Yesterday, the first shots were fired in the Third Battle of Fort Sumter

 

The First Battle of Fort Sumter, in 1861, kicked off the first American Civil War.

The Second Battle of Fort Sumter, in 1863, saw Union forces attack the Confederate occupiers of the fort.

The Third Battle of Fort Sumter didn't take place at the fort at all.  It took place in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, when "America's ruling class" raised a decisive, defiant and derogatory middle finger to everyone in this country who demands participatory democracy;  everyone in America who refuses to be ruled by diktat or told what to think (despite all evidence that contradicts the politically correct message).

Just as the First Battle of Fort Sumter launched the first American Civil War, so the Third Battle may herald the launch of the Second American Civil War.

Let us be quite clear.

• The violence we saw in Washington yesterday was not democratic, and was not justifiable.  However, it was in reaction to the equally - if not more - undemocratic and unjustifiable violence exercised by "politically correct" forces in America over the past year.  It was a good deal less destructive and less dishonest than the latter;  but it's being criticized a lot more harshly than what went before, precisely and only because the powers that be find it expedient to do so.  This is hypocrisy, pure and simple.

• The evidence of electoral fraud that brought out the crowds in Washington D.C. yesterday is clear, overwhelming and incontrovertible.  We've covered a great deal of it in these pages over the past two months, so I won't bother to repeat it all in this article.  Suffice it to say that anyone claiming the allegations of electoral fraud are "unsubstantiated" or "unproven" or "without evidence" is deliberately lying to you.  They're advancing their own agenda, not searching for the truth.
• Yesterday we saw the so-called "Uniparty" - the professional politicians of both major parties who work together to ensure that the country is run according to their whims (or, rather, the whims of those who control them) - in action.  Every politician, Republican or Democrat, who voted to confirm Joe Biden as our next President was deliberately denying - and defying - an overwhelming mountain of evidence that the Democratic Party stole the election from President Trump.  Every one of them is complicit in electoral fraud.  Every one of them must be held accountable for that.

So . . . where to from here?  If our "ruling class" has decisively lifted their collective middle fingers to the rest of us, how do we stop them from running the country for their benefit rather than ours?  I advanced some ideas yesterday, but they may already have been overtaken by events.  What next?

Here are a few ideas.

1. If the Uniparty and its Big Tech corporate sponsors (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google et al.) and its mainstream media mouthpieces (every major TV news organization, every major newspaper, etc.) all parrot the same "party line", that's a very good indication it's not trustworthy.  They're out to brainwash or gaslight you.  Be appropriately suspicious.  In particular, distrust people and positions they tell you to trust, and vice versa.
2. You'll find that a great deal of news is either mis-reported, or not reported at all.  Learn to look deeper for details of what's happening.  Sadly, many alternative news outlets are equally untrustworthy, so you'll have to develop an inquiring mind and your own list of reliable sources.  (For US politics and related areas, mine include John Solomon, Sharyl Attkisson, Spinquark and the Wall Street Journal - the last being definitely mainstream media, but more objective than most of its ilk.  It's the only major newspaper I find balanced enough to merit a paid subscription.)
3. Withdraw financial support from every corporation associated with the Uniparty and controlling, rather than informing, the American people.  They include every TV/video subscription channel (Netflix, Disney, Hulu, Apple TV, etc.), because their content is more brainwashing than entertainment.  (Look at the politically correct messaging in so many movies and TV series to see what I mean.  To name just one example, the last three Star Wars movies were a sick caricature of the franchise's former glory.  See also Netflix's antics to move the moral Overton window with its programming.)  Therefore, cancel your subscription(s) to such services, and refuse to give them another cent of your hard-earned money.  If you really must see something they offer, try to find a free copy somewhere, or have one person in your group of friends record it for the rest.
4. Cancel your social media accounts everywhere that opposes free speech.  That includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their ilk.  Choose to support social media that explicitly and openly advocate free speech, and refuse to censor their members.  Also, be suspicious of any attempt by mainstream media to intimidate or smear such independent social media, as the New York Times attempted to do to Gab and Parler yesterday.  (Gab's response is here, if you're interested.  I've been on Gab almost since its inception, because I support free, uncensored speech as a fundamental right.)
5. Do all you can to let your Congressional representative and Senators know that you expect them to be responsive to the will of their constituents.  If they are, all well and good.  If they're not, publicize that to your friends, family and associates, and spread the word that you need to find and elect better politicians.  If enough of us do that, the message will be received and understood.
6. Be prepared to get involved in local politics as a first step towards reforming national issues.  Encourage potential candidates to stand against incumbents in primary elections (my rule of thumb is, always vote against incumbents unless their track record is such as to make them worthwhile).  Do what you can to be a political gadfly, stinging and irritating the complacent.
7. Support efforts to destabilize and disrupt our present "Uniparty", two-party-only political system.  This includes their efforts to raise funds, whip up support, and crush opposition.  As a general principle, if the Uniparty is against something, support it;  if the Uniparty is for something, oppose it.

What about more "kinetic" measures?  I've been in three civil war situations during my life.  I've seen at first hand the havoc, destruction, misery and catastrophe that accompany them.  I have little doubt that we're in for some of that in this country as well - but it won't be like the first American Civil War.  It'll be more like the Balkans in the 1990's, where regions will fight against their neighbors.  The region can be suburb against suburb, town against town, state against state, but will most likely not involve armies and military operations.  It'll be a fourth-generation warfare struggle, where anywhere and everywhere can become the front line at any time.  Thuggery and low-level terrorism are more likely than set-piece battles.  I've already written at some length about what I see coming.

A friend posted this meme on MeWe overnight:

I think a lot of people are feeling that way this morning.  Whether or not you do, dear reader, I suggest that conflict is now upon us.  It can no longer be avoided.  Each and every one of us will be forced to take a stand, whether we want to or not.  We'll have to go with the vision of our Founding Fathers, and defend our constitutional republic and individual rights;  or we'll have to abandon their vision, and instead work for political correctness, socialism and the domination of the individual by the group.

Whether or not our choice involves violence, we have to make it.  It's no longer possible to stand idly by and let others do their thing.  We're all involved now.  The Uniparty made its choice clear yesterday.  What is our - your - response?

I'll let Tucker Carlson have the last word.

In the face of dissent, the first instinct of illegitimate leadership is to crack down on the population, but crackdowns never make it better. They always make the country more volatile and more dangerous. The people in charge rarely understand that. They don't care to learn or listen, because all of this conversation is a referendum on them and their leadership. So they clamp down harder.

This is the Romanov program, and it ends badly every single time. But that doesn't mean they won't try it again. Of course they will, because it's their nature. It's how we got here in the first place.

Millions of Americans sincerely believe the last election was fake. You can dismiss them as crazy. You can call them conspiracy theorists. You can kick them off Twitter. But that won't change their minds. Rather than trying to change their minds, to convince them and reassure them that the system is real, that democracy works -- which you would do if you cared about the country or the people who live here -- our new leaders will try to silence them.

What happened Wednesday will be used by the people taking power to justify stripping you of the rights you were born with as an American: Your right to speak without being censored, your right to assemble, to not be spied upon, to make a living, and to defend your family.

These are the most basic and ancient freedoms that we have. They're why we live here in the first place. They're why we're proud to be Americans. They're what make us different, and they're all now in peril.

When thousands of your countrymen storm the Capitol building, you don't have to like it. We don't. You can be horrified by the violence, and we are.

But if you don't bother to pause and learn a single thing from your citizens storming your Capitol building, then you're a fool, you lack wisdom and self-awareness, and you have no place running a country. We got to this sad, chaotic day for a reason.

Word.

Peter