The unabating and almost religious support for Donald Trump among white “working class” Americans and young white supremacists, who continue to celebrate their “Once and future President,” suggests that Trumpism will outlive Trump. By failing to dissociate himself from neo-confederate groups, Trump has given fuel to those who mourn the passing of an antebellum society that was dependent on Black slavery.
Trump did not invent the nostalgia for that time before the Civil War when slaves kidnapped from Africa picked cotton and tobacco, while Southern gentlemen and ladies enjoyed lives of unearned comfort.
Having been given permission by their president, the neo-confederate squads will not give up the war and surrender their weapons.
He did, however, use the latent desire for a return to that imagined Golden Age to advance his own financial and political fortunes.
Having been given permission by their president, the neo-confederate squads will not give up the war and surrender their weapons. They are now, as never before, legitimized and encouraged, and will oppose whatever attempts the Biden administration may make to liberalize United States society. Neo-confederacy now takes its place with fundamentalist Christians, environmentalists and other interest groups as a force to be reckoned with.
Neo-confederates will ally themselves with their natural brethren, the National Rifle Association (Trump’s “Second Amendment people”) to present a vociferous (and armed) opposition to Democratic policies. It’s hard to imagine what a Biden government could to keep them happy, as their aspirations run counter to the principles of democracy. Trump, when he is finally removed, kicking and screaming, from the White House, will have hundreds of thousands of die-hard Trumpists ready to sabotage every one of President Joe Biden’s liberalizing initiatives.
It’s a kind of victory I suppose, to leave in place a fifth column of “open carry” enthusiasts waiting faithfully for the Second Coming of Trump.
How long it will last, and how violently it will prove its loyalty to Trump, remains to be seen.
Ed Healy
Marystown
