Norwegian novelist and bushcrafter Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen sees a civil war happening in the US and gives his reasons why, going through a list of factors that he feels are necessary as a foundation to civil war. It’s interesting to see a take from the other side of the ocean; he can see the media/big tech propaganda in the US and laughs about the unreliability of CNN.
…Having established the Left’s documented plan to disrupt the 2020 presidential election, let’s examine further some of the information operations techniques now being deployed against the American public to persuade and influence the election “season” ahead.
The very publication of the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) report and the subsequent news media reporting about it are components of psychological warfare within the broader information warfare campaign aimed at spreading demoralizing rumors to Trump supporters. The goal is to break down and weaken support before, during and after election day. Demoralized and unmotivated supporters do not make their support for their candidate public. They do not campaign in neighborhoods or post yard signs. They do not vote. They do not volunteer at polling places. They become convinced their hopes are a lost, and highly controversial cause. They do not wish to be called a racist, or a hater, or identified with other fringe elements. They stay at home and watch TV.
Having been psychologically conditioned (through the COVID-19 pandemic) to withdraw, isolate, and lock-down — on largely fiat orders of various government officials — many Americans will react to the “irregular” and extra-legal tactics of the Left. The Left relies on this reaction to suppress voter turnout and use varying forms of terror, such as reprisals and the threats of reprisals, against those who do not cooperate or who challenge the projected accusations detailed in the TIP report.
The TIP report is careful not to engage in sedition. They are a whisper away from advocating violence — but these are very sharp political operatives that are all lawyered-up, so they speak in code. Here are some examples for you to read between the lines:
“If there is a crisis, events will unfold quickly, and sleep-deprived leaders will be asked to make consequential decisions quickly. Thinking through options now will help to ensure better decisions”
“Planners need to take seriously the notion that this may well be a street fight, not a legal battle; technocratic solutions, courts, and a reliance on elites observing norms are not the answer here.”
“Groups, coalitions, and networks should be preparing now to establish the necessary communications and organizing infrastructure to support mass mobilization.”
“Military and law enforcement leaders need to be particularly attuned to the possibility that partisan actors will seek to manipulate or misuse their coercive powers for inappropriate political ends.”
No single statement or particular recommendation is completely outrageous, except that, in the context of the report, they support and amplify dubious premises: Leftist protestors are non-violent while Trump supporters are agents provocateurs; Trump will misuse the military and law enforcement to hold on to power; universal mail-in voting poses no risk of fraud; finding new ballots weeks after the election is completely normal; news critical of Biden is misinformation; a Trump victory will be evidence of foreign interference, etc.
The voter psychological conditioning campaign, wherein suppression and reprisal become a self-fulfilling prophesy, will not receive news media or social media scrutiny. Those who raise the threats of violence and reprisals will be termed conspiracy theorists, marginalized and dismissed. Once again, who wants to be called a racist, a hater, or identified with some other fringe elements?
Through the release of the TIP report, the American Left has established itself and its dishonest storyline as the official narrative of the 2020 presidential election. They have alerted the militant wing of their movement to seize control of the lead-up to election day, to election day itself, and all the way out past inauguration day. This is a campaign unto itself — not an event. Now you understand how the Left intends to disrupt and steal the 2020 presidential election. You understand the psychological warfare techniques being used right now to convince you (wrongly) of being demoralized and weakened. You have been warned. The question for you and others in opposition to the TIP plan is: What are you going to do?
In societies living under the Rule of Law, sworn Law Enforcement (LE) officers have always been considered fully justified in applying lethal force against violent mobs during arson riots, such as those which have been occurring with regularity in American cities during the terrible summer of 2020. This was the intent and meaning of police officials publicly “Reading the Riot Act,” announcing over a loudspeaker that a violent mob had been declared to be an unlawful assembly, that is to say, a riot. Rioters who lingered on the street after that final warning could be engaged by LE at any level up to and including the use of deadly force, with no further announcement.
This was, in prior more civilized times, a basic understanding of all citizens living under the Rule of Law. This is why a police officer’s standard-issue pump shotgun was traditionally referred to as a “riot gun” long before the development of modern less-than-lethal munitions. This is also why arson riots were uncommon and short-lived. Everyone understood the ground rules. There was no right to burn, loot or murder.
Thomas Sowell put it this way: “If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” Note that he did not say “the government” or “the police department.” He said YOU.
ABR, my own acronym for the current working coalition of Antifa, BLM and the Revolutionary Communist Party of the U.S., are now routinely using Molotov cocktails (gasoline bombs) and other incendiary/explosive devices as offensive weapons in both an anti-personnel and anti-property (arson) role. As far as the BATFE is concerned, a Molotov cocktail is an illegal explosive device, and so are powerful high-altitude fireworks, when they are deployed at ground level as anti-personnel and anti-property explosive/incendiary grenades.
ABR deliberately uses the anonymity of their black-clad and face-masked mobs to conceal the identity of their individual bomb throwers, in exactly the same way that 19th Century Ku Klux Klan night riders carrying torches on arson missions concealed their identities with white robes and hoods. There is no moral or ethical requirement for either police or ordinary citizens protecting their communities from violent mobs to identify and ferret out the individual bomb throwers, when the rest of the mob is intentionally surrounding them in order to shield them from that identification. Because of the deliberately created synergy of bomb throwers utilizing the anonymity of the mob, the entire ABR mob becomes a legitimate target for police arrest or armed community self-defense.
Furthermore, at this writing in September of 2020, there is no moral or ethical requirement for a law-abiding American citizen to wait for a lit Molotov cocktail or any other incendiary or explosive device to crash through the window of their home or business, while ABR mobs are rampaging through the streets conducting arson attacks. Once the fires begin, morally and ethically, the same Rules for the Use of Force (RUF) should apply that would attach to a lynch mob, or to Ku Klux Klan night riders on their way to burn homes or businesses. Both KKK night riders bearing torches in olden times, and violent mobs of ABR terrorists with Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices today, can and should be engaged by armed citizens with any necessary level of force required to halt their terroristic depredations.
In numerous recent cases, law enforcement under Leftist political control has repeatedly abdicated its traditional and expected role in breaking up violent riots and preventing arson and other terror attacks. Week by week, the level of ABR violence has been steadily escalating, and it’s logical to assume that it will only worsen as the hotly-contested presidential election draws near.
So let me be very clear: if Democrat Party governors, mayors and DAs have hamstrung their police for political reasons, and won’t allow them to protect the lives and property of their local citizens using all required force, abandoning their primary mission in order to bow to the ABR mob, then it is time for their undefended citizens to apply the clear intent of the Second Amendment. There should be deep regret about the abandonment of the Rule of Law by the Democrat Party political ruling class, but there should be no moral quibbles or hesitation by American citizens concerning the legitimacy of armed community self defense, in the absence of expected law enforcement protection.
Therefore, it is my carefully considered opinion that black-clad and masked ABR mobs, rampaging and terrorizing innocent citizens under the cover of darkness in the style of the KKK of old, may morally and ethically be taken under preemptive fire by armed citizens at any level necessary to drive them out of their peaceful neighborhoods and away from their businesses, before the terrorists can reach their targets and throw their Molotov cocktails and other explosive and incendiary devices.
As an historical note, it should be understood that the National Rifle Association was founded after the last American Civil War by former Union Army officers, (and Republicans at that), in order to empower freed African-American former slaves to defend themselves with firearms against KKK night raids. In the 19th Century, the Democrat Party, then allied with the Klan, (as the Democrats of today are aligned with Antifa and BLM), had favored strict gun control, in the form of narrowly written laws restricting the legal ownership of firearms by free black citizens.
The more things change…the more they stay the same.
…You cannot entrust your safety to an assumption. You do not know the intent of the invaders, and maybe they don’t even know their intent.
Third, even if the rioters don’t intend to douse you with gasoline and set you on fire, there can be unintended consequences and collateral damage. It’s extremely dangerous to have rioters and looters rampaging through neighborhoods.
Regardless of intent (which can’t be known anyway), women and children can perish. Men cannot allow that to happen. Men cannot allow increased danger to come to their loved ones if they can stop it.
Having said all of that, be careful. Your enemy isn’t just Antifa/BLM. Your enemy is the state as well, who will prosecute you for self defense. They did with Kyle Rittenhouse, and they did with the McCloskeys. They’ll do it to you too.
…NEVER go anywhere alone. Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself masterfully for his situation, but to my knowledge, he started out with a group of people. He found himself alone at some point. Do not find yourself alone. Don’t leave your group. AntiFa isn’t going to, so you don’t either.
People actively avoid being near those of opposing ideology. Might move from communities or states just because of ideology.
Common violence. Organized violence is occurring monthly.
Opposing sides develop governing/war structures. Just in case.
Common violence that is generally deemed by governmental authorities as justified based on ideology.
Open War.
We are at step 9. Step 9. is, of course, two minutes to midnight on the clock. Violence continues to be commonly justified by local and state authorities.
In this issue: Front Matter – What Is A Civil War? – Violence And Censorship Update – Updated Civil War 2.0 Index – 56 Days Until The Last Election – Links
Welcome to the latest issue of the Civil War II Weather Report. These posts are different than the other posts at Wilder Wealthy and Wise and consist of smaller segments covering multiple topics around the single focus of Civil War 2.0, on the first or second Monday of every month. I’ve created a page (LINK) for links to all of the past issues. Also, feel free to subscribe and you’ll get every post delivered to your inbox, M-W-F at 7:30 Eastern.
What Is A Civil War?
Multiple comments that I’ve had, both in the comment section at the blog, as well as in email and even text message asked the question – what happens to the index this month. The answer is that we’re still at a 9 out of 10. The only thing remaining to take us to a 10 is a body count. That’s because I’m using this (admittedly academic definition by Doyle and Sambanis in 2000) as my definition for the existence of a civil war:
The war has caused more than 1,000 battle deaths. This war hasn’t yet done so. Is 1,000 an aribitrary number? This is the only criteria not yet met.
The war occurs within the recognized boundary of that state. This is an easy one.
The war involves the state as one of the principal combatants. One of. Not the only one. Ask a policeman in Portland if they feel that they’re in control.
The rebels are able to mount an organized military opposition to the state and to inflict significant casualties on the state. It states casualties, not deaths. And that also makes this an easy one to check off. Organization discussion is directly below in the Violence And Censorship Update.
I list all of the five criteria for a simple reason – to show that the only thing between us right now and a full blown, internationally recognized definition of civil war is the number of body bags we have yet to fill. When I started this update last year, I was expecting things to move faster than you expected. I did not expect things to move faster than I expected.
They have.
Violence And Censorship Update
Violence this month is obvious. The killings have started. Outside of the increasing violence tied directly to police standing down because they have no support which I talked about last month, bullets are now flying in the “mostly peaceful” protests.
Outside of the CHAZ murders, where two teenagers were killed, much of the violence has been peripheral. I moved the index up to nine out of ten when killings became commonplace. As near as I can tell, the killings directly associated with the Antifa™ and BLM® action is probably somewhere short of 100.
From my vantage point, Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero. But Antifa™ cannot let that stand. At all. It’s my estimate that out of rage, the killing in Portland as well as the attempted murder by car in Portland were “revenge” hits on people wearing paraphernalia of the Right. If you read reports that break down the killing (HERE) and other experiences (HERE) in Portland, it becomes clear that Antifa® is using military discipline, and is broken up into a military command structure. (H/T to Vox Day (LINK) and Mike at Cold Fury (LINK))
I’m not sure if you know what they have in mind for people that don’t agree with them. It isn’t pleasant. The idea is that there is a pure society coming, and the way to get to that new society is to eliminate everything that doesn’t fit. Which almost certainly includes you. But don’t worry – they want to torture people to death to show the remaining people how wonderful the future communist utopia will be. See? You serve a purpose in their minds.
Updated Civil War II Index
The Civil War II graphs are an attempt to measure four factors that might make Civil War II more likely, in real time. They are broken up into Violence, Political Instability, Economic Outlook, and Illegal Alien Crossings. As each of these is difficult to measure, I’ve created for three of the four metrics some leading indicators that lead to the index. On illegal aliens, I’m just using government figures.
July was generally better than June, which is like saying that World War I was “better” than World War II. Let’s go to the graphs. In general, I’ve used bikini graphs in the past. Given where we are, I’m a bit more somber. Here are the graphs, without bikinis.
Violence:
Up is more violent. June pegged the scale of violence. This measure because the way it’s constructed, doesn’t go higher than 300. It’s lower again this month despite clear assassinations by the Left. Does that mean it’s less violent this month? Certainly riots are down, but the measure is a measure of how people feel about the violence. Since it’s so common now, it’s not spiking. That is, in my opinion, very bad – we’re getting used to this nonsense.
Political Instability:
Up is more unstable. Instability is down, slightly. I expect September and October to be down more, since voting generally has a calming effect and all emotions are focused there. After that? All bets are off.
Economic:
Down indicates worse economic conditions, are down slightly. Again, we’re nowhere near the bottom. I expect that to drop off in October. Maybe to historic levels. But I could be wrong?
Illegal Aliens:
Down is good, in theory. This is a statistic showing border apprehensions by the Border Patrol. Oops! This metric is now nearly at the highest it’s been in years. As the Wuflu® hits Mexico, the Mexicans are deciding to head north again.
56 Days Until The Last Election
I firmly believe the United States has had stolen elections in the past. But the nice thing about the Electoral College is? It makes it really, really hard to steal an election. Impossible? No. Hard? Yes.
Every single person in every graveyard in Chicago, California, and Queens can vote for a Democrat, and it doesn’t matter. The Electoral College adds legitimacy to an election by breaking corruption at the state lines. That’s one reason the Left hates it. It makes elections hard to steal. In my state, my vote doesn’t really matter – my state will go for Trump even if every person in every grave, ever, votes Democrat.
Mail-in voting changes all of that.
Yes, this was one of my favorite original memes that I created, but a new version. Still valid.
Stalin has been quoted as saying, “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.”
It’s hard to cheat in a Red State. You have to steal zillions of counties. It’s easy to cheat in a Blue State – you just have to cheat in the big cities. If everyone in Chicago voted Trump, Illinois would still go 60% for whatever Democrat was opposing him. But with mail-in voting?
Examples I have seen show the party on the outside of the envelope. How hard would it be to casually “lose” a few thousand votes from envelopes that had a big, fat, R on the outside? Or a few thousand from precincts that consistently vote Right? Not hard at all. This is on top of demonstrated voter fraud in Left cities where poll workers were caught on camera dumping ballot after ballot into the box on election day.
If mail-in voting passes? We’ve had our last election day. From now on? It’s selection day – selection of the candidate that the Left wants.
Thanks to the innovation of mail-in voting, you don’t even have to bring the corpses to the polls! What else will modern technology come up with?
In a further, ominous sign, the Media® has been setting up the idea that Trump will win on election night in a convincing manner, but will lose as the mail-in ballots are counted. This is particularly horrific.
If you knew which six counties you needed in close states, could you game the Electoral College? Absolutely. You could have boxes of ballots pre-staged in Philadelphia, or Milwaukee, or Cleveland to flip the results. Simple. Want Florida to turn blue? Just found a box with 25,475 Biden votes in Miami.
Don’t think the Left wouldn’t try it. They would do anything to win the election, since they’re contemplating electing a person who couldn’t navigate a corn maze with more than two stalks standing.
If mail-in voting is made the law of the land? Expect that this is the final election, ever, that won’t be a simple selection of the candidate that best fits the desire of the Left. Sure, there will be some token people on the Right elected, but they’ll mainly be people who believe in real conservative values, like only allowing 1,000,000 illegals in a year, and only allowing 7,000,000 people a year in on H1B visas, and restricting anything but a muzzle loading black powder rifle, like our founders intended.
Oh, wait, conservatives have conserved nothing! They just pick the values from the Left from ten or twenty years ago, and defend those until the death.
LINKS
That’s a bad ending to a video game . . .
All are from Ricky:
MSM message: alt-Right continues the march to civil war….
The political power generated from a document like the “Transition Integrity Project” report introduces the threat of terror and street violence as a “normal” or “expected” outcome of the upcoming presidential election. Here is what you will see, hear and read in the next few weeks: “Yes, expect violence in the aftermath of the election, because now that is the new ‘normal.’ Trump made us do it….” Pictured: Police officers in Washington DC come under attack by rioters launching fireworks at them, on May 30, 2020. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
From Chris Farrell at The Gatestone Institute, How to Steal an Electionon a recently published plan, wargaming election crisis scenarios, to spread/continue violence in the event Trump wins the November election.
How does one ensure their political allies are ideologically synchronized, and know exactly how to disrupt a presidential election? What about the “journalists” in the news media and the babblers on social media — how does one get them onboard with the planned nationwide revolutionary disruption? Easy! Publish a report titled: “Preventing a Disrupted Presidential Election.”
In one of the greatest public disinformation campaigns in American history — the Left and their NeverTrumper allies (under the nom de guerre: “Transition Integrity Project”) released a 22-page report in August 2020 “war gaming” (their term) four election crisis scenarios: 1. A decisive Trump win; 2. A decisive Biden win; 3. A narrow Biden win; and, 4. A period of extended uncertainty after the election. The outcome of each TIP scenario results in street violence and political impasse.
TIP organizers and leaders include Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks, Nils Gilman of the “independent” Berggruen Institute in California, and John Podesta, the longtime fixer and handler of the Clinton political dynasty. The nominally Republican members of group include former Republican National Chair Michael Steele, journalist David Frum, and former magazine editor Bill Kristol.
Publication of the TIP report is an information warfare strategy employed for revolutionary political purposes. The strategy is sophisticated and multifaceted. The TIP document:
Lays the groundwork for “consensus” news media and social media narratives;
Rationalizes “unconventional strategies” for generating maximum confusion and turmoil over “unfavorable” election outcomes;
Projects accusations of unlawful/criminal conduct on President Trump and those voting for him;
Co-opts the (already politically sympathetic) Washington DC federal bureaucracy to support their strategy from the headquarters of every department and agency of the Executive;
Relies (correctly) on a low-awareness/low-energy response from the political Right to counter the TIP program.
Is it possible that the leadership of the American Left, along with their NeverTrumper allies, are busy talking themselves into advocating and promoting street violence as a response to a presidential election?
The answer is: Yes.
In the opening paragraph of their “bipartisan” report, TIP states: “We assess with a high degree of likelihood that November’s elections will be marked by a chaotic legal and political landscape.” Especially if they have their way.
An alternative to one of the war-gamed scenarios resulted in the TIPsters advocating for the secession of Washington, Oregon and California. Is there no sense of historical irony in the Democrat party? Secession over an election? Again?
The single greatest irony of the TIP report is the overwhelming use of “projection” in framing and characterizing various claims against President Trump (and his supporters) as a means to justify the Left’s “irregular” plans to disrupt the election process.
Projection, as a political technique, is not a secret. The American Left has never bothered to hide or disguise it, nor have they even found it desirable to do so.
The covert portion of the projection technique is the funding and organizational involvement behind the projection itself. Who is paying the bills for TIP and its affiliates? This is a highly organized, sophisticated operation with career political operatives calling the shots. No one does this for free, and someone (or some entity) is paying the bill. Who?
The TIP report is itself an exercise of power. Political intelligence information and public policy strategies are being fused through the actions of TIP. That synthesis is a demonstration of real political power, and it is being implemented in a written plan that contemplates street violence to affect the outcome of the US presidential election. The political power resourced and generated from a document like the TIP report can be used for persuasion (through news and social media), indoctrination (of activists and other “true believers”), and introduces the threat of terror and street violence (to the general population) as a “normal” or “expected” outcome.
Here is how the news and social media narrative is coming together and what you will see, hear and read in the next few weeks: “Yes, expect violence in the aftermath of the election, because now that is the new ‘normal.’ Trump made us do it. He made us take the election, because the old, regular system just cannot be relied upon. That’s why we had to publish our report, so we could organize ‘around’ all of the regular processes. Obama promised ‘fundamental transformation,’ and now, years later – we’re finally going to deliver.”
What evidence is there of awareness and preparedness on the political Right to confront and counter the TIP (and other Leftists) and their plans to disrupt the election? Not much. Time is short. The Left’s threat of violence and subversion of the election is real. How we respond is critical.
Whether for good or for bad, the United States always sets an example for the rest of the world, and right now people all over the globe are watching violence fill the streets of our major cities. For years, we could all see anger building to extremely dangerous levels in our society, but I think that most Americans never believed that it would actually cause such an eruption. It has been heartbreaking to watch Americans fighting Americans, and I wish that all of our politicians would come together and form a united front in calling for an end to the violence. Instead, they just keep blaming one another, and things just continue to escalate.
And when I use the word “escalate”, I am not exaggerating one bit. There are more than 100,000 gang members living in the city of Chicago today, and according to the FBI 30 gangs in the city “have made a pact” to shoot any police officer that draws his or her weapon in public…
A federal intelligence alert from the FBI field office in Chicago, Ill., warned that about 30 gangs in the city have made a pact to shoot police officers if they draw their weapons in public, ABC 7 reported on Monday.
Can you imagine what police officers in Chicago must be feeling right now?
I hope that they are well paid, because they are literally risking their lives on a nightly basis. This new intelligence report specifically said that these gangs have agreed to “shoot on-sight” any officer that draws a weapon, and the purpose of this violent pact is “to garner national media attention”…
The alert states that Chicago gangs have agreed to “shoot on-sight any cop that has a weapon drawn on any subject in public.”
“Members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in performance of their official duties,” the alert continues. “The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent ‘shoot on-sight’ of said officer, in order to garner national media attention.”
Of course a lot of people have been shooting at Chicago police officers already. According to Chicago police superintendent David Brown, the number of CPD police officers that have been shot at this year has already smashed the all-time yearly record…
According to CPD Superintendent David Brown, there is an overall “sense of lawlessness” felt by local police, and the ‘danger to police officers is real and increasing.’
“I think it’s bigger than a suggestion,” said Brown. “I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago’s history. So I think it’s more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.“
It is so sad to watch Chicago descend into complete and utter lawlessness.
Each weekend, the violence in Chicago makes national headlines, and last weekend was no exception. 50 people got shot, and that included “a mass shooting at a pancake house”…
Brown, now more than four months into his tenure, did not mention the grim milestone while talking to reporters. He also did not dwell on the toll from the weekend: at least 10 people killed and 40 others wounded by gun violence that included a mass shooting at a pancake house on the Far Southwest Side. A man died and four others were wounded as diners with children scattered.
In a little more than three hours beginning around 2 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police responded to 10 separate shootings, including three homicides and an attack on two officers who exchanged gunfire with an armed teen. All three were wounded.
In Portland, we are witnessing a different sort of chaos.
Political protests have been rocking the city on a nightly basis for three months straight, and on Monday night the protesters decided to target the mayor’s house…
Protesters in Portland gathered outside Democrat mayor Ted Wheeler’s apartment Monday night to ‘celebrate’ his birthday by letting off fireworks and singing ‘happy tear gas to you’.
A fire was lit in the street outside the 58-year-old’s apartment block in an upmarket area in the north of the city, as around 200 people gathered while blasting music, sounding horns, banging pots and pans, and playing drums.
This is a perfect example that shows why the violence is not going to end no matter who wins the election in November.
Ted Wheeler is not a Republican.
He isn’t even a moderate Democrat.
In fact, he is one of the most far left mayors in the entire country.
But they targeted his home anyway.
As I detail in my new book, so many people warned us in advance that tremendous rioting, looting and violence would erupt in our major cities. In some instances, these explosions of anger are being fueled by political unrest, but in other cases we are seeing acts of violence that are completely and utterly mindless. A perfect example of this is an incident which just took place in Baltimore…
Video emerged Monday on social media showing a man crossing a street and another man sneaking up behind him and slamming him in the back of the head, which resulted in the victim falling face-first to the sidewalk.
Just before the victim was hit in the head, a voice — presumably from one of the people recording the video across the street — can be heard whispering, “bitch you bet’ not run.” After the victim falls to the sidewalk, at least two people can be heard laughing and hollering in response.
Video of this deeply disturbing attack has been posted on Twitter, and watching it made me incredibly sad.
How evil do you have to be to celebrate when some random person is knocked unconscious by a brick to the head?
I truly wish that the entire country could come together and agree to bring an end to the violence. But of course that isn’t going to happen. If anything, societal tensions are likely to get even higher as we approach election day in November.
It should deeply grieve all of us when we see Americans fighting Americans. There is so much anger and hatred all around us, and any nation that becomes utterly consumed by anger and hatred has no future.
Ultimately, what we really need is to learn how to truly love one another, but unfortunately that is not a very popular message at all these days.
The Barbarians are at the gates, the cities are in flames, the war for the soul of America is in full swing. What I say here I do not say lightly. America is on the brink of falling, and if history is a guide and a repeating cycle, there will be very little to stop the demise of the greatest nation in the world, just like there was little at the end that could stop the fall of the Roman Empire once the decay and rot had set it.
What we are watching in our streets is nothing that happened overnight, it’s a product of years of social decay, corruption, indoctrination, and just flat out apathy. For as long as I have been active in politics, twenty-five years, which isn’t that long, I have seen the decline of this country, the spread of the corrupt cancer that’s been eating the heart and soul of America spread from the federal government to the states, to the smallest towns. It’s in our colleges, schools, our movies, television shows and in the very fabric of our everyday lives. Now add to that a virus that some would say is dubiously overblown and regulations that a year ago would have been laughed off as insane paranoia but are now seen as patriotism that must be enforced, and you have the perfect storm for the complete downfall of this republic.
George Who?
The fear and pent up resentment reached a flashpoint with the death of George Floyd, who barely gets any mention anymore. Which proves that he was simply used as the match to the fuse that is sparking riots not only all over in our cities, but also round the clock protests in even the smaller communities that don’t get much mention on the nightly news. Companies and sports venues quickly caved in out of fear of being protested next for simply not picking a side. Multimillionaire athletes are now en masse kneeling during the National Anthem before every game or, in the case of the WNBA, walking right off the court altogether. These things would have been unheard of a decade ago, now they’re seen as “taking a stand”.
Monuments are being ripped down, an act that many said would not stop with Confederate statues. It now includes anything that simply offends anyone else. Christopher Columbus, the Founding Fathers, memorials to fallen police officers, military, and veterans, are all targets. We all watched a historic church in Washington, DC nearly be burnt to the ground by anarchists who have been emboldened by liberal politicians who not only have ignored their actions, but in some instances have joined with the protesters against police, all while businesses are being vandalized, looted, and burned.
Today New York’s Attorney General Letitia James announced that she was suing the National Rifle Association with one goal, to dissolve it entirely. Now, I have had many bones to pick with the NRA over the years, and it appears that there has been a lot of mismanagement at the top for a long time, but one thing that everyone needs to see, with eyes wide open, is that if the liberals start with the NRA, they won’t stop there. You can bet they will look into finding a way to shut down every organization that they don’t like, or that stands up to them to defend your rights. The fact that an Attorney General from any state unveils a massive lawsuit against what for decades has been seen as the face of the Second Amendment in America with less than three months to go before perhaps one of the most pivotal elections in America’s history has got to be looked at for what it is, a political move to knock the NRA out of being able to lobby or fundraise for any candidates.
I hope I am wrong, but I feel that the violence we’re seeing is only going to get worse, egged on by the fact that there seem to be no consequences for those who loot and burn, while if you have a business and violate one of the many arbitrary rules that make no sense, you risk having your business shut down, being fined or even facing jail time. In some cities, if you get caught without a mask on, it’s a stiff fine, whereas we all see, night after night, a protest somewhere in this country where it seems that the rioters and looters have been given complete control of the streets.
Our country has been turned upside down, and hardworking, law-abiding citizens are on the bottom and are being trampled by the rioters and the regulations coming from blue states that worsen from day-to-day.
What Americans seem to have lost is hope, and I think that is intentional. The media on every channel beats the public down with talk of sickness, possible school closures, the economy, riots, violence, and politics. There never seems to be any good news, and all the while, everyone is told to stay home whenever possible while protesters are told that their actions are patriotic and, in some cases, necessary to get their point out. Good people are living in fear while the cities are in free fall. So of course, they feel helpless and are at the mercy of their elected officials. Speaking out is not only not good, but it’s going against the grain. Americans are told to not question what’s happening, just shut up, put on your mask, and do as your told.
Where this country goes from here is anyone’s guess, and I am not someone who is simply into the “buy guns and ammo” crowd. You don’t try to buy guns and ammo during a crisis, you should have had them before this all began. A crisis rarely takes a lot of time to spring up, giving you the chance to stock up. I think people should be looking to their own, thinking about where they live and putting away supplies of all kinds. I’m not saying go out and hoard toilet paper, but you can bet if things head south, what you saw at the grocery stores in March will only be an inkling of what they will look like.
America is going through a serious crisis right now, and it’s not just about the Covid virus. The real virus is what we’re seeing elected officials doing to their citizens while allowing criminals to go free or not be arrested at all.
The real virus is the fear that’s now rampaging through the country, making Americans afraid to even go outside for the fear they will catch something that is proving to be far less deadly than we were told. The real virus is the mobs of looters and rioters we’re seeing in our streets every single night, trashing buildings, cars, and destroying businesses while the media calls their actions peaceful. It is yet to be seen if the virus infecting America right now will be fatal to the republic or if we will be able to rally and fight it off. One thing is for sure, we’re running out of time to save the patient.
On Saturday, hundreds of Trump supporters gathered in the outskirts of Portland in a “Cruise Rally” in pick-up trucks with a lot of Trump 2020 flags decked out all over the cars.
After their rally, they then decided to drive into Portland. They were set upon, in the words of the media, by “counter-protesters” otherwise known as radical leftists/Antifa folk.
Leftist tried to block some of the cars, other cars they threw things at, threatened or stole flags from. Some of the Trump supporters defended themselves with pepper spray or paintball guns. There were multiple fights between the two groups.
Antifa assaulted Trump supporters in the convoy with urine sprays and projectiles before facing retaliation. pic.twitter.com/MEOwDGWc5r
Antifa rioters try to physically block the Trump cars from driving in downtown Portland. They get maced instead of run over. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/qx3mJFz24K
They cornered Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson and beat the heck out of him. He survived because the folks in the gas station saved him and pulled him inside. Then Antifa tried to besiege the station.
But as we reported earlier, the worst incident was when a man came up and apparently walking up to the Trump supporter and fired point blank, killing him.
Tonight in Portland BLM terrorists and Antifa murdered a Trump supporter in cold blood.
No altercation, no fight. He walked up behind him and assassinated him because of his political views.pic.twitter.com/jNDs0YJcGn
Then they celebrated the death of the Trump supporter, cheering when one of their leaders announced he was dead, even burning an American flag in the celebration, after slandering the man calling him a “nazi” and saying “our community held its own. they “took out the trash.”
“He was a f—ing Nazi! Our community held its own.”
Antifa & BLM in Portland celebrate the homicide of a purported Trump supporter who was affiliated with Patriot Prayer, a Portland-area conservative group. pic.twitter.com/xjIWk0KHN2
After finding out that it was a “blue lives matter” supporter who was killed, antifa in Portland are very happy. They’re dancing and chanting now. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/PeqyVUXfNE
Antifa burn a US flag to celebrate the death of the man shot in downtown Portland. They call him a “fascist” despite not knowing who he is. #PortlandRiotspic.twitter.com/3CjdcWDl1S
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Here’s another reported shot of the apparent shooter, looks like he has a distinctive tattoo on his neck that some are describing as the socialist fist which should make it a lot easier to figure out who he is, not to mention the distinctive outfit he was wearing.
This is the suspected shooter in the white short, seen from the back, in Portland where a blue lives supporter was shot and killed. pic.twitter.com/WufdzWN0xW
Update 9/4/2020: Yesterday Michael Reinoehl admitted to being the shooter in this incident, but claimed it was self defense. The same evening he was killed by law enforcement after Reinoehl pulled a gun when they attempted to arrest him. “Initial reports indicate the suspect produced a firearm, threatening the lives of law enforcement officers. Task force members responded to the threat and struck the suspect who was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Somewhat related – Colion Noir’s take on the Kenosha, WI shooting:
“I can’t sugarcoat this. We’re at Threat Level: Midnight!” – The Office
People actively avoid being near those of opposing ideology. Might move from communities or states just because of ideology.
Common violence. Organized violence is occurring monthly.
Opposing sides develop governing/war structures. Just in case.
Common violence that is generally deemed by governmental authorities as justified based on ideology.
Open War.
We are at step 9. Step 9. is, of course, two minutes to midnight on the clock. Violence continues to be commonly justified by local and state authorities.
In this issue: Front Matter – Talking About Divorce – Violence and Censorship Update – Updated Civil War 2.0 Index – Living Two Minutes To Midnight – Links
Welcome to the latest issue of the Civil War II Weather Report. These posts are different than the other posts at Wilder Wealthy and Wise and consist of smaller segments covering multiple topics around the single focus of Civil War 2.0, on the first or second Monday of every month. I’ve created a page (LINK) for links to all of the past issues. Also, feel free to subscribe and you’ll get every post delivered to your inbox, M-W-F at 7:30 Eastern.
Talking About Divorce
I read an article once that said that couples that talk about getting a divorce are much more likely to get a divorce. Heck, when my ex-wife said she wanted a divorce on Valentine’s Day, I was surprised – I wasn’t planning on spending that much. But talking increasing the divorce risk – that made sense to me: every time you talk about an event, you tend to bring the event closer to becoming real.
How?
It’s not magic or a witch’s incantation, or at least I didn’t see my ex-wife doing incantations, though there was a smell of sulfur around midnight. It is simply that when people talk about divorce, they start imagining what it would be like. When divorce fantasy is better than marriage reality, the lawyers get called in.
In a recent “war game” of different election scenarios, John “Spirit Cooking” Podesta played the role of Joe “stay in the basement until November” Biden. Crucially in the war game scenario where Biden lost, “Biden’s team sought to encourage large Western states (California, Washington, Oregon) to secede unless pro-Democracy reforms were made.”
Both sides are talking about divorce.
Violence and Censorship Update
Violence associated with the protests is now so common that stories that would have made national news four months ago are, at most, up for a single news cycle. “Peaceful” protester draws an AK on someone driving by and gets ventilated? Yawn. Two women (I guess) are frolicking on an interstate at night and get (inadvertently) mowed down by someone driving a car?
It’s bad. In Chicago, 2,249 people have been shot this year as of July 29 (LINK), which is nearly 700 more than in all of 2019. At this rate, more people will be shot in just Chicago this year than during the entire Falkland Island War between Great Britain and Argentina. This is patent proof that black lives don’t matter to Black Lives Matter®, since deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of cops in all of 2019 were, according to USA Today™ (LINK) only . . . 25.
The Civil War II graphs are an attempt to measure four factors that might make Civil War II more likely, in real time. They are broken up into Violence, Political Instability, Economic Outlook, and Illegal Alien Crossings. As each of these is difficult to measure, I’ve created for three of the four metrics some leading indicators that lead to the index. On illegal aliens, I’m just using government figures.
July was generally better than June, which is like saying that World War I was “better” than World War II. Let’s go to the graphs. As is custom at Wilder, Wealthy, and Wise, the graphs are presented with girls in bikinis, because if civilization is collapsing what better time is there for bikini graphs?
Violence:
Up is more violent. June pegged the scale of violence. This measure because the way it’s constructed, doesn’t go higher than 300. It’s lower this month. Does that mean it’s less violent this month? Certainly riots are down, but the measure is a measure of how people feel about the violence. Since it’s so common now, it’s not spiking. That is, in my opinion, very bad – we’re getting used to this nonsense.
Political Instability:
Up is more unstable. Instability is down only slightly, which might seem weird, but the political system is still stable overall. I expect this to spike in the next two months, and may introduce a new measure based on the election as we get closer to November.
Economic:
Down indicates worse economic conditions, but this month it’s up. The part of me that hopes, hopes we’re on a real upswing. The part of me that thinks says we’re nowhere near the bottom.
Illegal Aliens:
Down is good, in theory. This is a statistic showing border apprehensions by the Border Patrol. Down, probably related to WuFlu, unemployment, and riots. This is near a five year low for this time of year.
Living Two Minutes To Midnight
Two minutes to midnight is a tough place for the United States to be sitting, and we’re here. The confluence of great events, economic, political, and social is upon us. It’s in these times of upheaval that systems collapse in complexity from a high level to a lower one. Highly complex society provides us nice things like video games and delivery of eyeglasses made in China in a week.
Societies of low complexity struggle to feed themselves and live in mud huts. Low complexity societies are always on the edge – a famine could mean real death due to starvation, not that the shake machine is broken at McDonalds® again so you have to go to Sonic™ if you want a shake.
In order to grab or consolidate political power, there are politicians that would gladly drop our standard of living to that of starving people in mud huts. Those that would support them imagine a world where they’ll be allowed to be artists and poets and philosophers and the mud huts will be left for those who oppose the new way of doing things.
Living in this time, I have one suggestion: be as prepared as you can be for nearly anything to happen. Understand that things you’ve taken for granted your entire life can change in a day. I never thought I’d live in a society where rioters could stop cars of peaceful citizens with impunity and the tacit approval of local and state governments, but here we are.
I was finishing up the next two articles in the Survival Strategies series, when the world, particularly the US, started going even more nuts than it has been.
Yet another shooting and more misinformation and the ensuing riots that seem to accompany everything these days. I wrote a little bit about this on my Facebook page, but I want to expand on it.
We are at a crossroads right now that many have never seen in our country.
If you have missed the current goings-on from the last few days, here it is in a nutshell.
In Kenosha, WI, there was an OIS involving a young black man. Initial reports painting him as innocent, unarmed, and executed turned out to be wrong. As we have seen, that is all it takes in the current US climate to create a firestorm. “Protests” started, this time obviously as a pretense, as the violence soon took over. An entire car lot torched, several churches, and many businesses. An important part, which will become material later, is that many minority-owned businesses were destroyed.
The violence went on for two days/nights. Last night, the third night, was a turning point. Citizens showed up with rifles. The first reports are three shot, two dead.
Why I say this is a turning point, you might ask?
Simple, this is now an escalation that can lead to outright, open, armed conflict between groups. It doesn’t matter whether or not you believe one side or the other or think the defenders were white supremacists. This is and always has been an indicator of crossing the Rubicon. Once we pass this point, it is a different game.
Now is the time to tighten everything up that you have been working on with your preps.
Do you have your food, water, meds, etc.?
Where are you a little light? Can you fix that fast, or do you need alternate planning and supply?
Do you have a network established for mutual support, defense, and, once again, supply?
Do you have barter goods?
Do you have medical supplies, weapons, a plan for different events that might happen?
Have you gamed out what might occur?
The reason I am asking these questions is twofold.
First, to encourage you to patch any holes you might have, and second, we have entered the next phase of the game.
Shipping and supplies will become short supply/high demand if this continues, and even worse if this escalates more.
On the personal front, people will start getting clannish and not accept ‘outsiders’ as readily as they might have before, which puts you in a tighter spot if you haven’t made those alliances.
We are not quite at the door of civil war.
We are definitely in a time of extreme civil unrest, and strongly in the throes of a 4th generation warfare event. The agitators, rioters, and insurgents have pushed very hard, and now, push back is occurring. This may help quiet events for a little while, hopefully giving calmer heads a better chance of prevailing, but hope is not a plan.
This could also be what launches us straight into whatever version of the Troubles or Balkanization will come out of the American culture. No matter which way it goes, this is what we have been supposed to have been prepping for, and, as there is never a dress rehearsal, we need to have it right. The beautiful thing is, we had a mini rehearsal with the initial response to Covid-19, and hopefully saw our weaknesses and worked to address them.
All of this unrest, violence, propaganda, and conflict is now leaving our major cities and moving into areas previously thought safer. Would anyone have ever predicted Kenosha WI as a tinder box that lit a broader conflict? Two months ago, would anyone have thought rioters would move into neighborhoods at midnight with bullhorns to disturb and frighten the residents? If you have studied the history of low-level conflict, terrorism, etc., you will notice this is following some very well established patterns.
Look up the recent history in Belgium and the La Terreur, and its tactics. It was an affluent, European country, and these events happened there. Germany in the 70s was a hotbed of this kind of activity.
I just wanted to send a warning and encouragement. The warning signs are there. History is at least rhyming at the moment. We need to be proactive in taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. We can no longer deny what is happening and what it might bring about.
Stay safe, keep your head about you, fix the gaps you have in your plan and supplies. Remain flexible. Don’t buy any hype or propaganda. Make sure you know whether something is true or false before you act on it. You are fighting for you and yours, don’t become a pawn for another.
Keep your eyes open, act when needed, be reserved when you can.
Tom Luongo of Gold Goats ‘N Guns blog has a few words to say about the direction of the country in After Kenosha — Divided We Stand.
It would always come to this. At some point there would be a reckoning for BLM and Antifa.
The shootings in Kenosha, WI are a dividing line for America.
This is the moment where normal people finally said, “Enough. There will be consequences. “
This is a war between radicalized lunatics bathed in unquenchable envy and self-pity and those who refuse to act like victims.
But they are victims.
All of us are. On both sides of the divide.
We are victims of a vicious program to divide and conquer the U.S. through a culture war designed to dehumanize each other.
We fight among ourselves over scraps while the people who manipulated events to this point walk away laughing at the destruction.
They want the violence. They love it. They relish it. It brings them power and prestige.
To maintain their power, as the systems they’ve built fail, they have set us against each other: paid looters and rioters to become cannon fodder in their war against common decency, culture, communities and family.
All for control over the levers of political power.
In 2016 we tried to tell them, peacefully, enough was enough. We elected Donald Trump, of all people, to be our standard bearer. We did it the way we were taught was the right way, through the ballot box.
It was supposed to be the hallmark of our enlightenment, the peaceful transfer of power. It’s been anything but.
For four years we’ve endured a non-stop parade of political venality unmatched in modern history. The quest for regaining the power of the White House brooked no holds being barred.
And if Trump wouldn’t go willingly and we didn’t learn our lesson, then they would activate every cell to flood the streets with disaffected and nihilistic youths to loot and rob; using their outrageous sense of entitlement as fuel for their rage against a machine they are, unwittingly, the main cogs of.
But having watched one young man clear in his purpose to defend his town from roving thugs in Kenosha be forced (under clear conditions of self-defense) to kill two people is a dividing line we’re not coming back from.
Wars are only profitable for those that promote them. Those that fight the wars are the real victims. This kid, a hero by my personal reckoning, is also a victim and there’s no coming back from what he’s had to do.
Killing while justified is still killing. It scars you, no matter if you wear a blue uniform, fatigues or a green t-shirt.
The animals I see on the streets under the auspice of what the media calls ‘peaceful protests’ beating people to within inches of their lives for the crime of being white and defending their property have no humanity.
My livestock have more decency than these people.
And yet, in order for us to survive this dark period of history, we will still have to reach out to them and offer them peace and assistance back from the insanity that grips them now.
That will be the hardest thing for us to do, while also maintaining the resolve to do what we feel is necessary to preserve something of what we’ve built.
That is the dividing line for many of us.
Only you know where that limit is. There are a lot of people out there right now confronting that limit for the first time.
As my dad used to say, as NYPD, “I’d rather be judged by twelve than carried by six.”
We are up against people who brook no limit on their behavior. Everything is justified in the pursuit of their righteous cause. You can see in it all the video footage.
And they know it. They know that we’d rather not fight back. That, unfortunately, to people empowered by the mob and turned into bullies, is misinterpreted as weakness.
Having humanity is not weakness. It is strength.
And nothing bursts the bubble of false bravado on display by Anfita/BLM at this point than strength of character, which defines limits, creates boundaries and establishes consequences.
The sad truth is that this is only the beginning of what’s to come. The line is crossed and from town to town, that line will be more difficult to assess than ever before.
The myth of policing is failing. There aren’t enough cops to quell these riots. The State has been revealed as their enablers.
The law has been used against property owners told they shouldn’t defend themselves or their businesses.
They’ve been afraid of being the ones who cross the line while the looters overwhelm the streets. That impulse will continue to wither. This anarcho-tyranny will not stand for much longer.
That’s what we saw it on the streets of Kenosha.
We’ll see more of it, until a new form of order asserts itself.
Part of the “new normal” in America seems to be battle zones erupting across the nation. I’m not just talking about protests, but full-on sieges that may last for days, weeks, or even months. Some of these began due to acts of police brutality, while others have taken on lives of their own with wholesale looting and violence.
The United States of America we see today is incredibly different from the one we saw at the beginning of the year. We’ve been wracked by a pandemic, a subsequent economic catastrophe, and massive, widespread civil unrest.
Let’s take a look at these pockets of violent behavior. (WARNING: This article contains videos with violent content.)
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Yesterday, police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back as he tried to enter the vehicle where his children were. Blake is in stable condition and expected to live, but the shocking video has spread virally across social media. You can see the cell phone footage below. (Violence Warning)
Police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black father, several times in the back today in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was getting into his car after apparently breaking up a fight between two women. His three sons were inside the car and witnessed a cop shooting their father! He’s pic.twitter.com/3maVuX5qYk
Kenosha, a city in Wisconsin of about one hundred thousand people, quickly erupted in protest of the shooting. (Never think these things only happen in large cities – here is an inside look at the Ferguson riots of 2014.)
Protests, riots, and looting are expected to continue in Kenosha.
Denver, Colorado
Not only is Colorado currently beset by wildfires, but it’s also plagued with violent civil unrest. Over the weekend, rioters set out to destroy property in downtown Denver.
One Twitter user reported that a group of protesters had gathered in front of a police department in Denver, and that a van pulled up to hand out shields.
A protest in front of Denver Police headquarters is small but has escalated quickly. About 50 protesters are here right now, many with shields and helmets. A van pulled up and passed out shields to protesters. Protesters are at a standoff with a SWAT team now #9Newspic.twitter.com/XlzmcenfG9
The Denver “protesters” called for the abolition of police.
A group of about 40 people protested outside the Denver Police Department headquarters Saturday night and marched through streets in the area, blocking traffic. Some clashed with officers, set fires and broke windows…
…Chemical agents were deployed to control the crowd and eight people were taken into custody…
…Copter4 was over 13th and Delaware when people in the group were breaking windows.
People in the group set two small fires, which were quickly extinguished. (source)
Portland, Oregon
Riots have been ongoing in Portland for months, and this weekend, several notable events occurred.
On Saturday, rioters fought one another in the streets.
Protesters at Portland rallies to show support for police and President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign engaged in physical combat repeatedly with counterprotesters Saturday without police intervention. Members of the chaotic crowd used an array of weapons, including baseball bats and firearms to beat and threaten those they opposed…
…Pro-Trump demonstrators, people carrying shields with references to the QAnon conspiracy theory and members of the Proud Boys — a self-described chauvinist group that regularly engages in violence — all gathered around noon, some carrying rifles…
…Counterprotesters from anti-fascist groups like Popular Mobilization PDX also gathered Saturday, and the two groups quickly began shouting at each other and engaging in tense, face-to-face confrontations in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center.
Within an hour of meeting, protesters began to push each other and throw objects. Some demonstrators on the pro-police side fired paintball guns and deployed pepper spray on counterdemonstrators. Other protesters used baseball bats. Many people wore helmets and body armor as they punched, kicked and tore at each other. (source)
This isn’t just a few people yelling and chanting. This is outright fighting – physical violence.
Conservative rioters left the area in the afternoon, but the remaining rioters continued to become increasingly violent into the night until teargas was released to disperse crowds.
The police did not declare an event because they “didn’t have the resources to handle one.”
In a press release distributed Saturday afternoon, Portland police said its officers did not intervene to stop the fighting because those involved “willingly” engaged, its forces were stretched too thin from policing 80+ nights of protests, and the bureau didn’t feel the clashes would last that long.
“Each skirmish appeared to involve willing participants and the events were not enduring in time, so officers were not deployed to intervene,” the release states. (source)
On Sunday night, the NY Post reported that rioters set fire to a police precinct.
Black Lives Matter militants set fire to a police station in Portland Sunday night during yet another night of violence in the Oregon city.
The march on the Portland Police Bureau’s north precinct had already been declared an unlawful assembly as police say they were pelted with “rocks and bottles” and had “powerful green lasers” pointed at them.
But a mob of at least 300 continued to advance despite repeated warnings by police — and lit an awning on the precinct ablaze… (source)
The fire was extinguished without injuries.
A week ago, a man was seriously injured when he was pulled from his vehicle and brutally attacked during an “otherwise peaceful demonstration.”
A crowd gathered around him and repeatedly punched and kicked him in the head until he was bloody.
Witnesses told police the man had been helping a transgender female who had an item of hers stolen, and he was dragged out of the car and beat by nine or 10 people. When police arrived the man was unconscious.
Portland police said their response to the assault was “complicated by a hostile group.” (source)
It’s important to note that Portland’s new district attorney, Mike Schmidt, has refused to prosecute protesters that commit criminal acts. The New York Times reports that since he took office on August 1 of this year, he has dismissed charges against half of the more than 600 people who have been arrested for crimes like interfering with the police, disorderly conduct and trespassing. Charges that involve assaulting officers will “require closer scrutiny, with prosecutors taking into account in filing charges whether the police fired tear gas into crowds.”
Unsurprisingly, local law enforcement believes that Schmidt’s policies are making matters worse.
Mr. Schmidt said Portland police leaders told him that they were concerned the directive would lead to more police injuries, though he said nothing prevented officers from making lawful arrests they deemed necessary. (The Portland police chief, Chuck Lovell, said the force “will continue to do the job the community expects of us.”)
The sheriff, Mike Reese, warned Mr. Schmidt in an email that some protesters were bent on “starting fires, damaging property and assaulting police, community members,” adding, “They may feel even more emboldened if there is a public statement that appears to minimize their activities.” In response to one of the sheriff’s concerns, Mr. Schmidt said he revised the policy to greenlight prosecutions for rioting in cases where a defendant was accused of serious offenses.
The Oregon State Police also took a parting shot at Mr. Schmidt as troopers pulled back after a two-week deployment at the protests this month, saying they preferred to put resources in “counties where prosecution of criminal conduct is still a priority.” (source)
The violence in Portland shows no sign of relenting.
This is an excerpt from a sermon from Dr. Samuel Langdon in 1775 after being named president of Harvard College and given before the Congress of the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy Counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called the City of Righteousness, the faithful City. – Isaiah 1:26
We have lived to see the time when British Liberty is just ready to expire;—when that constitution of government which has so long been the glory and strength of the English nation, is deeply undermined and ready to tumble into ruins;—when America is threatened with cruel oppression, and the arm of power is stretched out against New-England, and especially against this Colony, to compel us to submit to the arbitrary acts of legislators who are not our representatives, and who will not themselves bear the least part of the burdens which, without mercy, they are laying upon us. The most formal and solemn grants of Kings to our ancestors are deemed by our oppressors as of little value; and they have mutilated the Charter of this Colony in the most essential parts, upon false representations▪ and new invented maxims of policy, without the least regard to any legal process. We are no longer permitted to fix our eyes on the faithful of the land, and trust in the wisdom of their counsels, and the equity of their judgment; but men in whom we can have no confidence,—whose principles are subversive of our liberties,—whose aim is to exercise lordship over us, and share among themselves the public wealth:—men who are ready to serve any master, and execute the most unrighteous decrees for high wages,—whose faces we never saw before, and whose interests and connexions may be far divided from us by the wide atlantick,—are to be set over us as counsellors and judges, at the pleasure of those who have the riches and power of the nation in their hands, and whose noblest plan is to subjugate the Colonies first, and then the whole nation to their will.
That we might not have it in our power to refuse the most absolute submission to their unlimited claims of authority, they have not only endeavored to terrify us with fleets and armies sent to our Capital, and distressed and put an end to our trade, particularly that important branch of it, the fishery; but at length attempted, by a sudden march of a body of troops in the night, to seize and destroy one of our magazines, formed by the people merely for their own security; if, after such formidable military preparations on the other side, matters should be pushed to an extremity. By this, as might well be expected, a skirmish was brought on; and it is most evident, from a variety of concurring circumstances, as well as numerous depositions both of the prisoners taken by us at that time, and our own men then on the spot only as spectators, that the fire began first on the side of the King’s troops. At least five or six of our inhabitants were murderously kill’d by the Regulars at Lexington, before any man attempted to return the fire, and when they were actually complying with the command to disperse: and two more of our brethren were likewise kill’d at Concord-Bridge by a fire from the King’s soldiers, before the engagement began on our side. But whatever credit falsehoods transmited to Great-Britain, from the other side, may gain, the matter may be rested entirely on this,— that he that arms himself to commit a robbery, and demands the traveller’s purse, by the terror of Instant death, is the first aggressor, though the other should take the advantage of discharging his pistol first and killing the robber.
The alarm was sudden; but in a very short time spread far and wide: the nearest neighbours in haste ran together, to assist their brethren, and save their country. Not more than three or four hundred met in season and bravely attacked and repulsed the enemies of liberty, who retreated with great precipitation. But by the help of a strong reinforcement, notwithstanding a close pur|suit, and continual loss on their side, they acted the part of Robbers and Savages, by burning, plundering, and damaging almost every house in their way, to the utmost of their power, murdering the unarmed and helpless, and not regarding the weaknesses of the tender sex▪ until they had secured themselves beyond the reach of our terrifying arms…
We have used our utmost endeavors, by repeated humble petitions and remonstrances,— by a series of unanswerable reasonings published from the Press, in which the dispute has been fairly stated, and the justice of our opposition clearly demonstrated,—and by the mediation of some of the noblest and most faithful friends of the British constitution, who have powerfully plead our cause in Parliament,—to prevent such measures as may soon reduce the body politic to a miserable, dismembred, dying trunk, though lately the terror of all Europe. But our King, as if impelled by some strange fatality, is resolved to reason with us only by the roar of his Cannon, and the pointed arguments of musquets and bayonets. Because we refuse submission to the despotic power of a ministerial Parliament, our own Sovereign, to whom we have been always ready to swear true allegiance,—whose authority we never meant to cast off,—who might have continued happy in the cheerful obedience of as faithful subjects as any in his dominions,—has given us up to the rage of his Ministers, to be seized at sea by the rapacious commanders of every little sloop of war and piratical cutter, and to be plundered and massacred by land by mercenary troops, who know no distinction betwixt an enemy and a brother, between right and wrong; but only, like brutal pursuers, to hunt and seize the prey pointed out by their masters.
We must keep our eyes fixed on the supreme government of the ETERNAL KING, as directing all events, setting up or pulling down the Kings of the earth at his pleasure, suffering the best forms of human government to degenerate and go to ruin by corruption; or restoring the decayed constitutions of kingdoms and states, by reviving public virtue and religion, and granting the favorable interpositions of his providence. To this our text leads us; and though I hope to be excused on this occasion from a formal dis|course on the words in a doctrinal way, yet I must not wholly pass over the religious instruction contained in them.
Let us consider—That for the sins of a people God may suffer the best government to be corrupted, or entirely dissolved; and that nothing but a general reformation can give good ground to hope that the public happiness will be restored, by the recovery of the strength and perfection of the state, and that divine providence will interpose to fill every department with wise and good men.
Isaiah prophesied about the time of the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel, and about a century before the captivity of Judah. The kingdom of Israel was brought to destruction, because its iniquities were full; its counsellors and judges were wholly taken away, because there remained no hope of reformation. But the sceptre did not entirely depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till the Messiah came: yet greater and greater changes took place in their political affairs; their government degenerated in proportion as their vices increased, till few faithful men were left in any public offices; and at length, when they were delivered up for seventy years into the hands of the king of Babylon, scarce any remains of their original excellent civil polity appeared among them.
The Jewish government, according to the original constitution which was divinely established, if considered merely in a civil view, was a perfect Republic. The heads of their tribes, and elders of their cities, were their counsellors and judges. They called the people together in more general or particular assemblies, took their opinions, gave advice, and managed the public affairs according to the general voice. Counsellors and judges comprehend all the powers of that government; for there was no such thing as legislative authority belonging to it, their complete code of laws being given immediately from God by the hand of Moses. And let them who cry up the divine right of Kings consider, that the only form of government which had a proper claim to a divine establishment was so far from including the idea of a King, that it was a high crime for Israel to ask to be in this respect like other nations; and when they were gratified, it was rather as a just punishment of their folly, that they might feel the burdens of court pageantry, of which they were warned by a very striking description, than as a divine recommendation of kingly authority.
Every nation, when able and agreed, has a right to set up over themselves any form of government which to them may appear most conducive to their common welfare. The civil Polity of Israel is doubtless an excellent general model, allowing for some peculiarities; at least some principal laws and orders of it may be copied, to great advantage, in more modern establishments.
When a government is in it’s prime, the public good engages the attention of the whole; the strictest regard is paid to the qualifications of those who hold the offices of the state; virtue prevails; every thing is managed with justice, prudence, and frugality; the laws are founded on principles of equity rather than mere policy; and all the people are happy. But vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire; and this gradually tends to corrupt the constitution, and in time bring on it’s dissolution. This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a righteous judgment of heaven, especially upon a nation which has been favor’d with the blessings of religion and liberty, and is guilty of undervaluing them, and eagerly going into the gratification of every lust.
In this chapter the prophet describes the very corrupt state of Judah in his day, both as to religion and common morality; and looks forward to that increase of wickedness which would bring on their desolation and captivity. They were a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that were corrupters, who had forsaken the Lord, and provoked the holy One of Israel to anger. The whole body of the nation, from head to foot, was full of moral and political disorders without any remaining soundness. Their religion was all mere ceremony and hypocrisy, and even the laws of common justice and humanity were disregarded in their public courts. They had Counsellors and Judges, but very different from those at the beginning of the common wealth. Their Princes were rebellious against God, and the constitution of their country, and companions of thieves, giving countenance to every artifice for seizing the property of the subjects into their own hands, and robbing the public treasury. Every one loved gifts and followed after rewards; they regarded the perquisites more than the duties of their office; the general aim was at profitable places and pensions; they were influenced in every thing by bribery; and their avarice and luxury were never satisfied, but hurried them on to all kinds of oppression and violence, so that they even justified and encouraged the murder of innocent persons to support their lawless power, and increase their wealth. And God in righteous judgment left them to run into all this excess of vice to their own destruction, because they had forsaken him, and were guilty of wilful inattention to the most essential parts of that religion which had been given them by a well attested Revelation from heaven.
The Jewish nation could not but see and feel the unhappy consequences of so great corruption of the state. Doubtless they complained much of men in power, and very heartily and liberally reproached them for their notorious misconduct. The public greatly suffered and the people groan|ed, and wished for better rulers and better management. But in vain they hoped for a change of men and measures and better times, when the spirit of religion was gone, and the infection of vice was become universal. The whole body being so corrupted, there could be no rational prospect of any great reformation in the state, but rather of its ruin; which accordingly came on in Jeremiah’s time. Yet if a general reformation of religion and morals had taken place, and they had turned to God from all their sins; if they had again re|covered the true spirit of their religion; God, by the gracious interpositions of his providence, would soon have found out methods to restore the former virtue of the state, and again have given them men of wisdom and integrity, according to their utmost wish, to be Counsellors and Judges. This was verified in fact, after the nation had been purged by a long captivity, and returned to their own land humbled, and filled with zeal for God and his law.
By all this we may be led to consider the true cause of the present remarkable troubles which are come upon Great-Britain and these Colonies; and the only effectual remedy.
We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of christianity, tho’ we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and let light by the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy commands and institutions. The worship of many is but meer compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from him. By many the gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism. And after all the pretended refinements of Moderns in the theory of christianity, very little of the pure practice of it is to be found among those who once stood fore|most in the profession of the Gospel. In a gene|ral view of the present moral state of Great Britain it may be said—There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and commiting adultery, their wickedness breaks out; and one murder after another is committed, under the connivance and encouragement even of that authority by which such crimes ought to be punished, that the purposes of oppression and despotism may be answered. As they have increased, so have they sinned; therefore God is changing their glory into shame. The general prevalence of vice has changed the whole face of things in the British government.
The excellency of the constitution has been the boast of Great-Britain, and the envy of neighbouring nations. In former times the great departments of the state, and the various places of trust and authority, were filled with men of wisdom, honestly, and religion, who employed all their powers, and were ready to risque their for|tunes, and their lives for the public good. They were faithful counsellors to Kings; directed their authority and majesty to the happiness of the nation; and opposed every step by which despotism endeavoured to advance. They were Fathers of the people, and sought the welfare and prosperity of the whole body. They did not exhaust the national wealth by luxury and bribery, or convert it to their own private benefit, or the maintenance of idle useless officers and dependents; but im|proved it faithfully for the proper purposes, for the necessary support of government, and defence of the kingdom. Their laws was dictated by wisdom and equity; and justice was administred with impartiality. Religion discover’d it’s general influence among all ranks, and kept out great corruptions from places of power.
But in what does the British nation now glory?—In a meer shadow of it’s ancient political system?—In titles of dignity without virtue?—In vast public treasures continually lavished in corruption, till every fund is exhausted, notwithstanding the mighty streams perpetually flowing in?—In the many artifices to stretch the prerogatives of the crown beyond all constitutional bounds, and make the king an absolute monarch, while the people are deluded with a meer phantom of liberty? What idea must we entertain of that government, if such an one can be found, which pretends to have made an exact counterbalance of power between the sovereign, the nobles and the commons, so that the three branches shall be an effectual check upon each other, and the united wisdom of the whole shall conspire to promote the national felicity; but which, in reality, is reduced to such a situation that it may be managed at the sole will of one court favorite? What difference is there betwixt one man’s choosing, at his own pleasure, by his single vote, the majority of those who are to represent the people; and his purchasing in such a majority, according to his own nomination, with money out of the public treasury, or other effectual methods of influencing elections?—And what shall we say, if in the same manner, by places, pensions, and other bribes, a minister of state can at any time gain over a nobler majority likewise, to be intirely subservient to his purposes; and moreover persuade his royal master to resign himself up wholly to the direction of his counsels? If this should be the case of any nation from one seven years end to another, the bargain and sale being made sure for such a period, would they still have reason to boast of their excellent constitution?— Ought they not rather to think it high time to restore the corrupted dying state to its original perfection?—I will apply this to the Roman senate under Julius Caesar, which retained all its ancient formalities, but voted always only as Caesar dictated. If the decrees of such a senate were urged on the Romans as fraught with all the blessings of Roman liberty, we must suppose them strangely deluded, if they were persuaded to believe it…
Into what fatal policy has the nation been impelled by its public vices! To wage a cruel war with its own children in these colonies, only to gratify the lust of power, and the demands of extravagance! May God, in his great mercy recover Great Britain from this fatal infatuation; shew them their errors; and give them a spirit of re|formation, before it is too late to avert impending destruction. May the eyes of the King be opened to see the ruinous tendency of the measures into which he has been led, and his heart inclined to treat his American Subjects with justice and clemency, instead of forcing them still farther to the last extremities! God grant some method may be found out to effect a happy reconciliation, so that the colonies may again enjoy the protection of their Sovereign, with perfect security of all their natural rights, and civil and religious liberties.
But, alas! have not the sins of America, and of New-England in particular, had a hand in bringing down upon us the righteous judgments of heaven? Wherefore is all this evil come upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord?…
In this piece from the Mises Institute, David Gordon examines von Mises’ statement that the only convincing argument for democracy is that it allows for a peaceful change of power. Then he discusses Murray Rothbard’s critique which says that if that is true, then the democratic government that results must exactly resemble the government that would have resulted from a violent revolution and why that doesn’t happen. Another argument comes in when a government like the US is full of un-elected bureaucrats with great power who are protected from change from an election. In that case also, you end up with a government which does not reflect what might have been obtained by violent revolution.
Ludwig von Mises rejects the standard arguments for democracy. Not for him are the alleged virtues of public deliberation. For him, there is only one argument for democracy that is convincing. He says that only democracy allows for a peaceful change of power. Every government, he thinks, rests on popular consent. If a sufficient number of people find the government no longer tolerable, it won’t be able to maintain itself in power. In a democracy, people in this situation can peacefully replace the government with an opposition party more to its liking. Without democracy, there is liable to be a violent revolution, because those in power and their supporters are likely to cling to power, even if their position is in the long run unsustainable.
Mises puts the argument in this way in Liberalism:
Government by a handful of people—and the rulers are always as much in the minority as against those ruled as the producers of shoes are as against the consumers of shoes—depends on the consent of the governed, i.e., on their acceptance of the existing administration. They may see it only as the lesser evil, or as an unavoidable evil, yet they must be of the opinion that a change in the existing, situation would have no purpose. But once the majority of the governed becomes convinced that it is necessary and possible to change the form of government and to replace the old regime and the old personnel with a new regime and new personnel, the days of the former are numbered. The majority will have the power to carry out its wishes by force even against the will of the old regime. In the long run no government can maintain itself in power if it does not have public opinion behind it, i.e., if those governed are not convinced that the government is good. The force to which the government resorts in order to make refractory spirits compliant can be successfully applied only as long as the majority does not stand solidly in opposition.
There is, therefore, in every form of polity a means for making the government at least ultimately dependent on the will of the governed, viz, civil war, revolution, insurrection. But it is just this expedient that liberalism wants to avoid. There can be no lasting economic improvement if the peaceful course of affairs is continually interrupted by internal struggles….
Here is where the social function performed by democracy finds its point of application. Democracy is that form of political constitution which makes possible the adaptation of the government to the wishes of the governed without violent struggles. If in a democratic state the government is no longer being conducted as the majority of the population would have it, no civil war is necessary to put into office those who are willing to work to suit the majority. By means of elections and parliamentary arrangements, the change of government is executed smoothly and without friction, violence, or bloodshed.
There are various points at which you can challenge this argument. For example, what if the majority of people oppose the government, but there isn’t a consensus backing a particular opposition group? (I don’t mean that the party in power won’t let popular opposition groups run. Mises when he talks about democracy assumes that elections are fair.) But even if the argument can be challenged, it seems to have much in its favor.
Murray Rothbard raises a remarkable objection to this argument that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. His book Power and Market contains a profusion of arguments, one right after the other, and this one has escaped much notice.
His argument, in brief, is that if democracy is supposed to be a substitute for violent revolution, then the democratic government must exactly resemble the government that would have won out in a violent revolution. It is most unlikely that this will happen. If so, Mises’s argument fails.
Rothbard explains what he has in mind in this passage:
There is, moreover, another flaw in the “peaceful-change” argument for democracy, this one being a grave self-contradiction that has been universally overlooked. Those who have adopted this argument have simply used it to give a seal of approval to all democracies and have then moved on quickly to other matters. They have not realized that the “peaceful-change” argument establishes a criterion for government before which any given democracy must pass muster. For the argument that ballots are to substitute for bullets must be taken in a precise way: that a democratic election will yield the same result as would have occurred if the majority had had to battle the minority in violent combat. In short, the argument implies that the election results are simply and precisely a substitute for a test of physical combat. Here we have a criterion for democracy: Does it really yield the results that would have been obtained through civil combat? If we find that democracy, or a certain form of democracy, leads systematically to results that are very wide of this “bullet-substitute” mark, then we must either reject democracy or give up the argument.
How, then, does democracy, either generally or in specific countries, fare when we test it against its own criterion? One of the essential attributes of democracy, as we have seen, is that each man has one vote. But the “peaceful-change” argument implies that each man would have counted equally in any combat test. But is this true? In the first place, it is clear that physical power is not equally distributed. In any test of combat, women, old people, sick people, and 4F’s would fare very badly. On the basis of the “peaceful-change” argument, therefore, there is no justification whatever for giving these physically feeble groups the vote. So, barred from voting would be all citizens who could not pass a test, not for literacy (which is largely irrelevant to combat prowess), but for physical fitness. Furthermore, it clearly would be necessary to give plural votes to all men who have been militarily trained (such as soldiers and policemen), for it is obvious that a group of highly trained fighters could easily defeat a far more numerous group of equally robust amateurs.
Could Mises respond to this argument? He might have said that even if Rothbard is right that democracy isn’t a perfect substitute for the results of a violent revolution, it’s close enough to merit our support, given the costs of violence. But I’m sure Rothbard would have had a counter for that as well. Murray had an amazing ability to counter any argument against him, and I’ve never met his match in this.
Here’s John Wilder of Wilder, Wealthy, and Wise with his latest Civil War 2.0 Weather Report.
This is an excerpt from a sermon from Dr. Samuel Langdon in 1775 after being named president of Harvard College and given before the Congress of the colony of Massachusetts Bay.
Lower Valley Assembly 