Amid talk of civil war, America is already split - Trump Nation has seceded

[andym]

Robert Reich
Sat, September 26, 2020, 10:00 PM PDT
https://www.yahoo.com/news/amid-talk-civil-war-america-050036417.html

What is America really fighting over in the upcoming election? Not any particular issue. Not even Democrats versus Republicans. The central fight is over Donald J Trump.

Before Trump, most Americans weren’t especially passionate about politics. But Trump’s MO has been to force people to become passionate about him – to take fierce sides for or against. And he considers himself president only of the former, whom he calls “my people”.

Trump came to office with no agenda except to feed his monstrous ego. He has never fueled his base. His base has fueled him. Its adoration sustains him.

So does the antipathy of his detractors. Presidents usually try to appease their critics. Trump has gone out of his way to offend them. “I do bring rage out,” he unapologetically told Bob Woodward in 2016. In this way, he has turned America into a gargantuan projection of his own pathological narcissism.

MORE AT LINK (worth reading)
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The basic argument is that to Trump and his followers think only states in which he has a majority matter, and the rest are enemies-- a horrible distortion of the United States.

Robert Reich is using hyperbole, but he is very perceptive here. In the end, Reich states that real civil war is unlikely but that if Trump loses, his fans will still consider him their rightful leader even if he loses, which he will never admit. That will be a big problem. I think that suggests that Trump will be a big problem for years to come and he himself has laid the groundwork for someone even worse: someone who has the brains to not only exploit Trump followers but intends to make the US a dictatorship.

What Reich does not talk about is how we got here: the groundwork was laid by propaganda and gas-lighting from talk radio, right wing internet sites like Breitbart, and Fox News, then compounded by the bubble chamber of tight-knit social networks. Something urgently needs to be done about them within the constraints of what is possible constitutionally.

[moondust]

1. They can all move to Elba.

[regnaD kciN]

2. The problem is, they HAVEN'T seceded...

...instead, they’ve declared themselves to be the only “true America,” and the rest of us “un-persons” living under occupation.

[Quixote1818]

3. Not sure, people like Presidents who don't lose re-election. nt

[andym]

4. Trump would surely agree with you-- which is why he will never accept a loss as legitimate

He is guaranteed to claim that he really won and was cheated. His followers being cult-minded are likely to agree-- that will create a boatload of problems.

[BlueWavePsych]

5. Talking about civil war is unproductive and only feeds Drumpf's trolling.

But since you brought it up, the worst case is probably this ...

Recently, two retired Army officers speculated about deploying a brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division to overpower Trump's "private army" that they believe the defeated president will use to try to cling to office. Another retired officer, a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, imagined the military in battle with armed Trump supporters, the result being that "all bets are off as to how much blood might flow."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/coup-porn-resistance-sees-military-removing-trump-from-office


I"d look forward to the debriefing video showing those Taliban-style trucks being blasted by HellFire drone missiles. Then, as they run back to their prepper bunkers, B52s use the latest 'Bunker Busters'. No need for body bags.

[Initech]

6. I wish we could just give them their own country to ruin.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Antarctica Is Nice This Time Of Year

It's spring now.
They'll love it.
No taxes, no regulatory agencies, no gun laws, and they can all "pull themselves up by their bootstraps".
Perfect for ALL of us.