Tag: Second American Civil War

Contemplating The Possible Collapse Of The Social Security Administration

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As is always the case with Trumplandia, a lot is going on at the same time. The economy — apparently according to forecasting data — is just about to tank in a way not seen in decades. Meanwhile, there is growing chatter among those in-the-know that the skullfucking that Trump is doing to the Social Security Administration…might…actually cause some disruption in the ability of the service to cut checks on time.

Now, before you get too excited, Americans are extremely docile folks. Not even a Great Depression got them to do anything of note. And the Civil War was, in real terms, something of a fluke and in some ways only happened because Abraham Lincoln, personally, was a badass.

And remember, even if somehow, magically, people took to the streets en masse in an effort to bring down Tyrant Trump one of two things would happen — one it works and there’s a civil war because MAGA Reds would pop a gasket or two it doesn’t work and Tyrant Trump uses it as an excuse to consolidate power and we become a military police state.

So, lulz?

Americans love to just “muddle through” things, but I Trump, personally, is a a cocksucker who loves to make it impossible to do just that, so….we’ll see. It’s at least possible that, by the end of the year, the USA will not only pull out of NATO and the UN, but become a full-fledged tyrannical state under the MAGA Nazi jackboot.

Sigh.

The Regime Risks Growing Arrogant

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There is pride before the fall and I’m beginning to worry that Trump is going to really do something crazy with the FBI to the point that people might…begin to care?

If Trump actually makes good on his desires for a police state then, at least in some of the Blue States, this is going to cause some problems. I’m a man of peace, a man of ideas, but the idea of some sort of Blue revolution does seem in the greater-than-zero range right now.

I hope, I really hope, that doesn’t happen, but if Trump uses the FBI to literally snatch people — like me! — off the street then, well, we got a problem. But hopefully that won’t happen. Hopefully.

But it definitely, at least, SEEMS that we are headed in that direction. What will be interesting to see is the reaction on the part of the population to such thuggish shenanigans.

I suppose what Trump might do is purge the FBI to the point that he has to find whack jobs in police departments in Red States to fill all those high paying positions and then he uses them to do is bidding in Blue States. That causes mass protests, he calls in Red State National Guards and, tah-dah, we’re a military police state under martial law for the foreseeable future.

You Can’t Unring A Bell

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The thing about what’s going on as we slide into autocracy is we’ve reached point where everyone is learning the weaknesses of the system. So, no matter what, this is it, the end — you can’t unring Trump’s bell.

We either go full Russian-style autocracy, or we have a Great Turbulence where the Good Guys win and a Third Republic is established. There is no middle ground anymore.

I honestly don’t know which direction things are going to go. It could be either way. The only way we “solve” this problem is via something akin to a Revolution and I just don’t see Americans prepared to do that. So, I suppose I’ve answered my own question — it seems like we’re going to become a very legalistic dictatorship with two branches of government that exist, but don’t do anything.

That’s the dystopian hellscape that we’re zooming towards at the moment.

#ETTD: Kennedy Center Edition

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump hates the Kennedy Center for a number of reasons, chief amongst them is it’s a symbol of all the cultured people who think he’s a piece of shit (which he is.) So, he wants to remake it in his own image — going so far as to name himself to lead it the damn thing.

This is another example of how dark things are and how even if we magically get a Blue President at some point in the future that the whole context will be different. This hypothetical president will spend their entire first term just figuring out how to cobble the Federal government back together and even then, like I said, the context will be different.

You can’t unring a bell, as they say.

We are so fucked. So totally and completely fucked. And I keep reviewing how right I got so much of this. I still think the only reason why we didn’t have a civil war was Trump won. Had he lost, there was a good chance he would have demanded a civil war.

And Blues just don’t have it in them to put up any sort of fight. Fuck MAGA, fuck Trump and fuck Musk is all I have to say. I might as well use my free speech while I still have it. They’ll come for me soon enough.

Jesus Christ, Are Things Dark

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Oh my fucking God are things dark politically now and getting darker by the moment. We’ve reached a no-going-back moment: I just don’t think America is going to be the same now, no matter what. I don’t think we’re ever going to have free and fair elections again and if a Blue somehow did magically get elected the entire context of his or her administration would be different.

So, this is it, folks, we’re totally fucked.

As I repeatedly predicted with my “hysterical doom shit,” we are, in 2025, now a dictatorship. Trump is ruining everything to the point that even if we somehow put things back together, it won’t be the same. And Trump is showing other people want can be done to the point that the fascists are going to totally transform the United States no matter what.

Of course, there is a greater-than-zero chance that Trump and Musk could really fuck up, there’s a General Strike and massive protests and somehow, magically Trump and Musk are deposed. Then a civil war happens because Red States get mad and leave the Union.

So…lulz?

I just want to live in a traditional Western democracy. That shouldn’t be a big ask.

It’ll Never Happen, But Maybe We Need A Military Coup

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve written numerous times over the years about the possibility that Trump is so stupid and lazy that he could finally push the public to the point that the U.S. Military would feel it needs to step in to overthrow him. (This, of course, would cause a civil war because Red States would leave the Union.)

So, I don’t really want a military coup, but it is enticing. It has a certain allure to it, as if we could square the circle of MAGA turning us into a fucking MAGA Nazi state by just starting all over.

We have a military junta run the country while we hold a Constitutional Convention that would have sweeping powers to reform things so we can bounce back. But, like I said, about 48% of the population LOVES what Trump is doing, so, lulz. It’s all very frustrating.

There just doesn’t seem to be anything we can do to fix this particular situation. At least in the near term. Either we slide into autocracy with our eyes wide open or Trump and Musk finally do something so outrageous that there’s, like, a General Strike and the U.S. Military is forced to step in.

Who knows what is going to happen.

General Strike!

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I only feel comfortable writing any of this because absolutely no one listens to me. If I felt anyone would actually listen to me on this subject, I would keep my thoughts to myself. So, in a sense, this is just mental masturbation to make myself feel better.

Having said all that, I suspect it’s at least possible that at some point after Social Security checks fail to be issued (probably at the end of this month) there might be some momentum towards real collective direct action in the guise of something pretty huge like a Blue General Strike.

I say this because neither Trump, nor Musk is going anywhere and the only way to get rid of one or both of them is to do something really fucking drastic, like crash the national (global?) economy by having a General Strike.

Of course, there is a risk that doing such a thing would play into Trump’s hands by giving him the right to declare martial law. I suspect he’s bound to do this anyway, so, lulz, bring it on.

And, yet, I think there is also a chance that Blue’s just don’t have it in them collectively to do something so dramatic and drastic. So, Trump and Musk will consolidate power and I will live in a MAGA dystopian hellscape for the rest of my life.

Sigh.

The Political Slack In The American Political System Is Slowly Tightening

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Most conflicts start because of a miscalculation by one side. What MAGA leadership is assuming — which may not be true — is the MAGA base has such absolute fidelity to Trump (and by extension Musk) that they can burn the Federal government to the ground and nothing will happen.

Their reasoning is, I assume, that that the absolute racism and misogyny at the core of the MAGA movement is so all-powerful that the vast majority of MAGA and their associate Vichy collaborators will simply grin and bear it no matter how bad things get.

Don’t get me wrong — they may be right in that assumption. It could be that if Musk and his Incel toadies illegally carve out $2 trillion in “savings” from the budget that the fucking racists of MAGA will rationalize the sudden absence of Medicaid and Medicare away because they will be so happy that scary brown people are being mass deported.

And, yet, Musk and his Incels are so oblivious to the human condition that they could very well fuck with even Social Security checks and assume there will be no consequences. At the moment, what I think may happen is late this month — February – we will learn that Social Security checks will not come out at all.

This will cause a huge uproar — historic even — causing even ding-dong Trump pause for thought. There is a CHANCE that he will cut Musk loose. But we will find out soon enough that whatever Musk’s merry band of Incels did to the government’s computers is so bad that it could take months to fix, which will only aggravate an already touchy situation.

That is only one of a spectrum of possibilities, but it’s the one that gives me the most heebeejeebees. Something like that could cause the United States to buckle in a rather spectacular way, to the point that Trump might even be “deposed” in some way, which, of course, will in turn cause a civil war because Red States will get mad and leave the Union.

Or something. Maybe if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are totally broken for six months that even the deepest Red voter in the Deep South will simply want Trump and Musk to go away so Vance can take over. I just don’t know one way or another.

All I know is things are going to get bumpy between now and April. Really bumpy. I just don’t know the shape or form that “bumpiness” will take. All the conditions are there for some rather severe, dramatic things to happen because the political slack in the U.S. system is quickly beginning to grow tighter and tigher.

Musk As Trump’s Downfall (Maybe)

By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I just don’t see any endgame in the severe crisis we’re in where things go “back to normal.” Either we become a plutocratic autocracy or we collapse and are reborn as a Third Republic in some way. That’s all I got.

The thing about Elon Musk is he’s doing all this shit that Trump is too lazy, stupid and unfocused to pull off. What gets me is all these fascist tech bros who are coming out of the woodwork in ardent support of Emperor Musk. It’s all very surreal.

I suppose it’s within the realm of possibility that Musk will do something so dumb and dramatic that even Reds will get upset. But we have a ways — a long ways — ahead of us before that happens. The end of February is going to be a big deal because that’s when Social Security checks go out.

If they, for some reason, fail to materialize, a lot of people — even Reds — will be upset and start to appoint blame. It’s possible that that will be the moment when Trump cuts Musk loose, but it will be way too late.

I can just see it now — we learn that whatever Musk’s tykes did to prevent Social Security checks from being cut will take months to fix and the thinking is that by time everyone will stop being angry and figured out how to live without that regular source of income.

This Can’t Last

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

They say when you come to a fork in the road– take it. I suspect that at some point between now and mid-April, some pretty fucking dramatic things are going to happen.

Probably martial law will be declared and Trump — and Musk — will rule as a full blow tyrannical dictator. The rest of the government will continue to act as if they have some sort of purpose, but in reality they won’t be jack squat.

One thing we need to keep an eye on is who is going to get arrested for no damn reason in the near future. I think Trump might start to arrest a lot of people he just doesn’t like and they will officially be political prisoners.

But I do think we need to keep an eye on Elon Musk’s skullfucking of the government. When those Social Security checks don’t go out as expected, that’s when the shit will hit the fan. That’s when martial law will probably be declared.

We just have to accept that the America that we once knew is imploding and something new is going to take its place. Either an autocracy or some sort of new, Third Republic. Regardless, things are probably going to get very, very messy.

I’m kind of trapped in the United States at the moment, so it’s not like I can escape. But I am, in general, a survivor, so, lulz. we’ll see.