(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . From "Gun Freedom" to Christo-Fascism: John Stoeher connects the dots, but avoids the obvious issue [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-28 John Stoeher of The Editorial Board website, a master at dot-connecting, has noted the speed in which the right-wing has capitalized on the “possibly” transgender status of Audrey Hale — the now-deceased shooter at the Nashville school mass-shooting yesterday — to attack all transgender/non-binary people. That they want to control people, especially outpeople [sic], was evident Monday in rightwing chatter about the shooter, Audrey Hale. The Nashville police chief said she was transgender. Whether that’s true remains to be seen. But for rightwingers [sic], that was enough to call for a crackdown. Guns didn’t shoot six people to pieces. “Wokeness” did. * * * On the one hand, the government can’t do anything to stop mass death because stopping it might “infringe the rights of law abiding citizens.” On the other hand, the government must do something about “wokeness,” because failing to act will lead only to mass death! How do the Second Amendment rights of trans people figure into this thinking? They don’t, because outpeople don’t deserve them. They are not “law-abiding citizens.” Then Stoehr connects some more crucial dots. If trans people are not included among “law-abiding citizens,” that means that “the law” isn’t the law, but “God’s law,” which, from the rightwing viewpoint, puts white Christian men on top of society. That's "the natural order of things." There are males and there are females. Being trans breaks God’s law. Lawbreakers deserve punishment. And finally: [S]hooting massacres are, one way or another, an outcome of democratic politics running up against God’s law. To adherents, the law is a gun. A gun is the law. If God’s people fail democratically – if they fail to gain control of the government in order to enact laws that will punish outpeople – they are “free” [emphasis added] to take "the law" into their own hands. If mass death is a consequence, so be it. In other words, mass death, or the threat of mass death, is another way in rightwing politics to control people, especially outpeople, who don’t buy guns typically the way God’s people do. The people with the most guns are the people most in control. The right to bear arms is the right of God’s people to force outpeople to stay where they belong. As democracy-supporting liberals, we prefer that the Government, constrained by laws enforced by an objective judiciary, monopolize violence within the borders of the U.S. That is, in fact, the definition of a “State” under international law. But some citizens, the followers of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump and General Michael Flynn, prefer that they monopolize violence within the U.S. — A “Triumph of Their Wills” (Triumph des Willens), one might say. That leaves us with only three unpleasant choices: 1) Submission to Fascism, 2) Schism of the U.S. into two rival countries with contrasting values, and 3) Develop a superior countervailing force of citizen volunteers to guarantee civil peace. In the ten years before the Civil War, first slavery supporters, then slavery opponents, established private “military drill clubs” across the nation. These groups helped authorities put down insurrectionist plots, while ultimately forming the armies that marched in 1861. On the pro-Union side, anti-slavery volunteers were instrumental in preserving the ability of President Lincoln to take military action against the South, after so many West Point and Annapolis graduates “resigned” (deserted) their commissions and joined the CSA Army and Navy. Most of the regiments mustered in California, like these volunteers in Hayward, CA helped protect overland travel routes between California and Nebraska, and guarded Mormon settlements in Utah. For example, here is how California formed most of its 1st Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, in 1861: Company A: California Volunteers, Oroville. Company B: Marion Rifles, San Francisco. Company C: Amador Mountaineers, Jackson. Company D: San Jose Volunteers, San Jose. Company E: Washington Rifles, Sacramento. Company F: Sierra Greys, La Porte Company G: California Militia, Nevada City. Company H: San Francisco volunteers Company I: Marysville Rifles, Marysville. While all this marching and drilling by loyal civilians was going on antebellum, the U.S. Army post in San Diego was under the command of Captain Lew Armistead, and the entire U.S. Army Department of the Pacific--leader of all U.S. Army troops in California--was Albert Sidney Johnston. Both men were pro-slavery: It is safe to say that the presence of so many armed and trained pro-Union volunteers in northern California was decisive in persuading them to not try to take over California for the slaveowners. In May 1861, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles—the only Confederate company to muster in California or any other Free State—led by the county undersheriff(!) and several deputies, left for Texas to join the CSA. Among them was General Johnston and Captain Armistead, soon to die at Gettysburg and Shiloh, respectively. With Los Angeles already under Union military occupation, only 32 men left for Arizona. After some hasty training, Companies D, F, and G, 1st California Regiment, captured Warner Springs, San Diego County, in November 1861 to 1) stop more pro-slavery Californians from joining the CSA Army, and 2) get early warning of any Confederate invasion from the East. The next month, five companies occupied Fort Yuma on the Colorado River, and other federal posts. In April 1862, thousands of California infantry, cavalry, and artillery volunteers marched 900 miles to Texas, deposed the Confederate government of “Arizona Territory,” and forced the Texans that had tried to capture gold-rich Colorado to flee all the way to San Antonio! So ended the Confederate threat to the American southwest, just 15 months after they fired on Fort Sumter. We democracy-loving liberals have our own glorious history to inspire us to oppose fascism and maintain civil peace. Let us take that as our guide and have no fear that, if we act prudently and prepare for calamity, we can defeat despotism and sectarianism, whether or not the emergency shall come. As Frederick Douglass wrote over 150 years ago: “The National Edifice is on Fire. Every man who can carry a bucket of water, or remove a brick, is wanted.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/28/2160723/-From-Gun-Freedom-to-Christo-Fascism-John-Stoeher-connects-the-dots-but-avoids-the-obvious-issue Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/