Articles:
May - Oct 2021
How to Take Over a Country
Richard C. Gross, CounterPunch - November 24
The conservative Republican Party, led by a vindictive warlord from his wolf’s lair in Florida supported by millions of voters, has a malevolent stranglehold on America with its lies and trumped-up cultural wars. A revolution of the politically maligned, the maladjusted, the unhinged and the misinformed seems to be simmering in America’s cold civil war and is in mortal danger of exploding.
Politicians face violence and threats from voters — and each other. Are we nearing a civil war?
Brian Michael Jenkins, NBC News - November 14
At least one noted American historian is comparing today’s pugnacious politics with that of the republic in the years leading up to the Civil War. And indeed, Americans around the country seem to endorse bellicose behavior. Are they right? Does America’s increasingly uncivil behavior mean we are heading toward civil war? The bellicose rhetoric and belligerent behavior displayed by and toward some of our elected officials also do not mean a...
In the coming second American Civil War, which side are you on?
Chauncey Devega, Salon - November 4
The prospect of a second American Civil War may seem wildly unlikely, or not even logistically feasible. But if it were to happen, such an outcome would not be based on empirical facts, reality or the complexities and nuances of public opinion polls.
Nearly 1 in 3 Republicans believe VIOLENCE may be necessary to ‘save America,’ poll shows
Unknown, RT News - November 1
According to a new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, about 30% of Republicans and more than one in six independents believe that “true American patriots” might be forced to take violent action to prevent the country’s downfall. The idea that America is too broken to be peacefully restored seems to be rising in popularity. A Zogby Analytics poll released in February – right on the heels of the US Capitol riot – found that 16% ...
America threatened with second ‘civil war’
Zach Freeman, The Battalion - October 24
Another civil war? What would have sounded like ridiculous Boogaloo conspiracies just a few years ago is now common political messaging for American conservatives. To understand why we’re in this situation, we have to first go back to the root of the issue. Today’s politics are informed by the conditions of the past. Everything from Black Lives Matter to Confederate statues are directly tied to the post-Reconstruction era. Americans need...
A separation, if we can keep it
Joe Strader, American Thinker - October 23
The troubles within our country have created a fractured union that is on the verge of dissolution. Serious discussions about secession have become common, with people predicting a second civil war. By the Founders' design, we were actually meant to be more independent and separate than we are today. If we had maintained this designed separation, we would not be on the precipice of secession or civil war. The separate...
"We are in the middle of a cold, civil war.” — Keith Boykin author of “Race Against Time.”
Lapacazo Sandoval, Los Angeles Sentinel - October 21
"Race against time" is really where we are as a country, right now. We are in the middle of a cold, civil war. The sad fact about living in America as a non-White male is that the political structure of this country was built to keep [people of color] down, to use our very life as the source of their staggering wealth and ultimate power.
America’s Cold Civil War
Richard C. Gross, CounterPunch - October 20
Our country is fighting a cold civil war, with the Republican side hurling absurd epithets at the Democrats, charging them with being socialists and destroying our lives when in fact they’re trying to do the opposite with trillions of dollars. Their childish antics and statements are right out of a schoolyard. This distracting civil war is cold until, as on Jan. 6 at the Capitol, it gets hot and people die. What can we do when our common...
The Great Divorce: Divided We Stand
Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, American Greatness - October 8
America is badly divided. The evidence for this sad state of affairs abounds. Let us put an end to this madness and ugly division. The time has come for the great divorce. Rather than fall into a bloody second civil war, the United States could mediate an amicable but permanent separation. Separation and divorce are surely never pretty, and they have costs attached, but it often becomes necessary when sides are incompatible, or strife ...
Is America in ‘a Cold Civil War’? Not at All.
Tony Woodlief, Governing.com - October 8
Despite what the pundit/political class says, most Americans agree on a lot more than they disagree on. Partisanship is real, but it doesn’t define us: tolerance does. Americans still come together to engage in the self-government to which our Constitution calls us; they are not about to start a civil war.
Former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill warns the U.S. is in a 'cold civil war'
Terry Gross, NPR - October 6
Russia expert Fiona Hill warns that American democracy is under attack — from within. "The United States is teetering on the edge of violence here. We're already, I think, in a cold civil war," she says. "We've got a chance now to turn this around. But if we don't take it, we're heading down that autocratic path that we've seen in other countries."
Trumpism Doesn't Need Trump Anymore: He Has Fanned The Flames
Carl Bernstein, RealClearPolitics - October 1
"We really need to acknowledge here is that we are in a civil war in this country. We are in a cultural civil war, such as we've never seen since 1860 to 1865, and that the radicalism of the Republican Party today is almost comparable to a secessionist movement in this country because of what the Republican Party now advocates in a kind of Trumpism, doesn't need Donald Trump anymore, he's fanned the flames, he has ignited them and...
Sorry, but a national split up just won’t work
Karol Markowicz, New York Post - September 27
People seem to be yearning for a national divorce between Red and Blue states. This desire is understandable given how politicized absolutely everything has become. Nonetheless, the idea is a fantasy that could never work, even in the short term, much less the long. If we can’t formally separate, what then? We fight it out — peacefully. We find like-minded people in our communities and band together to bring changes we want to ...
National Divorce Is Expensive, But It's Worth Every Penny
David Reaboi, Davereaboi.substack.com - October 1
For the last several years, I’ve been talking about the possibility or desirability of National Divorce, the political separation of Blue and Red America—or, to get more specific and inflammatory, the breakup or dissolution of the United States. This week, my friend Karol Markowicz has written a typically thoughtful piece on the subject at the New York Post and concludes that it’s not a feasible solution. Our division is so fundamental, though, that we ...
Majority of Trump Voters Want to Split the Nation Into 'Red' and 'Blue' Halves
Daniel Villarreal, Newsweek - September 30
A majority of Trump voters want to split the country into red and blue halves, according to a new poll conducted by the University of Virginia's (UVA) nonpartisan Center for Politics. Comparatively, 41 percent of people who voted for Democratic President Joe Biden agree with the idea. The UVA's Center for Politics hopes that further research, through its Project Home Fire initiative, can identify policy and issue areas that both Biden and Trump...
The Conservatives Dreading—And Preparing for—Civil War
Emma Green, The Atlantic - October 1
“Let me start big. The mission of the Claremont Institute is to save Western civilization,” says Ryan Williams, the organization’s president, looking at the camera, in a crisp navy suit. “We’ve always aimed high.” A trumpet blares. America’s founding documents flash across the screen. Welcome to the intellectual home of America’s Trumpist right.
What Our Universities Have Wrought: a Review of 'The New Civil War'
Seth Forman, American Greatness - September 28
In his rigorous and incisive book The New Civil War: Exposing Elites, Fighting Utopian Leftism, and Restoring America, Bruce Abramson sets out the features of America’s current crisis, and it’s not pretty. For Abramson, the universities are the key to the cultural and political domination of the country by progressive elites because they “alone can grant credentials” and “determine who can join the Credentialed Elite.” Abramson himself notes...
America is not facing a civil war — only loudmouthed extremists
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times - September 22
The truth is that America is nothing like a polarized country. Large majorities agree on the most pressing issues of the day: They favor abortion rights, stricter gun controls and more COVID-related restrictions, especially on unvaccinated people. This dominance carries over across the political landscape of issues. What that tells you is that Democrats have held their own, but Republicans have moved sharply away from the public’s values....
Author Keith Boykin: 'America Is In A Cold Civil War'
Leah Fleming and Tiffany Griffith, Georgia Public Broadcasting - September 21
America is in the middle of a cold civil war. That's what Keith Boykin believes. Boykin is a journalist, political commentator, and author. He also co-founded the National Black Justice Coalition, which is a civil rights organization primarily serving LGBTQ+ people. 'We are in the midst of a crisis in this country, unlike anything I've seen in my lifetime, where people can't even agree on the outcome of the last election. It's a reflection of just how divi...
Prospect of Implosion
Editors, The Statesman - September 21
Does America face the possibility of civil war in the near future? The question assumes relevance ~ and has sparked an impassioned debate ~ in the wake of an essay published recently by Stanford economist William G. Gale, and political scientist and author Darrell M. West, provocatively titled ‘Is The US Headed For Another Civil War’ in which they argue that such a notion is not as far-fetched as it may seem.
Despite rush to unity after 9/11, U.S. remains historically divided
Gordon Weil, Bangor Daily News - September 18
As the U.S. marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the pundits came out in full force. Many lamented that the sense of national unity in 2001 had been so quickly replaced by deep divisiveness. At two earlier major turning points in American history, people had also displayed national unity--the War for Independence and the Civil War--yet event then, beneath that unity, a deep split existed. Today Trump flags fly as Confederate...
Is the US headed for another Civil War?
William G. Gale and Darrell M. West, Brookings Institute - September 16
Is it really possible that America could face the possibility of civil war in the near future? It may seem unthinkable, and yet there’s much to worry about. We have identified six areas of concern that could contribute to a new civil war as well as three mitigating factors. Ultimately we should not assume it could not happen and ignore the ominous signs that conflict is spiraling out of control.
The New Civil War: Blue States Soak The Rich; Red States Sue To Cut Taxes
Bob Burnett, The Berkeley Daily Planet - September 13
On September 14th, tomorrow, Californians will decide whether to recall Governor Newsom. In a difficult period, this recall is another Republican effort to disrupt democracy, to blow up government. It's another manifestation of the new Civil War. It's not your imagination. These are hard times. Made more difficult by the Republican push to blow up democracy. Tighten your seat belts, we're flirting with civil war.
How Conservatives Can Fight the Rabid Partisanship Plaguing America
J. Allen Cartwright, American Thinker - September 13
Somehow every decision you make has political ramifications, from the fast food you buy to the ice cream you eat, the sports you watch, the movies you enjoy, the words you use, and even the decision to fly your country's flag. Our institutions, similarly, are becoming increasingly partisan, typically with a left-wing bias, including our media, entertainment, universities, and even our scientific establishments. For our nation to survive, our culture...
Winning the Cold Civil War
Thomas D. Klingenstein, American Greatness - September 11
We find ourselves in a cold civil war. This is a war not over the size of government or taxes, but over the American way of life. We are, I think, in a perilous moment such as the one in which Lincoln lived. It is time for our leaders, without contemplating consequences, to swear eternal fidelity to the just cause of the land of our liberty, and our love, the land which remains the last best hope of Earth.
Who and What Is Tearing the US Apart?
Pat Buchanan, Buchanon.org - September 14
George W. Bush's speech commemorating the 20th year since 9/11 accused part of America of threatening the rest of the country. In so doing, Bush himself demonstrated the kind of divisiveness that he himself condemned. We are divided today on the most fundamental of questions:Is America now, and has it always been, a good and great country, worthy of the loyalty and love of all its children, of all its citizens? And are we Americans...
A Culture War Worth the Fight
Alexander Zubatov, Merion West - September 8
This is a culture war, and it is one worth waging because it is necessary to forestall the second civil war toward which we are steadily heading. It is a culture war on which our future depends and without which we will have no future together, for while we are preoccupied with our pitched battle against one another and against the shadows of our own ancestors, we will find ourselves overtaken by more vibrant nations that still cherish their...
The Woke Mob Strikes Again
Zach Moore, SpliceToday - September 8
An important front in the cold civil war being waged in America right now is in the field of COVID restrictions. In one case, the governor of New Jersey was able to seize $15,000 per day directly from a gym owner's bank account for refusing to close his business. The lesson is clear: comply with the unconstitutional mandates of the Left politicians or they will destroy you.
Winning the Cold Civil War
Thomas D. Klingenstein, Newsweek - September 7
The United States is in the midst of a cold civil war. Americans are divided against one another by diametrically opposed ideas of justice. One side believes in equality of opportunity and the other in opportunity of result. These two visions of justice cannot be reconciled; only one will prevail. The side that believes in equality of result has infiltrated many important institutions in American life and has infected those institutions with their view...
A Patriot Speaks
Christopher Flannery, American Greatness - September 6
Tom Klingenstein, chairman of the Claremont Institute, recently gave a stirring speech proclaiming that the United States is ingaged in a cold civil war, and he laid out the battle lines of that cold civil war. A link to a video of his speech in embedded in this article.
Madison Cawthorn is openly talking about civil war at this point
Eric Lutz, Vanity Fair - August 31
Madison Cawthorn, a Donald Trump acolyte, lacks even the occasional moderation of the former president. He is encouraging Republican supporters to believe Trump's big lie about the stolen election and is now even suggesting that we are in a new civil war. “If our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, then it’s gonna lead to one place and that’s bloodshed,” Cawthorn said recently at a Republican rally.
Make No Mistake About It: Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Calling For A New Civil War
Jason Easley, PoliticusUSA - August 7
Majorie Green made a statement suggesting that the right response to vaccine mandates is to take up arms against the government. This statement is ridiculous, but we should take her seriously as her fans do.
150 years ago, Frederick Douglass predicted the United States’ dilemma today
Alan Coffee, The Washington Post - August 6
150 years ago, Frederick Douglass predicted that the problems that remained after the civil war would continue into America's future and would likely fall into one of three directions, one of which was another civil war. From his perspective of Reconstruction, Douglass surmised that if enough citizens considered enough other citizens to be illegitimate, then the country could not hold together. Today, we are seeing this prediction come true.
American Empire is in Decline and Headed toward Civil War
Lloyd Green, The Guardian - August 8
The disastrous US military retreat in Afghanistan is only the latest proof that the United States of America is on the decline. It's too hard to know now if its haphazard foreign policy has led to domestic turmoil or the other way around, but it is undeniable that the US is in a cold civil war at home and a in a military tailspin abroad.
Political polarization causing breakup of social trust
Gary Stout, Observer-Reporter - August 5
Social trust is the glue that keeps our country together, keeps us all sufficiently agreed on the fundamental things that allow us to live together peacefully. Political polarization regarding the measures laid down for the pandemic and the suspicions about voter fraud have eroded social trust to such a degree, that we could very well see out cold civil war turn hot in the near future.
Purple is the New Party: American on the Brink of Desolation
Paul Moomjean, VC Reporter - August 4
America is about to start a civil war from any of several issues that Americans disagree wildly on. And this is just what the media wants. Recent polls show that conservatives are increasingly persuaded that the media and the Democrats are spying on them and out to get them. The media profits off of increased polarization, something all of us, Left and Right, should remember.
The Trumpist right drifts toward fascism
Matt Gertz, MediaMatters - August 5
Pundits on the Right are accusing the Left of advocating social hierarchies based on race. How dare they! This rhetoric is perilously close to a call for a new civil war. Here is a summary of recent calls from the Right for authoritarian control of American politics that demonstrates the drift toward fascism among the Right.
The line dividing Americans in new civil war is vaccination
Troy Williams, The Fayetteville Observer - August 1
America is on the verge of another civil war. However, we’re not fighting with guns; this time, we’re split into opposing camps: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. The civil divide is personal. Either you want the vaccination shot, or you don’t. With each passing day, membership in the unvaccinated club will become even more complex. California is demanding some state personnel show evidence of COVID-19 or confront required weekly...
The anti-American right
Zack Beauchamp, Vox - August 3
Right-wingers are usually very patriotic people, which is why it is odd to see a trend among some on the right to be critical of American olympic athletes. Interestingly, though, this trend is a reflection of a rising tendency in the conservative movement to reject America itself. In this thinking, the country is so corrupted that it is no longer a source of pride or even worthy of respect. In its most radical versions, you even see cheerleading for...
"For the times they are a-changing": a response to Damon Linker
Curtis Yarvin, Gray Mirror - July 31
Yarvin responds to Linker's criticism of Anton's and Yarvin's conversation at The American Mind. He lays out four hypotheses that diagnose the problem with our current politics (legislative inertia in Congress and bureaucratic rule by the administrative state) and suggests that the only way out of our current state is through a strong leader who takes upon himself emergency powers to abrogate the powers assumed by the inept legislature....
The intellectual right contemplates an 'American Caesar'
Damon Linker, The Week - July 28
Certain figures on the intellectual right, Michael Anton and Curtis Yarvin, discussed openly in a podcast recently the possibility that American politics are ripe for a Caesar-like strong man to take power and bring resolution to the cold civil war that seems to prevail between Left and Right. These intellectuals casually talk about what would mean the destruction of many liberal institutions and norms, and given their influence, we ought to be...
The Revolting Republican Opposition to Critical Race Theory
Mikel Kwaku Osei Holt, Milwaukee Community Journal - July 26
It is despicable that Republicans are opposing the teaching of Critical Race Theory across the United States. They are seeking to silence the black perspective on American history, and it is ironic because during much of American history it was the Democratic Party that opposed the liberty of black people in America. Republicans claim that CRT will result in turning all of Americans against the country and perhaps even cause a second civil...
The first metaphorical shots in America’s cold civil war
Graham J. Noble, Liberty Nation News - July 22
Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an unprecedented move by denying two of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the January 6th Commission, a move that might be considered so partisan as to be the first metaphorical shot in a cold civil war in America.
Today It’s Critical Race Theory. 200 Years Ago It Was Abolitionist Literature.
Anthony Conwright, Mother Jones - Sep-Oct 2021
There have been many contributions to help make sense of the Republican obsession with critical race theory, a framework developed some 40 years ago to analyze the ways racism is endemic to our laws and policies. The best framework, though, is that of the story of the antebellum South's attempt to stop the spread of abolitionist literature that was contributing to slave insurrections that in some ways led to the Civil War. Perhaps the Republican...