Tag: Glenn Youngkin

Glenn Youngkin May Never Be POTUS, But He Could Cause Virginia to Implode If There’s a Secession Crisis Starting In Late 2024, Early 2025

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The thing about Virginia is, it’s two states, one Red, one Blue fused together that hate each other with a white hot passion. As such, if ever there was some sort of “National Divorce,” Virginia would be one of the first states to implode into coups, counter coups and general political violence an anarchy.

And now we learn that Virginia’s vacuum, MAGA Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is seeing a surge of interest in him running for against malignant ding-dong Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination. Youngkin has said that he won’t make a decision about running until after the 2023 Virginia state elections.

It seems clear that the metric he wants — that of the entirety of Virginia’s government being MAGA controlled — will be met and, as such, he’s going to be put on the spot as to if he’s going to run against Trump. What’s comical about this particular situation is it’s clear Republicans want uncut MAGA Trumpism, not some more palatable knockoff version that might somehow allow Republican donators sleep better at night.

Unless Trump shuffles off this mortal coil, he is GOING to be the 2024 Republican nominee and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. We’re careening towards a very dark situation in late 2024, early 2025 and it’s happening in broad daylight. Republicans are telegraphing their goals for a Trump second term and the only question for me at this point is if Trump loses if we’re going to have a civil war or if Trump wins if we’re going to have some sort of Blue “revolution.”

And I think Youngkin is going to find himself at the center of a severe political crisis if we have either a civil war or a revolution. If we have a “National Divorce” because Trump has lost, then he will be under a lot of pressure to declare Virginia a Red State and thus secede from the Union. If there’s some sort of concerted — and very unlikely — attempt to topple Tyrant Trump at some point in this second term, Virginia’s proximity to D.C. would also cause Youngkin to have to make some tough choices.

Anyway, I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t predict the future, so it’s possible that Youngkin could be the Great White Hope that Republican oligarchs have been looking for and he might actually give Trump a run for the nomination. I have really, really doubt that, however.

Some Thoughts On Glenn Youngkin

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Apparently there is a growing sense within the Republican monied class that they need a Great White Hope because of all of Trump’s legal problems. Among the people they’re considering is my governor, Glenn Youngkin. He’s waiting until the fall, after a state election, to decide if he will run or not.

The thing to consider about Virginia is it’s not really a swing or purple state so much as it is two states — one Red, one Blue — fused together who fucking hate each other’s guts. Rural Virginia is all-in with Trump and MAGA to the point that some Red counties in Virginia wanted to secede when we had a Blue governor.

The issue about Youngkin is he has proven himself to be just sort of There. He is moderate in temperment, but not politics. He is very much a MAGA person who would be just as fascist as Trump — and more effective — if he ran and became president. The Republican Party has been consumed by some very dark political forces to the point that the moment there is another Republican President, I don’t see how traditional American democracy survives.

And don’t forget that Youngkin won in Virginia not so much because of his message so much as enough moderate, independent Virginians were tired of having Democrat governors and voted for change. So any success he has had says more about the general ebb and flow of a functioning democracy than him any particular political aptitude on his part.

All of this interest in Youngkin seems like moved deck chairs on the Titanic to me. Something incredible would have to have happen at this point for Trump not to be the nominee and for him not to win the general in 2024. His victory in 2024 — and the dark, bonkers events that will be caused by that victory — seem to be something of an immutable force of political history at this point.

I Have To Vent About The Durham Investigation

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have Traditionalist relatives — whom I love dearly — who were all-in with the MAGA Republican talking points about the initial stages of the fishing expedition known as the Durham Investigation. They really believed that Durham found some sort of wide spread Deep State conspiracy against the Trump Administration guided by Hillary Clinton. Or something equally annoying.

John Durham

Anyway, now that it seems as though the Durham Investigation is wrapping up pretty much having found nothing and having wasted a lot of money, I think the whole shitshow is a window into how much trouble the United States is in. People who should otherwise know better — educated, angry white men — have succumb to the siren call of the MAGA New Right. If you lose your Traditionalists to fascism, your democracy is on its last legs.

But here we are, that’s exactly what’s happened.

So, as I keep saying, as part of the 2024 presidential election cycle the United States faces the existential choice of autocracy or civil war. There is no middle ground other, than, say, a military junta maybe. I say this because, by definition, a Republican president means autocracy. It doesn’t matter if it’s Trump, DeSantis or Youngkin.

The spectrum whereby Republicans operate on a policy basis has shifted so far to the Right and is so natively undemocratic that it’s just not possible for American democracy to survive if we have a Republican president. This is just a more extreme version of how George W. Bush ran as a “compassionate conservative,” but, in general, on a practical basis far more conservative than that.

Of course, if someone as bland and vacuous as Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin becomes POTUS, the transition to autocracy will probably be a lot more gradual — but it will happen. The Republican Party, on an institutional basis has grown so radical and hates democracy so much that, lulz, even someone as ostensibly moderate and mediocre as Youngkin would ultimately become America’s first autocrat given any power.

But let me be clear — in the end, America’s fate rests in Trump’s tiny, tiny little hands. He could, unto himself, on a personal basis cause a civil war in a number of different ways. Yet I still wonder if I’m over estimating him — again. He’s just so stupid and so lazy that anything is possible.

Why I Think Mini-Trump Glenn Youngkin Could Win In Virginia


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The gubernatorial race in Virginia is a prime example of something that is now an alarming political fact of life: we can’t stave off electing fascists forever. Even our barely functioning democracy still has the traditional ebb and flow of one — inevitably, Republicans are going to win major offices again.

It just so happens that it’s Virginia’s turn.

Here’s my back-of-the-envelope reasoning for thinking Glenn Youngkin will probably win the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial race. The first reason is Virginia has had a lot of Democratic governors one right after the other and, just in general, people are probably itching for a change. Advantage, Youngkin.

Meanwhile, he’s really slick. He wants to square the circle by both being a MAGA cocksucker while also having a thin veneer of being a “traditional conservatives Republican” who “gets things done.” This thrills rural voters in Virginia who are as fascist as they come. Virginia is a hotbed of anti-democratic, autocratic sentiment.

As such, he’s probably going to win.

Now, being a fucking MAGA shithead cocksucker, all he cares about is winning and power. That’s it. Once he gets it, he’ll toe the extremist line of any other MAGA cocksucker. He’s repeatedly said as much, and, yet, to date, these statements haven’t gotten any traction outside of the MAGA echo chamber.

As such, the moment he shows his true colors, the majority of Virginians — who are extremely moderate — are going to freak the fuck out. By the time he leaves office, the damage will have been done. The state will be just another polarized state that lies smoldering in its wreckage.

The curve ball in all of this is if Virginia has a MAGA governor when the civil war comes around 2025, well, my predictions that the state would implode if there was a such a war will be pretty prescient.