Dropout conservative

They don't give a shit where we drive. They DO give a shit about our collective ability to resist as the 99%.

(And they DID do a test run of grabbing the guns door to door during Katrina. Violently treated people including old ladies like s*t. Never gave them their property back either, just a big "f*ck you, peasants!")

It's this simple. Either the people can ultimately restrain the state, or the state can ultimately restrain the people. This is the only thing that in the end the plutocratic oligarchy care about.

Good for meme humor, but not how it actually works

It worked in Lybia and Iraq. It worked in Vietnam. Overwhelming force will turn a country Into rubble no matter how many assault rifles they have.

Civil wars are different. Especially when the political split is closer to 50-50. The military is reluctant to turn on their own, it's harder to tell who's who, and the threat to the elite is real. And the deterrence effect of an armed population is just higher. That's why they're inventing every possible excuse to grab them - and will still fail.

Civil wars are different but tanks and bombs still always win over assault rifles.

Lots of assault rifles in Iraq, the most secular, modern and educated country in the Middle East (sans Israel) and US still manages to bomb the country into the dark ages.

I'm all for stopping stupid proxy wars overseas.

Me too. But I have to object to your answer as non-responsive.