romney, he'd be getting the exact same treatment from the left. The only difference is that Trump gives them a broader target surface personally. But unlike traditional Republicans, Trump swings back, and the left is not used to that.
So what this comes down to is unless the GOP grows some balls real quickly, Trump is all that stands between a republic and one-party rule like they've had in California since the '90s. For a preview of what that would be like for the nation, just note that California is now famous for homeless taking over neighborhoods, people pooping in the streets, ridiculous gas taxes that get spent on everything except roads, and now multi-day planned power outages because their utilities are made to spend their capital on green boondoggles instead of maintaining their infrastructure. In other words, an accelerating social de-evolution back to the dark ages.
@james daily, ignore the polls. They also told us that Hillary was inevitable.
ReplyDelete@Mark Trahan, one of the problems with human nature is that we are not hard-wired for success. We are living in the most materially blessed age in the history of the human race. Even our poorest live better than the upper classes did little more than a century ago. And in America, life is so good that the rest of the planet's middle class want to come here and be our poorest. To them, it's literally like hitting the lottery.
So you're right. What are they mad about? Their anger is totally socially engineered. They've been made ignorant of history. Not long ago, I watched a high school kid on local TV rant about what a "raw deal" his generation got. WTF? This kid has never faced a day of meaningful privation in his life! He lives in the most blessed place in the most blessed age every, in history. Barely a century ago, for most people life was a daily struggle against almost everything. Today, the Internet going out for an hour would be the biggest crisis of his life.
Recently in the wake of Greta's admonishment of the adults at the UN, a former pastor and friend of mine gave a missive about how hopeless our kids are today. Why are they hopeless? Because of totally made-up crisis! The weather is no more likely to kill them than it was when I was their age. (back then, it was "global cooling" and the new ice age that would starve us before middle-age) In addition, we were told to expect Russian nuclear missiles that could be falling from the sky at any moment. At least I had adults in my life to put all that in perspective. In today's world, the adults are feeding the hysteria. Is it any wonder that so many kids are narcissists, doing drugs, killing themselves, or shooting up places?
Back when Hillary was "inevitable", I had resigned myself to retiring within the next couple of years when "single payer" health care (my biggest expense) became "free" and my income taxes would be doubled or tripled to pay for it. After Trump happened, business picked up for the first time in a decade and I'm still working. I prefer it this way. I like my work, but I am not interested in becoming a slave to the collective. Should the Democrats take over again as they are advertising, I'll be "going Galt", like a lot of other people I suspect. I'll be happy to let the millennials who think that socialism is going to be a good deal for them get the tab for the next 30 years or so of my retirement.
@Jess, right on. This would be a totally different country if people had to pay their taxes as I do. Every quarter, I have to write a check with lots of zeros to my state and federal government.
We're in for a bumpy ride, folks, but I honestly think Trump will prevail in 2020, and the House will swing back to the R's, or at least even out a bit.
ReplyDeleteI have to keep reminding myself of something. All the gnashing of teeth, screaming, hollering and outrage coming from the left will serve to convince and sway pretty much nobody from how they already believe. It actually may have the opposite effect. The insane douchebags that get on Facebook railing against Trump are not going to make me or anybody else decide to not vote for Trump. The fart blossoms blathering on CNN et al will not convince a 2016 Trump voter to vote for anybody but Trump in 2020.
@Fish,
"...household has risen and continues to rise since President Trump assumed office..."
Sadly, liberals don't give two shits about how much household income went up. It would seem they don't like working people, and don't want us succeeding because it threatens their power? Fortunately, millions of voters are the ones whose incomes went up.
As far as an actual civil war, I don't think anybody here would like to go out and start shooting libtards, but there will be blood on my threshold should some nutjob decide to cross it to take what I'm shooting him with.
Just watched the highlights of CNN's LGBTQWXYZ Townhall Meeting with Dem candidates. All I can say is wow. Nothing against gays, but if this is to be the future of our country, we are doomed.
ReplyDeleteDesperate times call for despicable Democrat measures. All this over them losing control of the Supremes >> their fear they could be forced to remember to buy condoms or the pill or some other device so no pesky fetuses sneak up on them in the 3rd week of the 8th month and having to actually let it live.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the backlash that Justice Kennedy got cuz he had the audacity to not retire while a Democrat was in the White House, I'm sure they're less than enchanted with Notorious RBG. The one person that need not worry about becoming a coincidental cadaver due to a "botched robbery". Hell, the Crapocrats probably have a team of secret security making sure nothing happens to her just in case she might live post-Trump (awfully presumptuous of them to assume his successor will be a 'crat.) A 3rd pick for Trump will change the SCOTUS for a generation. And the worst part about that is (for them), their non-abortees would be around to witness it.
Just heard on the radio that Shemp Smith is leaving Fox News.
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww.
"Time to Unleash the Kraken !!"
ReplyDeleteTrump is Biden his time..., I hope
I'm quite satisfied so far with the chess game he's played.
A bit too slow for my nerves but so is chess.
Still light speed faster than most politics.
Unless it's dirty underhanded crap from NY politician Andrew Coma
Qweermo...Cummo...whatever tf
Well, I'm told CNN had an LGBTQ(insert extra letters and symbols here) town hall last night.
ReplyDeleteWhen will they have a straight-person town hall?
@Pat Cummings- I'm in!
ReplyDelete@M. Mitchell Marmel- Now I'm having visions of "Home Alone."
@Rogers13- I thought the solid buttstroke was an Olympic swimming event?
@james daily- Polls mean nothing anymore, other than - perhaps - to what degree a certain portion of the population is echoing what's been shouted at them.
@Regnad Kcin- Trump's rally in Minnesota was magnificent fun to watch, and signaled pretty clearly that Trump will fight back. The Lefty media had to run to their fainting couches when Trump started talking about Biden "kissing Barack Obama's ass," and "son of a bitch" this and that. I found it perversely refreshing; the only way to beat the Democrats' game is to play a different game, and that's what Trump does.
@Mark Trahan- Great point. The reality is that more things are going better for more people than has been the case in ages (certainly better than the Obama years). If Trump was a Democrat, the Left would be singing his praises and marveling over his accomplishments. But no- Trump wants to empower the people, and the Left can not and will not tolerate that.
@REM1875- I wince at the way Trump kicks back, but also acknowledge that it's the only way to respond to the Left at this point. When I finally (and reluctantly) came out for Trump on the Hope n' Change blog, it was because I'd decided we needed a bull in the china shop. My opinion hasn't changed.
@Doctor Deadhead- I've been checking OANN out, and like it so far. And I'm not actually looking for a "safe space" as it's too important to stay informed. But it gets exhausting and depressing.
@Fish Out of Water- I absolutely believe we're seeing a coup d'etat attempt...I'm just not sure if it's a continuation of the first attempt, or a wholly new second attempt. And I believe the repercussions should carry the severity of a coup attempt. Regarding the Triple Smoke whiskey, my local liquor store is out of stock, but will email me when (and if) they get it back.
@Emmentaler Limburger- Civility does seem to have fallen on hard times.
@Jess- As a lifetime self-employed guy, I have SO wanted the government to stop collecting payroll taxes and instead force people to mail in checks every quarter (like I've had to do). People would go out of their freaking minds and demand cutbacks and fiscal accountability. Which is why it will never happen.
@Fred Ciampi- You make me wonder if absorbent adult diapers come in "Antifa Black?"
@Sue- I don't know if Maddow's ratings are for real or not, and barely care anymore. And I don't know what's going on with the Drudge Report, but it definitely seems to have taken a turn to the Left. I've read - though don't know that it's true - that Google now handles the site's advertising, and can funnel a lot more money to Drudge if his site is a little "friendlier" (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) to liberals.
ReplyDelete@Shelly- As you say, middle America isn't buying this. Trump's Minnesota rally (which Mrs. J pretty much forced me to watch) was a great reminder of that. The people who make up the heart of our nation are still solidly with Trump, and are not fooled by the lies and machinations of the Left.
@Jim Irre- Thank you! Though I prefer the days when I get to be funny.
@McChuck- I think there actually are some choices remaining besides mountains of skulls and rivers of blood. Let's start with tsunamis of subpoenas, and century-long sentencings.
@MattyVac- Should civil war break out, neither side will win. Oh, the Right would kick the Left's ass...but our fragile society would collapse.
@twocents- Reliable news sources are indeed drying up. My two favorite sources are the Wall Street Journal and Rush Limbaugh. Everything else comes from going to a lot of different news sources and trying to piece together what is actual fact rather than opinion or outright lies.
@TrickyRicky- What would our country be if elections became meaningless? That's not a rhetorical question anymore.
@Alej- I'm all for the secession of my home state of Texas, though it will never happen now that we've suffered an invasion of Blue-staters. And our capital, Austin, has gone the way of San Francisco. Damnit.
@Drypowda- I'm checking them out.
@Spanky McFarland- Hopefully not, but readiness is never a bad thing.
@Terry- I'm anxious to see a powerful legal counter offensive against the Left. We keep hearing it promised, but it has yet to materialize. I want the bastards behind the Russian hoax in jail...right up to and including Obama if the evidence is there.
@Sortahwitte- The Left's ignorance of history is demonstrated by how few of them seem to understand that no battles get won in the comfort of ivory towers.
ReplyDelete@Pete (Detroit)- You know why Southern Baptists don't make love standing up? Someone might think they were dancing.
@John the Econ- A fine analysis. And yes, Trump is all that stands between us and the California-ization of our nation. And excellent point about how our kids have been trained to be fearful and depressed in a time of great wealth and peace. It's scripted to make them easier to control and they can't even see it.
@Colby Muenster- You make a very good point: all of this nonsense probably isn't changing the mind of any voter, it's just ramping up the division and intensity of feelings to dangerous highs.
@Geoff King- I'm a strong supporter of gay rights. I'm not a strong supporter of the outright lunacy which categorizes the LGBTQEIEIO radicals.
@Jason Anyone- I'm not wishing ill on RBG, but I so hope that Trump gets another Supreme Court pick. Even if it risks raising ocean levels because of all the liberal tears.
@Dan- Yep, Shep is out at Fox News - apparently of his own choice. I used to like Shep a long time ago. He was clever, articulate, and quick on his feet. But he's gotten more strident about his Leftward leaning in recent years, and his stupid show with idiots reading tweets off of giant iPhones was unbearable. Although in fairness, I find a lot of Fox's "foam at the mouth" Right-wingers unbearable too.
@Valvenator- Yes, it's definitely Kraken time.
@Dan- A straight person town hall? Why not just a Klan rally?! (kidding, I'm kidding)
@Stilton: I can't believe how old I am and have not heard that Southern Baptist joke. Many thanks for the catch-up.
ReplyDelete@Rod. I am a Southern Baptist. I could write a book of baptist jokes of over 500 pages. I am blessed with many friends from denominations and faiths. Jewish, Presbys, Methodist, Episcies, Assembly of God, Church of God, Christian, Catholic, you get the picture. For some reason, they delight in sending many and I do mean many, jokes about Baptists.
ReplyDeleteIs this where turn the other cheek (!) comes into play?
@Sortahwitte: Lawyers' friends send them lawyer jokes ("What do you call 100,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea?" A good start...); engineers hear engineer jokes ("Whenever they get constipated, old-school engineers have to work it out with slide rules. Or logs..."); and I guarantee you Saints of Latter Days are inundated with Mormon jokes (which for some reason, they don't share with me... but an old speculation on why FLDS women often have one breast longer than the other comes to mind!)
ReplyDeleteMaybe your friends send you Baptist jokes because you're more likely to get the point?
On Civil War II
ReplyDeleteWhile not topical to the latest posting, within this latest post I noted one posting similar to other postings on this blog, and others I follow regarding another civil war.
The first War Between the States was not ‘civil’ in any sense of the word and don’t expect a repeat to be much different. For instance, a forbear of mine did not survive the tender ‘care’ of a Northern POW camp.
Next, to those who so lightly banter about the coming of another such configuration consider this.
Any mass uprising as has been lightly spoken of would be met by the material, numerical and technological might of our combined armed forces. Not sure how an army of those equipped with civilian assault rifles would fare against laser guided munitions, etc., but I’ll bet it would be pretty ugly.
And what of such an ‘army’ of the aggrieved? Any thought as to how they would be armed and kept armed (given the likely huge variety of weapons wielded, keeping such armed would likely be a quartermaster’s nightmare)? How would it be moved? What countermeasures would such an army offer to protect itself from the military technology the government armed forces would have? How would this army be kept fed and cared for/supplied? How would the wounded be properly treated/cared for? How would the dead and their surviving families be cared for?
And what of the unintended consequences? Such a widespread configuration/turmoil could easily tempt Mexico to do a real Reconquista of the United States Southwest. And what of current our military, political commitments abroad? Would a very imaginable constriction of U.S. presence abroad could tempt powers unamicable to us and what we represent to fill the void. In whose hands would our current nuclear arsenal wind up in? Would the uncertainty tempt an opposing nuclear power to ‘play it safe’ to protect its own citizens and carry out a preemptive strike? And this would lead to…..?
And how shallowly, disturbing like both sides of the first War between the states, do those who speak of a coming civil war, also speak of easy victory. One that stands out a post that by seizing control of the city’s water supply, Los angles would be quickly brought to its knees. To those who believe a victory would that quick and easy I would say in this age of global community communication, would it not be possible for Los Angles in this case, or any other large city to issue a digital SOS for aid? Could not Canada for example, not find itself aiding such a beleaguered city and then the army of the aggrieved/disenchanted would find itself not just facing US government military might, but also the might of other , foreign armed forces?
This said, given how profound our political and social divide has become, I too do not see much hope for it being bridged as things stand. But rather than a widespread violent, bloody and most likely disastrous for all conflict as some advocate or see as inevitable I see the way out in what the Czechs and Slovaks called the Velvet Divorce. To keep the peace, a dialogue should start with the premise that as a whole, we cannot live together as we are and that we should start thinking about how to redraw our political (state) boundaries so that most will be happy. For what I know best, this would mean separating Northern Virginia from the rest of the Commonwealth and perhaps folding it into the indigo counties across the river in Maryland. A solution that could be implemented to separate the “progressives” and their “paradises from the rest of the country.
An imperfect solution perhaps, but far preferable to the Civil War II some seem to call for.
@Sortawitte You're sense of humor is most appreciated. For more cheek-turning I'll tell you not a formal joke but a long-lasting local story:
ReplyDeleteBack in the 40, 50's & then 60's when I first started to know about such things there was a great store often called a "marina", in my home town. The Tally-Ho was owned by a respected elderly couple in our church (Christian but not Baptist). Tally-Ho was on a major but undivided highway which NOW has two lanes each direction plus a center left turn lanes for both ways, and somewhat narrow shoulders but one can get off the traffic lanes in emergencies. It's right in town on a main N-S drag. But back then the highway was only two lanes, one each way but with much larger private use lots and wider shoulders. Tally-Ho sold small boats, outboards, & common boat stuff, plus bait: worms, minnows crickets, etc. AND beer, wine and liquor. Fishing stuff. That was as great as my favorite store in South Houston Texas, which had a combination of scuba gear & guns. Tally-Ho had a large lot out front so no one HAD to park in the back; but there was a service/supply door back there. It was often referred to as the Baptist door.
This many years later the liquor store is owned by the old man's grand-daughter and is still a fine business without the boats & bait. And not many people still know about the Baptist door because with the the wider highway & not much front lot... we all use it.
@Fish Out of Water: No war is civil in the sense of civility, and no outcome is guaranteed. That is the nature of war.
ReplyDeleteBut I'll just toss a little historical perspective into the mix: many of the points you made also could be applied to the American Revolution, the Boer Wars, and the October Uprising in Russia. In the first case, the colonials defeated a world power and liberated themselves from its rule; in the second, although the Afrikaaner farmers and ranchers won most of their battles, it made no difference in the end as the English drove their families into concentration camps, forcing a surrender via hostage-taking (and murder); and in the third—an internal or "civil" war between citizens of the nation—a much smaller group, the Octobrists, took over a government that was chaotic and disorganized (and an army that was largely disarmed) following the February Revolution earlier in 1917.
My bet is that any civil war to straighten out the convoluted mess in Washington has a better chance of following the patterns of the Boer Wars or the Russian Revolutions. I'm still going to stay armed and prepared because in the heat of conflict, it won't matter. That, too, is the nature of war...
@ Pat: Don't know enough about the Boer War other than what you wrote and that Imperial Germany provided material support, which was probably the point of no return for Anglo German relations prior to WWI. Nor do I know very much about the Octoberists either.
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote, I did consider our war of independence. However, I do not believe it is an apples to apples comparison. First, I don't see a huge technological gap between the weaponry wielded by the colonists and that by the then Britsh army as opposed to the significant gap between a potential citizen army now and our armed forces.
Second there is France. Besides her direct involvement, France also kept GB tied up elsewhere around the globe and in doing so kept GB from applying even greater military pressure than it did.
@Fish: Everytime the "huge technological gap" argument is applied, it is necessary to remember that any would-be oppressors have to leave their tanks and drone control trailers at some point...and unless they want to spend their lives (and those of their families) in a guarded compound*, they're not going to antagonize the locals. It's tough to go out for a beer when you've killed the bartender's son, after all. And even if it's done from afar, families are widespread these days and communications are instantaneous.
ReplyDelete*Hint: A prison is defined as a compound that is guarded. Whether it keeps the outside out or the inside in, it's still a prison.
Another point to consider: How many army bases are in so-called "deplorable territory" and how many are in ivory tower country? Off the top of my head, the former outnumber the latter, simply because the ivory tower boys tend heavily towards NIMBY...
ReplyDeleteYour points, though usually only heard when confronted by gun control advocates over the "defense from tyranny" intent of the 2nd Amendment, are well-considered and well-taken. Even despite your apparent assumption that the US Military will take arms against its citizenry. Sure: some, many - possibly even most - will. But not all, Posse Comitatus notwithstanding... There would be many turning in the other direction as well.
ReplyDeleteA salient point, though, is that the technological chasm you speak of was first started by our "betters" via the National Firearms Act of 1934, deepened by the Gun Control Act of 1968 and through continued attempts to totally disarm the US citizen ever since. I'm not saying that citizens could ever afford the high-tech weaponry our forces unleash against our enemies, and I'm not saying that the citizenry necessarily should have the ability to own such things. I'm just saying that the disparity was created by politicians in violation of the intent of the 2nd amendment. It's the long game they've been playing...
@Fish,
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that the parts of the US military forces who would follow an order to kill fellow Americans are, for the most part, just the top-ranking political "perfumed Princes", as David Hackworth used to call them. Not many enlisted people would follow orders like that. It's really easy to frag an officer when it's called for. They're heavily outnumbered...
Also, remember who the Commander in Chief of the US armed forces is. I'm pretty sure President Trump is not likely to order the US military to attack US citizens trying to defend their families and their Constitution.
ReplyDelete