The 19th-century Prussian general Karl Von Clausewitz famously said: “War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.” Or as we more often hear it, “War is but politics by different means.” Some predict that America is on the verge of a hot war. But while it’s true that our country is more divided than ever, it may not be as divided as the pro-Hamas, anti-American protesters hope.

War is what generally happens when two (or more) sides get to a point where they can no longer peacefully coexist with the current circumstances. America seems to have reached that point...

How does one know a civil war is coming? Have you been on a college campus lately?

2024 is an echo of 1968. Today, the ostensible catalyst for what we’re seeing on campuses across the country is the alleged Israeli “genocide” happening in Gaza. We’re seeing a virtual replay of the original “Summer of Love,” when entitled students took over campuses while feckless administration cowards fiddled while their schools figuratively burned. In ’68, the students were protesting the Vietnam War (they were really protesting the draft; the war was just the rallying point), and then, as now, Columbia was the epicenter.

Spreading from Columbia across the country, that summer protests raged. Chants of “Hell no, we won’t go” and images of Black Power fists were seen and heard on every nightly newscast. Today, the news and social media are filled with chants of “From the river to the sea,” images of Palestinian flags, BLM signs, and Antifa graffiti. Anyone not wearing a keffiyeh is being declared a “Zionist.”

The difference between 1968 and 2024 is that, back then, most of the country disagreed with the protesters.

In November 1968, Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the Electoral College 301-191. Add to that the 46 electors that George Wallace took, and the country voted 347 to 191 against the Democrats (57% vs 43% in the popular vote). This was at a time when most Democrats were strongly anti-communist, and being pro-American was considered normal, almost required.

Today, we have a completely different landscape. In 2024, Democrats are virtually indistinguishable from communists, and being pro-American is seen as racist.

Hence, the college protests. They’re not just pro-Hamas; they’re much, much more. These protests are very much a reflection of their time given the seemingly mainstream nature of the beliefs that power them. They’re at their core not just anti-Israel, they’re antisemitic, they’re anti-American, anti-Western, anti-capitalist, anti-police, and of course, anti-white.

Sadly, all those things are basically mainstream Democrat policies in 2024. We see every single one of them play out across the country in federal, state, and local governments. From stultifying climate change regulations to the housing of illegals to DEI diktats to the reimagining of police, there’s virtually nothing that the federal government and half our state and local governments do today that isn’t infused with the workings of a leftist’s wet dream. At the end of the day, while some new incremental CAFE standard from Washington or a DEI hire at the local university might not sound particularly onerous, in reality, each is another bar in the leftist policy prison being implemented around the country.

Half the American population has become anti-everything America once stood for, and that half is actively leveraging the power of the government to “fundamentally transform the United States of America” against everything traditionally American. Given that the traditional half has no interest in watching its country be destroyed, feel as if they have few viable tools with which to stop the destruction, and hear their government call them the enemy, the country is sitting on a powder keg.

If this were the Roman Empire or 1945 Germany, it might be possible to split the nation in two, with the east going one direction and the west going another, but it’s not. What we’re faced with is an urban/rural dichotomy, where the population of cities is largely hardcore leftists, and the population of the suburbs and rural America is more traditionally patriotic.

While a clean split is simply not feasible, a continuation of the current trajectory isn’t either.

Which is where these college protests come in. As they morph into fortified CHAZ-like encampments across the country, where the American flag is replaced by the Palestinian flag or where their own violent “security” staff keeps others at bay, the pressure will only ramp up on the feckless university leaders to do something. But of course, given that most are fellow travelers with the protesters, they’ve dragged their feet so much so that it’s simply emboldened the protesters, even as some are finally being rounded up.

Funded by the modern incarnation of Satan himself, George Soros, the protests will spill out beyond the universities, returning to bridges, highways, and other choke points around the country. They’ll be joined by LGBTQXYZ activists and environmental wackos, as well as more Antifa and BLM agitators. Together, they’ll try to bring the country to a halt. It won’t happen, of course, as local police and the National Guard will be called out—often by reluctant, sympathetic Democrat leaders—to restore some law and order.

But the lines will be drawn. On the one side will be Americans who understand exactly how fortunate we are, how difficult it is to create prosperity and how, while imperfect, America is the greatest nation yet produced. On the other side will be Americans who know little about history, spit on their birthright, and seek to turn the United States into Venezuela. At some point the former will decide they’ve had enough and do what they need to do to put a stop to it.

With all due respect to Von Clausewitz, I’d suggest politics is a prelude to war. At least in this case. It’s not inevitable, but it is likely. But… we could—and I hope we do—get lucky.

The terrorist sympathizers taking over campuses are sufficiently emboldened by the support they’re getting from Democrats that they’re willing to say what they really think, to be crystal clear about what they support (Hamas and terrorism) and what they don’t (America). Their forthrightness may lead them to discover that they and their Democrat brethren have overplayed their hands.

By showing America exactly who they are and how much they hate everything about America, perhaps enough non-radicalized Democrats will see the light and vote for the guy who promises to put America first. They might still hate him, but we can hope they’ll love their country more. If enough do, we just might avoid another civil war…

Image by Vince Coyner using AI.