Is a second civil war in this country possible?

[ringmastery]

What's a scenario that could make it happen?

[mikehiggins]

No.

There is no scenario that could make a Civil War kind of Civil War possible. There may well be a continued erosion of "states rights" as time goes by but people by and large are Americans first AND too well educated.

[Indiana_Dem]

1. A WMD attack i bet!....

or nobody working and without healthcare and social security and unemployment runout.......

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. It is always possible.

Whether it is probable is another question. I foresee deep divisions and outbreaks of unrest, but not a civil war. Not that I have a working crystal ball, mind you.

[JailBush]

3. In the short future, it's very unlikely.

Americans are simply too gutless and self-centered. How can you expect people to fight when many are too lazy to vote?

We'll have to take a lot more punishment before people begin to really wake up, after which they'd have to do some homework before they were ready to launch a revolt. In the meantime, the government has already taken steps to squash any rebellions.

Do you have a computer in your home with Microsoft Windows? That's a great way to help the government collect information on you. Are they eavesdropping on your e-mail? And you wouldn't believe the spies and operatives who have infiltrated nearly every corner of our society. Can you trust the parent on your PTA, the teacher at your school or the League of Women Voters? Here in Seattle, the answer is NO.

That doesn't mean it's impossible, but we have a LONG ways to go before people were ready to revolt. At the moment, it's actually a stupid idea. Why court the horrors of war when we could simply revolt by VOTING intelligently?

It CAN be done. Remember, as many as half the adults in this country don't vote at all, and most who do vote are too LAZY and STUPID to make intelligent choices or do anything BUT vote.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. Don't think of it as as Civil War

Just the market correcting itself.

[pruner]

5. it sure would be helpful to Edwards' candidacy

[malakai]

6. Yes

Under a WMD attack scenario, if the President were to declare martial law, I could see it happening.

[newyawker99]

10. Hi malakai!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[mrgorth]

7. Yes

It's going to happen and I have no idea what will happen.

[MinnFats]

8. People keep talking about this and it's starting to scare me but...

.....
(hey, let's all take Ari's advice and watch what we say....) kidding, 'k?


i doubt a full-scale civil war is possible, unless Bush does something stupid on a huge scale, such as declaring the terrorist threat so high that the 2004 election must be postponed or cancelled.
Or if he were to suspend civil rights all together and send troops in to make mass arrests, and they fill up the Humphrey Metrodome (wouldn't THAT make old Hubert spin in his grave) with detainees....
i think we could see violent clashes...and who knows where it would end....
...we know that Bush and his fundy allies think that Dubya was put in office by The Creator (hell, he certainly didn't WIN the election, only supernatural powers could have done it. (but hey, Lucifer has some supernatural powers, too.)Bush is to herald the Rapture and ultimately the return of Jesus. Whew.

Greatest bumper sticker I've seen lately: "Come the Rapture, Can I Have Your Car?"

[milkyway]

9. I've always thought that the first one never completely ended.

But the sides are not totally divided up along North-South, and we usually don't use weapons anymore. The "states rights" argument is still used today to deny the authority and legitimacy of the Federal government.

[Loonman]

11. Not only possible, but probable.

Yep.

[Silverhair]

12. Reruns. I heard all this talk before, in the early 70's. n/t

[markus]

13. Newt Gingrich declared the second civil war in I believe '92

and you are the enemy.

He said it would be bloodless. Let's hope it continues that way.

We need to understand that whatever your think of your mother-in-law the Republican or maybe your local elected official the Republican, that the institutional Republican Party believes you are an enemy of the state.

[JohnKleeb]

14. Sigh if that happens

I'll either stay and fight or flee to one of the old countries.

[Nlighten1]

15. Yes it is possible...

but not very likely...almost anything is possible. The TV news is being used as an additional buffer for the elite in this country against a radical, organized leftist movement. The police are militarized and conditioned to attack the citizens unprovoked.

All in all it creates a powder keg...who has the match though?

[rman]

16. why not? n/t

-

[Dissenting_Prole]

17. As soon as peak oil starts to affect...

the entitled, middle-class residents of suburbia and they refuse to give up SUV's, mass consumption, and the absolute right to multiply as much as God says they ought to. Remember, much of suburbia votes Republican.

[Gringo]

18. Only if the majority are broke and destitute

At this point, the working poor, and middle class who in the past would have taken to the streets in response to their continued erosion, have remained silent. I blame it all on TV. Even if you're dirt poor, you can turn on the idiot box, and block it all out, as the TV tells you reassuring fables of how everything is okay and normal in the world. It is a drug that keeps the majority docile.

[Gman]

19. It's been going on for at least 10 years now

It's called the "Cultural War". While it has been, for the most part, non-violent, there have been shots fired such as when abortion doctors were killed, or innocent African-Americans walking down the street are shot at random.

It's largely been a seige of words and intimidation.

[smirkymonkey]

20. I don't know, but an new alternate reality

show examines the possibilty of a scenario where the South won the first U.S. Civil war. See link below.

http://www.theonion.com/3947/news1.html

[onecitizen]

21. I would have thought........

not likely until today. Today, something is different. For the first time today I heard several people actually verbalizing it. They are MAD. The overtime issue has really lit people on fire where I live. I've heard people saying they had been Dem for years but bought not-so-curious georges' dog and pony act in 2000. They are saying, NEVER AGAIN!! The Unions are HOT mad, the Nurses are HOT mad, the steel workers are HOT mad. They feel they've been had. They are also saying we cannot treat our seniors like something to be spit on. They want seniors to have their prescription drugs at a reasonable rate. Not something to bankrupt them. Anyways, there is a change here. I suspect in others locations too.