That's what they definitely want, but keep in mind, there's two outcomes for them: one, you try to hold moral superiority and succumb once again to justifying their victim narratives and allowing them to change the discourse, or two, which they will still claim regardless, that you fight back and they have an additional excuse they would have manufactured regardless.

Anywhere in the world and even in the US' own history, when things get bad enough, you have to recognize you will never get through the mental gymnastics and that you are under a regime that's only going to get worse. And yes, that certain people are going to try to benefit from that instability and perhaps are even forcing it, but also that sometimes the only answer is to get ahead of the road they've paved so you can change the course faster and sooner than they would have expected. Not doing so or even fighting against the people actually resisting against the regime due to your own superiority complex is what has ended up cementing dictatorships instead of powering successful revolutions back into democracies.

And nothing of value was lost.

Political violence is of course bad... but as soon as you call for it, especially indirectly, you deserve whatever comes to you. Stochastic terrorism is still terrorism, and there's not a lot more American than the fact we don't negotiate with terrorists.

Back during Trump's first term I would hear people saying "this country is going to fall into civil war" and I told my friends "we are nowhere near a civil war." Because the conditions were not there. It takes a huge buildup to move people to organized violence. You have to have thousands and in the US case millions or at least 100s of thousands of people willing to kill and die for a cause and we didn't have that, and still don't.

But the pandemic came and we saw half the country couldn't be bothered to wear a mask or get a vaccine to protect their neighbors and the other half saw that outpouring of collective psychopathy and realized that their neighbors were willing to risk their lives and the lives of their family and community to "own the libs" and we moved a step closer.

But you can't have a civil war like the 1800's today, there aren't bright geographical lines of loyalty. I predicted in the Biden administration that we would see a period of rising violence scattered across the country, like bleeding Kansas, but spread all over.

And that is exactly what we are seeing.

We still aren't at the point where we could fall into civil war, but we are closer every year. Trump is doing his damndest to create the conditions.

I pray we never get that far. Civil wars are the worst short of full on genocide, and they make the big G a whole lot more likely.

good riddance.

They want pity and/or retribution for him for him, then there's a list he needs to get on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hortman

I'll sleep ever so slightly better now.