The Beatles wrote the song Revolution in 1968. It was published as the B-side to Hey Jude and then released in a different version on The White Album.
Listen to the words.
“When you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out”
I got into an argument over the weekend with a British-born resident of the US who is all in with “Revolution or Bust (his own hash tag). More than the Bernie-Or-Bust movement, or anything that has to do with Hillary Clinton’s fitness for office over Bernie Sanders’ ability to be elected and serve, it got me to wondering just what sort of “revolution” the writer had in mind.
I mean, let’s face it. Even the Glorious Revolution wasn’t actually a bloodless coup.
When I ask what the word “Bust” actually means to the people who keep using it, I get vague responses. Same with the word “Revolution.” Unclear on the concept, these people seem to think that all they have to do is withhold their support for the candidate they don’t like, and somehow by magic everything will be all right come November 9th.
I just don’t see it that way.
This country is way, WAY overdue for a civil war. Ripe, even.
Some of us still harbor ill will based on the last one, which ended 151 years ago. Imagine how long it will take us to recover this time.
Don’t believe me? Look at Germany.
From Kaiser Wilhelm II’s disastrous path to the first World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, it took Germany close to 100 years to recover and start to heal. It’s not done yet.
When England lost its last great battle for empire, becoming the war zone that we recognize today, it never truly recovered. Spain, France, all these countries came to the aid of the US during the first Civil War.
Now?
Who will end the war if Trump’s supporters sense a government takeover that costs their favorite misogynist carnival barker his role as President and Presumptive Emperor of the USA?
What will that Revolution look like?
Let’s see.
According to GunPolicy.org, there are somewhere between 270,000,000 and 310,000,000 guns in this country, owned by private citizens. In contrast, there are somewhere around 3,850,000 military and law enforcement guns in this country.
Read that again.
That, to my eyes, is a roughly 10:1 ratio of privately owned weaponry. Realistically, there are nowhere near as many households that own the kind of weapons we’re talking about. It’s not a one-to-one ratio because there are roughly 323 million US residents within our borders, including the elderly and children.
Now you tell me, what will a revolution look like?
Next question: How many of those households are planning to vote for a Republican come November? Do you know the answer?
Neither do I, but I have a reasonable guess and right now it’s not looking good for liberals in this country.
For some folks I know, this is no big deal. They figure we’ve survived conservative presidents in the past, and we’ll bounce back.
I think that’s not true. The GOP have done their level best to ensure that Hillary Clinton’s record is entirely questionable, even if that insurance is at least partially baseless. Is she perfect? No. Neither is Bernie Sanders, though he got my vote in the Primary. I believe he believes what he’s saying, and I want to believe he’ll accomplish what he wants to accomplish, but then Barack Obama thought the same thing when he declared his candidacy.
President Obama got my vote because of the toxic crap the GOP piled on the Clintons. The only thing that they could make stick at all was an unfortunate lapse in personal judgment that was never worthy of the impeachment process.
And now, with Independents, Greens and Libertarians all hollering for Hillary’s head on a pike, we’re one step closer to that civil war.
Revolution? Bloody likely.
Best to get your passport in order, or make sure your guns are clean and loaded. You might need one or the other, come January, if not sooner.
Remember all the ƎVO⅃UTION posters from the Ron Paul campaign in 2008?
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, non?
His only slightly less crazy son is now a US senator. The inmates are running the asylum.
The D’s are (apparently going to) run the weakest candidate against a barking mad demagogue.
If (when) she loses, the fingers are all gonna be pointing at the Sanders camp because introspection and self analysis simply isn’t DONE in this country *sigh*
(Didn’t we all watch this movie in 2000?) Maybe I should (like yourself) start looking into Toronto.
Hmmm…. come to think of it, I know someone who runs a job placement service up there. Worth checking out, I suppose.
There ya go. We can launch our own expat colony and start preparing the turf for the rest of the crowd when they finally get it. I’d be tempted to check by party affiliation, though. (“Green? Libertarian? Oops, sorry. I tried to tell you but you wouldn’t listen. Go find your own place in the sun.”) And then I think about it and decide I’m more gracious than that.