Today’s Forecast: Dark Skies With A Glimmer Of Hope

Posted on by under Election 2024, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Having read the views of a number of notable journalists in a NYT article, most of whom seem to believe that Trump’s chances of a win in November 2024, despite being charged with some of the most serious crimes imaginable, are very good.  I was depressed and discouraged by their opinions … and then I came across Robert Reich’s newsletter and it restored at least a bit of my hope.  Is he right, or is he giving the people of this nation too much credit?  Time will tell, but I for one hope he is right.

Will we go to civil war over Trump?

No. Here’s why.

By Robert Reich

12 June 2023

The former president of the United States, now running for reelection, assails “the ‘Thugs’ from the Department of Injustice,” calls Special Counsel Jack Smith a “deranged lunatic,” and casts his prosecutions and his bid for the White House as parts of a “final battle” for America.

In a Saturday speech to the Georgia GOP, Trump characterized the entire American justice system as deployed to prevent him from winning the 2024 election. “These people don’t stop and they’re bad and we have to get rid of them. These criminals cannot be rewarded. They must be defeated.”

Trump is demanding once again that Americans choose sides. But in his deranged mind, this “final battle” is not just against his normal cast of ill-defined villains — Democrats, communists, socialists, Marxists, the “Deep State,” the FBI, and any Republican politician who dares cross him.

It is between those who glorify him and those who detest him.

It will be a final battle over … himself.

“SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!” he told his followers Friday night in a Truth Social post, referring to his Tuesday arraignment.

It was a chilling reminder of his December 19, 2020, tweet, “Be there, will be wild!” — which inspired extremist groups to disrupt the January 6 electoral vote certification. Calls are already circulating online for a gathering outside the federal courthouse in downtown Miami.

At the Georgia Republican Party convention on Friday night, Arizona Republican Kari Lake — who will go to Miami to “support” Trump — suggested violence. “If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me and you’re going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me,” Lake exclaimed to roaring cheers and a standing ovation. “Most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA,” the National Rifle Association gun lobby. “That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement.”

Most Republicans in Congress are again siding with Trump rather than standing for the rule of law. A few are openly fomenting violence. Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins tweeted, “This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS [a reference to the real president of the United States] has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all,” suggesting guerilla warfare.

Most other prominent Republicans — even those seeking the Republican presidential nomination — are criticizing President Biden, Merrick Garland, and Special Counsel Jack Smith for “weaponizing” the Justice Department. 

All this advances Trump’s goal of forcing Americans to choose sides over him.

Violence is possible, but there will be no civil war.

Nations don’t go to war over whether they like or hate specific leaders. They go to war over the ideologies, religions, racism, social classes, and/or economic policies these leaders represent.

But Trump represents nothing other than his own grievance with a system that refused him a second term and is now beginning to hold him accountable for violating the law.

In addition, the guardrails that protected American democracy after the 2020 election — the courts, state election officials, military, and Justice Department — are stronger than before Trump tested them the first time.

Many of those who stormed the Capitol have been tried and convicted. Election-denying candidates were largely defeated in the 2022 midterms. The courts have adamantly backed federal prosecutors.

Third, Trump’s advocates are having difficulty defending the charges in the unsealed indictment — that Trump threatened America’s security by illegally holding (and in some cases sharing) documents concerning “United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” as well as sharing a “plan of attack” against Iran.

Many Republicans consider national security the highest and most sacred goal of the Republic. A large number have served in the armed forces.

Bill Barr, Trump’s own former attorney general, said on “Fox News Sunday”: “I was shocked by the degree of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were, frankly … If even half of it is true, then he’s toast. I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning. And this idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, a victim of a witch hunt, is ridiculous.”

None of this is cause for complacency. Trump is as dangerous as ever. He has inspired violence before, and he could do it again.

But I believe that many who supported him in 2020 are catching on to his lunacy.

Trump wants Americans to engage in a “final battle” over his own narcissistic cravings. Instead, he is likely to get a squalid and humiliating last act.

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31 thoughts on “Today’s Forecast: Dark Skies With A Glimmer Of Hope”

  1. It seems to me that you are dealing with a Cult. Trump is the cult leader, and his followers are devotees. No amount of evidence will ever convince him he did wrong, or change the minds of his cultish followers. I also agree that civil war is unlikely, mainly because all of those ‘tough-guy’ gun owners would not stand up for long in a real firefight against trained troops.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I agree with your assessment … with the possible exception that I think Trump knows darn good and well that what he did was wrong, but he’ll never admit it. But even though we almost certainly will NOT have a civil war, the damage that is being done to our nation is overwhelming. I suspect it will be 20-30 years before the damage is fully reversed, and in some cases, the wounds won’t ever heal. The cultish followers either are truly ignorant, else just really don’t care whether we can hold on to what remains of our democratic foundation. I’m not sure which it is, but they have opted to turn government into a circus. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Jill, if there is a key message to take to Republican leaders it is they cannot blindly support the former president without first reading the severity of the charges. If the allegations are true, we cannot have a former president endangering our country and that of allies by keeping, sharing and asking his attorneys to lie for him. Full stop.

    But, they need to do more than that. They must speak up as too many sycophants are threatening violence. They believe the BS handed to them by the former president. By not speaking up, those leaders are also endangering our country.

    Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • Agreed, my friend. I’d bet that very few Trump loyalists have bothered to read the indictment, but are ready, willing, and able to dismiss it as a “witch hunt”, sight unseen. Whatever happened to “responsible citizenship”? Oh yeah … we stopped teaching Civics in schools and so now people fail to realize that with their rights come certain responsibilities.

      Like

  4. Civil wsr? No! But violence, and in particular gun violence, that I fear will happen. And not just in Florida, but all around the country. The MAGAts screwed up Jan. 6th, and nothing much may happen in Miami tomorrow. But somewhere, especially on the day Trump is found guilty, all bets are off. I would not want to be anywhere in the States that day! Fortunately I won’t be. But a lot of my internet friends will be. I hope they all stay home that day. I want you all to stay safe!

    Liked by 3 people

  5. “Nations don’t go to war over whether they like or hate specific leaders.”

    Yes, that used to be the case, but I fear that what is unprecedented when I comes to Trump, is no longer a deterrent. Many of those who support and will vote for Trump don’t know about or care about his ideologies, religion, racism, social classism, and/or economic policies. They are voting for the man. Period

    Liked by 1 person

    • You make a good point, too. I still hope, though, that somehow he won’t even be eligible to be on the ballot by next year. I’ve given up hoping that people will come to their senses, for they’ve proven they aren’t going to.

      Liked by 1 person

      • I worry that you put to much faith in hope. I used to enjoy leading others into adventure. I was drunk and forced to be sober up when I found myself totally bewildered with seven cars full of people following me. Responsibility has a tendency to slap you in the face like a wet fish. Whatever happens will happen, we are destined to live there. My stoicism is fake, I am an unrepentant liar and a thief. I have survived the dark but I have no idea how to take others safely through it.
        “We juggle priceless eggs in variable gravity. I am afraid. I will taste fear until I die.”
        ― Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God’s Eye

        Liked by 1 person

        • As re my hope … I need to have a bit of that in order to survive, for when we lose all hope, we give up on life. If we don’t believe that the outcome may be the right one, then why even bother?

          Liked by 1 person

          • I find money lying on the street everyday. Sometimes I see a head, sometimes an intricate design but both are always present. Having red teamed so many scenarios it is easy to be pessimistic. One may assume that the Intelligence Community is full of idiots and scoundrels but this would be wrong. The Russian Army is running through a meat grinder. Wonder for a moment how they could have so misread the situation, wonder why TFG could accumulate such a trove of secrets. TFG was identified in the previous century as a Russian asset. When you are losing bear down, work harder. When you are winning bear down harder, work your hardest then you can rest in victory. Look at that pathetic mob, the fools for a traitor. Winners? I don’t think so. Trump thinks he is a player, having been in the game, he is being played.

            Liked by 1 person

            • I’ve always liked Beau of the Fifth Column and in this video he actually makes a lot of sense … I hadn’t thought of it that way, but he’s right! Thanks for sharing this one, even if it wasn’t the one you intended!

              Liked by 1 person

              • My faith in coincidence has been shattered and doubt has crept in. It is possible that there are no coincidences. Billions of possibilities and something cogent appears. One of our discussion group passed a few years ago. He was a retired AF colonel. He was once in charge of “The Skunk Works” here at WPAFB. The other two ret, colonels in our group would harass him for never knowing nothing. They do buy $20k hammers and $30k toilet seats. The whole world knows how easily manipulated our former traitor in chief was including us. His power is in his belief that he is in control but he is the one controlled. I would be greatly surprised if a large portion of his documents were disinformation that must be “kept” secret. Just because a mind is dark and twisted does not mean it is up to no good. We are winning

                I 1982 the boys made a third cover version. This is the one stuck in my head but the original Irma Thomas’ R&B version is simply beautiful. But if I ever get stuck in time I would want be in this time.

                Liked by 1 person

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