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How Close Are Conservatives to Civil Disobedience?
How close are we to experiencing real civil disobedience? Not from the left, since we’ve always had that. Violent protests, including placing bombs in the US Capitol, have long been a feature of the left and almost ubiquitous since the Vietnam War. We saw it last summer during the George Floyd-inspired riots – over 500 violent incidents in more than 200 cities across the United States. The days of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortations to “non-violence” now look quaint. But this time, from conservatives? What might disobedience from conservative Americans look like?
This is not an academic question. It may be closer to reality than you realize. And it will look nothing like the violent Antifa and BLM protests that have maimed dozens of police officers and destroyed thousands of businesses and a few federal buildings.
The Republican Party’s affiliation with “working class” voters – plumbers, electricians, many union workers, farmers, grocery store employees, manufacturing workers, truck drivers, landscapers, etc. – is ascendent. These are increasingly diverse people deeply rooted in the real world. A great many of them used to be Democrats, having changed parties over the years, when it ceased to care about people like them or realized they had been sold a bill of goods. Many, if not most, are people of faith. They work hard, sometimes double shifts, to give their families and children hope for better lives. They work hard, pay their taxes, and enjoy simple pleasures. They’re not perfect and don’t pretend to be. They ask little more than fairness, justice, opportunity, freedom, and respect. Not necessarily in that order.
They resent being labeled as “deplorables,” or, as President Obama once characterized them as clinging to “guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them…” They are tired of being called racists.
In the minds of working-class Americans, people who don’t obsess over politics but do pay attention, America is headed in the wrong direction and led by dubious people. “Two weeks to slow the spread” turned into a year, and more, of lockdowns, mask mandates, and much more. Meanwhile, “cancel culture” has continued unabated. Churches were – and many remain – mostly closed, but casinos are pretty much open. They are tired of having their livelihoods robbed, their kids’ schools closed at the behest of power teachers unions, and government bureaucrats scolding them to wear their masks even after they’ve been vaccinated. What was the point of the vaccine?
And now, they’re being told they’ll have to “show your papers” in the form of a vaccine “passport” if they want to travel, domestically, on an airplane, or maybe even get a job. But no worries! You won’t need an ID of any kind to vote once HR 1, the “For the People” Act, becomes law. And banks are being pressured to adopt a Communist Chinese style “social credit” score to earn their business, starting with climate change. Many believe the COVID lockdowns were just a trial run for the “climate emergency” soon to be imposed.
They are also tired of seeing teachers and others fired for not recognizing someone’s “preferred pronoun,” and watching their taxpayer dollars used to subsidize “gender reassignment” surgery for members of the military, or if they’re the parents of daughters, seeing them forced to compete against biological males on the athletic field and being called “transphobes.” They increasingly see colleges and universities as indoctrination centers filling heads with cretinous notions of “critical race theory.”
They are especially tired of a two-tiered justice system where Republicans and the politically unconnected are prosecuted or spied upon (see: Carter Page) as the Justice Department and the FBI are weaponized to advance a presidential candidacy, but Democrats, the wealthy and well-connected family members, seem to get off scot-free. Illegal immigrants, even those with COVID, are welcome into the US, but regular Americans are forced to lockdown, quarantine, get tested, and wear masks.
And don’t get them started on social media. They scratch their heads when friends and family members who’ve never seen the inside of a real jail wind up in the Facebook variety of one for posting what they thought was a funny meme. They scratch their heads to see a President banned from social media, but members of Iran’s terrorist-supporting leadership tweeting unobstructed. They have long stopped trusting the corporate media with any news, which they see as propagandistic, biased, or even false, long brimming shamelessly with double standards.
While a few of them might have made their way to the ill-advised “Stop the Steal” rally with President Trump on January 6 in Washington DC, they aren’t the kind of people to go crashing illegally into buildings and are tired of being associated with the nuts who did and being treated as criminals.
Meanwhile, the federal government, under the control of Democrats, is shoveling billions of dollars at or corruptly-run state government pension programs and allied organizations, working to federalize elections, paying people not to work, giving COVID relief checks to illegal immigrants, incentivizing mass migrations to the US, and more. Worse, now they want to make it harder to own guns, limit gun purchases, and outlaw the guns they have, and tax or limit their ammunition. Furthermore, they see their fuel prices skyrocket as pipeline and other energy jobs – except wind and solar – are being wiped out.
How much more will people take when they begin standing athwart history and yell, “stop!”? And when they do, what might that actually look like? After all, they see their country, and it’s the promise of freedom and opportunity slipping away to a new tyrannical order that sees them as second-class citizens – or worse.
Let’s look at who these people are. Many of them are war and military veterans. They’re lawful gun owners (there are 430 million guns in circulation in the United States). They practice at gun ranges. They have hunting licenses. Many can dig a well, hunt and fish for food, and dress a deer, or are friends with people who can. They are among the nation’s 19 million concealed carry permit holders and are the kind of people who stop mass shootings before they happen. They know how to build and fix all manner of things. They grow, make, and deliver our food and other essential services and products. And they are increasingly fed up.
These are not violent people, the kind of people who will set trash cans on fire, point debilitating lasers into the eyes of the police, overturn police cars or hurl explosive devices at federal courthouses. They support law enforcement.
Many of them live month to month. Many of them have lost jobs, many of which won’t come back. What happens when they’ve lost all hope? What might actually trigger a real “rebellion?”
My friend, Dr. William Hamilton, a noted military historian, author, and columnist believes it may first manifest itself in the form of work stoppages. That would take some organization and leadership but could prove powerful. We saw in the early days of the pandemic the panic that ensued when people couldn’t find toilet paper in the local grocery stores. What if entire food, transportation, and logistic operations shut down for a few days? Maybe another ship, or two, could block the Panama Canal or the Saint Lawrence Seaway, like the one that shut down the Suez Canal for days in the Middle East? What might happen at ports? What if truckers stayed home for a week. Or two. Or more. So much for those Amazon Prime promises of two-day delivery. Or toilet paper, soup, or much of anything else on store shelves.
More likely are so many people ignoring new laws that the state and especially the federal government cannot enforce. Imagine a governor deploying the National Guard to enforce a gun confiscation law to no effect. (Who do you think serves in the National Guard, whose first loyalty is to the Constitution?) Could “rigged” election results be ignored? Will states or local jurisdictions begin to secede from the Union? With people abandon US currency with Bitcoin, DogeCoin, barter, or other means of trade? Who is John Galt?
This is the price of partisan government, a Democratic party so addicted to power that it crams through legislation, like HR 1, a horrific election “reform” bill, without any bipartisan or even broad public support? And that’s just one example. Now, after Republican leaders protected the Senate’s “filibuster” rule in 2017 to protect minority rights and the Senate’s role to “cool the passions” of the House, Democrats are poised to express their appreciation by eliminating it to ram their agenda through Congress without a single Republican vote.
Joe Biden talked of “unity” during his Presidential inaugural speech. I thought he was serious. Now we know what he meant – unity of thought. Get in line, he basically said, and get with my progressive agenda. That’s not unity. That’s tyranny.
And through all this, Democrats are completely ignoring poll after poll that demonstrates strong opposition to much of their agenda, not to mention declining opportunity perceived by most Americans.
No thanks, most Americans are saying. That’s not the America tens of millions of us are committed – sworn – to protect and defend. Conservatives are naturally, instinctively peaceful, law-abiding, and patient. Even longsuffering. They are likely to wait until the next election to express their anger, as they did in 2010 and again in 2016. They will look for America’s version of Laurence Fox, a former actor and independent candidate for mayor of London running on a very simple slogan: “Free London.” Republicans had better be paying careful attention because things have never been riper for a new political party.
This country is deeply divided, and people of “the right” know that people on “the left” do not share their values nor define “freedom” and “equality” the same way. It didn’t use to be that way, but here we are. And it is no longer easy to dismiss many of these sentiments as wrong or crazy QAnon conspiracy theories. Facts are stubborn things.
When was the last time “conservatives” engaged in serious civil disobedience? Many did during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. After all, it was Republicans in Congress who provided the votes necessary in 1964 to overcome a southern Democratic filibuster. More likely, you really have to go back to the American Revolution. How did that turn out? A certain Thomas Jefferson quote comes to mind.
What if the next election is truly rigged under HR 1, the Democrats’ new election bill designed to make them a permanent majority, made possible by eliminating the Senate’s filibuster? That may be a final straw. When all hope is lost, and their core beliefs threatened, and with no hope at the ballot box to right wrongs and preserve rights, the silent majority is unlikely to slink quietly into the night.
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New parties are unworkable in the USA. There is just too much legal morass to get through to a clear majority of votes. It is better to remake the existing parties which are always morphing to get a majority coalition. As you stated the 2 big parties (D&R) are now aligning into factions of those that benefit from government control (bureaucrats, oligarchs, chamber of commerce, commies, fascists, Marxists,…) and those that don’t.
Conventional wisdom has been proven wrong.
I think your premise is valid but seeking an effective approach will be a very complicated process. The kind of civil disobedience experience under MLK was one where the U.S. Constitution was still considered basic and primary to the causes being protested which sought improved public performance in the guarantees embodied in the Bill of Rights of the individual rights of all Americans. We had in place a hierarchical system to accomplish this and it worked. With the Biden Administration/Democrat Party adoption of the Chinese political model we are facing a completely reversed type of challenge in which every attempt to use what historically has been viewed as constitutionally protected individual rights will be turned into criminal acts. Tell me I have this wrong.
How close? I don’t think conservatives WILL rebel. Oh, true, there may be individual acts of noncompliance or rebelliousness, perhaps even small groups. But wholesale rebellion? Not gonna happen. We will tsk, tsk, shake our heads sadly, talk and moan, but more than that? Actual insurrection? I’ll believe it when I see it.
The Dims stole an election, and – what? Even if some were in active and violent opposition, conservatives in general chose to just deny it was actually rebellion.
So no, it ain’t gonna happen.
As Angelo Codavilla points out, we need a leader. Noem is out due to suicide encouraged by the Chamber of Commerce. (When will Republicans quit listening to those s***s at the Chamber of Commerce?) DeSantis, Hawley and Rand Paul are proving their value.
Codavilla has a longer and more detailed list of actions here.
In the 21st century, doing anything without the approval, license, endorsement, or subsidy of government experts is civil disobedience. Homeschooling is a form of civil disobedience. Going to church is a form of civil disobedience. Paying for your own medical care is a form of civil disobedience. Eating meat is a form of civil disobedience. Owning a firearm is a form of civil disobedience. Operating an internal combustion engine is a form of civil disobedience. Etc.
Put another way, in an era when authoritarians no longer have to overtly criminalize acts in order to suppress and/or punish those acts, it is no longer necessary to overtly break a law in order to participate in civil disobedience.
January 6th gave me hope and still, nothing happened. I’m not sure exactly what the tipping point for so-called conservatives would be. The left is really good with this stuff. They make a whole bunch of tiny grabs, and the dumb herd doesn’t notice until it’s too late. We’re seeing it right now with the ammo shortage. They won’t outright ban guns, but they will make it impossible to use them.
Not wearing a mask…
There is a grievous flaw somewhere in the reasoning that the Constitution is our foundational and supreme law because there is no legal enforcement mechanism in place. We see that right now in motion in our federal government and in several state governments where there has been no ability displayed to hold state executives accountable under state constitutions, which are presumed to be supreme state law. Future date scheduled elections just don’t accomplish this. I finally see an advantageous aspect to parliamentary approaches although no guarantees.
That’s because we’ve been conditioned to reject the people as the last defense of the constitution.
WE should be arresting the governments that failed us. We are supposed to hold them accountable. That is our responsibility to being free under a constitutional government. That is the entire point to the 2nd amendment. Not to hunt, not to collect, not simply to protect us from common thieves and murderers.
When we decide to openly rebel, no one is going to need to be told it’s happening. It will be very obvious.
Sadly conservatives are actually contrarians. Anything conservatives try to do the majority will stab them on the back over as soon as possible. Sadly I thought America was going to die in 2016, Trump was able to give it a bit more time. That is now over, 2020 was rigged in every way possible but conservative will spend loads of time browbeating anybody that says the obvious. Too many conservatives wish to die virtue signaling their morals than get into where the rubber meets the road and morals matter less than life. We are here to watch the destruction of our country. If we are lucky it will take longer than we are alive so we will not see the final end.
Realize that the Dems have now occupied DC with military that is loyal to them and them only. Anybody else has been removed. They are now removing anybody that does not conform to their thought processes. If conservatives fight they will be jailed, they will be killed and the Left will celebrate while pissing on their graves.
That’s illegal in my jurisdiction. I disobey by failing to cover my nose unless explicitly told to do so by someone in authority, and then letting the mask slip off my nose again once that person no longer has line-of-sight.
Sharyl Attkisson sued Rod Rosenfield for violating her 4th Amendment rights and a court ruled that there is no redress for violation of her rights. I don’t see this Congress creating a compensation for such things in the future.
Man, Woman! Your jibes are shifting so now they are totally acceptable and recognizable as with the prevailing wind.
And people who own guns don’t stage Capitol storming insurrections unarmed. That obviously was not the plan.
I think we will realize that the next federal elections are really close–campaigns are starting now for the 2022 season–and I think we will be taking back the House and the Senate by huge majorities.
Every time I get gas, I think, “Thank you, Democrats. This will be the death of your party.” :-)
I don’t think Democrats can be allowed to design unilaterally the process for counting votes before then.
You would think but my Dem friends are all convince that gas prices have nothing to do with Biden policy. What they say does not make sense to me but they believe it with a passion.
My husband belongs to BNI, a business networking group. I was listening in yesterday to his Zoom morning meeting. Each week one of the members is assigned to find an inspiring quote. So this week, the newcomer given this assignment quoted Zig Ziglar: “A negative thinker sees a difficulty in every opportunity. A positive thinker sees an opportunity in every difficulty.” :-) The mother in me who sometimes needs to keep her kids going in the face great problems really loved this quote. :-)
I just belch.
It is very telling with regard to the Democrat Party mindset that they are acting as if they got a mandate in the last election. The big tech oligarchs and much of the public media have aided the Democrats so they have had some openings to proceed in this direction. I hesitate to say successes but they continue to work on giving an impression of success with the aid of the supposed information processing entities.
Don’t let it go to your head, but that’s so well said.
Cancellation works like a jail sentence, maybe even better when directed at responsible individuals.
No, people are returning to work (thanks Biden) and commuting more, so demand is up. Yeah, that’s the ticket. It has nothing to do with his policy to ban fracking on federal lands. (‘I thought New Mexico would get a waiver’ – Gov. Karen “The Brain Trust” Wuhan as she sees state revenue dropping)
Should we so decide, I agree.
Well, that deadline passed in 2020.
That worked illegally in a few states. My reference is to allowing federal legislation that encompasses all of it and removes any state authority. Since we no longer pretend to honor the terms of the Constitution there will be no defense once it passes and is signed by Biden.
Would that you were right! But I think more likely are the words sung by Perry Como: “Dream on”
That’s what I fear. I always had in the back of my mind that the Supreme Court would at least partially support the Constitution, or pay some functional lip service to it. But I’m no longer of this view.
The Constitution, its specific provisions, and especially the 10th Amendment seem not just irrelevant now but non-existent.