Civil War Part 2; Electric Boogaloo

 Now, back to the film. It was interesting, perhaps made more so by not being overly ambitious. We are never told why the US is in a civil war, and unlike the first American Civil War, I can tell you without a doubt that "It's NOT about slavery!" It mightcould be about states' rights though as the main opposition force are the states of California and Texas; "The Western Forces". Imagining a scenario where those two disparate states join forces might be a stretch, but maybe not. Were California a country, it would be the 5th largest economy in the world. Texas is Texas and just has always been bigger than life because it says so. We never learn why they woke up one day and chose violence, but the president is played by Nick Offerman and that should be a clue as to how that happened. It's a small role really and whether he is Trumpy or not is never really explored, but you can bet he never tried to implement Universal Healthcare to get in this fix. 

The interesting thing is that the war- serious as it is- is not nationwide. The two photojournalists (Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaney) both note that their folks are back on their farms in Colorado and Missouri respectively, uninvolved in the war. I got the impression there were large pockets of flyover country not directly involved. OK, but you can't tell me that the rest of the country weren't feeling the pain of the war even if they were in parts that weren't worth bombing. Wars affect the cost and supply of everything. On the road getting gas from armed yokels at a service station, the very sharp Kirsten is able to fill up by paying "$300 Canadian". I really don't know how money works, but in a scenario like this I could accept that Canadian money was more desirable than US bucks, Canada not having a government at war with its people and all. In a movie that didn't have a lot of time to walk you through the details, I thought that was an interesting touch. 

There's a lot wrong with the film. Not knowing why the war happened is kind of lame. The four media pros never discuss it, I think because they're tough and it's their job and they're just glad to be working. The journalist in the group wants to interview the president before he gets killed (for a quote) and the girls want great pics of the death and destruction. Women! When they finally get to DC, the president is under attack and losing badly, probably because he doesn't have a ballroom. 

So, yeah, kind of a dumb story, though a good watch. What I liked about it is that it fed my already well-fed mind with thoughts about how quickly this country could fall apart with the right idiot at the helm. Folks: we have the right idiot. 

Through wars and depressions, the US has held together because we had good men like Lincoln and FDR leading us. And behind them were good men helping. It doesn't even have to be a flat-out civil war that brings us down. It could be a massive financial crisis (like a depression) or a pandemic/plague. Because what we don't have is a good man to lead us. And there are no good men- or women- behind him to help. We have never been so on our own and alone at any time in history. It's frightening. 

What happens when the food and fuel trucks stop rolling? There doesn't even have to be a reason. A guy like Trump could just decide that New York, Illinois or California would get no food or fuel until they changed their evil ways. Sure, the courts would rule against him, but courts don't have armies to enforce their decisions. Trump does to enforce his. And therein lies the rub. This country may have always been possibly subject to such authoritarian assholery, but we always had our better angels guiding us. We don't have them anymore. Well, not in power now, at least. And maybe never again.

You have to understand how serious these assholes are about taking over America. They want total control. They want all the money. They don't care about suburban dreams and white picket fences, birthdays or nice vacations and retirement dreams. I've heard that Stephen Miller wants the US population down to a 'more manageable' 150 million. We're at about 340m now. How would they go about cutting it in more than half like that? How do you think?

There is a lot of lip service to becoming a 'true' Christian nation (by force, of course) rather than one deemed by southern republican legislators to actually being one despite what the Constitution and church attendance says. I wonder how serious any of these billionaire revolutionaries are about that. Strikes me as a means to an end, achieved with fiends you meet along the way. Yes, I meant "fiends". How serious can you take religious leaders who exemplify Donald Trump as a "true Christian"? I don't think you'd hear that from the Amish. Not sure either that, once the coup is complete, the victorious billionaires want to put in the work of building a religious nation of any sort. Honestly, why would they want imaginary deities worshipped at all when they are right there, in person, deserving of worship? I have long figured they are going to fight after they win. Someone always wants the ill-gotten gains for their own self, just like Jimmy Conway after the Lufthansa heist in "Goodfellas". 

No, it doesn't even have to be a bloody purge that sets off this revolution of wealthy whackadoos. Last year's Musk-led DOGE activities got rid of the important government entities that had been protecting us day in, day out as our society had progressed in the last one hundred years. We invented and used the atomic bomb, but we also eliminated polio and other diseases. We always gave as we took. But in the interest of Stephen Miller's herd-thinning, we figured we could eradicate more people, more efficiently, and save money(!!) by getting rid of our smart people. So, a pandemic that no one knows how to combat- that would be another way of getting us on the road to Hell. 

This regime doesn't know how to fix things. They only know how to break shit. Yeah, the Cavalry will come, but it will be to kill us, not save us. We think it can't happen here, but it already has. How many Native 'Americans' do you know? They used to be all over this land, from east to west, south to north. Not anymore. They got in the way of progress. Leaders have been murdering their own people since leaders were invented. They are doing it again. 

What do you do when the grocery stores are empty, with no hope of being resupplied? It doesn't really matter if it's because of plague, war fever by a mentally ill president or that same asshole's global incompetence or all three. You have to deal with it to survive. You will be on your own. They'll be fine. If it's any consolation though, they'll fuck that up too. As a Native American chief once said, "You can't eat money".