Jack of Harts

Had the standoff between the State of Texas and the American President stopped at a few shots fired and less than fifty dead Texans, the citizens of Texas would not now be inclined to call the Second Great Depression the Second Civil War. Unfortunately for us all, the standoff did not end there. When the majority of major American military units declined to follow his orders to deploy against Texas civilians, he sent more clandestine units into Texas with the mission of sowing chaos to bring the State government to its knees. Much of the gang violence and drug wars that raged through the Texan cities can be tied to the specific actions of clandestine federal agents, as can the various organizational, communications, and supply problems suffered by numerous Texas law enforcement agencies. Chaos and violence overwhelmed the local governmental security forces in city after city, and burned many parts of them to the ground. The President offered to help Texas with their raging criminal problem, but when proof that federal agents were instigating the violence was leaked to the public, it destroyed what little credibility he had left in Texan eyes.

The firefight between the Texas State Guard and “certain undisclosed elements of the United States Armed Forces” in Dallas, Texas severely impacted the loyalty of federal troops all throughout America. It was especially disastrous for those stationed in Texas. It was a matter of faith with the troops that they could not and should not ever be deployed against American citizens, and the orders to do exactly that shook their faith in the government to a bone-deep level. So when their commanders chose not to follow those orders, there were very few dissenters. There were some. There will always be some, and they would cause a great deal of heartache. And there were many who simply walked away. But at every military base in Texas, there was a core of troops who remained loyal to their commanders. Some of those bases chose to join Texas in time. Some remained American bases, though worked with Texas. No major military base fought Texas. Some minor ones did, and they would also cause a great deal of heartache. But the most important thing to understand is that the vast majority of the American military could not and did not break faith with their oaths. And that, in the end, is why most historians never named this period the Second Civil War.

The firefight between the Texas State Guard and “certain undisclosed elements of the United States Armed Forces” in Dallas, Texas broke the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The new President had stuffed it with friendly justices, and the Stuffed Supreme Court voted to uphold his actions while vacating those of Texas. But the still-serving justices of the previous Supreme Court did not agree, and their Last Dissent burned through the networks like a brushfire. Those demanding justice for the “Dallas Massacre” dueled with others standing up for the “Last Legitimate Supreme Court,” and many who simply enjoyed stirring the pot. Honest debates and shouting matches alike ruled the networks. The House soon voted to Impeach the dissenting justices, the Lame Duck Senate approved them without further review, and the United States Capitol Police physically removed them from the Supreme Court Building. That did not calm the networks down.