Trump yesterday told all those Generals and Admirals that the U.S. is at war against internal enemies, all of whom (it turns out) are in blue cities. Oakland is right up there on his enemy list, along with L.A., Chicago, D.C., San Francisco, Memphis and many others. He and his stooge, Hegseth, told them to get ready for combat.
So here we go. Is this it, the formative event that constitutes the opening battle of Civil War II? No one I know wants that to happen—I sure don’t. But Trump seems more determined than ever to settle this thing by force. Hitler told his own Generals and Admirals that Germany had to go to war before he, Hitler, who was then in his fifties, was too old. Trump, at 79, apparently feels the same way.
So what would we do if Trump sent troops to Oakland? Out of that Pandora’s box, anything could fly. Would some remnant of Occupy resuscitate itself to wage guerilla warfare? Might a recrudescent Black Panther army arise from its torpor and fight? Could “the people” form barricades in the streets?
I can’t see any of that happening. It’s too lurid, too operatic and Wagnerian, even for a performative town like Oakland. Most likely Trump’s goons would experience little opposition; they’d merely walk up and down Broadway, International Boulevard and San Pablo, more interested in the food trucks than in internecine warfare. As for the angry citizens—it would take more than incipient civil war to drag them away from their computer games and clubs.
Still, we’ve never had anyone like Trump before. Anyone who doesn’t understand that he’s a sociopath is simply not being truthful, or perhaps is thinking, “Yes, but he’s our sociopath.” The fat man wants domestic violence. It gives him an excuse to send his attack dogs out to crush his enemies. He delights in harming those he despises which, frankly, is most of us here in Oakland.
Some people may ask why I’m so anti-Trump when he’s actually in favor of some of the things I’ve been asking for for years. Yes, it’s true Trump has been good for our cops. I appreciate his support of the men and women in uniform, and his hatred of crime and anti-social behavior. I’m not going to pretend that Democrats have a good record, in those respects. Their left wing, dominated by maniacs like Carroll Fife, Nikki Bas and Cat Brooks (to use a couple local examples), is pernicious. I wouldn’t mind if they were rounded up by Trump’s thugs and flown off to some prison in El Salvador.
At the same time, I look at the bigger picture. And the biggest picture of all here is the survival of our American democracy. Most Oaklanders have probably never read the Constitution, but they’re protected by its Bill of Rights. They’re free to say all kinds of stupid things (and they frequently do) without fear of reprisals from their government. I hate the bullshit I hear from the wokes of Oakland, but when push comes to shove, I have to defend their right to say it. The way to win this struggle against wokeism isn’t by sending our opponents to a foreign prison, much less from fighting it out in the streets; it’s through the political process of debate and elections. The process of changing voters’ minds and showing them the reasonableness of our positions. It’s by linking our political opponents to the appalling conditions in Oakland, which they have purposefully caused, that we will beat them.
Trump does not believe in debate. He’s made that very clear. By this recent provocation of gathering the Generals and Admirals, he’s dropped the mask of reasonableness and let us know that he’s not fucking around anymore. FAFO, as the toad Hegseth said. There are no more deals to be struck. It’s mano a mano from now on. If this is what some of you wanted, congratulations: you’re getting what you wished for. If it’s not what you wanted, you’re getting it anyway.
Steve Heimoff