America stumbling towards civil war one terrible tweet at a time

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of 'Midnight in the American Empire,' How Corporations and Their Political Servants are Destroying the American Dream.

19 Jul, 2019 13:03 / Updated 5 years ago

With populist Donald Trump ensconced in the White House and Liberals seething with revenge, voters have been left behind in this game of thrones. Will the confrontation spill over the internet borders and into the streets?

Let’s begin by stating the obvious, and that is the Republicans and Democrats are presently locked in a fierce power struggle that seems destined to end in unmitigated disaster. It’s not just that the competition between the two major parties is scorching hot, but that their competing visions for America are so radically different. With the Liberals becoming ever more ‘progressive’ in ways the Conservatives will never accept it is nearly impossible to see how the two groups can ever live peacefully together under the same roof. Eventually something must give, and perhaps it already has.

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The political temperature in Washington, DC is hotter than the surface of Venus as the two major parties go head-to-head every minute of every day inside of the modern day Circus Maximus known as social media, which is in reality about as anti-social as it gets. This new trend in American politics appears to be doing far more harm than good. Indeed, it is almost frightening to consider that the political landscape, if not the future of American democracy itself, is being shaped by rapid-fire, 280-character tweets as opposed to calm, rational, interpersonal debate. And just because Russiagate was proven to be a wild conspiracy theory doesn’t mean the partisan viciousness will subside. In fact, it has already become worse.

Presently, the roaming Inquisition of the Democratic Party, in constant search of new dragons to slay, has turned its attention to the question of race – or more precisely, racism. The Russians will be happy to know they haven’t been blamed – yet – for this latest political debacle. In fact, there is a brand new twist in this developing saga and it does not bode well for the future of the country. 

First, some necessary background. Last month, four ‘progressive’ members of the Democratic Party, newly elected members of Congress known as ‘the Squad’, (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley) went to battle against members of their own party. They were opposed to their fellow lawmakers supporting a $4.6 billion bill that provides emergency aid to the thousands of immigrants attempting to cross illegally into the US from Mexico.

The four progressives said the massive spending bill, which does not provide a single copper penny for Trump’s promised wall, by the way, leaves the illegals vulnerable to the “concentration camp” conditions they must endure. It would be refreshing to see a similar outpouring of concern, not to mention money, over the quiet plight of millions of homeless Americans now living very precariously in tent cities across the country. Photo ops with these disenfranchised citizens, however, just don’t carry the same political punch as do photo ops with illegals making a reckless dash for the border with children in tow. But I digress.

This is where things start to heat up. In the course of the dispute, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called out the first-year progressive lawmakers, all women of color, and the isolated “Twitter world” she said they inhabit. Pelosi’s criticism only focused on the political positions of the four women, never on their skin color or racial background. Yet that is exactly how the far-left progressives framed the Speaker’s remarks.

In comments to the Washington Post, Ocasio-Cortez took Pelosi to task, criticizing her “explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.

Ocasio-Cortez’s colleague, Rashida Tlaib, provided similar sentiments in an interview with CBS This Morning, when she remarked, “Acknowledge the fact that we are women of color, so when you do single us out be aware of that and what you’re doing, especially because some of us are getting death threats...” 

These comments are significant. It shows that the social justice mentality, which the Liberals have wielded like an ax to chop down anyone who falls out of line with their peculiar belief system, has come full circle to attack the Democratic Party itself. The misguided argument says that just because particular politicians are “of color” then they stand beyond all criticism, even from members inside of their own party. That is an incredibly dangerous proposition, which led Republican congressman Mike Kelly to quip: “I am a person of color too. I am white!

The question must be asked as to how a fiercely multicultural country is expected to move forward when cries of ‘racism’ will be heard every time an objection is made to a piece of legislation presented by the minority. It is not too difficult to imagine, especially in this day of virtue signaling, bad legislation getting passed for fear of offending some marginalized group.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. Donald Trump, sensing blood inside of the Democratic Party, launched a salvo of Tweets aimed at the ‘four horsewomen of the Apocalypse’ where he advised them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Of the four, only Ilhan Omar was born outside the US, in Somalia.

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Needless to say, the response from the Democrats came fast, furious and very clumsy. Nancy Pelosi, fresh from reprimanding the freshmen females, fell from her horse as she was forced to side with ‘the Squad’ against the president’s terrific tirade. She went so far as to call Trump’s tweets “racist” on the House floor, with yet more promises of impeachment proceedings against the Republican leader. Trump, meanwhile, used the opening to slam the progressive congresswomen of being anti-Israel, pro Al-Qaeda and supporters of Communism. If this is a taste of things to come as we head into the 2020 elections, we may be in for many more ugly surprises.

READ MORE: Ilhan Omar’s bill backs Americans’ right to boycott Israel. Here’s why it will fail

In any case, the main question at this point is whether this vanity-driven insanity really serves the interests of the American people. If being entertained by their government representatives with periodic Twitter meltdowns and in-house fighting over petty insults qualifies as having their interests served, then the American people have nothing to complain about.

I am guessing, however, that many Americans are at their wits’ end over the non-stop battle being waged daily between the Republicans and Democrats ever since Trump entered office. The dry leaves and kindling of partisan antipathy are piled high and a single spark could trigger a real crisis in the Heartland that no amount of tweeting will be able to contain.

Finally, absurd claims with regard to race and racism in the most multicultural country in the world will never serve the interests of the United States, where so many people are the direct descendants of immigrants. In fact, they will only serve to destroy it.

@Robert_Bridge

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