How Trump Could Steal The Election

[Alex_Krycek]

For anyone who's been paying attention, the notion that Trump will voluntarily concede the election (even if he has been legitimately and resoundingly defeated) is undoubtedly not based in reality.  Trump is not the type of person to graciously bow out.  Trump will use any and all means at his disposal to retain power, and has already laid the groundwork via the bully pulpit to deny the authenticity of the election results: through his constant efforts in the media to undermine the legitimacy of mail in voting, the Republican efforts to limit access to in person voting, and their attempts to get mail in ballots thrown out on fabricated technicalities by the courts. 

Trump will not go quietly into that good night.

If there's anything we should have learned about Trump, what he says, he means.

 "I think it's a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election. I think it's a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over." - Donald Trump  

https://www.axios.com/trump-claim-election-victory-ballots-97eb12b9-5e35-402f-9ea3-0ccfb47f613f.html

Trump does not want every vote counted.  Nothing could be more antithetical to democracy.  Trump wants the superficial appearance of a victory and a nullification of the democratic process writ large to continue his exercise in selfish aggrandizement at the expense of the American people.

Now, Van Jones has released a remarkable Ted talk that is both terrifying and accurate, describing in detail how Trump could simple refuse to concede (for whatever reason) and the entire democratic process would be wrested from the hands of the people. 

"For instance, did you know that under our constitution a presidential candidate could actually lose the popular vote, fail to get a majority in the electoral college, refuse to concede, manipulate hidden mechanisms in our government and still get sworn in as the president of the United States of America? That's a true fact. I know it sounds like some crazy "House of Cards" episode, and I wish it was, because then we could just change the channel, but I just described to you a real-world, real-life possibility that could occur this year, the year I'm talking, in 2020, or in some other year, if we don't fix some of these glitches in our system." - Van Jones

This will not be business as usual...

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Alex_Krycek

[iNow]

23 minutes ago, Alex_Krycek said:

This will not be business as usual...

Agreed

[John Cuthber]

This might help.
https://xkcd.com/2380/

 

[dimreepr]

22 hours ago, Alex_Krycek said:

This will not be business as usual...

This is business as usual, power corrupts and eventually they don't give a shit who knows...

Edit. I should have said "power attracts the corruptible"

Edited November 3, 2020 by dimreepr

[iNow]

Even after all these years, I still find myself surprised at just how ignorant and racist and proud of it the American electorate remains. Trump may not even need to steal this election. Millions upon millions upon millions of Americans are gladly handing it to him voluntarily.

[CharonY]

50 minutes ago, iNow said:

Even after all these years, I still find myself surprised at just how ignorant and racist and proud of it the American electorate remains. Trump may not even need to steal this election. Millions upon millions upon millions of Americans are gladly handing it to him voluntarily.

As a serial immi(or emi-)grant, I can tell you that it is not exlusively Americans. It is just more visible due to confluence of factors.

[dimreepr]

Well, last night couldn't have gone any worse...

It's like a nightmarish version of The Trueman show...

[StringJunky]

7 hours ago, iNow said:

Even after all these years, I still find myself surprised at just how ignorant and racist and proud of it the American electorate remains. Trump may not even need to steal this election. Millions upon millions upon millions of Americans are gladly handing it to him voluntarily.

If Trump wins, we'll have to start viewing the US as a problem and adversary.

[dimreepr]

Just now, StringJunky said:

If Trump wins, we'll have to start viewing the US as a problem and adversary.

Didn't you hear? Trump has won...

Besides, who are you kidding? We are brexit britain now...

[MigL]

Don't count those chickens yet guys; there are still three eggs to hatch.

J Biden is currently sitting at 238 electoral votes.
he'll get 16 more from Nevada and Wisconsin, as expected.
And Michigan has just switched to a Biden lead with 94% of votes tallied.
If he takes Michigan's 16 votes, that would put him at 270 with a win.
And he wouldn't have to wait a week, for the Pennsylvania votes to be counted.

I am rather disappointed with the results so far.
Most Americans don't even realize their democracy is at stake.
Even if D Trump loses, and we are spared four more years of marching towards a dictatorship, this close result will only embolden more whack-jobs , and Republicans with more money than brains or heart, to run for the office, and possibly win.

[iNow]

Michigan is likely, but still too close to call. 90% reporting, over 5 Million votes cast/counted, and Biden is only up by about 10 Thousand.

Mail-in votes still being counted and are likely to skew left nationwide. That is promising, but may not be enough.

Has been much closer than many people'd hoped, and the Senate is likely to remain red / prevent anything meaningful from passing no matter who wins prez.

Nevada too close to call, too

[dimreepr]

7 minutes ago, iNow said:

Michigan is likely, but still too close to call. 90% reporting, over 5 Million votes cast/counted, and Biden is only up by about 10 Thousand.

Mail-in votes still being counted and are likely to skew left nationwide. That is promising, but may not be enough.

Has been much closer than many people'd hoped, and the Senate is likely to remain red / prevent anything meaningful from passing no matter who wins prez.

Nevada too close to call, too

The free world has it's fingures crossed...

[iNow]

1 minute ago, dimreepr said:

The free world has it's fingures crossed...

Probably the enslaved world, too

[dimreepr]

7 minutes ago, iNow said:

Probably the enslaved world, too

Probably...

[joigus]

How significant is the Arizona flip?

[dimreepr]

1 minute ago, joigus said:

How significant is the Arizona flip?

Depends who's flipping...

[joigus]

2 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Depends who's flipping...

I am. For starters  

[dimreepr]

5 minutes ago, joigus said:

I am. For starters  

Flipping hell... 😁

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, iNow said:

Senate is likely to remain red / prevent anything meaningful from passing no matter who wins prez

Which is a huge issue. 

1 hour ago, MigL said:

Most Americans don't even realize their democracy is at stake.

Don't know or don't care. For many, democracy is just a slogan.

 

49 minutes ago, joigus said:

How significant is the Arizona flip?

It is 11 electoral votes. More than e.g. Nevada, similar to Wisconsin, but only about half of PA (and less than either NC or Georgia). Politically I suspect it has much to do with how popular McCain was.

[zapatos]

Trump would have been a shoo-in if he had simply acted like a normal human being:

Don't criticize gold star families.

Don't criticize dead men (e.g. McCain).

Don't call Hispanics 'rapists'.

Don't be a misogynist in public.

Don't be a racist in public.

Don't steal children and put them in cages.

Or the one that would have been enough all by itself: admit that a virus can make people sick and act accordingly.

I"m sure there are many I didn't mention, but my point is that Trump has been shooting himself in the foot for years and if he would have paused just a bit he may have been able to start celebrating his next term late last night.

I can't really convey how disappointed and embarrassed I am that so many of my fellow citizens accept, and even celebrate, his behavior.

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by zapatos

[John Cuthber]

Pretty close to half the US population has not realised that he was elected on one policy: "Build a wall", but he didn't do it.

They think he's a success.

That's remarkably unobservant.

 

6 hours ago, StringJunky said:

If Trump wins, we'll have to start viewing the US as a problem and adversary.

"start"?

 

[CharonY]

59 minutes ago, zapatos said:

I"m sure there are many I didn't mention, but my point is that Trump has been shooting himself in the foot for years and if he would have paused just a bit he may have been able to start celebrating his next term late last night.

The fact that it did not eliminate him outright is a bit of scary thing, isn't it?

 

5 hours ago, iNow said:

Has been much closer than many people'd hoped, and the Senate is likely to remain red / prevent anything meaningful from passing no matter who wins prez.

Actually on reflection, one viable strategy is probably to do as much economic harm as possible and blame it on the dems. If Fox plays ball it should work quite well.

[iNow]

55 minutes ago, CharonY said:

one viable strategy is probably to do as much economic harm as possible and blame it on the dems. If Fox plays ball it should work quite well.

Basically what they did to Obama which led to these last horrible 4 years

[MigL]

All J Biden needs now, is for the count to almost finish in Nevada, and he'll be able to claim victory.
Even without waiting for Pennsylvania.

[CharonY]

5 hours ago, zapatos said:

Don't criticize gold star families.

Don't criticize dead men (e.g. McCain).

Don't call Hispanics 'rapists'.

Don't be a misogynist in public.

Don't be a racist in public.

Don't steal children and put them in cages.

Or the one that would have been enough all by itself: admit that a virus can make people sick and act accordingly.

In that context, I have heard a few interviews from Trump supporters, and it basically sounded that they were actually quite happy with all the policies (even when questioned about the more cruel policies). The main criticism they have is basically his Twitter. I.e. you can be mysoginistic, xenophobic, incompetent etc. as long as you are at least somewhat polite about it.

It is not new (anywhere, really, not just in the US). But for some reasons I do find it more disconcerting.