Spain is Making a Down Payment on a Civil War, Maybe.

The Spanish government is seeking to try the leaders of the Catalan separatist movement for rebellion.

I think this is foolishness. The Catalan separatist movement is a political movement. They seek to persuade the Catalans to separate from Spain, to form their own nation. The only proper way to counter a political movement is by persuasion. There are a lot of Catalans who oppose independence. Such a drastic change in governance should require clear support from a super-majority of the people. The independence-seekers aren't there.

But they are going to get there if the Spanish government continues down a road that betrays its fascist roots. Using the criminal justice system to crack down on a peaceful political movement is an act of state, of judicial violence. If Madrid closes off all avenues of peaceful change, as it evidently is intent on doing, that leaves only one avenue left to seek change.

Not terribly long ago, you could wander the streets of Barcelona and see bullet scars on the buildings from the Spanish Civil War. That war ended nearly eighty years ago. There is almost nobody left to tell, firsthand, the horrors of that war. Those who fought in it are almost all gone. Now, like a bunch of foolish chickenhawks, Madrid is playing around with the ingredients of commencing a war. I would hope that they would see the folly of their current course of action.

History may not repeat itself, but it does have a rhythm. The song that is now being played by Madrid has a chorus of blood, wreckage and death.