Category: Cold Civil War

Worried About The Singularity Making My Scifi Dramedy Novel Moot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Predicting the near future is tough. I keep putting my self on the edge of what may happen, not knowing if by the time the novel actually comes out it all may seen rather quaint.

But, given what the tip of my technology spear is, I kind of have to indulge in those type of calculated risks.

The big thing I’m most worried about is the idea that the Singularity will happen between that magical time I actually sell the novel and when it actually comes out. That would really suck. The Singularity and a civil war / revolution happening are my two big fears about this novel, over and above if I will ever actually get it sold before I die.

Anyway. It’s just on of those things. My dad said no one ever got anywhere in this world without taking a risk and he was right. So, lulz? I just have to accept that I’ve kind of gotten myself into a situation that I don’t really have any control over. I really like the premise of this novel, but there are some innate, inherent risks associated with writing the type of novel I want to write.

Especially given the way I want to publish it, which is the traditional manner, rather than self-publishing. I will just be glad when this damn thing is over with and I go to the next phase, which is querying.

Trump Is Itching To Declare Martial Law

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really don’t want martial law or civil war. Really. I just want to be able to work on my scifi dramedy novel in peace and quiet and see if maybe I can throw it over the transom and get it published.

Ugh.

And, yet, it definitely seems as though we are careening towards some sort of politically volatile situation. Either Trump gets what he wants, which is someone throwing a Molotov Cocktail at some National Guard troops so he can declare martial law, or things really get out of hand and we have some sort of civil war / revolution.

Double ug.

I don’t know what to tell you. My best guess is if there is a civil war, it might happen either around the 2026 or 2028 elections. That’s when political passions are at their highest “the silly season,” and that would make the most sense for the country finally collapsing into civil war or revolution.

Jesus Christ, do I hope that doesn’t happen.

‘One Battle After Another’ Probably Will Be Banned Soon Enough

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One Battle After Another is the best movie of the decade, so far. In fact, there were points while watching it that I found myself comparing it to The Godfather in terms of it potentially becoming a cultural touchstone for decades to come.

But there’s a big problem — it’s seems inevitable that it will get sucked into the culture wars. Now, obviously, in the short term such controversy may help its box office. In the long term, however, I worry about it becoming cultural contraband if Trump goes full tyrant as it seems he is headed at the moment.

So, I guess enjoy it while you can?

The interesting thing about the movie to me was how it managed to be progressive without being “woke.” It was just a really good movie.

Civil War / Revolution ‘Problem Areas’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I do not want a civil war. I do not want a revolution. But everyone else seems to have these potential events on the brain, so let’s contemplate some “problem areas.”

The first thing to remember is if things get really bad, and it seems like there is going to be a civil war or revolution, many, many, many people are going to flee their homes so where they actually live fits their politics better. This is going to be not only scary, but the first real sign that the USA is going to implode soon.

And, remember, the nastiness thing about civil war or revolution is all those Blue cities in Red states will be flashpoints for some pretty horrible, horrific events. Many people will die. It’s even possible that crazed rural people will “empty” a city and murder its residents in Kill Fields-like cold blood.

Yikes.

Here are some areas around the country that will be real problems in the event of a civil war or revolution.

  1. Virginia
    This is an obvious problem area. Virginia is two states, one Red, one Blue fused together who hate each other with growing rage. If the country implodes then the state will implode into intra-state political violence. It’s going to be like the Balkans in Virginia with very messy attempts to unite the state one way or another. A lot — A LOT — of people will die needlessly for a very dumb reason
  2. Oregon
    This state also is kind of two states fused together. I don’t know the intra-state politics of Oregon very well, but it’s my impression that its coast is liberal and its interior is conservative. I could see the state imploding like Virginia and a there being a real attempt by the Reds to take Portland out of spite, if nothing else.
  3. Ohio
    This is not as obvious, but Ohio is very much like, say, Poland. It’s got high population density and it’s strategic. It’s also very Red and I could see if Blues somehow got to the point where they were re-uniting the nation under their standard that Ohio would probably be a bloodbath the likes of which have not been seen since WW2.

    And, lastly, remember that if there is a revolution or civil war that WMD will be used by both sides AND there could be a race war in the South. So, there you go. Hopefully we won’t have to think about any of this in any serious way in the real world — ever.

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.