Man, are we fucked. And you either get it, or you don’t. You either see the macro trends that are leading the United States towards an existential choice of autocracy, civil war or military junta or you don’t. I’m not saying I have any particular special insight — I don’t — but I am pretty good at making my abstract fears concrete.
And at the moment my biggest abstract fear is the rise of autocratic tyranny in the United States. Autocracy and fascism are very popular in the United States at the moment, with a lot of people who should know better quibbling about if the United States is a “constitutional republic” or a democracy.
So, it goes without saying that if you are a centrist in the United States at the moment, you’re complicit in the rise of autocratic fascism in the country. There is no middle ground, no room for accommodation of all views. It’s time to admit that to be a Republican in good standing is, by definition, to be a fascist pig. You don’t believe the United States is a democracy because you don’t believe in democracy, not because you think we’re actually a “constitutional republic.”
Put another way — if you’re in the news media and you feel forced to be “objective” when it comes to MAGA — you’re pretty much signing the death warrant for freedom of speech in the United States. Because that’s what’s ultimately going to happen one way or another — once Republicans are in charge again they’re coming after the free press and they’re going to do exactly what happened in Russia in the early days of Putin’s lifetime, autocratic rule.
We all may be Antifa one day.
Either MAGA friendly oligarchs will buy up any independent media that dares question the autocrat, or the state will lean on media in various ways to the point that the so-called “liberal media” will be cowed into submission. This will all happen in the context of a massive outflux of wealthy liberals to the point that by the time the process is over who knows if Hollywood will even be located in the United States anymore.
There are plenty of other places around the world that would welcome an influx of wealthy entertainment types. I’ve long speculated that Perth would be a pretty cool place for Hollywood to relocate to, even if it is in the fucking middle of nowhere.
And, honestly, I think America transitioning into an autocracy is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, but for one thing — Donald Trump. Is so stupid, so lazy and so often says “the quiet part out loud” that he could, unto himself, cause something akin to a Second American Civil War.
In the meantime, if you consider yourself a “centrist” you need to pick a side. The center has not held, you need to start acting like it.
I have been using Twitter long enough that I should not let people attacking me get to me, but here I am. Someone got mad at me on Twitter for saying what I always say — Blue States may be forced to leave the Union in late 2024, early 2025 when fascist Qanon MAGA Republicans steal the 2024 election. The person in question said Blue states *are* the Union.
Oh boy. Someone sure does need to get woke.
Yes, Blue States currently are the Union. That’s true. But the dynamic that forced slave states out of the Union in 1860 is the same that would force the Blue States out of the Union in 2024. The ideology is reversed, obviously, but the dynamic is the same.
Here are some reasons why we will have a civil war, starting around late 2024, early 2025.
Republicans have come to glorify political violence Something you see a lot these days within the bullshit echo chamber of the MAGA New Right is the belief that because “liberals won’t leave us alone” that they are being “driven” to extremism. There’s a lot of leading not-so-vague talk as to what all this would ultimately mean. But it’s clear that for a number of “thought leaders” within the MAGA New Right that they have accepted that at some point in the future, they’re going to have to resort to violence to get what they want.
Republicans no longer believe in democracy It is now clear that like any good fascists, Republicans no longer believe in democracy unless it’s for the specific purpose of gaining and keeping power. This view of the system they’re supposed to a part of leads them do extremely destabilizing things that help push the country to the brink.
Trump 2024 Just Trump being the 2024 nominee would, in itself, be enough to cause a civil war at some point in late 2024 – early 2025. He just has a special knack for “owning the libs” in such a way that if he stole in 2024 election and said the “quiet part outloud” that Blue States would grow so enraged that it would be they, not Red States, that left the Union and caused a Second Civil War. But Ron DeSantis is polling exceptionally well at the moment, so either Trump politically shivs him at some point, or he co-ops him, making him his VP, opening the door to DeSantis becoming America’s Putin at some point down the road a little bit.
Steve K Bannon. Bannon and his toadies are actively working to destroy the framework that weuse to administer free and fair elections. So, it’s very easy to imagine a situation where this gambit works in ways that Trump himself is too idiotic to pull off personally and it will be so egregious that, again, Blue States leave the Union and we have a Second American Civil War.
Extreme negative polarization We’re in for a bump four or so years, no matter what, because negative polarization, on a systemic level, has reached a critical mass. When one of your political parties is fascist and would rather crash the global economy instead of even appear to work for the good of the nation — you got a problem.
A lack of shared values As the big blow up on Twitter in the last 24 hours about a Stephen Colbert song and dance gag about getting vaccinated proves — we can’t even agree on what’s funny. A combination of this and negative polarization is leading to the United States being two nations, one Red, one Blue and when we get around to attempting to elect the next president, the system simply won’t be prepared for the passions it will stir up.
A potentially historic miscalculation on the part of Republicans It’s possible that, much like European powers in the lead up to WW1, when the time comes and Republicans have a choice between peacefully transitioning us into autocracy or fucking with us all so we want to take up arms, they will choose the latter not because they have to, but because they want to. It’s possible that by the 2024 — 2025 period, Republicans will see a civil war as their only choice to consolidate power, even if it’s clear that they could get everything they ever wanted within the system they so obviously loath.
SCOTUS sides with MAGA on the “Independent Legislature” concept. I really don’t know that much about this idea other than it would pretty much give MAGA free reign to ignore the popular vote and use its power over state legislatures to deny Democrats the White House for, well, forever. Once it dawns on Blues that they simply will never be allowed to take the White House again, that might be the final breaking point.
Slave states attempted to leave the Union because they felt the Free Soil movement in the guise of the Republican Party was politically acendant to the point that they would not continue to get unfettered expansion of slavery. Meanwhile, today, Blue states would leave the Union when it became clear that to remain in the Union would be to agree to a fascist autocracy.
I’m not saying this will happen, but I am saying there is a certain logic as to why when the crisis arrives in 2024, there will be three potential endgames — autocracy, civil war or military junta.
If what happened in 2020 is any indication, the first sign that we would have that something was amiss would be on the local level. Instead of people who simply do their job as Americans and do the rather perfunctory duty of certifying the win of A Democrat, this doesn’t happen. In crucial voting districts all across swing states, Bannon’s “spiritual shock troops” either refuse to certify the win of A Democrat, or they go so far as to YOLO things and switch the win to Trump. And, remember, all of this would be happening in the context of SCOTUS having agreed with the radical “independent legislature” concept that would give state legislatures total and complete control over their administration of elections.
As this happens, the tension in United States escalates day by day. The very rallying cry of MAGA in 2020 — “Stop The Steal” will be adopted by the center-Left when it becomes clear that the MAGA New Right is hell bent on brazenly stealing the 2024 election in broad daylight.
But remember, the center-Left has a very different personality than the MAGA New Right. The center-Left, for all it’s problems with “cancel culture” and being “woke” is still actually connected to reality. So, there would be a struggle between the natural inclination of centrist Liberals to let the “process work” and Leftists who would want to burn everything to the ground given how corrupted everything had become.
All of this turmoil on the local level would find elections in crucial states thrown into the political realm where MAGA state legislatures and Secretary’s of State would begin to actively ensure that A Democrat is prevented from winning. Every day between Election Day 2024 and Certification Day 2025 things would grow more and more unstable in the United States as it became clear that Bannon’s long-planned “administrative coup” was actually going to work.
There would be mass confusion. Lots of lawsuits
And, remember, if Trump is involved, as all of this is going on, he would do everything in his personal power to rile up both sides. If his ongoing, progressive cognitive decline has gotten bad enough, he might even go transactional.
It would be around this point that I could see Blue governors begin to make serious plans to leave the Union. A lot would depend on what California was willing to do. But it would definitely make sense that California would be the first state to call a Secessionist Convention in preparation of leaving the Union if the 2024 election is, in fact, stolen.
But by some point between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you could see some sort of summit of Blue Governors where they debate their plans to leave the Union if the very thing that the MAGA New Right wants — to turn the United States into an autocracy — actually happens.
And as we approached Certification Day in January 2025, the last step in the crisis would happen. If you thought Certification Day 2021 was bad, just wait until Republicans are actively going over and above what they did then when it rolls around in 2025. So, the system will have been corrupted at both the local and state level. And then if that doesn’t work, Republicans will again try to throw the election into the House and Senate to buy time, if nothing else.
So, let me be clear — anyone who thinks we’re going to have some sort of MAGA New Right revolution a la The Turner Diaries — is a fool. Any Second American Civil War we have is probably going to be started by Blue States leaving the Union out of disgust that the fix is in.
Therefore, by the time Certification Day 2025 rolls around, it could very well be a foregone conclusion that we’re going to have a pretty organized civil war. Republicans have no shame and don’t apparently care about the consequences of their actions, so, lulz, we could find ourselves in the absolute worst of worlds because not only are states actively thinking about leaving the Union around this time, but the whole process of figuring out who is POTUS will be languishing in Congress. Republicans, because they are politically blood thirsty and will cheat, will win the power struggle, but there’s a chance states will begin leaving the Union.
It won’t be deranged, individual MAGA New Right blowing stuff up in some sort of rearguard action. It’s going to be a Blue Nation verses a Red Nation. A lot of the same things that happened in the First American Civil War will happen in the second. The U.S. Military will implode as people from Blue States leave it to establish a new Blue State military.
But one thing we have to expect in late 2024 to early 2025 is a mass migration of people across the country as people no longer feel safe living in an area of the country that doesn’t fit their politics. It could be rather frightening.
If it were, God forbid, to happen, I would guess that a Second American Civil War will begin between Certification Day 2025 and Inauguration Day 2025. In other words, as Trump is being sworn in, mass chaos will have erupted across the United States.
Once the hollowed out American military turns it attention to the Blue rebellion at the behest of Trump, it won’t be too long before WMD are sized and used by both sides. Not only would America bomb itself into oblivion with its eyes wide open, but it will be done in the context of WW3 definitely breaking out across the globe because the US will be too busy imploding to ensure the continuation of the post WW2 global order.
How’s that for a New World Order.
So, here goes. Here’s how the individual states would handle A Second American Civil War, probably starting in late 2024 when it becomes clear that Reds are going to brazenly steal the election. I don’t think this is going to happen — I think we’re just going to slip peacefully into autocracy — but it is at least possible. I’m NOT going to do every state because, lulz, I don’t know the internal politics of each state well enough to do it right.
California If Blues really decide to have a National Divorce, it will be California that probably is at the forefront serving the papers. And the key issue is — war aims. I think at first the war aims of the Blues will be to simply start, say, the United States of Canada. It will only be much later in any conflict that Blues get sucked into fighting the longer-term goal of maybe establishing the United States of North America. And that would happen because Trumplandia could possible begin a Final Solution for POC within its territory and, as such, the second phase of the civil war would be one of liberation. But that’s extremely speculative on my part.
Everything will hinge on what California wants to do. If it simply wants independence for itself, that’s a lot different war than if it joins with other Blue States to establish a new, larger state. But whatever happens once the 2ACW starts, California will be the “Arsenal of Democracy.” If they want to establish a Blue Union, then California would put itself on a war footing. It would call up a few million young men and women into a new Blue Army and away we go. A lot would depend on the state of the US Military, but the case could be made that it might implode, leaving the individual states with the ability to fend for themselves.
California would quickly secure Oregon and Washington then swoop through the plains states to link up with major Blue States in the old Upper Midwest. They would crash into Texas in the south and that would be a Battle Royale, though it’s possible because Texas is shifting blue that Texas might simply implode into an intra-state civil war and Blues could secure the state a lot easier than one might otherwise expect.
But the point is — as goes California, so goes the Blue Union cause.
Texas Texas is a state that is really difficult to game out because while MAGA has turned into a Red stronghold, on the ground, the state is shifting Blue long term. As such, when our national politics finally collapses and we’re dealing with the existential it’s possible that Texas will simply implode. There could be a massive intra-state civil war that leaves it open to Blue Union forces from the West to swoop in and take it over. Or, at least, a lot of it over. But between when the civil war starts and when Blue Union troops come to the rescue, we could all be talking about the Siege of Austin as MAGA surrounds that particular blue dot in a purple state and want to wipe it off the face of the earth.
In a sense, Texas probably has the most to loose from a 2ACW. Texas would probably be the site of a huge amount of fighting as the difference between the Blue shift in the state’s practical politics slams up against the autocratic state government. Or, put another way, Texas is a lot less stable than you might think. It will likely be the source of a huge amount of domestic political refugees who will either endup in camps, or simply flee the state altogether, only to return when (hopefully) Blues win the civil war and there’s a Second Reconstruction.
Oregon The thing about this state is it’s ripe for a huge clusterfuck. Of all the places in the Union in the lead up to any potential 2ACW, Oregon is the state I could most likely see some sort of “Troubles” taking place. There could be a pretty bloody Battle of Portland as all the crazed Far Right Militia’s swoop down on the city and decide to end the “Antifa Problem” once and for all. Then, of course, there’s pretty good chance that all of that will be for naught when California troops come from the south and consolidate Blue control over the state. Not that it won’t come at a very, very blood cost. But California is just too powerful not to be able to seize both Oregon and Washington in the early stages of any 2ACW. Even if California simply wants to go it alone, the mass chaos of Oregon might pull them into the state for some sort of peacekeeping mission.
The Plains States Outside of Texas, the Plaines states may see their fates during a 2ACW largly out of their hands. They could shift from Blue to Red and back again as the two sides fight it out. They have small populations and economies and if California wants to link up with Blue States in the old Upper Midwest, then, they may see their extremely Red politics change in a rather abrupt, violent manner. These states are an example of why it would be so dumb for Red States to want a civil war — the values of small plains states are being forced upon Blue States and Blues aren’t really doing anything about it. But if there was a civil war, the Red Plains States would be forced to change their ways rather quickly.
The Old CSA (At least some of it.) At first, a number of states of the old CSA would explode into joy if there was a 2ACW. States like Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina would have you believe they are already half way out of the Union as it is because of the evil libtard “groomers” and, as such, if Blue States left the Union the populations of the old CSA states would be very, very happy. But. And this is a big but, as the war progressed and everything went to shit there would be a natural inclination on the part of white Christians in these states to make POC scape goats. There would be a rapid radicalization of the politics of these states to the point that something akin to a race war might break out. Or, if not that, then at least Nazi-style concentration camps would be established with the aim of enacting a Final Solution once and for all. This would, in turn freak the Blue States out to the point that even if they were free of the United States, they might rejoin the battle simply to stop the Final Solution from happening. This is all extremely speculative, of course, but I’m simply gaming out what already exists and then assume the worse.
Florida I used to think that Florida would break up into about three states, given how diverse it is, but no more. I think it would be a fully autocratic state under DeSantis — even if he was POTUS at this point — and a lot of young men from Florida would face up against young men (and women) from California as the war progressed and got worse and worse for everyone concerned. The already fucked up politics of Florida would grow significantly more radical to the point that it was a one party fascist state.
Georgia The thing about Georgia is Atlanta. If there was a 2ACW, then it’s possible that within the state it would be Atlanta versus everyone else. Atlanta would be a very Blue stronghold and the rest of the state would be so Red that it could all get very bloody. Of course, Blue forces from outside the state could swoop in at some point and help take stabilize the situation.
Virginia As I’ve said the last time I wrote this scenario up, Virginia is two states that hate each other. Of all the states of the Union that might find destruction as part of a 2ACW, Virginia is at the top of the list — even more so than Texas. The state would collapse into coups and counter coups. The rural Red parts of the state would go all Pol Pot on the Blue parts of the state and there would be a lot of political scores settled by extremely radicalized rural Reds who wanted to make sure drag queens of the woke cancel culture mob could never teach their kids critical race theory again. I wish I was joking or exaggerating, but I’m not.
Heartland The so-called “American Heartland” is where the worst fighting of any 2ACW would take place. States like Ohio and Indiana would be diehard supporters of Trumplandia and they just would not go down without a fight. It would be the type of fighting not seen since the end of WW2. And it would be happening in what was once the most stable country in the world. As I’ve mentioned, a lot would depend on what Blue war aims were. If they just wanted to start the USoC, then my dark fears probably won’t happen. But if, for some reason, those war aims change and the issue becomes bringing the US back together again (probably with Canada by this point) then, well, all bets are off. It would be a very bloody pitched battle.
New York City
A 2ACW might be a tale of two cities for NYC. On one hand, there’s a chance NYC could become something akin to a Free City and on the other it could get nuked by Trumplandia. Any 2ACW would probably see the city flooded with refugees, maybe even including yours truly. But one thing is for sure — the long term tension between Upstate New York and NYC will grow in the event of a 2ACW to the point that NYC may break away politically in some way. Update New York has a lot of room for political refugees and, as such, you could see the population of some of the Update New York cities might balloon as a result.
New England I think in the even of a 2ACW that New England would be flooded with political refugees to an unprecedented extent. People fleeing all parts of Trumplandia would go to New England, potentially in hopes of getting across the border to Canada. Should the Blue Union unite with Canada, then, of course, that dynamic would change.
In closing, I would note three things. There’s not going to be a 2ACW if Blues don’t have any leadership. They currently have no effective leadership, so a lot of abrupt heroes would have to bubble up to the surface once it became clear that Blues had to leave the Union. Also, all of what I’ve described above has to be taken into the context of very real possibility that WMD would be used by both sides as the war progressed. And, remember, if the United States is too busy bombing itself into oblivion, then the prospect of a “Great Reset” in the guise of WW3 is a very, very real possibility.
While MAGA Republicans and the Nazis share a lot in common, there is one big difference between the two strains of fascism. The Nazis were an expansionistic form of fascism, while MAGA is one bent on retrenchment. “Bring the boys home” and all that.
If you game out the ominous idea that the insane Qanon conspiracy theory could very well engulf the entire Republican Party, what does that mean whenever Republicans gain power and and promptly turn the United States into an autocracy?
Well, it gets pretty dark pretty quick. What MAGA Republicans are shooting for — and they’re very open about this — is an “illiberal democracy” similar to what is found in, say, Hungary and Turkey. They sell this vision to otherwise reluctant traditional conservatives who want the goodies of fascism without all the parts that make them blanch.
But the is a fatal flaw with this “fascism light” concept that MAGA Republicans are so intent in getting traditionalist conservatives to believe — race. And if you work on the self-evident believe that Qanon is pretty much just an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory updated for the social media age and American sensibilities then it seems that should we go the autocracy route instead of Second American Civil War route that two things may happen before it’s all over with.
One would be the emptying of the cities Khmer Rouge -style because that’s where all the evil liberals live. The other would be massive genocide against fascism’s usual suspects.
Trump is obviously too stupid and lazy to actually organize such behavior but he definitely is in a position to get the ball rolling and then very dark macro forces would take care of the rest. I’ve long believed that because of the population of the United States being so much bigger that MAGA could endup being directly responsible for the deaths of more people than WW2 — most of them Americans. Though, of course, that may be a bit of an exaggeration — some of the dead would come as part of WW3 happening when the United States abruptly pulled out of global affairs because it was too busy having a MAGA Qanon holocaust.
All of that sounds very, very hysterical. I get it. But it’s definitely something to think about going forward.
So, tonight, at the very end of Trump’s deranged rally in Ohio, a number of people near the front of the crowd were raising their hands in Trump’s direction. It looked like they were doing the Nazi Roman salute, but the way they had their heads down, I initially thought they were maybe praying as Trump did some sort of insane benediction.
Form….…follows function
Well, turns out — would you believe — that what they were doing is sticking out one finger in a “One” gesture that has something to do with Qanon. Given how closely this gesture resembles the Nazi salute…oh boy. And given that the whole Qanon bullshit is pretty much an modern day anti-Semitic conspiracy theory the implications of this are pretty dark.
As I keep saying, I still think that ultimately MAGA will result in more deaths than the Nazis. I hope I’m wrong — I almost always am — but if the MAGA faithful all begin to make a One Salute whenever they see Herr Trump…well, that’s not exactly the greatest sign for our future.
The short answer is, of course, no, of course not. This is a demonstrably silly idea and I am a fool — and maybe a bit of a kook — to even bring the subject up. And, generally, I just don’t believe in conspiracy theories. I’m of the opinion that the vast majority of actual conspiracies are well known and the public generally doesn’t care.
Ok. Having said that, let’s yet again ponder a scenario whereby Big Tech, and specifically Tik-Tok, is in some way able to not only monitor what’s rolling around in our minds but use that information to push content to us in an eerily specific way.
Up until a while ago, Facebook — now Meta — was, in fact, looking into how they could read people’s minds to the point that they even patented a way to do it. They have since scrapped this research and so, lulz, obviously they aren’t using any such technology to read people’s minds, right?
So that should be that. Big Tech isn’t reading our minds and if they were, we would obviously know about it because it would be such a huge milestone in technology. The ethical implications of reading people’s minds without their consent would be just too big for Big Tech to overcome and so why are we even talking about this?
One thing I will note is how beneficial it would be for, say, the NSA or CIA to be able to monitor the minds of diplomats and other major officials in foreign countries. And, in general, some of the most cutting edge technology used in a practical way is developed not by private industry, but by government agencies like DARPA — which came up with the Internet.
This brings us to Tik-Tok
Tik-Tok is a Chinese company and there is little or no separation between Chinese tech companies like Tik-Tok and the security agencies of the CCP. So, if you were of a conspiratorial bent, you could definitely find yourself pondering the possibility that Tik-Tok is using digital telepathy is not only read the minds of America’s youth, but use that information to push them ever-more addictive content to keep them using what is now one of the most popular social media platforms on earth.
This is the point where you laugh at me and say all of this is just crazy talk. And, honestly, whenever I find myself talking to a tech person I go out of my way to try to get them to dissuade me of my paranoia. I explain to them what’s happening and I ask them to explain to me why I’m wrong. The most common explanation they give me is it’s all a coincidence and Tik-Tok’s algorithms simply now me so well that it just seems like it can read my mind.
This is similar to how there is the horror story of a young woman being sent pregnancy related coupons in the mail because of what she was looking for on a big box retailer’s website. Ok, I get it that makes a lot of sense and explains most — but not all — of what I’m noticing.
As an aside, I’ve started to try to keep these suspicions to myself — especially at bars — because, well, people think I’m completely insane and don’t want to talk to me anymore when I causally broach the subject. Which, all things considered, is probably understandable.
The only reason I keep thinking about the bizarre conspiracy theory is the fact that some of the video’s that Tik-Tok pushes me aren’t nearly as general as what happened with the pregnant teen and the coupons. I still struggle to understand how Tik-Tok’s algorithms can be so good as to narrow down a very specific thing I thought about intensely in passing.
Usually these spooky events have something to do with my body, something I haven’t told anyone about. And sometimes, it’s something I just think about really hard for a moment or two out of the blue. It’s those specific type of incidents that give me pause for thought when I get pushed a video on Tik-Tok that is about that very specific thing.
But I have no proof and probably never will. And even if it was happening, it is the CCP we’re talking about, so it’s not like we’ll ever find out. Though if Big Tech in the United States was also reading our minds, then, I suppose the secret might pop out eventually.
Which leads you to wonder what the reaction would be. I’m of the opinion that after the shock wore off, there would either be a huge outcry where the population demanded some sort of regulation crackdown of Big Tech — or nothing would happen.
It would just be another thing that we all knew about, but didn’t care because, in general we got better products and services because of it. Though, of course, if it was proven that Tik-Tok — and by extension the CCP — was reading the minds of America’s youth….I suppose that might be considered something akin to an act of war?
Relations between the US and China would definitely suffer.
Anyway, this is all nuts. There’s no way Big Tech can read our minds. I’m just noticing really good algorithms.
The issue of “pronouns” is a sticky wicket for a number of reasons because it’s a prime example of the two sides talking past each other. MAGA Republicans get really, really upset about this issue and they are often ridiculed by people on the center-Left because they use context to explain what makes them mad. So, instead of saying what they mean, which is “I hate *gender* pronouns neologisms,” they just say “My pronouns are kick ass.” (Or whatever) Or they say The Bible doesn’t use pronouns and so forth.
I’m no expert, but I do come from a bedrock conservative family and so I have some sense of why this particular issue enrages MAGA Republicans so much. I think some of it is it’s an easy-to-understand wedge issue. The idea that there would be more than two genders is something so alien to the your typical conservative that it’s easy for dipshits within the MAGA Republican ranks to demagog it.
And, you have to admit that the center-Left doesn’t do itself any favors when it gets prickly about the proper use of gender pronouns. And that’s why MAGA Republicans love to wallow in their hatred of the concept because it’s something they know will easily “trigger” the libs that they crave to “own” so bad.
I have to mention the talented writer Brock Colyar of New York Magazine when I talk about this. I read his great piece about the use of pronouns….and yet I feel as though there was something that the reader was meant to read between the lines. He goes on at great length about how he knows the use of gender pronouns is alien to a lot of people and he has gone out of his way to be a “safe space” for such people to talk about their use.
He wraps it all up by saying maybe just call him by his name.
Ok, that’s good writing, but it dodges the issue at hand — the use of gender pronouns is controversial because it’s something of a shorthand for MAGA Republicans about how much they hate libs and why they want to own them so bad. The use of gender pronouns ties into the general “gay scare” the United States is going through and the battle over trans rights, etc, etc. So for him to just end any discussion of a subject that he’s well known for by simply saying, “maybe just call me by my name” sees….like a cop-out.
It seems like something you write when you want to avoid confronting your audience with the obvious conclusion of “Yeah, I use unconventional gender pronouns, either accept that or fuck off.”
I will be the first to admit that I’m rather envious of Brock Colyar for being young in NYC, something I will never, ever have the chance to be. And Brock Colyar is obviously an excellent writer. I just wish Brock Colyar had not given his piece such a trite ending. What he wrote about really fucking riles some people up and maybe he needed to address that a bit more directly. And, he did address that some in what he wrote — but I guess I was expecting a more direct, full throated defense of his use of non-traditional gender pronouns.
Anyway. Just had to get that off my chest. But the issue of gender pronouns is really a prism into the forces that are tearing the United States apart. The distain for the use of gender pronouns is a shorthand used by MAGA Republicans to easily distinugish between the “them” of libtards and “us” of “real America.”
The United States is careening towards a very, very dark future. Between now and spring 2025 we’re either going to have a civil war, turn into an autocracy or have something akin to a military junta. Then the last thing any of us will be worrying about is our gender pronouns.
Without even checking, I can tell you that my Traditionalist relatives are probably overjoyed with Ron DeSantis’ dick move where he sent undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard. It’s simple to understand and the moment they realized what he was doing, they probably shouted for joy. The reason is the “idea” of doing such a dick move plays into their preconceived media narrative.
Ron DeSantis
It doesn’t matter what actually happens — the libs have been owned and they feel smug that liberal hypocrisy over the “border crisis” has, at last, been exposed. And if all else fails, they will willfully accept any lie that MAGA Republicans may happen to concoct about what happened.
And I would note that if you look closely at Ron DeSantis’ expression whenever he talks about what he did, he looks pretty much exactly like my Traditionalist relative whenever we get into a political debate. So, in their eyes he looks “strong” in the face of evil libtards who want everyone to turn gay. It doesn’t matter how real any of it is — that’s what they see.
I guess what I’m trying to say is — things are very dire for what’s left of American democracy. It’s interesting to me that I go out of my way to tell my Traditionalist relatives that they “just have to be patient” and they’re going to get everything they want politically — and that is STILL not enough to calm them down.
They have been so conditioned by the Right wing echo chamber to feel aggrieved for the slightly slight that they are pretty much totally disconnected from reality. Anything that doesn’t fit their media narrative is “bogus.” They believe what they believe and that’s that. So, in a sense, American politics is now dead and we’re all simply waiting to see if we have a civil war, turn into an autocracy or have some sort of military junta.
Now one thing that is darkly comical about all of this is my Traditionalist relatives — whom I love dearly — have told me that they have one red line: political violence. So as long as we peacefully become an autocracy, they won’t mind.
Then, of course, there is the real Red Line — the personal. I’m something of a kook and I’ve had the luxury of living in a Western democracy all my life where I can get drunk and shoot off at the mouth if I feel like it. And I have made it clear to my Traditionalist relatives that I absolutely refuse to shut the fuck up. So, in the end, if DeSantis becomes POTUS and we endup becoming a Russia clone because of that….they’re going to have to figure out how to get me out of an ICE camp.
That will be fun.
The great irony is, of course, that Trump still hasn’t gotten out of the way. It’s very possible that DeSantis could even get the nomination and Trump bolts to the Patriot Party and we have a three way clusterfuck in 2024. Again we’re past the Even Horizon for some seriously fucked up shit between now and spring 2025. If you have the means, begin to game out your escape plan.
I’ve written about this before, but this time I want to be as clear eyed as possible about what would happen if Russia used tactical nukes on Ukraine. The first thing we have to figure out is, of course — why?
Why would Putin break the 70-odd year taboo against using nukes as a part of war? The key issue is — is Putin still a rational actor or not? Let’s suppose there was a method to his madness.
The thing that becomes clear whenever thinking about Russia using tactical nukes on Ukraine is it’s unlikely to be a value free situation. Putin would not just use a few nukes here and there, he would probably have to go all in, using a number of tactical nukes across Ukraine. I say this because any use of tactical nukes would be met with such international outrage that he can’t just give Ukraine a “love tap” and move on.
He would have to use tactical nukes to soften up Ukraine to the point that he could swoop in and take over the entire country without much opposition. Or, at least, that would be what he would be thinking going into the situation. Even Putin would have to come to grips with the cold, hard fact that if he nukes Ukraine that to wrap up the conquest of the Ukraine nation he would have to do a massive general mobilization of the Russian population.
We have to get out of the way the obvious — no amount of nuking Ukraine with tactical nukes would pacify them. The entire Ukrainian population would be in a very blood thirsty rage if, say, a dozen or so tactical nukes were used across their nation and, as such, Russia would have to throw everything it could muster at Ukraine to keep the country under its jackboot.
Ok. Now take a deep breath.
The thing you have to game out is Russia using tactical nukes all across Ukraine would not happen in a vacuum. Once the taboo regarding using nukes doesn’t exist anymore, then there would likely be a cascading series of events all across the globe in rapid succession.
Other nations with nukes would at least seriously think about using the nukes that they have to settle scores. As such, you could see India and Pakistan nuke each other into oblivion. You could see Israel and Iran do the same. And then, of course, there is the wild card of both China and Taiwan and the DPRK and South Korea.
Put another way, the nukes of nukes by the Russians against the Ukrainians would be Patient Zero of a nuclear-tipped contagion that would zoom across the globe at an alarming rate. WW3 would begin and millions — maybe billions — would die.
Another crucial element to all of this would be what would happen within Russia itself. After the shock wore off, I believe the Russian population would freak the fuck out and either a civil war or revolution — or both — would break out. And all of this would be happening in the context of WW3 happening.
There is the chance, of course, that the outrage over Russia nuking Ukraine would force the hand of the United States, especially if the world was already falling into WW3. As such, NATO might confront Russia directly in Ukraine and, well….I don’t what to tell you then.
I’m not an expert. I’m always wrong. Let’s hope Putin is a rational actor and we don’t have to worry about shit like this.
While I’m aware that there is more to what makes JK Rowling “problematic” than just her status as a TERF, that specific issue is what I want to talk about. I want to address it because the debate over TERFs can grow so heated that it’s difficult to talk about it at all.
This is the definition of a TERF that I found.
a feminist who excludes the rights of transgender women from their advocacy of women’s rights. “they accused the protester of being a TERF and transphobic”
What is confounding about the issue of a TERF is you find a situation where conservatives side with TERFs — feminists — against people who are trans right advocates. This is a very sensitive, touchy situation for a number of reasons — especially when children are involved and that, of course, makes it red meat for MAGA Republicans who want to wallow in it as a wedge issue that will drive people into the arms of fascism.
The point is — a Leftist can be so aggressive in their hatred of TERFs and anyone who doesn’t agree with their general media narrative about trans gender rights that the thing we all need at the moment — for our politics to function so we can sort this situation out that way rather than through fascism — gets short circuited.
If we’re going to have a functioning democracy we have to be willing to have the marketplace of ideas where people who disagree are able to hash things out so some sense of the collective understanding of things can be determined. When you’re so beholden to a Leftist orthodoxy that you attack even people on your own side, you got a problem.
All of this plays into the MAGA Republican fascist agenda. It’s why the United States is going through an unpreceded “gay scare” long after we all thought some basic gay rights were established. A lot of Traditionalists honestly believe that the “woke cancel culture mob” is trying to “turn everyone gay.” They really honestly believe that.
I personally am indifferent to this particular battle. It’s difficult for me to come up with any opinion one way or another because would prefer this be settled through traditional democratic politics, rather than political violence of any sort.
I suppose the issue for me about Rowling is it’s too easy for Traditionalist to point to her as an example of someone being “canceled,” and, as such, that feeds into their overall believe that the woke cancel culture mob is going to come after THEM for not following the “woke agenda.”
I just wish there was some way to tell everyone to cool it so we can figure out what’s best for the country. But, alas, I fear this is yet another example of how we’re pass the event horizon for autocracy, civil war or a military junta at some point around 2025.
I hate the MAGA Republican movement with a white hot rage equal to the center of the sun. It’s that rage that has generated the mental and emotional energy necessary to throw myself into writing what I hope to be a six novel project. (No one believes in me other than me, but, lulz. I’ll put a move on you.)
Anyway, the point of this post is, Twitter liberals love to point out the dumb misnomer that “anti-woke” MAGA Republicans say when they say shit like, “There are no pronouns in The Bible.”
We all know what they mean! And the people who are their intended audience know what they mean! This happens all the time on Twitter when Twitter liberals play the “you so dumb” gotcha game with MAGA Republicans who, within the context of their echo chamber, make perfect sense.
I only bring this up because it’s a sign that the two sides are talking past each other, that our politics has finally collapsed to the point that rather than trying to understand each other, we simply make fun of the difference in context. The differences between the two sides is now so extreme that we willfully ignore the obvious explanation for why someone says something that is obviously inaccurate– even to them.
But I think we’re too past the Event Horizon for there to be any understanding. The country is tearing itself apart and either we become and autocracy, have a coup that turns us into a military junta or we have a civil war. There is no middle ground and we’re completely fucked going forward. We’ve collectively given up and the only thing I don’t know is which horrible endgame we’re going through before things are settled again.
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