Fears of a ‘civil war’ are growing as MAGA chooses ‘violence’ over democracy: editorial

Many Never Trump conservatives were hoping that after the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building and President Joe Biden’s inauguration 14 days later, the Republican Party would abandon the MAGA movement and return to a traditional Reagan/Goldwater type of conservatism. It didn’t happen; the GOP has only grown more radicalized since then. And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s editorial board, in a disturbing piece published several days before the Capitol riot’s one-year anniversary, warns that “violence” is a prominent feature of that radicalization — which is bringing fears of a “civil war.”

“An October poll found that nearly a third of Republican respondents said violence may be necessary to put (Donald) Trump back in power, which means those Republicans no longer recognize democracy as the only correct way to install leaders and peacefully transfer power,” the Post-Dispatch’s editorial board warns. “Sales of firearms in America are skyrocketing. Forbes reports that more than 30 million guns were purchased in America in 2020 and 2021 — a record-setting trend that suggests some people are preparing for violence.”

The Post-Dispatch’s editors continue, “These are frightening times for anyone paying attention to the trends. The storming of the Capitol on January 6 was the starkest example of a willingness to use violence to achieve what a free election couldn’t. Before insurrectionists attacked from the outside, a few members of Congress inside had forwarded to the White House an elaborate scheme to effectively stage a military-backed coup to keep Trump in power.”

On December 17, the Washington Post published an op-ed by three retired U.S. Army generals — Paul D. Eaton, Antonio M. Taguba and Steven M. Anderson — warning that there are growing signs of a fracture within the U.S. military. The veterans wrote, “It is not outlandish to say a military breakdown could lead to civil war.” And the Post-Dispatch’s editorial board concludes its editorial by warning that when three military generals fear the possibility of a civil war, U.S. democracy is in trouble.

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“When one side comes this close to abandoning the fundamental pillars upon which this nation is founded,” the Post-Dispatch’s editorial board writes, “the question becomes more than just theoretical: Can American democracy, or America itself, survive if this radical faction doesn’t come to its senses?”