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It’s the day after the 2032 presidential election. The Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate — two ideologues entrenched at the polar ends of the political spectrum — have each claimed victory. Their campaigns, rallies and political ads in the lead-up to election day rarely touched on policy or “kitchen table” issues. Rather, time and money were spent on denouncing the other side in dehumanizing language that would most effectively fire up their bases. Each side pointed at the other and called them an existential threat.

By this point, the American people had become desensitized to years of violent rhetoric and a cycle of vengeful assassinations, riots and extrajudicial arrests.

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2032 was the year the country finally broke. Amid the battle for control of the central government and attempts by regional movements to secede, America collapsed into civil war.

In my new book, I describe this scenario as the Year of Two Presidents. It is a dystopian vision of the future that is becoming more likely with each passing day.

The tragic and gruesome assassination of Charlie Kirk is the latest episode in America’s intensifying cycle of political violence and a symptom of the polarization-fueled sickness that is gripping the United States.........

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