media and politicians inciting violence

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.

I’m sure you’re surprised to hear that I have still more angst that must be relieved in the form of snarky snippets, right? I mean … what could possibly be causing me stress in these peaceful, calm, dog days of summer? Well, let’s see … let me count the ways … By the way, before I forget, a special thanks to Scottie of Scottie’s Playtime for the header image of the Aunty Acid meme … he sent it to me and it pretty much perfectly describes the ‘me’ I’ve become of late! Thanks, Scottie!

ENOUGH!!!!

I remember when my children were little … the two eldest were only 16 months apart in age and a world apart in temperament, which could result in some pretty raucous battles! What I see happening within the U.S. today is reminiscent of those battles, only on a much larger, more dangerous scale.

Violence, or the threat of violence, is NEVER the solution to problems! NEVER!!! And yet, I hear that right-wing groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters et al are telling people to “Pick up arms,” and they don’t mean the two that are attached to your body. The culmination came with the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on Monday, which those on the far right are claiming is justification for massive violence across the nation. It isn’t, but these people are so blinded by their own hatred and prejudices that they cannot or will not see that.

I’ve read of some calling for the assassination of Attorney General Merrick Garland, and I’m told that the judge who signed off on the warrant to search Trump’s domicile has been receiving death threats. Others are calling for ‘civil war’, as if they knew the meaning of that phrase. The most popular search term yesterday was “lock and load”, which means “lock your safety and load a magazine into your weapon.” Welcome to America where there are more guns than people, and every nutcase owns an arsenal!

Politicians like Kevin McCarthy and Jim Banks who, without having knowledge of what the FBI was looking for at Mar-a-Lago, jumped immediately and began disparaging and not-so-subtly threatening Merrick Garland and President Biden, do a disservice to the very people they are supposed to represent. Their voices matter, unfortunately, and some people will take their words, build on them, and claim they are “saving the nation” by taking up arms against … who? The FBI? The president? Or perhaps you and I get caught in the crossfire some day as we go about the business of grocery shopping or taking our children to school.

I repeat, my friends … VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER!!!

And I am not alone …

Richard Haass has been president of the Council on Foreign Relations since July 2003, prior to which he was Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State and a close advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell in the George W. Bush administration. In the preface to his upcoming (January 24, 2023) book, The Bill of Obligations, Haass writes that he’s often asked: “‘Richard, what keeps you up at night?’ Some suggest China? Russia? North Korea? Iran? Terrorism? Climate change? Cyberattacks? Another pandemic?” To which Haass replies …

“The most urgent and significant threat to American security and stability stems not from abroad but from within. The threat is from political divisions that for only the second time in U.S. history have raised questions about the future of American democracy and even the United States itself.”

Exactly. Y’know … all living things have an expiration date, so to speak. Nothing lives forever. Nations are living things, and perhaps the United States, such as we have known it, is about to reach its expiry date.

Tell me why you want the job

When candidates begin throwing their hats in the ring for the 2024 presidential election, the one question I would pose to each and every one is: Why do you want to be the next president?

Hmmmm … I can hear some of the answers now …

To find Hunter Biden’s laptop
To ‘make America great again’
To put ‘America first’
To make this a Christian nation
To defeat Democrats

And of course the unspoken answer in many cases would be: To make this a white, Christian, male-dominated autocracy.

In my mind, the one correct answer would be: To restore integrity and compassion to our nation, to our government. To begin closing the gap between right and left, to heal the damage, the divisiveness, the bigotry, and the hatred that exists today.

Who, I wonder, would give that answer?

I leave you with just a few cartoons …