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| Republican Tourists Visiting Capitol |
Some of the conspiracy's 'foot soldiers' have been arrested but the insurrection’s planners, despite being investigated by the House Select Committee, the Department of Justice and even the FBI, still roam free. For far lesser crimes, many Americans are routinely indicted and tried and if found guilty, imprisoned. WHY NOT IN THESE CASES? In my opinion, the Department of Justice is proceeding slowly and very methodically before they act, making certain their cases are solid. But the evidence is piling up, day by day! How long can they wait? Is this need for "perfection" what is causing the delay?
But when the DOJ finally acts and those who inspired, instigated, organized, and financed the January 6 attack, unquestionably including the defeated former president, were to be arrested, indicted and put on trial, would their millions of gullible and deluded supporters elevate our second civil war, already started but presently limited to words and rhetoric (except on January 6), to more acts of violence, not unaided by the Second Amendment. The government would then have no choice but to respond but with weapons far more powerful than subpoenas. It would not be pretty.
Is fear of that happening preventing justice from being done? How can justice be served without destroying the Union as long as millions of Americans and many State governments still support the defeated former president? That is the question we seem to be avoiding but which must be answered! Soon.
How Civil Wars Stop and How to Stop Them
Professor Barbara F. Walter
(Univ. of California at San Diego) has written a book entitled “How Civil Wars
Stop and How to Stop Them.” On the
Amazon page from which the book may be purchased, one unidentified purchaser’s
five-star review of the book pretty much sums up the author’s thoughts and is
reproduced here:
"Political scientist Barbara
Walter evaluates this timely issue using her decades of experience studying
civil wars around the world. Although this book is relatively brief (226 pages
not including footnotes), Professor Walter offers many interesting ideas to
consider, and generally seems to be objective with her analysis. She
acknowledges that most Americans probably think about "civil war"
with images of Generals Grant and Lee leading armies in large scale battles.
However, she uses examples to show that the US now shares some common factors
with those countries that have experienced violent civil conflicts.
Walter discusses (the
former) Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Iraq, Syria and other
examples. One of her main points concerns the dangers when a country moves from
autocracy to democracy (or vice versa). Rarely is there a smooth transition. In
addition, Walter also describes how the emergence of extremist militias
defending the (perceived threatened) status of a ethnic and/or religious groups
often occurs in these civil wars.
Although at first small
scale, these extremist groups created a "tipping point," leading to
widespread violence and a breakdown of civil society. The motivation for these
groups stems from fear of losing their economic and social status. In the US,
politically conservative (especially rural) whites are becoming a racial and
political minority and view the Federal government as unresponsive to their
concerns.
Walter concludes that the US
does indeed face the possibility of increasing violence and political
instability which could threaten our democracy. In the final part of her book,
Walter offers some ideas about how to prevent a civil war, suggesting that the
US Government should be reformed to "bolster the rule of law, give all
citizens equal access to the vote, and improve the quality of government
services".
Overall, I found this book
well worth reading, but a critical weakness is the lack of historical
perspective about the US. Even a casual reading of US history reveals the
nearly constant themes of violence and political conflicts, but only one civil
war. So what might be different this time? Readers will come to their own
conclusions about this, but my major takeaways from this book are:
1) Undermining democratic institutions, such as
voting, can move the US toward autocracy, creating the strong possibility of
political instability.
2) The rapid growth of armed militant white
nationalist groups represent a much greater danger than we may realize.
3) The rise of significant "tribalism"
in US politics contributes to ineffective government, and further creates
conditions for civil unrest.
Regardless of one's political beliefs, Walter's
message seems to be that we (as Americans) need to be aware of these dangers,
and work together to make government work for all. The alternatives are much,
much worse."
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| Professor Walter |
It's no secret
that Vladimir Putin wants to establish hegemony over what was once the USSR and
it's no secret that the House Select Committee will ultimately place the blame
for the January 6 attack on the Capitol where it belongs, on the defeated
former President. But these issues
should not deter Democrats from focusing on the November elections!
In view of the
defeat of their voting rights legislation, it is likely that Democrats will
break that legislation into individual
pieces, forcing G.O.P. Senators to take positions against changes which are
overwhelmingly popular with the people.
Every word spoken by Senators Ron Johnson and Marco Rubio, who are
running for re-election and who will certainly vote against all voter rights
legislation, should be thrown back at them repeatedly, every day, from now
until Election Day. Right now, these two
seats, and successfully defending Democratic seats which will be contested, are
more important than the January 6 investigation and Putin’s ambitions, as is maintaining control of the House of Representatives as well.
Americans must remember that in the upcoming election, and in all future elections, no Senator deserves the votes of any Americans whose right to vote they weakened by voting against voters’ rights legislation. That includes 50 Republicans and the two Democrats who betrayed democracy.
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