Steve K. Bannon and I could not be more different. He is on one end of the political spectrum and all the way on the other side is me. And, obviously, even though he’s not nearly as powerful as he use to be, he’s still got a lot more political power than than I have.
Steve K. Bannon
And, yet, I think he and I have similar personalities, even if how expression mine in a dramatically different way.
One element that he and I share is we tend to run with a microscopic amount of information, speculating about this or that theory of the moment that we may have concocted.
And I think he probably does a lot of scenario running in his mind like I do.
Some of what I may be noticing is both of us are, relative to normal people, cranks. We’re both full of shit. I think I’m a little bit more self-aware of how full of shit than he is, but, lulz.
The reason why this is important is, what separates the two of us is opportunity. He’s a member of the elite and I’m a nobody. And yet, the United States is entering an unprecedented era of instability. And there’s a greater-than-zero-sum chance that nothing short of a revolution is going to happen. And, as such, even a nobody like me, who thrives in chaos, might find myself with the finger of God pointing at me in a rather dramatic fashion.
Democracy is America’s birthright. I say this knowing that 38% of the electorate — the Republican part — will say at this point “actually…. we’re a constitutional republic.”
The issue with the argument that the United States has never been a democracy is how brazenly partisan it is. This argument on the part of well meaning Republicans — some of whom I’m related to — is such bullshit because even though, yes, technically we’re a constitutional republic, being a democracy is part of our collective self-perception.
Additionally, there is a specific point to Republicans denying that the United States is a democracy — it’s the way they get out of having to explain their coming minority rule. They hate the browning of America and the economic liberation of women so much that they would rather establish white autocratic minority rule than risk losing power.
Of course, this opens up the very real possibility that instead of simply becoming an autocracy that we’ll have a “national divorce” between Blues who think we’re a democracy and Reds who think we aren’t and never have been.
But, as I keep writing, I find the notion that we’re going to have a civil war dubious. I think, in the end, because “democracy” is such an abstract concept and the getting the country to focus on anything is too difficult…we’re just going to drift into autocracy and it won’t be until it’s way too late that a lot of people — many of them supporters of fascism — will realize how bad things are going to be from here on out.
In other words, it won’t be until things get personal that a lot of people who otherwise want autocracy will sit up and take notice. But, by then, things will be way too late, especially for people like me.
First, let me some things out of the way. I’m drunk as I write this and so I’m venturing into something potentially extremely controversial because I feel like being a bit more frisky than normal. And, in this specific case I’m using a very narrow definition of “woke.”
So, I’m not attacking the #MeToo movement or anything like that. And I’m a CIS white man and shouldn’t even be talking about this. I know. I get it. But, as will become clear, there’s a specific reason for all of this to begin with.
The Center Will Not Hold
Ok, what prompts this post is something I saw on Tik-Tok. A gorgeous young woman was complaining about the cancelation of The Victoria’s Secret Show and how she still had dreams of walking it one day. This got me thinking about how wokeness is, in a way, limiting women’s choices by not giving them the option to, say, to walk the Victoria Secret runway if such a thing is potentially an option for them.
And, let me be clear — I know about how problematic the ownership of Victoria Secret is and I know about how Fenty is, in a way, replacing Victoria Secret and working within the context of the “woke agenda.”
Ok, Ok. I get it.
I guess what I’m really bemoaning is how it seems that to be woke, by definition means to no longer believe there is any cultural center where traditional things like, say, a beauty pageant or the Victoria Secret runway show simply have no place in the world.
This is relevant because if you actively allow identity politics to deconstruct the “center” you are fueling the rage of the very people the “woke cancel culture mob” hates the most — the MAGA New Right. If there was any way for us to square the circle and say, “Yes, you can have a Victoria Secret runway show in the post woke era, if that’s something you’re interested in” then a lot of Traditionalists who are now all-in with MAGA might at least think about moderating their stance a little bit.
Great book.
It just seems to this middle age CIS white male — who should be rarely be seen and never heard — that the reason why there is something of a crisis going on in the Western world at the moment is you’re limiting what women can do in the name of being woke. If you’re a hot, young woman, then walking the Victoria Secret runway is something you dream about, something you really want to do.
You shouldn’t take that away from her in the name of “wokeness.”
But, of course, that’s exactly what’s happening. We’ve entered a new era where there is no “center” in pop culture anymore and the United States is careening towards a very, very, very dark fate where there are only two options: autocracy or civil war.
Now, let me be clear — barring something totally unexpected, what I propose isn’t going to happen. My continued fears about America either turning into an autocracy or having a civil war around 2024 – 2025 remain in place. But the book How Democracies Die, suggests if we were really serious about saving American democracy, we would seriously contemplate a 2024 Unity Ticket.
At the moment, that Unity Ticket would be Cheney / AOC 2024. If Mike Pence wasn’t such a fucking coward, I would put him at the top of such a hypothetical ticket.
And there would be a lot of problems with such a Unity Ticket, no matter what. Just because Twitter liberals would spooge their pants at such an idea, doesn’t mean the woke Democratic base would be all that thrilled. But the whole point of a United Ticket would be everyone would be unhappy for the common good of at least punting the possibility of autocracy or civil war down the road one more presidential political cycle.
But even if you could find the gumption of doing a Unity Ticket, you would have to get past Bannon’s planned “administrative coup” he wants to pull off in 2024.
So why even entertain such an idea to begin with?
Because it’s right there in front of us. If we really, really want to protect our birthright as Americans — that of at least wanting to live in a democracy, even if we live in a “constitutional republic” — a Unity Ticket is a quick and easy way to do so. You would have to have some sort of power sharing agreement in place that would make the Federal government act extremely schizophrenia, but, again, you would be saving the American democracy. Maybe allowing it to survive long enough for us to figure out how to fix the rot at its core we’re currently living through at the moment.
But for any of this to happen, something big would have to change. Biden would have to decide not to run. Enough Democrats would have to stop worrying about their pronouns long enough to sit up and take notice about how dire our situation is at the moment.
So, lulz, I don’t really expect this to happen. It’s just a daydream. It’s something that makes sense on paper, but is unlikely to ever, ever happen.
These days, you hear a lot about how much our democracy is in peril. Add to this the fact that about 38% of the electorate doesn’t believe we’re a democracy in the first place and, well, lulz. As we approach the first step in our decent into the existential choice of autocracy or civil war, here is what we can expect when we finally are, in fact, no longer a democracy.
The Great Liberal Brain Drain When it becomes clear that we’re no longer a democracy, probably at some point in late 2024 to early 2025, many, many, many wealthy liberals are simply going to leave the country. In fact, it could become so bad that the very people who crow about, “If you don’t like it, then leave” will be the very people who suddenly freak the fuck out when this very thing happens. We’re going to go from Fox screaming hysterically about scary brown people in caravans headed towards the border to them complaining constantly about how liberals are leaving the country. At first, of course, they will be gloat and be full of glee at this prospect….until it gets to the point that even they realize the economic impact of this happening and all they will do is complain about how wealthy liberals are fleeing to the south of France (or wherever). But make no mistake about it — it’s going to happen. The moment it’s clear we’re an autocracy, wealthy liberals will flee the United States en masse.
The Passage Of The Republican Agenda At some point after 2025 when Republicans know the coast is clear, Republicans are going to abolish the Senate filibuster and cram threw their entire agenda that they’ve been hoping to pass the last few decades. ACA will be gone. Abortion will be banned in all the states. Social Society, Medicaid and Medicare will be gutted, “reformed” and privatized. Taxes for plutocrats will be lowered, while the poor will have to start to “pay their fair share.” There may be a lot of protesting, but, just like with Russia, ultimately…lulz, nothing matters.
Plutocrats Will End The Liberal Media If what happened to Russia is any indication, at some point after 2025, we will begin to see MAGA-friendly plutocrats begin to buy and otherwise make huge investments in Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, etc to the point that in a subtle way the idea of there being a “liberal media” will begin to seem quite quaint. And what our new fascist overlords can’t get that way, they will get via brute force — they will threaten harsh regulations and broadcast companies licensing. I would suggest you keep an eye on things like The New York Times and PBS as well. If somehow, magically, The New York Times is sold to, say, Elon Musk and you look at PBS Newshour and is identical to Hannity then, well, America is an autocracy.
A Constitutional Convention Now, this is where a lot of people who still believe in the system, believe that all we have to do is wait for the Justice Department to indict about two dozen people and we’re all going to be saved — I’m looking at you Mueller, She Wrote — will think I’m being “terribly negative.” But we’re already just a few states away from a Constitutional Convention being called and one of the long-term goals of the MAGA New Right is for this to happen to “pass a balanced budget amendment.” But given how such a convention would be populated — by people selected by state legislatures — it’s very, very, very easy to imagine that the moment it convenes, it will go rouge and decide to dramatically change the Constitution. The MAGA New Right agenda will be codified in the Constitution and things like birthright citizenship, a weak executive and God only knows what else will be gone. That will be the central political issue of the day at some point after we’re finally no longer a democracy. And all the bullshit gaslighting that Republicans have been using for decades will be used to get it all passed. And the center-Left is just too weak, so, lulz, we’re fucked.
The Weaponization of The ICE Infrastructure As all of this is going on, the already existent ICE infrastructure will be weaponized so loudmouth crank drunks like me will find themselves in a lot of hot water. And, given that I, by nature, just can’t shut up, I fully expect that in the end I’m probably going to die in an ICE camp. Or something. Something bleak and dark.
Minority Report There is another option. And that option is our autocracy will be a Very American Autocracy in that, relative to, say, Russia, it will be “light touch” — but still exist. Or it might be that our decent into a Russian-style autocracy will be so gradual after some initial gloating on the part of the MAGA New Right that we won’t really notice any changes at first. And this will happen because the center-Left in the United States is soooooo fucking weak and so wrapped up in what pronouns to use that the autocrat will simply go about his business and not really care about the “soft power” that the liberal elites might have. And, besides, the liberal elites won’t even live in the country anymore, so…lulz?
I love me a good counter-factual. In fact, I spend way, way, way too much time toying with different “what-if” scenarios. It’s like, my thing. So, the case could be made that had the Civil War happened a little later that Lincoln might have lead the North leaving the Union instead of leading the fight to save it.
Just within the last few days, it’s occurred me what one might expect if the “national divorce” that Reds keep babbling about actually happend around 2024 – 2025. For the longest time, I thought both sides would be fighting over, essentially, the USA “brand.” But now I realize that the war aims of the Blues would be to simply leave the Union.
It would be Reds who play the part of the North in this scenario, trying to “save” the Union — even though in reality, they would want to oppress Blues by putting a knee on their throat for eternity.
This really makes me very unhappy because now I realize that should things get so bad that we’re having a civil war, then rather than supporting the Union in 2024 – 2025, I’ll be supporting the secessionists. Or, put another way, if I find myself a political refugee somewhere in a Blue state once a Second Civil War starts all the propaganda I will be consuming will be about how great and wonderful that “national divorce” that Reds current want would be.
Meanwhile, Reds will be freaking out and bombing the hell out of Blues to try to keep them in the Union.
History is, if nothing else, ironic.
Of course, there is something I really don’t talk that much about — the possibility that the joke will be on all of us –instead of any sort of national divorce, the U.S. Military will finally, FINALLY step in as the country is descending into civil war and we’ll end up with endup with Acting President Mattis.
But the fact remains — Reds would have to be EXTREMELY DUMB to start a civil war before the general late 2024 – early 2025 timeframe. They’re ascendant and, a such, they have no reason to want a civil war. They can get everything they want just by being patient.
Trump is — and remains — too stupid and lazy to be an autocrat. The great irony is, of course, that both myself and the people who voted for him in 2016 thought he was an autocrat. But, lulz, no. He’s not a Great Man, he’s just an avatar who plays himself and is too lazy to do the hard work of destroying American democracy once and for all.
This brings us to Trump’s looming second term.
Now, obviously, that’s both not happen yet and a few years away. So a lot could change between now and 2025. But even though Trump looks like shit most of the time these days, Joe Biden has proven that someone in their late 70s and early 80s can be president.
So, let’s suppose Trump does exactly what we believe he is going to do and runs again in 2024 and, through hook or through crook, wins again. What would be the significance of that event?
There is a lot to unpack here.
First, of course, is the cold hard fact that Trump’s second term will be based on revenge and the final destruction of American democracy. But, again, all of that will happen in the context of Trump being very stupid and very lazy. The real issue we have to worry about is who will be his successor.
His successor will be America’s Putin.
At the moment, I’m leaning towards him picking as crazy as possible a successor. Someone like Gen. Mike Flynn. Someone who is totally fucking bonkers and yet is young enough and smart enough to complete the process of transitioning the United States into autocracy. There’s a small chance that Trump might, out of desperation, pick Ron DeSantis as his veep, but if he goes with a “normal” person, it’s probably going to pick someone even more dangerous like Josh Hawley.
But the point is — barring the other option of 2024 – 2025, which is civil war — the United States will no longer be a democracy soon after Trump cheats his way into a second term. (A second term he would probably win without even cheating.)
And even Trump is smart enough to realize that once he’s back in power, he can get everything he wants through a Constitutional Convention. I fully expect Trump — or his smarter, more organized successor –to demand a Constitutional Convention to “pass a balanced budget amendment” at some point after 2025.
And, yet, I’m still blocked by Mueller, She Wrote for being “terribly negative” even though it’s pretty obvious that my “terribly negative” views are using self-evident information. Oh well. Fight the power, I guess.
I read the huge Truman biography some time ago, and there’s passage where he recounts how at some point around the Korea War how Truman met Gen. MacArthur in the middle of the Pacific. Apparently, after Truman fired the general for wanting to nuke China, he mused that had they died around the time of that meeting each of their legacies would have been far, far different.
Another relevant anecdote is the very well known one about how Steve Jobs seduced John Sculley to leave Pepsi to join Apple. He said something along the lines of, “Do you want to continue to sell sugar water the rest of your life or do you want to change the world?”
So, with that in mind, let me ask Mike Pence a question, “Do you want to be joke or do you want to be a Great Man?” You can change your legacy from the guy with the fly on your head who almost got hanged by your own supporters to the Great American who saved 250 years of American democracy not once, but twice.
Pence is very conspicuous about being a man of God. I was raised in the church and I’m well aware of how important prayer is to people like him. As such, I would suggest to Pence that he take a long, long walk with the Good Lort to get some advice as to his next move.
Here’s where things stand with Pence at the moment. After doing the barest minimum necessary to keep American democracy alive, Pence is well on his way to being fading into political oblivion. Pence, as it stands, will be a joke to the center-Left and a traitor to the MAGA New Right.
And this is where the power of prayer comes in.
I totally disagree with 99% of what he believes politically — but I agree with his faith in American democracy. So much so, that it is very, very obvious that if Pence continues to have any hope of being POTUS one day, he has to change the question.
The question is no longer, “How do I win the Republican nomination?” but, rather, “Am I willing to risk switching parties to be part of a 2024 unity ticket?” The cold hard fact is — Mike Pence is never going to be POTUS if he remains a Republican. By saving American democracy, he has destroyed his political career as a Republican. To be a Republican now, by definition, means to be an autocratic fascist.
So, Pence has a very, very stark choice — drift into political oblivion and or have a greater-than-zero-sum chance at having a bust of him placed in the Capitol Rotunda at some point in the not-so-distant future.
All Pence has to do is do a lot of praying and testify on live TV, under oath before the January 6th Committee and explain what he saw from Election Day 2020 to Certification Day 2021. It might help if he told the public, on a personal level, what it felt like to have his own supporters scream “Hang Mike Pence.”
He would instantly become the Democratic front runner for 2024. The public’s perception of him would change instantly. And, what’s more, he would not have to change a single policy belief. All he would have to do is define himself as defender of American Democracy and be willing to run as part of a Unity Ticket with, maybe AOC as his veep.
Throw in some sort of pre-election power sharing agreement and the rest takes care of himself. Both sides of a very, very politically divided America would be EXTREMLY ANGRY at this arrangement, but for the 100,000 or so people across five swing states who decide American elections, such an arrangement would be catnip.
Independent swing voters — who really decide elections at this point — would love the idea that “both sides” were being represented under such an agremeemt.
Now, there are obvious risks.
One is, that this would be simply not be something that the American political system could process and Pence WOULDN’T be seen as the Democratic front runner as part of some sort of Unity Ticket. Biden is old, but he’s not dead. And he remains very popular within Democratic ranks.
But in 2024, America faces the existential choice of a MAGA Republican themed autocracy or a civil war. And, while Liz Cheney could also serve the purpose of Pence on a Unity Ticket, Pence is the big kahuna. He really could do something amazing and instantly change his legacy — simply by telling the truth.
I do not honestly believe any of this is going to happen. I mean, lulz. But it’s just so frustrating that a solution to the existential problem that faces America is right in front of Mike Pence and yet, even with a walk with the good Lort, he won’t do it.
If Liz Cheney is any indication, Mike Pence could dramatically change his political fortunes if he dropped a H-Bomb on Washington and agreed to testify before the January 6th Committee at some point before its televised hearings wrapped up.
Just do it, Mike.
As I’ve said before, in one simple act, Mike Pence would go from political has been to the potential Democratic 2024 front runner. It would be a jaw dropping, astonishing event in modern American political history. It could also single handedly save American democracy — or at least give a little bit more breathing room.
But why? Why should he do it?
The chief reason is the Trump anti-democratic infection has gone septic — the very thing that destroyed Pence’s MAGA career is now the only thing that could save his political career. He just has to pull a John Dean and testify live and under oath as to what he saw in the lead up to January 6th.
That one simple act would make the Liberal Elites swoon. He would be a Great Man on historical terms because he could be the one person who could manage to save democracy in 2024 because he would be EXTREMELY CONSERVATIVE and yet a Democrat. (He would have to, of course, pick someone like AOC as his veep and agree to some sort of extensive power sharing agreement, but, still.)
Of course, there is a huge amount of risk involved. It could be that what I propose wouldn’t be enough to redeem Pence in the eyes of the very woke Democratic Party base. That’s a very real possibility.
But two things. One, I hate all of Liz Cheney’s political beliefs, but damn if I wouldn’t vote for her for POTUS given the chance. I’m so desperate for principled leadership from someone who believes in democracy that I’m willing to hold my nose if it means defeating MAGA in 2024. The same applies to Mike Pence — if he testified for a few hours (days?) before the January 6th Committee and explained exactly what he knew of the conspiracy, then, yes, I would probably vote for him if he was the head of a Unity Ticket with AOC as veep.
The other issue is the historical significance of Pence doing such a thing. If he marketed himself as a defender of small-d democracy — if that was the cornerstone of why he was running for POTUS In the first place — we’re talking Great Man territory for Pence.
And, I think Pence needs to reflect on the fact that the faction of MAGA that wanted to hang him on January 6th is now the dominate faction. Within MAGA ranks, he’s growing more and more irrelevant. And the only way for him to avoid simply fading into political oblivion is to do a Hail Mary Pass and to go full John Dean on Trump and MAGA.
But no one listens to me. Oh well. I guess we need to go back to thinking about what we’re going to do in 2024 – 2025 when we either have a civil war or turn into an autocracy.
Ok, if you want a perfect ecapulation of why we’re totally, completely fucked going forward — to the point that we have only two options 1) civil war 2) autocracy — look no further than what Rep. Barry Loudermilk did in days leading up to January 6th.
So, Rep. Loudermilk obvious helped insurrectionists case the Capitol…and yet he denies it and he’s going to get away with it. This lack of accountability is the cornerstone of modern America. And it’s why, in the end, we’re probably just going to become a MAGA autocracy.
And, sad to say, in about 20 years, America could be politically a Russia clone. What’s more, we’re going to go down that path without even putting up a struggle. Of course, there is the possibility that may have a civil war rather than go down the autocracy route, but that possibility isn’t very high.
The Blues just don’t have the leadership to do such a thing.
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