Thursday, January 13, 2022

Preview of Civil War 2.0?

There's a thread throughout right-wing extremist culture (and, increasingly, Republican politics) of a second civil war, or at best a 'national divorce'.  While I don't want to downplay the very worrisome possibility of a mass shooting or bombing at, say, a hospital, I'm not particularly worried about a broader right-wing insurgency because, frankly, these people are numbnuts.  For example, look at recently arrested 'Oathkeepers' leader Stewart Rhodes... for all of his tough talk and rebellious yearnings, this is a guy who shot his own eye out.

My biggest concern is that right-wingers will begin low-scale conflict that occasionally flares up, analogous to The Troubles (though, truth be said, with our constant incidence of shootings, we're pretty much already there).  For a possible preview of such a situation, I turn to Florida (where else?), for perhaps the Florida Man-est story ever... the story of a Republican functionary who instigated a road-rage incident, then used his BMW SUV to ram the then-parked Prius of his victim, began shooting, and was gunned down in self-defense by the victim of his aggression:

Kuczwanski rammed his BMW into the Prius on the driver’s door, and began pushing the car sideways in the parking lot.

Kuczwanski then shot a gun at the white Prius, according to the sources. The Prius driver drew a gun and fired back into the windshield of Kuczwanski’s BMW. Kuczwanski was hit and killed.

Turns out the asshole had a prior incident, in 2014 at the same intersection, in which he brandished a gun at another driver.  He was placed on probation until 2018, but was able to keep his gun.  Personally, I would have revoked his driving privileges as well.  If he'd had neither gun nor motor vehicle, he might be alive today.

For me, the real takeaway of this story is that right-wingers love gun violence, but they aren't particularly good at it.  Well, not when they have a target that shoots back.  The fact that this guy never suspected that a Prius driver, obviously a wimp, would be able to defend himself should be an object lesson to all of the wannabe warriors out there.

4 comments:

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

My favorite take on this story is that the guy died doing what he loved.

Richard said...

I double checked the comments, just to be sure i didn't say something stupid. OK so far so good. It can happen to anyone.

S M McBean said...

Let's Go Darwin!

Green Eagle said...

Bastard,

First of all, was there ever a bigger cuck than someone who got killed in a gunfight with a Prius driver?

Anyway, I think you are absolutely right. The whole history of this "movement," since the days of George Lincoln Rockwell consists of the ability to engage in some truly despicable but ultimately useless cosplay. Like you, I fear that we will never get out of our present situation without right wingers perpetrating some truly horrible crimes, but they are too 1.stupid 2.lazy and 3. impressed with how wonderful they are, to really get a civil war right.