“Civil war,” wrote Algernon Sidney, “is a disease, but tyranny is the death of the state.”
The aftermath of war extends beyond physical destruction. Not just PTSD in individuals, but rarely does war leave the combatant societies unaffected. The victors of our 1861-1865 conflict imposed their will on an upended South and subsequently opened their arms and welcomed back the vanquished on condition that they submit post-war constitutions for congressional approval. Big changes. But, upon curing the disease, the division over slavery, the US grew to new heights in prosperity. During the war, and less well-known, government for a time suppressed freedom of speech and the press. These are elements of tyranny.
While reason justifies these anti-republican acts for national survival, they aren’t justifiable in peacetime. Thanks to over a century of conditioning, too many Americans are either ambivalent about, or actually support oppressive income taxation, unfree speech, press, and surveillance not for the purpose of deflecting foreign threats, but to suppress domestic political opponents.
The War on Terror, sold to the public as the means to defeat muslim attacks, turned inward. Years ago we stopped reading “islamic” as an adjective to “terror.” Two Presidents either allowed or promoted islamic immigration in such numbers that openly anti-American, pro-sharia and pro-tyranny muslim colonies have representation in Congress. After almost twenty years, Americans endure heretofore unacceptable and outrageous levels of surveillance and intrusive searches as the condition for simply going about their lives.
President Obama didn’t appoint public servants. He appointed public enemies. Together, these people, unburdened by conscience or virtue, work to this day to remove President Trump. Their felonies are open and notorious, yet there is little public rebuke or cries for indictments, because, like uttering the term, “islamic terror,” speaking the truth about the forty-fourth President and his accomplices is dangerous to one’s person or employment.
Commentators and keen observers like Dennis Prager often touch on this civil war, a true revolutionary civil war in which Leftists set out, through any means necessary, to overthrow the existing government, our Constitution, and assume all powers. This isn’t a clash of political parties. The conflict rhymes with the downfall of the Roman Republic, in which afterward, tyrannical emperors kept Rome’s republican institutions. Similarly, if victorious, the Deep State will keep the visible institutions of our republic, meaning the three branches, offices and regular elections. Except, they won’t matter. Once fully corrupted, US elections will serve as comforting placebos, pretend exercises in un-free government.
Citizens risk assault for wearing MAGA ballcaps. In social media, thou shalt self-censor, or else. Few are in greater danger for their safety and liberty than the close associates of President Trump. Imprisonment for non-crimes, financial and family ruin are their rewards. The law, once the hallmark of our republic, has become a snare. No man, brought before Deep State judges, escapes. Should crimes be wanting, diligent prosecutors supply the defects.
Sidney also observed, “It cannot be denied that the best men during the liberty of Rome thrived best, and that so soon as liberty was subverted, the worst men thrived best.” Indeed. As American liberty wanes, the worst among us, the Bidens, Clintons, Obamas openly thrive on pay-to-play, kickbacks, and no-show jobs paying millions that subvert national security.
In this death-struggle with the Deep State for Americas’ soul, there’s no guarantee patriots will emerge victorious, and unlike after the last civil war when our first freedoms returned, who among us expect the renewal of free speech, press, association and liberty?
Would but that your fears were unfounded.
Had someone twenty years ago written just half of what I’ve published today, I’d be polite to the author, yet silently regard him something of a lunatic.