The other day, in an interview with NBC News, Hillary Clinton went public with a warning -- or was it a dog whistle to Democrats and the left?  It might be an instance of Hillary’s mouth running ahead of her brain, but don’t count on it.  Hillary is a coldly calculating woman -- and that might be one of her better qualities.   

Hillary suggested that if Trump or “someone of his ilk” is elected president in 2024, then American democracy is kaput.  Foolishness?  Knowing the conceits and delusions that infect her intended audience, her suggestion might not seem ludicrous.  Hillary’s side listens to her, so her words carry weight.                  

From National Review, December 13:

“I think that could be the end of our democracy,” [Hillary] said. “Not too be too pointed about it, but I want people to understand that this could be a make-or-break point. If he or someone of his ilk were once again to be elected president, especially if he had a Congress that would do his bidding, you will not recognize our country.”

Hillary’s inference?  If Trump or DeSantis (the most likely GOP presidential nominee should Trump not run) wins the presidency -- in a democratic and presumably fair election, no less, and has the backing of an elected Republican Congress -- then the nation has arrived at a “make-or-break point.”

If the “make-or-break” line sounds eerily familiar, it’s because it is.  Democrats said things like that in the run-up to Lincoln’s election in 1860.  But, today, secession isn’t on the table.  Modern Democrats, very much enthralled by leftism, aren’t for separation.  They’re into seizure and dominance.  The last century-plus of communism -- along with the period of kindred German and Italian fascism -- provides ample witness.  “Progressivism” is morphing into a paler shade of communism or fascism.  Progressives haven’t decided which and straddle both.  The “Great Reset” might be the decider.      

Hillary is projecting.  It’s Democrats who are intent on driving a stake through democracy’s heart. 

Facts are stubborn things, and charges persist that Democrat chicanery fixed the 2020 presidential contests.  Last year’s presidential sweepstakes were corrupted comprehensively, as we’re learning.  Election Night fixes in Democrat jurisdictions like Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Fulton County, Georgia were Act II.  Read Mollie Hemingway’s book, Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.  Act I began long before any ballot-stuffing occurred.     

Then there’s H.R. 1 (“For the People Act”), which is an attempt at legislated elections theft. 

What will the radicalizing Democrat base draw from Hillary’s words?  That the results of free and fair elections aren’t to be abided?  Not, apparently, if Democrats lose.  A Democrat defeat in 2024 -- add the 2022 midterms as prelude -- dooms the country.       

What recourse is Hillary leaving Democrats should the unwashed America First masses elevate Trump or DeSantis to the presidency?   Masses that would surely include lots of independents, more Hispanics, and, perhaps, another uptick in support among black males.      

Democrats have been playing a zero-sum game since at least Trump’s declaration for the presidency in 2015.  Hillary’s words conform accordingly.  

Democracy encompasses more than how we select and organize our governments (national, state, and local).  It’s that but much more.  It covers values, bedrock principles, and beliefs about what America is or should be.

Goes the logic, if Republicans assume control of the national government in January 2025, they’ll destroy all that we believe in and live by.  If Republicans end democracy, as Hillary says, then the normal mechanisms for redress and change (elections, primarily) disappear.  What’s left?  Is the recourse rebellion, armed conflict, war… government overthrow? 

Does that seem implausible?  In the context of the times?  Consider.  Wasn’t last year’s urban riots part of the Democrats’ narrative to oust Trump?  Suspicious that, no?  BLM and Antifa instigated mobs enjoyed public approval from some Democrat leaders, most conspicuously Kamala Harris.  Other Democrats kept quiet as mobs ripped up their communities. “Qui tacet consentiret” -- silence gives consent. 

The George Floyd killing that sparked the Minneapolis riots was a crisis too good to waste.  The mayhem spread to other Democrat-run cities.  The turmoil was meant as a learning lesson: America under Trump was a lawless and dangerous place.  What was happening in Portland and Seattle, for instance, could well spread to America’s leafy suburbs.  Only Biden and Democrats could restore order.  Plenty of suburban women got the message.    

After Biden’s election, as if by magic, “mostly peaceful protests” stopped -- except in Portland, where Antifa is stuck on autopilot.  Having spent a year trashing and defunding police, Democrats are discovering that loosing crime is easier than stopping it.  Ask San Francisco mayor London Breed about that.        

Pelosi’s January 6 committee is about what?  It’s a bare-knuckled inquisition.  A thin veneer of legality and legislative duty covers its sinister purpose.  It’s replete with a phonied-up charge by Adam Schiff leveled at Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows.  Two GOP quislings -- Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger -- give the committee bipartisan cover. 

Then there’s the January 6 “insurrection” accused who are languishing in the D.C. jail and other lockups.  They’re being maltreated.  Their constitutional rights are being trampled.  How are their alleged crimes commensurate with indefinite lockup and abuse?      

Of course, there’s the COVID tyranny that Democrats have pushed since February 2020.  Biden’s go at vax tyranny is sputtering.  But our frail president gave it another go in an address to the nation on Tuesday night.    

Yet, with straight faces, Hillary and other Democrats tell us that Republicans intend to waylay democracy and render our country unrecognizable if they get their hands on power in 2025. 

Does Hillary want a civil war?  Doubtful.  Her calculations are shorter-term and always self-interested.  Her comments are a way of recapturing centerstage in her party.  Her eye is on a 2024 presidential run, so her words were meant to grab attention and galvanize the Democrat base.  Hillary wants to lead the charge, starting with the midterms, to boost her White House prospects.        

Hillary’s maudlin reading of her never-was 2016 victory speech was pretense.  Okay, could 74-year-old Hillary have been wallowing in a very public display of self-pity?  Perhaps, but she may have thought that her reading would rally the feminized Democrat rank-and-file, which fetishizes feelings and laps up displays of emotion. 

When it comes to Hillary’s comments, remember the critical takeaway is that words have consequences, particularly when uttered by a personage with a high public profile.  Hillary knows her target audience.  Her words are red meat for them. 

The Clintons are about two things: power and money.  Both are grifters of the first order.  It’s not that they brought corruption to Washington in the mid-1990s, but they certainly supercharged it.  It’s been downhill ever since.  The corruption today that permeates government and society may be historic in scope. 

Whatever wreckage Bill and Hillary leave in their wakes is always someone else’s trouble.  If Hillary’s baloney stokes fears and enflames the passions of her party’s faithful, so be it.  Hillary’s ends justify any means.  The nation will be left to grapple with the conflicts and clean up the mess caused by her rabblerousing.  Such is often the legacies of charlatans and demagogues.       

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith and occasionally on Parler, again @JRobertSmith.  He also blogs at Flyover. 

Image: National Archives

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.