American Civil War, 2010-2024

In 1789, a Constitution was ratified to create the United States of America. The Constitution began, “We the People of the United States” and put the power of governing the United States in the hands of the People of the United States, “We the People” (WtP). From 1861 to 1865, WtP engaged in a very bloody Civil War after several southern States seceded from the United States, calling themselves the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). After four years of bloodshed, that Civil War came to an end and the southern States, the Confederacy, rejoined the United States as President Abraham Lincoln began the process of reuniting the divided country and restoring “a more perfect union” as had been described in the Constitution.

It took 145 years waiting in the shadows and another fourteen years of Civil War (2010-2024), but the sympathizers of the Confederacy had finally avenged its loss against the United States back in 1865. Because this Civil War was fought almost exclusively in the political arena with very little bloodshed, most Americans weren’t even aware they had been at war with themselves. With a vast majority of white men among WtP, alongside a substantial minority of white women and a spattering of black and brown votes, one half of WtP voted to give up the power that had been entrusted to WtP by the Constitution to the leader of a small subset of WtP that made up a group proclaiming themselves MAGA, from their battle cry of “Make America Great Again”.

When I had first begun to hear the term MAGA around 2015-2016, I found myself constantly wondering what era in American history MAGA had been referring to as having been great. Once the power to govern had been handed over to MAGA, it became quite clear. The intended era was pre-1861 when minorities were enslaved and women, along with those enslaved minorities, were not allowed a voice in how the United States was to be governed.

Unlike with President Lincoln following the Civil War of 1861-1865, this time there was no leader that would attempt to reunify the divided country. Instead, a single Party system with a dictator at the helm was chosen, a model very similar to that of the Communist Party in Russia.

The United States of America, once perceived as a strong example of democracy in action, was no more after only 235 years in existence.

MAGA’s Single Party Dream

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!” - Donald Trump

“The Nazi Party … was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism … The party aimed to unite ‘racially desirable’ Germans as national comrades while excluding those deemed to be either political dissidents, physically or intellectually inferior, or of a foreign race … “Adolf Hitler, the party's leader since 1921, was appointed Chancellor of Germany … on 30 January 1933, and quickly seized power afterwards. Hitler established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich and became dictator with absolute power.” - Wikipedia on Nazi Party 

 

“The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the Constitution.” - Wikipedia on the Soviet Union

The Russian Federation has a de jure multi-party system, however it operates as a de facto one-party system. As of 2020, six parties have members in the federal parliament, the State Duma, with one dominant party (United Russia) … Russian politics are now dominated by President Putin, his United Russia party, and Prime minister Mikhail Mishustin. At the 2003 legislative elections, United Russia reduced all other parties to minority status. Other parties retaining seats in the State Duma, the lower house of the legislature, are the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and A Just Russia.” - Wikipedia on the Russian Federation

“Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government in Beijing officially asserts to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, which it defines as including mainland China and Taiwan … In China, politics functions within a communist state framework based on the system of people's congress under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with the National People's Congress (NPC) functioning as the highest organ of state power and only branch of government per the principle of unified power. The CCP leads state activities by holding two-thirds of the seats in the NPC, and these party members are, in accordance with democratic centralism, responsible for implementing the policies adopted by the CCP Central Committee and the National Congress. The NPC has unlimited state power … The nature of the elections is highly constrained by the CCP's monopoly on power in China, censorship, and party control over elections.” - Wikipedia on the People's Republic of China 

“Cuba [Republic of Cuba] has had a socialist political system since 1959 based on the ‘one state – one party’ principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a Marxist–Leninist state … Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the ‘superior driving force of the society and the state’ in the Constitution of Cuba, and the communist party is the only official political party. Elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting …” - Wikipedia on the Republic of Cuba 

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is supervised by a supreme leader and an appointed & unelected Guardian Council which is made up of Islamic clerics … The Supreme Leader is the head of state (above the president), and he either has direct or indirect control of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and the media … Iran's president, a parliament, an Assembly of Experts, and local councils are all elected, but all candidates who run for these positions must be vetted by the Guardian Council (which disqualifies the overwhelming majority of the candidates) for their loyalty to the Islamic Republic's system of government.” - Wikipedia on the Islamic Republic of Iran 

MAGA and Single Party Government 

While observing MAGA since before January 6, 2021, I wondered why the members of MAGA continued to support its leader, Donald Trump, who despises the United States Constitution and would like nothing more than to terminate it. For a few years, I thought it was because they were blind to what that Trump was hoping to do to the Constitution. Recently, however, it has become quite apparent to me that the members of MAGA continue to support Trump because they actually desire his vision of a single-party government under the complete control of Trump and his MAGA party. 

Under the Constitution, the United States has thrived for more than 235 years. If you look at the more well-known, single party governments mentioned above, the longest lasting of those governments, and the only one that some might consider to be thriving, is the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to present. That is a whopping 75 years in existence. 

If MAGA truly wanted to make America great again (I still have no idea what period of American history they are considering as great), they’d look at the history of single-party governments and realize it is a formula for disaster rather than a formula for success. 

Issues of succession are one of the biggest problems with single-party governments. Trump is 77 years old. Unless he is the Second Coming as some MAGA would like to believe, he is unlikely to be around to govern for more than a decade or two. Who does MAGA think will have the ability to take over the MAGA Party after its one and only leader is no longer here? Trump isn’t grooming anyone to take over and the person he is will never allow him to groom anyone to take over. How can the MAGA vision of a great America keep it great after their Supreme Leader is gone?

Government Shutdowns, Good for We the People?

QUESTION ASKED BY CNN:  Are you concerned about a potential shutdown of the federal government? Tell us about it.

The federal government could shut down on October 1 if Congress can’t come to an agreement to fund federal agencies for fiscal year 2024. A shutdown could have wide-ranging impacts on everything from air travel to national parks and museums to food safety inspections. Are you worried that a federal government shutdown will disrupt your life or business?

MY ANSWER:  I am more worried about continuing to have a completely dysfunctional House of Representatives.  They all claim they want to do what's best for We the People of the USA (WtP), but do they really?  A shutdown is not in the best interest of any of WtP.  A dysfunctional House is not in the best interest of any of WtP.  Allowing extremists (either Left or Right) to have any say in Government whatsoever is not in the best interest of any of WtP.  The Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats have shown an ability to work together for the benefit of WtP.  It's time the more moderate House Republicans start working with the more moderate House Democrats and bring this country back toward its much more stable center.  THAT is what is in the best interest of WtP, the collective of all the people from the right, left, and center.  Anything less is an indication that the GOP is not working for WtP.