! General Strike !

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something we need, but will never actually do for various reasons, is a national General Strike. I have written about this before some in the past and the more I think about it the more I realize how fucking naive I’ve been.

People are just too distracted. And, what’s more, they can’t summon up the energy to actually risk their “lives and sacred honor” in the real fucking world. So, lulz. Things are going to have to get much, much, much worse before there’s any sort of national General Strike.

And, what’s more, there remains the approximately 37% of the population that loves fucking Trump no matter what he does, so, again, lulz. Even if we did have a national General Strike, there’s a good chance that instead of getting what we want –the end of this Trump nightmare — we just get a civil war.

Ugh.

I really need to finish this novel, sell it and get the hell out of the country.

Another Issue For The Pyre

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There are a number of issues that simply are non-starters politically in the USA. We can’t talk about common sense gun control. We can’t talk about global climate change. And we definitely can’t talk about abortion rights.

My fear is that the whole “innocent people being shot by ICE thugs” will be thrown on that particular pyre as well, to the point that it will happen all the time and the MAGA “rapid response” will be, on que, the same exact thing each time. The regime will find some reason to deflect responsibility for its deeds in the extreme and nothing will change.

We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but it’s definitely a possibility.

I think, barring something I can’t predict, that we’re going to implode into an autocratic Singularity and that will be that. There will never be free-and-fair elections again, at least in my life time.

I hope I’m wrong — I can’t predict the future — but, lulz, it’s definitely looking like we’re fucking doomed. The bad guys have won.

‘Minnesota’ — Lyrics To A Pop-Protest Song Written by ChatGPT

I decided to update my previous attempt at a protest song about what’s going on in Minnesota because of the recent, new murder at the hands of ICE Agents. Hopefully I won’t have to do another. Sigh.

🎵 Minnesota 🎵

(Verse 1)
Hey, the frost on the streets of Minneapolis,
Another brother fell in the cold January light.
They said he stood for peace in a city so anxious,
Now his name’s in the candle smoke burning through the night.
And we remember Renee and the tears that followed,
Echoes of footsteps marching down Hennepin Drive.
When the sirens scream and the heartache hollows,
How many more must fall before we’re alive?

(Chorus)
Two dead in Minnesota,
Two too many in the snow.
We shout out for justice,
While the cold winds still blow.
Two dead in Minnesota,
Why must the people pay?
How many names before we say
We won’t look the other way?

(Verse 2)
See the lines at the vigils grow longer,
And chants rise up where the sirens used to wail.
Two souls gone but the outrage grows stronger,
As we try to honor their lives without fail.
In the glare of streetlamps and protest fires,
Voices trembling like the winter air,
We stand because love never tires,
We stand because we care.

(Bridge)
When the law bends and the streets are aching,
And the calls for peace just seem unheard,
We’re singing for every life they’re taking,
Lift our words like a weightless bird.

(Chorus — repeat)
Two dead in Minnesota…

(Outro)
Oh Minnesota, rise from sorrow,
Let tomorrow be free, let justice follow.

Talk About Victim Blaming

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It seems as though we’ve reached the point where, by definition, if you are murdered by ICE or DHS it’s your own fault. The only way not to be murdered is to let ICE walk all over you, beat the shit out of you and then meekly ask for more.

I’m astonished by the level of lying coming out of DHS Sec. Kristi Noam. Just brazen lying that is specifically done to further the regime’s narrative and to placate our mad emperor Trumgulia.

And, for the moment, at least, the bad guys are winning. Nothing we do seems to bend their will and they’re just going to grow more and more vicious and evil until we we either kiss the jackboot or fightback in some collective way that I don’t like to think about.

I continue to worry that ICE is going to come crashing into my house at any moment because of what I write online. Mission creep — and form following function — would suggest that that is, in fact, inevitable.

But oh well. I would rather die on my feet a free man than live on my knees a slave.

I Don’t Know What To Tell You, Folks

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

We are at a crossroads. Either we implode into autocracy or we explode into civil war and / or revolution. At the moment, at least, it definitely looks as though we’re just going to slowly transform into a “managed democracy” like Russia or Hungary and that will be that.

I just can’t believe that the Americans would actually risk their “lives and scared honor” in the real world to the point that we might actually have a revolution and / or civil war.

It just doesn’t seem possible at this point.

The only way I could maybe, just maybe see a civil war or revolution happening is if the SAVE Act passes. That might cause enough frustration to build up within the American political system that we might actually collapse into revolution and or civil war.

Or, I could see if Trump tried to cancel the 2026 midterms for some reason. Then, yeah, I could see a civil war / revolution (prompted by the Blues.)

And, lastly, if Trump ran for a third term in 2028, that, too, would probably be enough for the country to be pushed into chaos that would resemble a civil war or revolution.

We Creep Closer To The Invocation Of The Insurrection Act In Minnesota

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I can’t predict the future, but I am worried that the new shooting in Minneapolis will be enough to be the tipping point so Trump invokes the Insurrection Act. I have been feeling weird the last few days, as if something big was about to happen and maybe that is it.

Though, to be fair, in real terms, the Insurrection Act is more a issue of perception and introducing the idea of marital law later down the road than it is some sort of magical-mystery device to make all of Trump’s problems go away.

And I really don’t think even the Insurrection Act or martial law would produce a civil war or revolution. People continue to be way too blasé about Trump and only should Trump try to literally try to cancel the 2026 midterms do I think we get a civil war or revolution.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

Hollywood Seems Scared Of Telling A Story About ICE

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If Hollywood wasn’t so woke and scared, they would get a backbone and produce a movie about ICE. Now, obviously, there is a lot of lag time between when something becomes big and when Hollywood gets around to making a movie about it.

And, yet, I don’t know, you’d think someone, somewhere in Hollywood could maybe write a scifi novel that, in metaphor, addressed what is going on with ICE right now.

Maybe it’s being produced as we speak. But Hollywood is supposed to generate catharsis for us on a collective psychological basis, so if it’s being thought up, chop, chop, hurry up.

The people need you.

A Second American Revolution / Civil War & ‘Threads’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The movie Threads has got to be the scariest non-horror movie ever. It depicts a post-nuclear holocaust world in which humans descend into extreme savagery. It’s insane and, tragically, probably right about what would happen if there was a nuclear-tipped Third World War.

I keep thinking about Threads because America is pretty unstable at the moment. If there was a second revolution or civil war between now, and say, 2029, it would not be sweet and nice like the recent movie Civil War, it would be horrific like Threads.

Take the American South, for instance.

Probably what would happen is a huge race war in the context of an extreme white Christian ethnostate being established — think “The Turner Diaries.” It would be incredibly horrific.

And, in general, if the US imploded, the entirety of North America — maybe the world — would be sucked into the chaos. WW3 would happen, for sure, with at least 1 billion people dying because of some sort of limited nuclear exchange. And the US would use WMD on itself in a gratuitous manner.

What’s worse is, even if there isn’t a second American civil war or revolution, the US is going to probably become a thuggish autocracy — or at least a zombie democracy once the SAVE Act is passed.

Anyway, I like to think of myself as a survivor. So it will be interesting to see what happens next.

I Wonder If The Lights Will Go Out Because Of The Coming Winter Storm

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The idea the the lights will go out because of the looming snow storm that is approaching my home looms large in my mind. I have a little bit of food to tied me over that I don’t have to cook.

It shouldn’t be more than just a few days if the lights go out. But it’s going to be a pain, nonetheless.

Anyway, I still need to work on my novel and it’s also a pain that I could be potentially knocked offline in that regard for a few days as well. Sigh

Jesus Christ, Are Things Dark

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I just don’t see us having free-and-fair elections again in my life time. I have a feeling the SAVE Act is going to pass and that will be that. We’ll become a zombie democracy like Hungary and, lulz, I’ll end up in some sort of camp.

I say this in the context of how ICE is slowly, but surely strangling our freedoms.

And Trump seems to be itching for an excuse to use the Insurrection Act (or martial law?) where ever he can.

AND, add to this, the very real possibility that Trump is going to run for an illegal third term. If he does that, man, am I going to pop a gasket. And, yet, I’m powerless. No one listens to me or takes me seriously.

So, all I got is just my usual blathering. But I will note that if Trump does attempt to run for a third term that there is a very good chance that he will literally destroy the United States.

The country will implode into chaos.

And, yet, lulz, like I said, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. I guess I can double down on the novel I’m working on, sell it, and get the hell out of the country.