The so-called "blue states" secede, announcing that they are entering Canada as new provinces. Both the UN and the EU grant diplomatic recognition to this new Canadian federation, arguing that the US has become such a threat to world peace that its breakup is the only thing that can save the planet. The EU and UN move French, German and other foreign troops to the new Canadian provinces to prevent any move to recover them for the US.
But most "blue states" are really heavily-populated blue counties surrounded by red counties, and the inhabitants of the red counties will take umbrage at this decision by the cities to secede in their name. Unlike the last American civil war which was fought in the south, this one will be fought in the north with patriots being forced to take on foreign troops along with their liberal collaborators.
I got a laugh at a recent FReeper Meet when I imitated the voices of the two sides when they meet at a roadblock.
RED: Freeze! Keep your hands up! Is the Constitution a rock or a tree?
BLUE: A tree!
(sound of machine gun going off)
While I got a laugh at the FReeper Meet, no one reacted to my entry on that particular thread, except for one FReeper who said he had imagined the same thing, and it was his worst nightmare.
Food for thought -- but I don't want to turn this into a secession thread.
Let me congratulate you on an excellent essay, and thread.
I doubt that secession will precipitate civil war next time, but the seizure of power by the judiciary is a much better candidate, I think.
The Left is building the intellectual structure to neutralize the results of elections. The threads of "suppression", "intimidation", "voter confusion" are simple surrogates for the old bolshevik argument that the masses vote against their interests because late capitalism constructs a false consciousness for them.
What they want, what the courts are soon going to give them, is "corrections" of the actual, arithmetical vote total to add ascribed votes that were either never cast at all, or cast "mistakenly" for the "wrong" candidate.
A Democrat in a statewide or national race cannot win if his/her share of the black potential vote falls below 85% or so. What has been happening is that small numbers of blacks are switching to the GOP, but larger numbers are staying home.
Just as the Left has convinced courts and Fourth Branch agencies to "correct" the census, adding Democrat representatives to the House without the actual, enumerated citizens to justify it, soon they will be suing to add votes to unsuccessful Democrats because of "suppression".
Once they get this (and they certainly will), there will be war.
IMO.