How Civil Wars Start

Barbara F. Walter

an abstract by Lynn Gerlach

I wish to offer up this terribly important, timely book in a shortened format for those Americans who don’t have the time or won’t take the time to read Walter’s book. My preference would be that you go right to the book and read the author’s own words - in full. If you’re looking for an abbreviated version, though, here it is.

As we confront the specter of an important election (Shucks! I’m on the ballot!) in the face of a pandemic, it might help to know that I’ve voted by mail - exclusively by mail - for ten years. Can my experience in Washington State inform a process we might have to undertake for our upcoming primary? Perhaps, in some ways.

So, honestly, when Julian Castro suggested the repeal of Section 1325, did you know what he was talking about? I certainly didn’t, so I Googled the darned thing and read it. It says nothing of separating children from their parents, yet I’m told that’s the law the Trump administration uses to justify holding children in cages.

I determined to learn everything I could about the history of our southern border, our immigration policies, and the apparent causes of the current atrocity. Here I’ll briefly lay out the key facts in the hope you’ll undertake some research of your own.

If you have read the five previous articles in this series, you have my deepest respect and admiration – now you will get your reward. You’ve worked your way through an abbreviated version of the Mueller Report; I estimate the review I’ve offered is no more than 15% as long as the actual Report. That said, it’s absolutely not the same thing as reading the original. I still encourage you to do so. (And do feel free then to correct me where you discover I have been wrong.)

Welcome to the final section of Mueller’s Volume Two. I sincerely hope you have arrived here after reading Part I (Volume One) and Parts IIA, B and C (Volume Two). If you are jumping in here – no harm done, but you’re going to have a heck of a time getting up to speed. Should you be a newcomer to the series, though, you should know that I am a voting, tax-paying citizen who believes it is her civic duty to get as close as possible to the truth about her democracy. That’s why I read the Mueller Report. And, after reading it (I actually had to read Volume Two twice), I fully understood why most Americans would not be reading it. 

If you have been with me, my friend, through the entire series, just skip this paragraph – you know it by heart. If not, may I say that I am a voting, tax-paying citizen who loves to read and longs to know the truth about her government and its leaders? My goal has been to study the Mueller Report (and Volume Two does, indeed, require studying!) for the purpose of first informing myself and then informing the 97% of Americans who will not read the Report.

This is the effort of one tax-paying, voting citizen to assist the vast majority of other U.S. tax payers/voters who will never read the 448-page Mueller Report. It is my conviction that we, as voters, have an obligation to get as close to the truth as possible. In addition, since I have paid my taxes religiously all my life, I feel a rightto know the truth. I like to read, so I’m happy to share with you that truth, found in the Mueller Report, to the best of my lay-person’s ability.

As I explained in Part I, I read the Mueller report because I am a tax-paying, voting U.S. citizen, and I have a civic duty to know the truth. While I believe all Americans have that duty, I understand the vast majority will not read the 448-page report. For them I offer my own shorter report, as objective as I can possibly make it without sacrificing my personal “style.” I strongly recommend reading Here is your Mueller Report - Part I first, but that is not absolutely necessary. Part I covers Volume One of the Mueller Report. This article covers about one-fourth of Volume Two - and they are vastly different, those two volumes. Part IIB, Part IIC and Part IID will complete the review of Mueller’s Volume II, and Part III will cover the appendices, which include the written answers of President Trump. 

I read the Mueller report because I want to get as close to the truth as possible; I think it’s my civic duty as a voter to do so. I am writing this report, as a layperson with no legal or government training, because I think it’s also your civic duty to get as close to the truth as possible. When I read an important or particularly enjoyable book, I write a report, hoping to convince others to read it as well. This time around, while I hope someof my readers will face down that 448-page report themselves, I don’t believe most American voters will. For that large segment who will not read firsthand, I will do my best to give you enough of the report to be “somewhat informed.”