Old Glory, new anger

[Valin]

Spectator World.

America’s mood is somewhere between despondency and revolt[/i\

Peter Wood

July 23, 2021

America is no longer just angry. We have become a nation of wrath. It is a risky emotional condition, recognizable by our desire to obliterate our opponents. Wrath doesn’t seek reconciliation. It wants revenge. Nor does wrath want to accommodate what it can’t control. It wants to rub the slate clean.

There is a wrathfulness of the political left, stemming from visceral hatred of Trump and his supporters. But as the left is ascendant in the seats of power, it can pursue its effort to extinguish its opposition via the instruments of state. The wrathfulness on the political right is another story. Wrath reaches its zenith when people feel not just abused but hopeless in the pursuit of any redress. American wrath right now is the white-hot anger of the millions of people who have concluded the country is being destroyed and they have no legal redress.

(Snip)

he odd election of 2020 does not sit well with a great many Americans. They are not in the mood to engage in the equivalent theatrics of Ben Cohen’s mockery of Bush or the pussyhat feminists’ sneers against Trump.

President Biden is, in their view, a hollow figure not even worth mention. Their complaint lies far deeper as they see the purposeful destruction of American values by an elite that bullies and derides them.

What will come of this? How might revolt manifest itself? I hope it will be a successful recapture of key institutions, perhaps beginning with the schools. But the political elite that prefers to scorn the common people for wanting a say in their government is playing an awfully risky game. Despair breeds wrath and that fire, once ignited, will engulf us all.

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There are those on The Left, who appear to Want A Civil War. It would be Exciting...Fun...and of course That would win (because The Good Guy Always Win). Let me state the Obvious. It would be  Exciting (I had a Flight Chief in the AF, one of his says was Boredom can be your friend. Because if you're not bored Something Bad is happening to someone.) It would be many many Many things Fun is not one of them.  There is absolutely no guarantee that you would win. 3 outcomes 1. You win, 2. You lose, 3. No one wins, the damn thing just goes on and on and on, until no one can remember Why it started in the 1st place. If I were a betting man I'd put money on 3.