"I don't need your civil war"
--Guns N' Roses "Civil War"
Are we on the brink of civil war? That's a question that's been asked a lot recently, some asking with eager anticipation, others with a sense of dread (the second attitude is the right one, by the way).
The events of Wednesday, January 6 shocked the world, but I don't think it was a true insurrection. It was a mob whipped into a frenzy that got out of control. I'm not saying that people didn't come to Washington planning to do more than just wave signs and shout. What I'm saying is that there is no real organized Resistance that has been able to pull in widespread support from the mainstream. These clowns got into the Capitol and didn't know what to do with themselves. They had no leader (other than the one in the White House. The man they were ostensibly fighting for made no move to support his supporters), no list of demands, no real plan. If Trump had declared he wasn't leaving office and called on the military to support him, and Biden called on the military to remove Trump, and the military and law enforcement split, with some loyal to Trump and others siding with Biden, well then we'd have a civil war on our hands. That kind of commitment of our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor--that deep willingness to lay it all on the line for the Cause--it's not Trump's style. And thank goodness.
That said, these divisions aren't going away any time soon, and all it will take is a True Believer, one who is skilled as well as committed to their ideology, to take advantage of our inflamed passions and bring about the conflagration that some so foolishly wish for. Speaking of which, the enthusiasm some seem to have for Revolution strikes me as ill-informed and immature. This is not new. The last actual Civil War our nation had was rife with people-- North and South--eager for the nation to come to blows. So it has been in other places and other times throughout history. Foolish people eager to to rush to war, not really understanding what they are getting in to. I think of the video of the woman tearfully complaining that she'd been maced as soon as she crossed the threshold of the Capitol. " We're storming the Capitol. It's a revolution," she wept. How could they do this to me. Well, that's how revolution goes, my friend. While I think it's despicable to rejoice in the suffering(and even death, in the case of Ashli Babbitt) of anyone, it seems that expecting a violent revolution to occur without bloodshed is silliness.
One thing that I fear may hasten us down to the road to the place of armed conflict is the unfortunate decisions of some of our social media and tech companies. I feel very strongly that it was a mistake to ban Trump from Twitter permanently. I also feel it was the wrong move to limit people's access to the right-wing social media site Parler. Let me be clear, I'm not saying that these decisions were true acts of censorship. We tend to have trouble separating government censorship from private entities deciding whether they want to provide a service or not. I believe Twitter, Apple, and others were within their rights to place the limits they did. These platforms are not the "public square" even though we've come feel they are and that we are somehow entitled to them. I don't believe that this is some government-Big Tech cabal bent on shutting down the voices of "regular Americans." That doesn't even make sense when at least until January 20, the levers of governmental might are still controlled by the Trump administration. How exactly does it work that some low-level "deep state" operatives somehow have that kind of clout with Silicon Valley? No, I think this was tech companies making a performative gesture lest they appear be on the wrong side of history (and vulnerable to lawsuits should any further acts of violence occur). Yes, they know it will upset some of their customers but they're betting that even angry consumers won't leave--especially if easy access to an alternative (Parler) is cut off.
So if these muzzling actions aren't a "violation of free speech" what's the problem? Well, even if it's technically not censorship, these actions, even though made by private entities, still amount to a silencing of American voices. And even though these companies can do this, it doesn't mean they should. What these companies have done is exacerbated the sense of grievance of even more moderate Trump supporters. I know many of us who are against Trump are tempted to dismiss his supporters as a bunch of lunatics. Why should we care how they feel? But there are ordinary Trump supporters, the kind who while they might feel sympathetic to the rioters in DC would never do that themselves, and were saddened by the violence in the Capitol. I happen to know a number of these people, and I'm telling you these folks feel more persecuted than ever. These actions, have the unintended effect of potentially radicalizing Trump supporters who might not have otherwise embraced more extreme attitudes.
But even beyond the potential for increased isolation of Trumpists and the greater likelihood of radicalization, is the damage that silencing Trump and his acolytes does to our country. I understand that there are risks to continuing to allow Trump to have a platform, but I think that the risks are even greater if we take away that platform. For those not already under his spell, I find Trump's shoot from the hip style more often than not leads to shooting himself in the foot. Let the man talk! Let most Americans see him for what he is. I honestly believe that if he hadn't been rattling on about voter fraud these past two months Loeffler and Purdue would have won in Georgia. His rhetoric both motivated his opponents and discouraged his allies. Why shut him down and allow him be painted as a martyr for the cause?
As for Parler, I understand that there are concerns about site becoming a clearinghouse for planning further violent insurrections, but I don't know that was Apple's call to make. Let the FBI drop some informants in there and keep an eye on the chatter, and if something doesn't feel right, deal with it.
I realize that it's uncommon to take a stand that differs from the "party line." I saw the pushback one friend of mine who is a Trump supporter received when she dared to criticize the riot at the Capitol in straightforward and simple terms without the usual blame-casting absurdity, excuse-making, and whataboutisms common among her compatriots. I saw how difficult it was to have to prove to your own that you're still "down for the cause." And so I'm sure that there will be many of my fellow anti-Trumpers that have no patience with standing up for Trump's ability to keep Tweeting and the ability of his devotees to speak on the platforms of their choosing. But I honestly believe the only thing to be gained by forcing our opponents into a corner is well. . civil war. And we don't need that.
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