I want this out there:
Months ago, before Trump won the election, I was having drinks with friends. Two of the six were not quite Trump supporters, but weren’t anti-Trump. They asked me what my big problem with Trump was.
My initial response was basically “Come on, you’ve known me for how many years now? How the fuck could you think I’d think that reality show has-been, useless narcissistic hedonist would be a good idea for the office of the Presidency?” That got some laughs, and really could have been the end of it, but something sparked in my brain. What I said next is what I want on the record.
“I genuinely believe that if Trump becomes President, there will be a civil war.”
The group all fell silent. It’s worth noting no one stopped me before I could explain; everyone wanted to hear what the hell I was thinking.
“I don’t believe he’ll take on Russia or China. He won’t go after anyone with real teeth. He knows better. What he will do, however, is piss off every brown person on the planet. He’ll target Mexico and the Middle East. He’ll provoke them with insane acts of aggression through Executive Orders. He’ll get them so angry that one, if not all, of the groups decide one day to bomb a mall.”
People laughed. I didn’t.
“I”m not kidding. He’s going after people whose ideas of sending messages involve cars packed with explosives and very public places packed with innocents. He’s going to get what he wants — justification to call these horrible radicals “Horrible Radicals” and he’s going to declare Martial Law.
“That’s when the Marines show up. Not the National Guard; the fucking Marines. He will unconstitutionally put the military on the streets of every major city in the nation. And with the heightened tensions of people in uniforms with guns versus every Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street and other protestors, there’s GOING to be a death, if not several. And that’s when the people finally throw down. That’s when we start seeing entire cities shut down and Americans in the streets with bottles and guns.”
No one said a word. Because they knew it was possible.
I just want that out there. Now. Before it happens.
I genuinely hope it does not. I WANT TO BE WRONG HERE. I genuinely believe it will, though. And if you don’t believe me, just give it a few weeks.
The reasons are many. Just as one point, I’d like to point out that Trump replaced the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with Steve Bannon, a racist and mysoginist who is also an avowed Leninist whose goal is to “destroy the state.” He didn’t do this because he wants the state destroyed, he did this because he honestly believes he’s in charge and that’s how it should be. He’s blind and malfeasant, and will do literally anything that he thinks will show people he’s in charge (so long as he doesn’t have to actually fight anyone who matters).
So, there’s that.
Part of me thinks Trump is in over his head and flying by the seat of his pants, which is why it seems so chaotic. Then the cynic in me says it’s all by design. He’s being manipulated, and by creating so much chaos he forces his opponents to choose which crisis on which to spend their political capital.
I wanted to live in whatever crazy imaginary world people were in when they were like “Man, I can’t wait for the election to be over so my social media experience can go back to normal.” When Trump was elected, a conservative friend of mine then shared the whole “Not My President” marches as a sort of “Look at these assholes.” on his wife’s wall. I left a comment, more or less saying, “It’s going to get a LOT worse before it gets any better.” He flipped his lid on me, said some pretty harsh words about me, and needless to say that friendship (and the friendship with his wife) quickly dissolved, and it has created a really awkward rift in our friendship.
I’m both saddened, that I was right. It’s a lot worse than a few “Not My President” marches, and we’ve got a long way to go before any sort of healing can occur in our country.
I was just talking about this civil war with my people last week…it’s coming!