Some say we are in a constitutional crisis [FN1] [FN2] similar to the years before the Civil War. Racism, institutionalized as chattel slavery, was why States seceded. [FN3] They refrained from attacking our Constitution (which protected slavery) [FN4] & even copied it, in 1/9

substance, in 1861, but added an invocation to “the favor and guidance of Almighty God” and a bar to “denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves.” [FN5 [FN6]
Last week Greg Olear, on his blog PREVAIL, suggested one possibility. [FN7] That 2/9

garnered a quarter-million views. The plan gets people to think about what this mess is & how we can find a way out. We passed into (what are for people in the USA) uncharted waters long ago. What confuses people is that we face CRISES - plural. 3/9

Among forces that have propelled this country to a very messed-up chasm is Christian nationalism, a set of beliefs historically steeped in racism. At the same time, leaders of this iteration of the GOP have been adept at using wedge issues to grab power. 4/9

We need to be able to talk and come up with answers. But “free speech” does not mean some dumb bastard in a red baseball cap yelling so that no one else can be heard. We might not have elections in 2026. Who is John Galt? Who fucking cares? [FN8] 5/9

Footnotes:
FN1. “constitutional, adj. 1. Of, relating to, or or involving a constitution <constitutional rights>. 2. Proper and valid under a constitution <constitutional actions>.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed., 2014, p. 377.
FN2. “crisis: ... 1. the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever 2. a decisive or critical moment.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (1974) p. 177. 6/9

FN3. States that issued secession statements gave one reason: preserve slavery. Georgia (1/29/61), South Carolina (12/24/60), Mississippi (1/9/61) and Texas. (2/2/61). South Carolina used pungent phrasing: “hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States...” 7/9

FN4. E.g., no restrictions on “Migration or Importation of such Persons,” i.e., slaves, prior to the year 1808. Art. I, sec. 9, cl. 1.
FN5. Constitution of the Confederate States, adopted March 11, 1861, preamble and Art. I, sec 9(4). 8/
FN6. The Confederacy even adopted the three-fifths rule. Id., Art. I, sec. 2(3). 8/9

FN7. Greg Olear, “The #Liz48 Plan: This Is How We Remove Them—Legally, Quickly, and Nonviolently,” PREVAIL, 10/21/25.
FN8. The four-letter root of “fucking” is, in this blog, protected political speech. See, Cohen v California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971); plus the Russian stooge in the Oval Office has uses it on prime-time. A lot. 9/9