Is the US headed towards a civil war?
The police are fast becoming the final fragile line between a civil society and true chaos.
Everyone from Jimmy Fallon, to Dan Rather to the mother of Heather Heyer, the woman killed last weekend in Charlottesville, have been talking about what Donald Trump has and hasn’t been saying about what happened in Virginia.
He refused to call out the alt-right and KKK. He talked about violence “on all sides”. He never mentioned Heather Heyer by name. And last night came what many are calling the most shocking words to come out of Donald Trump’s mouth so far – and God knows that’s saying a lot.
None of it matters.
Demanding that Donald Trump condemn the alt-right and it’s agenda makes about as much sense as someone whose husband beats the shit out of her staying because: “He says he loves me.”
He doesn’t. He never will. And if you don’t find a way to get away, chances are you’ll end up dead.
Well, that’s all of us now. We’re living with a crazy, violent bully and right now it feels like there’s no way out.
If you haven’t watched this video yet, you have to.
Just like in every case of domestic violence, the first time is never the last time. What happened in Charlottesville last weekend was not and will not be an isolated event.
This might make me sound like I’m crazy like Kanye, but I’m just gonna’ come out and say it: The US could well be heading towards a civil war. And at this point it feels like the only way out.
With no historical precedent and limited by our laws and constitution, we’re stuck with Donald Trump. “It’s probably the end of the world and civilization as we know it, but hey there’s just nothing we can do.”
Ask anyone who has lived through a civil war (Syrians, Ukrainians, ex-Yugoslavians etc.) and they’ll probably tell you that until the shit really started hitting the fan, they didn’t believe it ever would. They tried for as long as possible not to worry about politics and to focus on their lives, their kids, their jobs. Just like we’re doing now.
One of the defining features of any legitimate state is the monopoly on the use of power and violence. That means trusting our leaders and our police to keep order. Most civil wars start when that trust is lost.
With Republicans in power and Democrats powerless, most people’s trust in the government is already gone.
That means the police are fast becoming the final fragile line between a civil society and true chaos.
Oh yeah and hey, before I go, here’s a quick look at some of the highest-profile killings of black people by white police….. Just saying.