Are you concerned by the possibility of a Second US Civil War?

[Stranger in a strange land]

I think that it would take a repeal of the 2nd amendment, high taxation of churches, and slavery reparations to get conservatives to start a civil war. But liberals would never start a civil war because their too physically weak, emotionally soft, and anti gun go take any real action.

Leaving aside the second sentence (which isn't worth engaging with), the idea that President Beto is going to be able to tax churches and send the army and police door to door to confiscate guns is just as fanciful as the idea that President Trump is going to be able to send the army and police door to door to look for illegal immigrants and open up the libel laws to sue papers that criticize him into bankruptcy. None of these things is possible and you don't want to live in the type of police state where they are.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Yes, I'm quite concerned that we will spiral into a civil war. Especially if either side decides to pack the Supreme Court, and/or if the Supreme Court gives us a neo-Lochner Era.

Can your average American tell you what the Lochner Era was? Or even what the Court decided in Lochner? RBG is the most prominent SCOTUS Justice with 25% name recognition. Americans do not care about the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is important as the final arbiter of issues that aren't/can't be settled by elections. It's also important in a symbolic way as the top court in the land in that it represents the legitimacy of our entire legal system. Popular knowledge of the Lochner Era and the names of individual justices is irrelevant. What matters is that people have some confidence that the court will at least attempt to rule in a fair manner. Perhaps suprisingly to some on this forum, polling shows that people do have confidence in the Court.

If the Supreme Court loses its legitimacy with large portions of the public, we're going to be in real trouble. For example, imagine a scenario where the Supreme Court struck down Obamacare in 2012, and then decided the election for Romney in a Bush v. Gore-style decision. Or imagine a scenario where Democrats pack the Supreme Court, and the court rules adversely against a future Republican president in impeachment proceedings.

I suspect this is why Roberts voted to uphold Obamacare, and why I don't think he (or potentially Gorsuch or Alito) would vote to allow blatant Republican election rigging, such as if Wisconsin votes for Warren or Sanders but the legislature refuses to certify their electors.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Also once you can legislate from the bench and cement conservative rule via guardianship of the jurists, control of the elected government almost becomes redundant.