James George Jatras — American Politics Is Now Just Civil War by Other Means

The de facto civil war in the US is obscuring two existential threats — climate change and nuclear war. Jatras mentions only the latter.

Still, the US remains addicted to ever-increasing sanctions, and despite warnings from both Russia and China that they are prepared for war – warnings virtually ignored by the US media and political class – the US keeps pressing on all fronts: outer space, the Arctic, Europe (withdrawal from the INF treaty), Ukraine, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Xinjiang, and elsewhere. Trump is expected to meet with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping following the US election, but they may have to conclude that he is not capable of restraining the war machine nominally under his command and will plan accordingly.

Parlous times both domestically, internationally and environmentally and the US is not only not dealing with these threats but rather is exacerbating them. Indeed, the US appears to be incapable of dealing with them owing to extreme divisiveness and reality distortion ("gaslighting"). 

SNAFU (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya) has morphed into TARFUN (Syria, Ukraine, South China Sea) on the way to FUBAR (Iran, Russia, China). (See definition of SNAFU—these acronyms originated in the military).

Strategic Culture Foundation
American Politics Is Now Just Civil War by Other Means

James George Jatras | Deputy Director of the American Institute in Ukraine, a privately funded American NGO, and former U.S. diplomat and foreign policy adviser to the Senate GOP leadership

Jeffrey D. Sachs — America’s Ongoing Civil War

Civil War 2.0 (along with Cold War 2).

Racial politics in the United States, both before and after the end of slavery, has blocked the emergence of a class politics that would unite poor whites and poor blacks in a demand for more public services. So what will happen when, by around 2045, non-Hispanic whites become a minority of the total population?….

It's the demographics.

Project Syndicate
America’s Ongoing Civil War

Jeffrey D. Sachs | Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, Director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development and of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

WJ Astore — American Fascism: No Longer Misleading

Civil War 2.0. Where some see nationalist populism, others see incipient fascism. Irreconcilable differences?

Bracing Views
American Fascism: No Longer Misleading

WJ Astore | Lt. Col. USAF (retired)

Kevin MacDonald — Lincoln’s Rhetoric on the Struggle Between Good and Evil: Relevance to the Present

We are now seeing prominent public figures justify behavior that until quite recently would have been considered beyond the boundaries of acceptable political behavior. For example, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a leader in the battle against Kavanaugh, refuses to condemn public harassment of senators opposing the confirmation. Such harassment of Republican senators and other public officials connected to President Trump has been going on for months. We have already seen numerous examples of cooperation between city and state officials in condoning and facilitating violence by the antifa. It’s a short step from that to refusing to condemn assassination attempts on public figures.

And a short step from that to Civil War II.

Occidental Observer
Lincoln’s Rhetoric on the Struggle Between Good and Evil: Relevance to the Present

Kevin MacDonald | retired professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach

See also MacDonald's Thinking about Civil War II (July 4, 2018):

As noted in a previous TOO article, by Cooper Sterling, “the Left’s irrational obsession with gun control goes beyond the latest mass shooting. It is endemic among the cosmopolitan literati, who loathe Middle America, to dwell on the risks associated with firearms while disregarding or minimizing the benefits of firearm ownership.” As noted there, Jews and Jewish organizations have led the campaign against gun ownership. In any case, if Civil War II were to break out in the near future—before the left can achieve its goal of abolishing the Second Amendment—there can be little question that the White/rural side would have an advantage both in terms of gun ownership and in being able to use a gun effectively.

However, civilians, no matter how well armed, are no match for a trained military equipped with the latest technology. Whose side would the military be on? Given that there are large percentages of non-Whites in the military, there would likely be conflict between different factions. Nevertheless, White males have a clear majority (60% overall), especially in the Marines and Air Force, and especially in the officer corps.

The view that civil war is brewing in the US comes predominantly from the right, where many believe that the left is preparing a war against white people, and white males in particular. The perps? Non-whites, non-Christians, and liberal women.

Cora Currier — Every Right to Be Angry: Two New Books on Women’s Rage Are Timed Perfectly for the Brett Kavanaugh Debacle

This is not going away anytime soon.

One aspect of the new "civil war" between traditionalism and liberalism is emancipation of the repressed with women in front.

"The should know their place" is so 20th century. Women are seeing themselves as the new "Negroes."

On the blogs and in social media, many men are freaking out that their male privilege is under attack by "rabid feminists aka "feminazis." It's mostly right wing men, supported by some right wing women, but hardly exclusively. There are lots of men that consider themselves "liberals" are turning out to be selectively liberal.

The Intercept
Every Right to Be Angry: Two New Books on Women’s Rage Are Timed Perfectly for the Brett Kavanaugh Debacle

Cora Currier

See also

Site moderator rejected submission for Donna Strickland, the first female physics winner in 55 years, in March...

The Guardian
Female Nobel prize winner deemed not important enough for Wikipedia entry

Leyland Ceccoalso

also

The Texas Trubune

A Texas yard sign depicted a GOP elephant with its trunk up a girl’s skirt. Police seized it.

Kristine Phillips, The Washington Post

Buzz Feed — There Have Always Been Protests On Capitol Hill. This Is Different.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, but I hope it never happens again,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told BuzzFeed News on Thursday.

I have an inkling that this is just the beginning.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." — William Congreve

As a matter of fact, it is an extension of the ongoing culture and race wars that are turning into a civil war, soft so far. Civil wars are so uncivil.

And a battle between the sexes is the worst of all worlds. Turning ugly. You really don't want angry women coming after you. Whatever you do, you look bad.

Several years ago, a Russian strategist predicted that the US would come apart. It seemed far-fetched at the time but is beginning to look prescient now.

This reality show is really getting gripping. Make some more popcorn.

Buzz Feed
There Have Always Been Protests On Capitol Hill. This Is Different.

Also

The president can't resist fueling the fire.

Reuters
Trump '100 percent' certain Kavanaugh accuser named wrong person

Roberta Rampton

Raw Story
Donald Trump: ‘Women were outraged at what happened to Brett Kavanaugh!

Martine Cizmar

CNN
Washington Post: Trump warns that Murkowski 'will never recover' for opposing Kavanaugh
CNN Politics
Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford's testimony, tells people to 'think of your son'

Allie Malloy, Kate Sullivan and Jeff Zeleny, CNN

also

And Mitch McConnell can't resist gloating.

This is comparable to Hillary's "deplorables" as a political gaffe — make that blunder.

Moreover, he is repeating in it over and over, turning it into a meme.

Against democracy as "mob rule" much?

The Hill
McConnell: Senate GOP 'refused to be intimidated by the mob'

Jourdain Carney

Update

I don't recall seeing this level of rage at the machine since the Vietnam War protests.

Protesters are angry, they're vocal, and they're sure as hell not there to support Brett Kavanaugh, no matter what President Pussygrabber says. After storming the Capitol building earlier, they went to the Supreme Court building about the time Kavanaugh arrived for his swearing-in ceremony. Angry and inflamed, they ascended the stairs en masse, according to reports, and pounded on the large wooden courthouse doors....

If this is anything like a Vietnam era repeat, which was not only about the war, but also involved civil rights and other issues of elite overreach, this is just the warmup.

Crooks and Liars
Protesters Storm Supreme Court Building, Pound On Door
Karoli Kuns

Also
America has already split into two countries. Can there be reconciliation? How? Where? Why?

The values have broken down the seams like a tectonic plate during a massive earthquake.

The victorious tribe has no desire for compromise whatsoever because they are “right” and the others are “wrong”. The losing tribe has no intention of sitting at the same table with those to which they share NO value and break NO bread. There is nothing to discuss....

Of course, this is not just a matter of the Kavanaugh affair. It's a whole range of issues that divide traditionalists (American conservatives) and liberals (American liberals).

The values that traditionalists and liberals hold are inherently contradictory and mutually exclusive. so where to go from here?

It' is difficult to see how this can be reconciled democratically since the differences in values dictate differences in laws. The result of trying to maintain a consistency of law federally will result in a constant political struggle between parties to change the law and remove the losing side from government positions. The conservative solution would be to let states decide, but then the laws would not be consistent within the country. For example, abortion would be permitted in liberal states and would be treated as murder in red states. Thinking that would work is a pipe dream.

Did Lincoln make a great mistake in choosing to preserve the Union rather than let the Confederacy go its way?

The challenge was less then that it is now, since the opposing states were contiguous. However, now the red states and the blue states are widely separated geographically.

Are we doomed to relitigate this?

Veterans Toady
U.S. Civil War 2.0: Should U.S. Split into Two Countries?
Johnny Punish