Try to imagine missing a paycheck

[Cyrano]

Those of you here on DU who work for the government don't have to imagine it. This horror has taken over your existence. We are all with you.

Most of us don't work for the govt. Imagine getting a check stub marked $0.00. Would revolutionary thoughts be far behind?

In a sane world, Trump and the entire Republican Party would be over. Gone. Dead in any future election. But this is America where cheating, gerrymandering, vote flipping and Russian help have become the norm. So, given the stacked deck, the Republicans aren't going away that quickly.

But missing a paycheck, and perhaps the next one too, are going to shake many people, and their sympathizers out of their delusions.

The Republican Party is facing a disaster in 2020. But before then, will their orange creature be able to hold onto the White House? Will Mueller's report, if made public, devour him?

Well, hundreds of thousands of government employees don't need to be convinced that Trump is an insane prick. As soon as a few million more Americans come to understand this, I'm not sure if America is as immune to another Civil War of sorts than we like to think we are. It would be a "war" without geographical boundaries. And that will make it a "war" of neighbor against neighbor, and families being forced to choose sides. A bad scenario no matter how you look at it.

But I've got a better idea. How about, before this "war" comes about, we get the orange motherfucker out of the White House. How? Well, think about this. Every politician has one goal in life -- to get reelected. If enough pressure is put upon the GOP, Trump could be gone in the next few months. And the turds that comprise the Republican Party must be made aware of this every minute of every day.

Put another way, we can't get rid of Trump. But the Republicans can. All we can do is give them enough incentive to do it. And that incentive is their fear of not getting reelected.

We all know which way the government employees missing paychecks are going the next time around. Let's hope that most Americans join and support them.

[bearsfootball516]

1. In a sense, there's a sort of "cold" civil war going on between Republicans and Democrats since 2016

Shots aren't being fired, but the animosity between the two has reached a point we haven't seen in a long time.

If you're talking about a literal, physical civil war starting...that's not happening.

[jberryhill]

2. "As soon as a few million more Americans come to understand this"

Understand what?

Millions of Americans have been conditioned by decades of GOP propaganda to consider the US government, and its employees, as an enemy:

These people do not sympathize with government employees. They hate them simply because they ARE government employees.

[Cyrano]

4. And there are far more millions of us who don't see them as enemies

The majority of Republicans gobble up the shit they're fed by their propaganda machine.

The rest of us still believe in democracy and the dedicated people who work for our government.

[jberryhill]

9. Do you have numbers on that?

You can say there are more Americans who do not agree with the Republican view of the US government, but I don't see evidence to support that.

A majority of Americans distrust the US government:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/5392/trust-government.aspx

Polling data on "do you trust the federal government" only shows a majority of "great deal" and "fair amount" combined, when the judicial branch is considered in isolation from every other branch of the federal government and on any topic at all.

[Moostache]

3. We are replaying the 1840's now...Civil War II kicks off in less than 20 years

The first Civil War did not just pop up in 1861, it had been brewing for a while before that....really since the Revolution itself with the nods to slave states in the Electoral College and Senate structures, along with countless other small appeasements along the way.

[zipplewrath]

6. John Brown

About the time I see the kind of activity we saw with John Brown, and some other incidents, I'll get extremely concerned. Right now, Oregan and the Bundy Ranch things are the closest.

[stopbush]

5. The millions of older Americans who have lost jobs and who are passed over

for new jobs based on rampant ageism know exactly what it’s like to go without a paycheck. So do the chronically unemployed and underemployed members of American society of all ages.

This shutdown has exposed the flawed underbelly of our capitalistic society.

[onethatcares]

7. Imagine being given groceries

like that's gonna pay your mortgage/car payment/insurance/credit card bills/water/electric and the rest of modern lifes' neededs.

I don't know how you guys can do it without flipping out.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Been down that road twice.

Payroll Checks that bounced that were never mad good. A midnight Employer going Bankrupt and the Payroll run through the Court System only to get one cent on the dollar ten years to the date.

Again been down that road,and it took some ten years to repair our credit after each one of those events.