Category: Cold Civil War

I Don’t Know If We’re Going To Make It

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a lot of reasons to want us to muddle through the next few years instead of imploding politically. I would, at least, like a shot at querying a novel without having to worry about dodging bullets and bombs.

But I do worry. A lot.

I worry that Trump is going to fuck with the 2026 and / or 2028 elections to such an extent that Blues finally have enough and fight back in a way a little bit more dramatic than an angry Twitter thread.

Trump seems hell bent on crashing the American ship of state into the biggest iceberg he can find as soon as possible. Things are quickly getting out of control and if Trump finally figures out a way to invoke the Insurrection Act or even martial law — oh boy.

Things are really very unstable in the United States right now and there is no ready explanation of what the endgame is. Everything from martial law to Trump running for an illegal third term to outright civil war / revolution is on the table at the moment.

And, like I said, I just want to be able to query my novel in peace. That should not be too much to ask

Gird Your Loins

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I suspect we’re about to lurch into a more dramatic time in Trump’s second term now that he’s sending armed troops into Portland. I say this because even though Antifia doesn’t even exist, there are some scallywags in the city who might use the rubric of the organization to throw a Molotov Cocktail at troops.

And then they fire back, people die and suddenly the entire country has protests. Which Trump, of course, will possibly use as justification for martial law.

That’s been the point of sending troops into Blue cities all along. Trump is itching for an excuse to take things to the next level so, lulz, no one seems willing to stop him.

Trump would have two options if someone did throw a Molotov Cocktail in Portland. The Insurrection Act and martial law. I’m thinking martial law because there is a off-term election about to take place a in a few months and, who knows, maybe he might use some isolated violence in Portland to cancel the elections to prove a point.

Maybe.

Anyway, I’m sure someone is going to narc on me and I’ll find myself in some ICE camp. I hope it has wifi.

What’s Next? Pushing People Out Of Windows?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey on trumped up charges enrages me. If ever there was proof that we’re not going to have free and fair Federal elections in 2026 and beyond, I think there you have it.

I really feel like contacting people close to me who are MAGA to ask them if there is any sort of red line. Would they mind, would it be a bad thing, if Trump ordered people like Comey to just be pushed out a window? If we did reach that point then, of course, the MAGA people in question would probably feel too afraid of the state to say anything about it.

So, we’re in something of a condundrum.

As it stands, we’re still — in the minds of many MAGA people — in the “both sides” area of things. I’m sure the talking points have already been written for how this is all just Trump doing to his political opponents what they did to him or some such. They probably won’t say it those words, but that will be the sentiment.

Anyway, I say we’re in a conundrum because by the time we get around to being in a severe enough crisis that the MAGA people I know sit up and take notice, it will be too late. They’ll just want to keep their head down — and they’ll probably demand I do the same thing.

Fuck that. I’m riding this pony to the bottom, even if it means I get pushed out a window.

Curious

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something curious is afoot with the Department of Defense. For some reason, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is demanding hundreds of top military officials from all over the world come to D.C.

My fear, of course, is he’s going to demand they all pledge personal fidelity to Trump, like the Nazis did with Hitler with German military back in the day. That would be the first step, if successful, towards establishing an actual fucking military dictatorship in the United States.

You think I’m an vocal asshole about MAGA now, just wait until we’re a military dictatorship. I’m a man of peace, a man of ideas — and I fucking hate guns — but that doesn’t mean I can rant at an even higher degree about what the fucking fascists are doing to the country.

Now, obviously, getting them to swear personal fidelity to Trump would have no legal weight, but I suppose that would not be the point. The point would be to smoke out “disloyal” elements in the military.

Man, are things fucked up.

America Really Is A House Divided At The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The case could be made that, in hindsight, it will look inevitable that the USA collapsed into chaos directly because of the actions of malignant ding-dong Trump.

But it hasn’t happened yet, so there’s that.

Having said that, just from eyeballing my Tik-Tok feed, it continues to be clear that the cultural and political forces tearing the nation apart show no signs of abating.

On one hand, we have Chappell Roan going into graphic detail about lesbian sex in her longs and on the other, we have grown men carrying around huge crosses at the Charlie Kirk funeral. What the fuck?

There just seems to be some pretty big structural problems within the USA that are just growing deeper and more complicated. I can’t help but think of the photos you see every once in a while of Iranian women in mini-skirts just months before the revolution changed everything.

I fear something like that will happen in the US, if in a more localized way. Like, if there was a big reaction on the part of Blues when Trump fucks with the 2026 Federal election, the Red parts of the country might have some sort of fucked-up counter revolution.

Ugh.

I have written AT GREAT FUCKING LENGTH since the advent of this blog about my personal fears about a civil war or revolution and, to date, nada. So, if anything, that should temper my fears some. I clearly can’t predict the future, so, lulz?

Augustus Trump

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Say what you will about malignant ding-dong Trump, there is definitely going to be a “before” and “after” America when it comes to him. There are, of course, still a few lingering issues that I can’t game out.

The one that is zooming towards us is what will Blues do when Trump does something like declare a state of emergency so he can fuck with Federal elections. While I have a hunch he’s probably going to leave state and local elections largely enough, he’s totally going to everything his power to ensure there are not free and fair Federal elections.

There is something of a spectrum on the matter, I guess.

On one end of the spectrum, Trump fucks with elections and…nothing happens. There are protests, but no general direct action. Nothing that really catches the attention of the regime. We just grow accustomed to the idea that our votes won’t correctly be tallied and that will be that.

We will become a zombie democracy like Hungary and then the real issue is how far will MAGA tyranny go. Will we become, eventually, something akin to Russia or not? Will ICE inevitable mission creep into an SS-like organization take place and the next thing you know nobodies like me are rounded up for telling Trump to fuck off on blogs like this, or not?

That’s one end of things.

One the OTHER end of things is something akin to a civil war / revolution on the part of Blues. I just don’t see Blues wanting to leave the Union in some sort of National Divorce. I do, however, see the potential for rolling, massive uprisings, probably lead by the political leadership of California.

That is kind of scary and I don’t want that because even though I consider myself a “survivor,” I sure don’t like the idea of having to dodge bombs and bullets. I suppose, if things get bad enough, I won’t feel safe where I live and I’ll have to head north or something.

I really, really don’t want to have to do that.

But it will be interesting to see how much sand the MAGA Right can kick into the eyes of Blues before there is some sort of reaction.

How Could We Have Possibly Known Our Democracy Was So Fragile

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Jesus Christ. We continue to careen towards full blow autocracy and because of the MAGA death cult it’s a lulz. I continue to note that what people are oblivious to is that MAGA is actually pretty popular, all things considered.

It’s by no means the majority, but at about 37%, it’s enough to have a strangle hold on our politics now, and for the foreseeable future.

I continue t hope that maybe, just maybe Blues will get tired of getting political dirt kicked in their face and might actually begin to fight back in some meaningful way. I used to think that if Trump really fucked with Federal elections that that might be enough to stir the passions of Blues.

But, now, I don’t know.

I just don’t know. It could be that we’ll finally lurch into tyranny in such a way that it will be too late for anyone — especially the Blues — to do anything about it. I say this because Trump and his goons are really fucking with freedom of speech right now and…nada.

Blues are in a huff, but there are no calls for a General Strike or any other sort of national direct action. So, this could be it. This could really be it.

I could wake up one day and get thrown into the back of a truck with a hood on and wake up in a camp because I called Trump a cocksucker on this blog.

I Stand With Jimmy Kimmel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

We live in fundamentally dumb times. I finally saw what Jimmy Kimmel actually said…and…? Nothing he said was offensive enough to get him taken off TV, which leads me to believe it was just His Time to be removed from the airwaves at the hand of the fucking autocrat.

What’s worse is, MAGA is really, really hysterical over the relatively anodyne comments that Kimmel made. You would think he pulled out a gun and threatened the audience or something.

Anyway, it’s all just very sad.

And it’s only going to get much, much worse. My only hope is I somehow manage to sell a novel and can get the fuck out of this sinking ship of a country before I get rounded up by ICE and shot to death in a ditch in some camp.

Because you know that’s where this is headed — kooky people are next. They’re going to murder all the Trans people then come after kooks like me. MAGA will lie and say we need to be in a camp “for our own good” or some such.

I am generally a survivor, though. So, I hope, somehow, I can I can extricate my self from this horrible situation before it’s too late.

Trans Rights Is Such A Political Clusterfuck

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Two things can be true at the same time. The “woke cancel culture mob” HAS been a little bit too touchy about certain elements of the Trans movement — especially the whole “protect trans kids” AND Trump is demagoguing the whole thing because the base demands it.

The MAGA base has a surreal fixation on Trans people to an absurd degree. Some of this comes, I think, from how they know the whole thing (especially the nearly-non existant “Trans kids”) is kind of the political clit of the woke Left.

Now, some context.

Just in the last few days it’s hit home that I have a vested interest in assuring Trans peoples some level of dignity — the moment MAGA rounds up Trans people and puts them in camps, guess who’s next: ME. And people like me.

So, as a member of the kook community, I really am growing nervous about my fate as it is grow more and more clear how dire things are growing for Trans people. I just don’t see how this doesn’t end with Trans people in camps. Maybe it will be the Trans issue that causes the inevitable mission creep for ICE.

Cause, you know that’s going to happen. Form follows function and soon enough ICE is going to become an American SS. They will start to round up any one considered either “an enemy of the state” or unworthy of life.

Now there is something else to consider. As it stands, the USA is in something of a political luminal space. We’re an “anocracy” to be exact. There is going to come a point when we go full-blown autocracy and then, well, all bets are off. The USA in 2025 is not Germany in 1933.

We’re far more diverse, decentralized and have a far stronger traditional of being a liberal democracy.

So, if we go full autocracy, there is going to — finally — be some sort of reaction on the part of Blues. And that’s when things will get messy. Very messy.

And, tragically, many, many people may die for no damn reason other than MAGA bigots are paranoid about the browning of America and a small sliver of the population that is Trans.

Ugh.

The Real Dangerous Element Of The Jimmy Kimmel Imbroglio

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

“You do it to yourself,” the old Radiohead lyric goes and that’s what’s going on with the United States. While, yes, the FCC did pressure Disney into getting rid of Jimmy Kimmel for the time being, it happened in conjunction with something far more insidious.

It was really the ABC affiliates balking continuing to air Kimmel that did him in, over and above the clear threat from the FCC.

As such, it is clear that the United States continues to be a house divided. The two sides continue to rush away from each other at an alarming rate. There is literally a solid 37% of the electorate or so that really, honestly wants my worst nightmare to happen.

They want a white Christian autocratic state and they’ve wanted it since Trump ran in 2016. So, lulz? It definitely seems as though we’re going to slide into autocratic rule for no other reason than Blues simply can not, will not get their act together.

I mean, if we had a proper opposition, there would be calls for a general strike. Or Blues would make life hell for Republicans in Congress to the best of their ability.

But, no. This is it. We’re on cruise control and we’re just going to drift into an autocratic state without even so much as a whimper.