Ft Sumter was a masterclass of shrewd political tactics mixed with crafty military entrapment... on Lincoln's side.
(Lincoln was disturbingly brilliant when it came to politics if you look at the stuff he did while in office, though it probably helped that his opponent's all thought he was a back-woods imbecile.)
If a modern Civil War kicks off, one of the spark elements will likely be similar. Trying to force legislation explicitly spelling out what Abbot would like to do would be foolish - the smarter move would be to force Federal forces into a bad position so they could act badly, and then Abbot can just shrug his shoulders, act to counter them, and when people start screaming, he can offer a simple out - 'Hey, these bad actors must have been acting without authority, right? They were doing the equivalent of a coup, right?'
Always, always, always make your opponent look like the bad guy. 'Rogue Federal troops shooting on good 'ole Texas boys' is the perfect recipe for such, because the current regime is stupid as fuck and would likely reply with 'No, we're coming to kill you all', which I'm sure a bunch of people would absolutely adore.
But this is all fanfiction. It would never happen. Never ever. Right? Right.
It's funny you mention Sumter.
Ft Sumter was a masterclass of shrewd political tactics mixed with crafty military entrapment... on Lincoln's side.
(Lincoln was disturbingly brilliant when it came to politics if you look at the stuff he did while in office, though it probably helped that his opponent's all thought he was a back-woods imbecile.)
If a modern Civil War kicks off, one of the spark elements will likely be similar. Trying to force legislation explicitly spelling out what Abbot would like to do would be foolish - the smarter move would be to force Federal forces into a bad position so they could act badly, and then Abbot can just shrug his shoulders, act to counter them, and when people start screaming, he can offer a simple out - 'Hey, these bad actors must have been acting without authority, right? They were doing the equivalent of a coup, right?'
Always, always, always make your opponent look like the bad guy. 'Rogue Federal troops shooting on good 'ole Texas boys' is the perfect recipe for such, because the current regime is stupid as fuck and would likely reply with 'No, we're coming to kill you all', which I'm sure a bunch of people would absolutely adore.
But this is all fanfiction. It would never happen. Never ever. Right? Right.