Political Terror and the Long Game

There is an anatomy to political terror. It is important to recognize that not all campaigns of terror involve overt physical violence. Terror can also be carried out in the form of psychological attacks.

Acts of terror involve three parties—the terrorist, the terrorized and the witness. The target of those carrying out the act of terror is NOT the terrorized; the target is the witness. In the realm of overt physical violence, the perpetrators carry out an action. It is invariably done publicly. It is usually very graphic and brutal. It conveys a clear message to the witness(es): behave in a certain way or this will happen to you. In Vietnam the Viet Cong went into villages and murdered the village heads of villages that were sympathetic to the army of South Vietnam and their American allies. Their message to the villagers was clear: collaborate and die.

Psychological terror is more subtle but at least as effective, if not more so. Here the terror is more a process than an event. It is carried out over time. Its impact is cumulative over time. The terrorized isn’t killed, but they are wounded and scarred. They continue to survive as a walking object lesson. And the witness(es) charts their course of action to avoid the risk of being brutalized—because these wounds can last a lifetime.

What does this have to do with our current morass? I think we have a textbook example of psychological terrorism. The left realistically concedes that Brett Kavanaugh in eminently qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Their relentless attacks on Brett Kavanaugh focus on him as the terrorized. If they succeed in torpedoing his nomination that will be a bonus.

Justice Kennedy’s replacement will only incrementally solidify the conservative edge on the court. Kennedy was the swing vote, sometimes conservative, sometimes not. The left is clear that the critical nominee is the next one, not this one. With the actuarial odds being that RBG will be the next justice to be replaced, her replacement stands to solidify the conservative majority on the court. Thus, that seat is most likely the crown jewel.

The serial mauling of Cavanaugh as the terrorized is being undertaken to send a message to any prospective future nominees: accept a nomination by this president and we will eviscerate you and your family and leave you among the walking wounded. Many prospective nominees, having witnessed the assaults on Kavanaugh, will conclude that the price is just too high. This is the long game.

I disagree.

The next in line as a Trump/SCOTUS nominee will stiffen their backbone, step forward, and do what's in the best interest of The United States of America.

You defeat a bully by standing up to them.

iH8DemLibz said:

I disagree.

The next in line as a Trump/SCOTUS nominee will stiffen their backbone, step forward, and do what's in the best interest of The United States of America.

You defeat a bully by standing up to them.

Click to expand...

We'll see. (Or not. Candidates who pass will do so privately.)

Correct, except it's not just scotus justices.

The left is terrorizing anyone who would dare support Trump and his administration. The message has been: side with Trump and we will attack you, threaten you, investigate you and harass you without mercy.

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Candidates who have nothing to hide will not take a pass.

They'll view it as the immense honor it is.

They'll happily weather the storm.

iH8DemLibz said:

I disagree.

The next in line as a Trump/SCOTUS nominee will stiffen their backbone, step forward, and do what's in the best interest of The United States of America.

You defeat a bully by standing up to them.

Click to expand...

I did. Heres to R control of the senate in december.

You'll also notice these sleazy tactics are deployed when there's a "shift" in the court, where a conservative takes the place of a liberal or moderate. They do not bring out the "dogs" when it's a conservative replacing a conservative.

I agree with the OP. This is clearly an escalation of the war of intimidation against anything not left of center.

Looking at the situation as dispassionately as I can, there is a constant theme throughout the last 10 years, and that is the left can get away with anything and everything, and will be defended by the swamp dwellers and the media. All violence has been initiated by the left, yet the only folks who seem to know and discuss that little tidbit are those of us on the right.

While I hope that future nominees for SC Justice will be willing to stand up to the guaranteed barrage of lies, innuendo and attack that will come from the left, I cannot imagine that anybody with a family would be willing to subject his or her family to that kind of hatefulness.

I cannot imagine any legal or moral path for us to follow that will curb the dishonest and slanderous attacks of the left, or the public confrontations of innocent conservatives. If a situation ever escalated into a physical confrontation, anything a conservative might do in self defense will be portrayed as bullying, and the misdeeds of the attackers will be justified by the MSM in one way or the other.

So I pose a question to the brain trust of MDS, with a depth and breadth of knowledge vastly superior to most resources, WTF do we do now?

Another thought... I sure hope Kavanaugh sues the bitch(es) for slander who have lied about his behavior.

This is only the most recent demonstration project.

They (the left) are demonstrating a couple things: how far they are willing to go, that they can operate with impunity, and that their targets will be left with not a shred of decency or modicum of public respect.

Indeed this is all about humiliating otherwise good, honest, moral folks. This is all about intimidation in its most base form. This is similarly all about showing that they have no moral or physical bounds when it comes to punishing folks different than them.

Politics is by my definition all about acquiring and applying power. The left has cranked up the amps to “fry.”

The questions are: “...how far can they go?” And “...who is going to do anything about it?” And “...where and how might this end?”

It all begs the question of why can you and I see it for what it is and yet their hoi polloi can not and will never acknowledge the absolute incivility and illegality and immoral nature of their actions. The ends justify the means once more. Thank you Niccolo.

Here we sit bemoaning the grotesque moral turn the left has taken. What are you going to do about it? Vote. Never avoid the opportunity to call it what it is in public. Do not sit on your hands when some FN leftist spews lies and BS. Call them on it. Facts matter. Truth is still the best weapon/shield against tyranny.

Make no mistake; this sh1t is straight up tyranny and evil.

Bill Whittle might have a thought or two...