‘Ukrainization’ Of U.S. Internal Politics

Written by Ivan Danilov; Originally appeared at RIA Novosti, translated by AlexD exclusively for SouthFront

The most surprising consequence of the “colour revolution” in the Ukraine is that its success (and it was, from the point of view of the American organisers and inspirers of the Kiev coup, a real triumph) caused a radical, rapid and extremely destructive Ukrainazation of American domestic policy. This process, which can be described with a touch of irony as “the transformation of Washington into Kiev-on-the-Potomac”, leads to a very likely and rather predictable ending – disintegration and civil war.

Such a finale can still be avoided, but every day the probability of salvation from it decreases, and the efforts that will be required to stitch the American society are growing. Another symptom of Ukrainazation appeared recently in Minneapolis – activists came on the political scene, ready to use organised violence against participants of Donald Trump’s own election rally.

Schematically, the situation looked as follows. The President of the United States organised a political rally as part of his election campaign in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The rally, which was held in a major entertainment arena, gathered about 20,000 Trump supporters, and anti-Trump protesters and masked militants surrounded the arena. Those leaving the event, despite the sluggish attempts by the police to protect the Republicans, were subjected to verbal and physical aggression, they were beaten, and the militants were even able to “inspect” the cars and take away posters, branded red caps and flags from the rally’s participants. The militants then triumphantly burned the selected political paraphernalia, and the video of this demonstration of force and humiliation of their fellow citizens, posted on Twitter, delighted supporters of the Democratic Party, many of whom support this degradation of the political “dialogue”.

There’s no one less tolerant than a leftist who preaches tolerance. https://t.co/jECP0Aw4YL

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 11, 2019

Breaking: outside Minneapolis Trump rally. Protestors lighting Maga hats on fire. Rushing police. Calling them pigs, etc. Escalating scene. pic.twitter.com/HxUFzs8OWF

— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 11, 2019

Videos of street clashes filmed by American journalists, one of whom was also slightly beaten, leave no doubt: in modern America, there are places, apparently quite civilised, in which wearing a branded red cap (baseball cap) supporting Donald Trump is about the same as walking on May 9 with the St. George ribbon in the centre of Ivano-Frankivsk.

Trump supporters outside the rally in Minnesota last night were routinely attacked by left wing activists w/out provocation

One man here who was peacefully observing the crowd was surrounded by protestors & assaulted for wearing a Trump hat

This was not uncommon. #Tolerance pic.twitter.com/374ns5fAJp

— Elijah Schaffer (@ElijahSchaffer) October 11, 2019

There is no American “Maidan” yet, but there are already groups of forceful influence and violence against Republicans, which means that the cost in blood is not far away.

The political system of the United States has always been based on two important principles that radically distinguished the American Empire from its colonies. The most important principle: since the Kennedy era, under no circumstances, participants in intra-elite conflicts have threatened each other with physical elimination or prison terms. Threats against relatives and friends were doubly beyond the pale. The party that lost the election, or the president that lost the election (or even got impeached), lost nothing but positions and some power. That is, political conflicts to some extent resembled professional boxing or even wrestling. Uncompromising rivals in the media and political arena in real life were often close friends, and sometimes business partners.

The second important principle followed the first: no usage of “colour technologies” for domestic political struggle. Every president who won an election declared a desire to be “President of all Americans” regardless of their political orientation. Dehumanisation of supporters of political opponents, collective insults of voters who supported the losing party or candidate, systematic political violence, all this was far beyond acceptable and possible.

But this line was erased after the sparkling success of the Kiev Maidan. The “Ukrainian triumph” was so impressive that the Hillary Clinton team, shocked by the defeat in the 2016 election, could not get over the temptation to use “colour technology” in the struggle for power in the United States. The problem is that “colour technologies” (the dehumanisation of a part of society, the use of political violence, threats of physical elimination or imprisonment to demoralise political opponents) have the most important side effect, the winner at best gets a country with a destroyed economy and a torn society. If this is normal for the American colony (holes in the economy can be temporarily closed with IMF loans), then for the metropolis itself is a disaster.

After 2016, beating, humiliating and mocking “Trumpists” became not just acceptable, but fashionable. After Hillary Clinton declared that Trump voters are “deplorable”, the last unwritten taboo was lifted. Being a Trump supporter in the US has become really dangerous. Only in the last year (and this is only one incident that hit the media) the voters of the incumbent president were beaten; windows of the Republican Party offices were repeatedly broken; for having a red cap in the car, the car’s tires were cut. And what is most interesting: universities and even schools become places of political confrontation between students of different political orientations. So far, fists and pepper spay have been used, but the escalation process is likely irreversible.

The division of the United States into two irreconcilable camps, we can say, into two irreconcilable “people”, is not just a political, but also a cultural and economic phenomenon, which is noticed not only by external observers. The flagship of the American business press, The Wall Street Journal, writes that Democrats and Republicans, in fact, live in two non-overlapping realities: “Democrats and Republicans are not just divided. They live in different worlds. Both parties represent radically different slices of the American economy. America’s political polarisation is almost complete. America’s two major political parties increasingly represent two different economies. And they hardly intersect with each other. Democrats are in “educated” cities and suburbs that have many highly skilled jobs. Republicans live in industrial (“workers”) and rural communities in which (the economy is) agriculture and manufacturing, (with jobs requiring) low skill levels”.

When Trump hints in Twitter at the possibility of a civil war in the United States, he does not exaggerate. All the ingredients for this are there, and the elites themselves are to blame for their appearance on American soil and so far refuse to stop in their destructive behaviour, apparently not realising that the winner in such a war will be at best a “Hetman” of a broken state.

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