A Prognostication

     I’ve seen this graphic several times today:

     ...and I’ve been thinking about the climactic question it poses:

     “What happens if nothing happens?”

     I think I can answer it now.

---

     Remember this snippet from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation:

     "The fall of Trantor," said Seldon, "cannot be stopped by any conceivable effort. It can be hastened easily, however. The tale of my interrupted trial will spread through the Galaxy. Frustration of my plans to lighten the disaster will convince people that the future holds no promise to them. Already they recall the lives of their grandfathers with envy. They will see that political revolutions and trade stagnations will increase. The feeling will pervade the Galaxy that only what a man can grasp for himself at that moment will be of any account. Ambitious men will not wait and unscrupulous men will not hang back. By their every action they will hasten the decay of the worlds." [Emphasis added]

     I’ve cited it before, notably here. Its logic proceeds from an important human dynamic: our subconscious understanding that when the elite are deemed above laws that bind the rest of us, our survival is seriously threatened.

     The logic behind that sense is gut-level: the sense that “If I were part of a group deemed above the law, I’d steal everything that’s not chained down – and as for the rest, I’d steal the chains, too – so there’s no time to lose.” That intensifies the sense of hazard that naturally arises when one senses that a key pillar of social stability has been severely damaged. After all, if you can sense that the pillars of order are crumbling, so can everyone else – and that means it’s time to grab what you can before your neighbors get it all.

     Thus, one survival strategy is to act as if one is similarly “privileged,” despite not being a member of the elite class. Though it might seem counter-intuitive, that strategy is generally both more profitable and safer than the contrary approach of being scrupulously law abiding. The scrupulously law abiding will more often than become targets for predation.

     Hari Seldon might have been talking about fictional Trantorians and other subjects of the Galactic Empire, but the incentives would drive quite similar reactions among Americans of our time.

---

     The cumulative impact of the Mueller report, the Horowitz report, and the Democrats blatant attempt to unseat President Trump before their own fannies get burned is clear to the average American citizen. With all the noise the Democrats have been making about “the rule of law,’ their rule is that they must not be held accountable for any crime. And crimes aplenty have they committed. The whole impeachment farce is simply an attempt to distract the public from those crimes.

     There are very few persons in public office or public employ who are genuinely trustworthy. As a matter of policy, I don’t trust anyone who holds a position in government; that guarantees that my suspicions and caution will be right far more often than not. But at this time, it's not a matter of abstract policy. The breadth and depth of the politically motivated corruption that’s been disclosed justifies a mass purge of the federal government, including the whole of the Justice Department, the entire Intelligence Community, and everyone in either House of Congress with a (D) after his name. But the salient thing about this is that anyone with an IQ above room temperature can see it.

     If none of the wrongdoers suffer appropriate legal penalties, why should the average American trouble himself over the law? Why should he concede the smallest groat of cooperation to the “authorities?” You don’t have to be a Certified Galactic Intellect to reason thus. John Q. Public will reach that conclusion quite handily on his own. And except for those who find their habit patterns impossible to break, the public will act on it.

---

     It is possible that none of the above will come to pass. However, the probability that those embroiled in the machinations of the past three years and more will suffer proportionately to their crimes is not heartening. Michael Horowitz attempted to pre-exonerate them, to Attorney General William Barr’s intense discomfiture. Robert Mueller, despite his complete inability to turn the smears into a substantial case against President Trump, did his best to leave a gray blot over the Trump presidency. The bought-and-paid-for mainstream media have continued to play from the Left’s sheet music despite all the revelations of skullduggery that have come forth.

     If no one is called to account for this obvious attempt to overturn the election of 2016...if the FBI, CIA, DoJ, and FISA apparatus are not purged from top to bottom, with the worst offenders awarded long prison terms...if the Democrats and their media mouthpieces aren’t haled before courts of law and compelled to answer for their misrepresentations and outright slanders and libels...there will be an explosion of lawlessness. There will be chaos. And chaos means bloodshed.

     Pray.