Seriously. Remember that whole, “the tree of democracy is watered by the blood of tyrants” line? That’s what this refers to. Democracy is a peace treaty. People lament that democracy does not produce the ideal policy outcomes they would like, or even always the outcomes that the majority would like. But that really isn’t the real point of democracy. The real purpose of democracy is as an alternative to civil war. We all agree to accept elections and their results. This gives people a means to enact change in society without resorting to violence. People will always want to enact change in the world. And if you do not give them a peaceful means to do so, they will turn to violence. Democracy generally works because it’s actually usually a lot easier to make change in a democratic system than it would be to enact change through violent conflict. If you have enough of the population behind you to win an all-out civil war, you likely don’t need to start a civil war in the first place. Starting a civil war to enact policy goals is almost always a very bad idea. If you don’t have enough of the electorate behind you to enact your goals democratically, you will be very unlikely to have enough people willing to fight and die with you in order to triumph in a civil war.

Sometimes in democracies, a group of people forgets this fact. They come to realize their views are an increasing minority and will have zero success in the future. This is what happened in the US Civil War. The South saw the writing on the wall. They realized that slavery was becoming ever-more unpopular, and that every year that passed, more and more of the population recognized it for the moral abomination that it was. The election of Lincoln made it clear that their long-term success in protecting slavery through democratic means was doomed. And so, they turned to violence.

It’s one of those harsh facts that this is just something that happens from time to time in democracies. The support of Trump is based on one fundamental worldview - that white straight Christians are the natural leaders of society, and that they deserve special rights and privileges. They fundamentally do not believe in the principal that all human beings are created equal. White people, and especially white males, deserve special privileges because of their sex, skin color, and religious beliefs. In the 1860s, we had reached a point where the premise that slavery was acceptable was a politically doomed idea. Now, through changes in culture and demography, we are reaching the point where the premise that straight white Christians are the natural rulers of society is becoming politically nonviable. Trump is fundamentally a reaction to an inclusive and diverse society. And the old America that gave special privileges to people simply because of their sex, skin color, and religion is on its way out the door. We are becoming a pluralistic democracy, and that is fundamentally anathema to many people, in the same way that the end of slavery was fundamentally anathema to many people.

And if these people turn to violence? Well, so be it. The last time a group of regressives tried to overtly rebel against the government (not counting January 6th here), we had to burn Atlanta to the ground. We had to come down like the Hammer of God upon them, and grind it into their skulls saying, “we are done with your shit. Slavery is over. We will kill as many of you as necessary to end this bullshit. Give it up, continuing to fight will only make things worse for you.”

We forget just how intransigent the bastards in the US South were. They were stubborn mother-fuckers. They fundamentally believed that democracy did not matter, and that their right to slavery was above democracy. It took putting a gun their head and saying, “slavery is done, and we will kill every last one of you if we have to in order to end it.” THAT is what it took to end slavery. The South wasn’t convinced of the error of their ways, they were given the choice between Emancipation or death.

I really, really hope that Trump is defeated resoundingly, and that this breaks the back of the modern Christian Nationalist movement. But if they actually do take up arms? Well, we’ve been here before. We had to turn Atlanta into a heap of ashes to stop these guys the last time they convinced themselves that God gave them more rights than other human beings. And if we have to do something similar again? So be it. There is a reason that soldiers swear an oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign AND domestic. Democracy is a peace treaty. We agree that we will fight each other in elections, and try to enact our will upon the world through peaceful democratic means. But when you decide that your views are more important than democracy? When you decide that elections be damned, your preferred world must be made? When you decide to roll the iron dice and take up arms against your brothers and sisters? Make no mistake. You have broken that peace treaty. And you will be put in the ground where you belong.

The correct response to, “The South will rise again!” has always been, “fine. And I will be the first to shoot your traitorous ass. And we won’t be so forgiving the second time around.”