"Civil War" and the Actual Civil War

I got around to watching this movie last night. It seriously pissed me off, as I suspected it would. The premise is that a ridiculously improbable alliance of Texas and California, along with something called the Florida Alliance, are in rebellion against the United States. The story is the usual hackneyed one of travelers in a post-apocalyptic setting. Meanwhile the real civil war in prospect is not touched upon at all.

Our actual civil war jumps off on Election Day, 2024. There are preludes in the numerous stories of Republican machinations to sabotage election administration. The principal tactic is to disrupt the tabulation of votes to the extent that a state’s electoral votes are decided by state legislatures. Another scenario is that enough paralysis in vote ratification nationally throws the election into the House of Representatives, in which each state, both large and small, gets one vote. We know how that ends.

Violence against Democrats is widely promised by assorted MAGA mouthpieces, most of which is probably hot air. The bigger threat is a Trump victory by nefarious means that brings out massive protest demonstrations. These will be violently assaulted by Trumpist militia types. The likely abuses of another Trump presidency are obvious enough. The formula there will be the same: provoke public demonstrations that are attacked by both official and unofficial law enforcement (sic).

The wonder is that the brain behind this movie is a Brit who also did 28 Days, one of the best zombie movies ever, and the pretty-good scifi film Annihilation.

Of course there are numerous plot points in the movie that make no sense. No spoilers here. One that bugs me is the idea of states rebelling. Sure, in Texas the MAGAs could overwhelm state politics and go nuts. Elsewhere, however, the geographic lineup would be rural counties with Trumpy sheriffs and many patriots armed to the teeth and the fewer locations of Democratic concentration.

In Virginia, for instance, Democrats are thick on the ground in three regions. When our previous governor, a Democrat, was elected, dozens of mass meetings were held throughout the state to protest impending regulation of firearms. I remember Twitter posts that karate schools would be banned. Actually there was no confiscation of guns. We did get some limited reforms that nobody talks about any longer.

There are two enemies in play. The obvious one is the MAGA movement. The other is the Democratic establishment, in thrall to Obama-style, “When they go high” argle-bargle civic republicanism. I fear their unilateral disarmament in the face of an opposition that lacks scruples. If they prove unwilling to fight dirty, we will all lose.

My latest bright idea is Andrew Cuomo for attorney-general. We will need a vampire, not another Merrick Garland wuss. Jamie Raskin would be great, but he seems too nice. We need blood.