It all starts and ends with this:
Politico: Johnstown Never Believed Trump Would Help. They Still Love Him Anyway.
This is what we face. Not just voter obstruction, but a total divorce from reality. The end of our federal government as we have known it, and maybe the end of the US as an entity.
People aren’t paying enough attention. They think the 2017 results in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere are a collective bellwether for change. I think they’re wrong. VA Dems already took some steps to reverse the damage done by the GOP to voting rights, and that’s why they won as many seats as they did. Cue paper balloting and allowing former felons who’ve served their time to recapture the right to vote, plus getting complacent liberals off their collective asses will make a difference.
Except…
I don’t have the same warm fuzzies for the seats up in 2018 because those folks are up against the elimination of the Voting Rights Act, and 10 seats in states that went for Obama in 2012 went for Trump last year.
The writing’s on the wall.
It’ll be over before that if 2018 comes out the way I expect it to.
Here’s just one reason why:
Forbes: No Matter What Trump Says, Coal Mining Jobs Are Not Returning To West Virginia
A friend recently commented on FB:
I’m a bit surprised to hear you speak of this as an existential crisis. Despite all of the #McResistance going on, there are few Democrats willing to do so.
I responded:
Why are you surprised?
I’ve been talking about this for years. Since before 2012, at least. Really, since before 2008.
My story hasn’t changed. We’re just starting to see the proof that I’ve been right all along.
And that’s fucking terrifying.
He replied:
Because it isn’t something I’m seeing expressed a great deal, from anyone. In fact, I’m seeing it more from Trump supporters than I am from Democrats, although in less general terms. The reason there, of course, is that modern conservatives catastrophize in order to push their radical agendas – a fascist hallmark – but that’s not the same as what’s being discussed here.
I might not agree on all the specifics, but I think you have got something there.
The reason I commented in the first place was that I also read that article and was considering its implications. I know you raised voting rights as an issue, but do you think that would be sufficient given the people of, say, Johnstown? And if not, then what are the consequences of that? I guess what I’m leading to is, are we a united enough entity to be governed effectively?
“Are we united enough…” Nope. We’re not.
We won’t ever be, either, as long as we still see this as a party fight. This isn’t partisan.
This same friend, a staunch Green, is surprised that I see these things this way. I don’t know why he’s surprised. It’s not like my concerns are new. Far, far from it. I’ve been writing about this stuff since W was still in office, and it feels too much like the rest of the world is only just catching up with me.
He says:
So to get this back on the tracks, you see civil war on the horizon, in common with a lot of the Trump supporters. That’s interesting. I could see secession in the future as a possibility, but I’m wondering if there is a chance it would not be violent.
My response? Nope. How many guns are there in the US again?
Did you notice the one about the gun nuts who showed up at a rally called by “Texas Antifa” who weren’t actually there?
Wanna know what that was? Someone testing out the dog whistle. And you know what? Those dogs are gonna heel when they’re told. When it comes, finally, it’s going to be a bloodbath.
Where it starts? Breadbasket. Somewhere in the midwest. Not sure where, not sure when.
And right smack in the middle of this Facebook exchange, Esquire caught up with me.
Esquire: Sorry, But American Democracy Is Still Edging Closer to Disaster
Wisconsin became the 28th state to back a constitutional convention.
We are NOT united against the GOP. And as long as folks still think they have the luxury to differentiate between one flavor of Liberal and another, and to hold Dems to impossible standards because they simply don’t have enough voting power to do what they would *like* to do to improve this world, we’re not going to get past this.
That’s the sick, sorry part.
Jill Stein sat down at the same table with Putin, for crissakes.
For the record, this isn’t the only Green I’m worried about. My *best friend* and her family all voted for Jill Stein last year. She thinks it’s dandy to support the removal of gerrymandering in Maryland.
Wanna see what it looks like when a reliably blue state suddenly goes red? Wait till the gerrymandering goes away in Maryland and we become the 29th state to call for a Constitutional Convention “because that’s the easiest way to get rid of Citizens United.”
No, really.
Like I said, it’s worth reading the stuff I’ve been writing, at least since 2012, if only to see that I’m not dealing with hindsight. I’ve seen this coming since the Y2K election.
Yeah, I really am that worried about the future. As I see it, we’ve got just shy of a year left till Armageddon.
And honestly? I was surprised when he friended me again.
This is your reminder that signs point to a 10-seat loss if we can’t unhack the vote before next year.
It took the depression and a second World War to give us the prosperous years afterward. A case exists for justifying our participation in the Vietnam War as a bid to try and recapture the “glory days” that followed the end of World War II, but really? That’s when things started to slide. Worse, an anti-Communism wave in the US proved to be the lead-up to our wrong-headed leap into South Asian political struggle.
Did anyone else notice the White House’s official Statements and Releases page?
Where’s the similar acknowledgment of the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht? Missing.
And that’s where we are heading. That’s how this whole thing is going to collapse in the next two years.
This shit is scary enough as an adult, but I am a parent and I am TERRIFIED for my kids. I think we will get what we deserve. I’m just sorry my kids will suffer the consequences because of it.
And that’s wakes me up at night.
The rich think we can erase every progressive program Roosevelt and Johnson put in place and the country will survive. I see the future through the filters of dystopian fiction. Somewhere between Elysium and Interstellar, but without the comfy escape to space.
You want to know where I think this goes, if the GOP wins enough seats to rewrite the Constitution?
- Finish emptying the Swamp. (Eliminate federal government employees and remove all retirement and educational benefits civil service workers have earned.) Shutter the Federal Government.
- Erase the majority of the Bill of Rights and every amendment that followed. Keep the 2nd Amendment, so that III% can go after anyone they don’t want in the country.
- Eliminate gun laws that promote sensible gun control, and remove restrictions between States.
- Round up all the Muslims and ship them to wherever their families originated, regardless of their citizenship status, as “enemies of the state.”
- “Repatriate” Jews to Israel, to ensure Armageddon.
- Shoot or enslave every remaining person of color. House them in prison.
And then just kick back and enjoy life until there isn’t any oxygen left.
The federal government is already Swiss cheese.
We have no idea how to survive an actual depression. We are spoiled.
We are destroying our paper archives for a digital future that depends on the grid. Have a good look at Puerto Rico for my vision of the future.
I want to see a way out.
There’s only one: Unhack the vote. Restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
We have to get it in one sock, to unite as a block against Republicans and the John Birch Society or we are fucked.
And because Trump is pissing off all of our allies, when civil war comes here, there won’t be any foreign aid, because Russia will move to take over Europe. We’ll be too busy fighting our own war to help them, and they don’t have a reason to help us, either.
You want a bellwether? Look at Wisconsin. THAT’s what’s coming.
Michigan. Florida. Puerto Rico.
They are what we have in store if we can’t shut Fox down.
And oh, how I wish I was making this up.
We are already at war. It might not look like it, because we don’t see any bombs going off, and our lawns are all manicured (when we can afford to cut the grass), but we are.
If you want the full picture, you can check out Endarkenment, the rest of the Aftermath series, or Dots on my blog. I’ve been writing about this stuff for years.
People have accused me of being hyperbolic. I’ve gotten a few apologies since then, but there are more than a few missing.
Meanwhile, I’ve got 11 months’ worth of entries left to pull off LJ and print out before Net Neutrality goes away and we can no longer talk like this.
Enjoy your day.
Peace. Out.