Brent Molnar on the “Cold War in Our Own House”

Let’s dispense with the euphemisms. This is not dysfunction. This is not polarization. This is not a rough patch between parties who still fundamentally believe in a shared project. No. We are at war – quietly, bureaucratically, legally. Not with bullets, not yet. But with lines on maps, with edicts signed in backrooms, with judges installed for the express purpose of gutting democracy under the illusion of process. It’s a cold war in our own house. A legal civil war. And the fuse is already lit.

On August 4th, Governor Greg Abbott escalated. He crossed a line we’ve seen coming for years but prayed would hold. With smug glee, he announced that any Democratic legislator who fails to appear for a surprise session would have their seat declared vacant. Not censured. Not penalized. Vacated. This wasn’t governance. This was a purge – designed to manufacture a quorum for an emergency redistricting effort that would slice at least five new Republican congressional seats out of thin air. Not earned. Not voted on. Just . . . drawn.

The motive is not hidden. The GOP is preparing for a catastrophe in 2026. Their coalition is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions, and rather than build a broader base, they’re rigging the battlefield. Five extra seats – procured with a pen, not a vote – could mean the difference between minority status and absolute control of the House. And from there? The plan is plain: manufacture deadlock in 2028, throw the election to the House, and coronate a president by fiat. Maybe even Trump himself. It’s not conspiracy theory. It’s strategy, and they’re announcing it out loud.

And they’re not alone. In response, blue states are sharpening their own blades. Governors in California, Illinois, Washington, and New York have declared their intention to redraw their maps as a counterstrike. They’re no longer pretending this is a shared country. They’re drawing their own lines – not just on paper, but in the ground. We’ve now entered the phase where both sides are actively seizing power through procedural warfare. This isn’t brinksmanship. It’s the opening volley of a new kind of civil conflict.

There will be no Fort Sumter this time. No clear battlefield. Instead, there will be standoffs between federal agents and state troopers. Budget refusals. Competing court rulings. Commanders who ignore orders from “illegitimate” presidents. And as Trump purges the military of anyone not sufficiently loyal, the idea of a unified national defense force becomes laughable. He’s not staffing a government. He’s assembling warlords. And we are supposed to wait and hope this somehow returns to normal?

Let’s stop pretending we’re in a democracy. The GOP has already said, flat out, that they’ll reject the next Democratic win. No ambiguity. No pretense. They’ve broadcast their plan: win the House with rigged maps, create a disputed presidential election, and install their choice by congressional vote. That’s not the loss of democracy. That is democracy’s replacement. And if the courts uphold it – if the Supreme Court smiles and nods and signs the death certificate – then the Constitution becomes nothing more than a prop in a crime scene photo.

So what happens then? What happens when California refuses to recognize a president who was “elected” by an illegitimate House majority? What happens when New York withholds federal taxes? When blue states band together and declare the compact broken? Don’t scoff. The only thing keeping this country stitched together is the will to be united. That will is gone. And once it’s acknowledged – once the mask slips – we don’t go back. We can’t.

The split won’t be clean. It won’t be two nations. It will be dozens of factions: states, cities, counties, military units, militias, digital enclaves. A hundred flags. A thousand claims to legitimacy. And in that chaos, someone will rise – a younger, sharper strongman who offers peace through obedience. He’ll wear Trump’s ideology with a new face, and we’ll be so desperate to stop the bleeding, we’ll crown him king. That’s how republics fall. Not from war – but from the desire to end it.

And here’s the final, brutal truth: they’ve misjudged the left. They think we’re weak because we believe in empathy. Because we respect law. Because we want a world where nobody has to live in fear. But that doesn’t mean we won’t fight. We’ve stood against fascism before – and if the day comes, we’ll stand again. We may lose. We may fracture. But history will not forget who struck first. Or who gave everything trying to hold the line.

– Brent Molnar
via Brent Molnar: Voice of Reason
August 7, 2025

Related Off-site Links:
Is America’s Democracy on the Brink of Collapse? – Alasdair Black (The AIM Network, August 9, 2025).
Tyrant Trump’s Worst Crimes, Dangers, and Destructions Are Yet to Come – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, August 9, 2025).
Donald J. Trump Is the Leading Threat to U.S. Election Integrity – Michael Waldman (Common Dreams, August 8, 2025).
Is the United States Falling Apart? – Helen Reynolds (The AIM Network, August 8, 2025).
The Trump Administration Wants to Turn U.S. Cities Into Occupied Territory – Jesse MacKinnon (Common Dreams, August 7, 2025).
It’s Up to We the People to Save a Flailing America From Spiritual Death – William J. Astore (Common Dreams, August 5, 2025).
The Rule of Law Is Dead in the U.S. – Elie Mystal (The Nation, July 30, 2025).
What Won't Democrats Fight? – Jonathan V. Last (The Bulwark, July 30, 2025).
American Politics Are in Trouble – James Zogby (Common Dreams, July 28, 2025).
Trump’s Supreme Court Enablers Will Face History’s Verdict – Philip Allen Lacovara (The Bulwark, July 28, 2025).
“The Orban Playbook”: Trump Assault on Media Matters Seen as Dire Warning to Other Critics – Brad Reed (Common Dreams, July 25, 2025).
Trump’s Gravestones, Carved by Reality Denial – Steven Day (Common Dreams, July 24, 2025).
“We Are in the Midst of the Creation of a Police State”: Rep. Ilhan Omar on Trump’s Authoritarianism – Democracy Now! (June 13, 2025).


See also the following chronologically-ordered Wild Reed posts:
• Marisa Kabas: “We’re Witnessing a Coup By an Unelected Billionaire Propped Up By a Felonious President”
• Timothy Snyder on Resisting the Oligarchs’ “Logic of Destruction”
• “This Is Essentially Viktor Orbán’s Playbook”
• “An Extremely Clever Ruse” by and for the Rich: Owen Jones on Elon Musk’s Coup
• “To Be a Rib in This Body of Our Country”
• Quote of the Day – February 21, 2025
• Ralph Nader: “We’re Heading Into the Most Serious Crisis in American History. There’s No Comparison”
• Why the Democratic Party Is Not Going to Save Us From Fascism
• “This Is How Democracy Unravels”
• Jason Stanley on How Fascism Works
• James Greenberg on Trumpism: “The Tactics Are Unmistakable”
• Tony Pentimalli on Trump’s “Death Warrant for Democracy”
• “This Is What Fascism Looks Like”
• Peter Bloom: Quote of the Day – June 10, 2025
• “Protesting Is What Patriotism Looks Like in Public”: The “No Kings” Protests of June 14, 2025
• “No Kings”? Absolutely. But Also “No Oligarchy”
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – June 20, 2025
• Rep. Ro Khanna: Quote of the Day – June 24, 2025
• “This Is Fascism”
• The Declaration of Resistance
• The Choice Before Us
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2025
• How Democrats Can Start Winning Again
• Brent Molnar on the MAGA Cult and Its Intentions
• James Greenberg: “The Choices We Make Matter”