The last major US political party to be formed, the Republicans were born out of the collapse of the Whigs. What we are living through now is something even more momentous than the crisis of the War Between The States. I did not use the term "Civil War" advisedly. Yes the WBTS was civil but really only focussed on two broad economic issues: mercantilism versus slave labor. Only incompetence of Union Generals caused the war to last 4 years--it should have been over in 18 months or less.

What kept the Confederacy alive was the Concept of Home (as in this is my home--if you were white and male) plus the clever propaganda of the actual slave-holders to the majority who "owned" no other human being. This propaganda convinced the less powerful (common white man) to be sucked along the path of protecting the rich man's interests. Ain't it always the same?

We've had a good run of propaganda even since before 1776. The effectiveness of such P.R. has waxed and waned over the centuries. But now, primarily following the Debacle of 2016, has hit a nadir, from which the current brand of mind-washing may not recover.

Elements of this evolving mutation of our form of governance, more literally translated as codified oppression of the poor by the rich, became powerfully demonstrated to a large number of people following the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders. Included in the population of the newly undiluted were conservatives, independents, but primarily Democrats.

After all, the hypocrisy of the Dem party had just become too glaring for any but the blind and deaf to not notice. Lefties, like most of us here at c99, took most offense by not only the primary rigging but the subsequent voter-shaming (unless it was for Hillary). Meanwhile the mainstream Dems, completely bereft of any issues which initially created the grand Democratic Coalition under FDR, are of two opinions:
1. Take the Money and Run (see Louis XIV: "Apres moi, L'deluge").

2. Why change, aren't we great? That's the song led by Nancy Pelosi. She doesn't believe it because she's already got her fortune. However, she is just trying to keep the faithful in line.

The problem is that many of the congregation have seen the brighter light of social justice, income inequality, ecologic destruction, etc. to know that Team Blue is no longer for them. And the attrition continues.

The destination of the departing is finally becoming clearer as the proverbial dust settles. In the beginning, like an exploding gas, the smoke, debris and confusion obscured what might be any trends from this cataclysm. But now, after 6 months, give or take, patterns are starting to be quite noticeable.

Like any natural process, by which is meant occurring in nature, there is often no single dominant pre-determined outcome. This can be argued, but I guarantee you, that for whatever argument is made for the inevitability of a certain outcome, a strong argument can be made for alternate results. Ultimately, we have to rely on facts. Painful as that is to many people, facts guide evaluation--not the other way around.

What are the trails of exiting Democrats?
1. Abstinence from politics altogether. It was a bad movie that they'd rather not watch again.

2. Return to the fold, as good sheeple do when the alarm bells have ceased and imminent danger is no longer anticipated (oh, poor sheeple! Your fuzzy heads are hard to penetrate with reason and your noses are usually in another sheep's behind).

3. Try to reform the Democratic party from within. To me this seems almost equivalent of trying "happy talk" to cure a malignancy. For the Democratic party is malignant, gleefully eating on the body politic and not caring where their feces lands, as long as it isn't on them.

4. New alliances with more progressive/left wing groups, either pre-existing or de novo. It is my belief that outcome number 4 is becoming the predominant refuge of those interested in political action.

The poverty of current political thought is evident to almost all but the Robots. Another refuge must be found. The new, main refuge has yet to be determined: such as Democratic Socialists, Green, Socialist, Communist, etc. But despite this current uncertainty of where Democratic refugees will go--they are GONE and will not return. The crevice between the Progressive faction has widened to the point that it is beyond being reintegrated in the slowly rotting corpse of the main party.

What this means nationally is that either the existing Democratic Party continues to exist in a continually enfeebled character, doing very little good to anyone (except the elites) or it collapses utterly. With the current "leadership" of the party, who would be surprised if the Dems completely disappeared?

So that leaves the deserters, as it were. Many are passionate about not giving up the fight--just look at c99 for one instance of that. Look for growing leftwing "third parties" to grow, as indeed they are. Even the US Communist Party is growing.

My opinion is that the Democratic edifice is permanently damaged and may not be able to survive in any but a token sense. The futility of belonging to such a party will become ever more obvious until even the most brain-washed have no choice except to acknowledge that the party is over.

So on the left, a deep schism has already occurred. The Democrat party will NOT recover from this. In terminal intransigence the Dems will refuse to allow JusticeDemocrats into the same tent.

But the turmoil is not limited to the Left. The Repugnants are now afflicted by an internal struggle, which has high likelihood of splitting that party in two. You can thank Donald Trump for that. He captured the party away from the established power brokers and is installing his own. For the moment, most of establishment is just letting this play out. However the Freedom Caucus is not going to play along. As with the Tea Party, this lot would not care if the whole government shut down--such is their extreme libertarianism. They seem to be slowly drifting away from the main Repugnant party. This is not yet of continental drift-tectonic plate divergence. But the healthcare plan fiasco is igniting a spirit of retribution within the party. Even though Repugnants have proven with their massive failure, that no faction of their party is fit to govern, most don't see it like that. In this way, they are like the remaining DemonRATic true believers.

The day of the Republican hegemony is not yet over, but the Crevice is becoming progressively more imminent. Will the party also dis-integrate into two or more factions? Although I hope so, I don't know.

But what I do see here, regardless of the ultimate coherence of the Red Team, is the arising of a increasingly greater challenge to the Old Order (and its corollary New World Order). In this lies great opportunity.

Opportunity is always accompanied by danger. The faint of spirit will opt for less contentious, "incremental" changes. The brave will hopefully recruit more to their numbers and grow as do most social movements. A fertile environment of like-minded people can often be coordinated by a charismatic person, holding the same beliefs.

So, with the aid of both my Ouija Board and my Crystal Ball, I predict the following scenario for 2018:

1. Democrats may win some contested seats--but some of them are going to be won by JusticeDemocrats etc.
2. Democrats overall will continue in their diminution.
3. Republicans in safe Red states will find themselves heavily primaried.
4. Republican disunity will become more apparent.
5. The collapse of the Republicans may be catastrophic but for the present, the source of that catastrophe is not apparent. However, on the horizon a dark cloud beckons: rapid collapse of the stock market and the attendant social upheaval engendered.

Although still in the large part ignorant of politics, the American people will find it hard to avoid knowing how bad their lot is. Scapegoating will ensue as is always the case in societal unrest. But a well-developed alternative narrative, such as the alternative Bernie presented, can decide the direction of the New Society. Because of the Crash of 2017 (or 2018), we will indeed have a NEW SOCIETY.