QQ for all the "Restore the #RuleOfLaw" folks out there: When militarized police crushed Occupy for daring to challenge the logic of bailing out the bankers who crashed the economy rather than the people they fleeced, was that "Rule of Law"? When militarized police maimed and brutalized water protectors, was that "Rule of Law"? When oil companies and tech monopolies fund both parties and just happen to get legislation that keeps them in power, is that "Rule of Law"? When your tax dollars go to fund genocide, to pay to drop bombs on children, is that "Rule of Law"? When the NSA was spying on American citizens, was that "Rule of Law"? How about the drone strikes on Americans, was that "Rule of Law"? When cops murder people and then use "qualified immunity" to get away with it, is that "Rule of Law"? Y'all keep talking about how #NoKings is about "restoring rule of law." It's got a bit of a "Make America Great Again" feel to it: you're invoking a return to a history that never actually existed.

It's worth remembering that the civil war was a slave revolt: Slaves started liberating themselves and a few radical white folks decided to help. This challenged the very legitimacy of the state. The Northern response was to neutralize the threat by killing or allowing the most radical elements to be killed, then compromising with the remaining resistance. The South thought that this strategy wasn't radical enough, so their repose was to increase violence against the oppressed. Because the North wouldn't also increase violence, the South first secedeed so they could increase violence without Northern restriction, then, not believing that to be enough, attacked the North. The modern US is a synthesis of these two strategies. We saw this immediately after the assassination of Lincoln, with Southern slavers rolling back gains made during the civil war as far as possible. This became the second phase of American slavery, which lasted until WWII. As a reminder, we are in the 3rd phase of American slavery since it remains legal as long as a person can be compelled to admit to a crime. Every 4 years we get to choose a government that exercises one of these two strategies: eliminate radicals and compromise with moderates, or unrestricted class warfare on the population. The slave revolt was a third option: direct action. It turns out, direct action gets the goods. #USPol