QOTD -- Trump's Delusional Election "Plans"

 

In this excerpt from a longer piece, Christopher Bates at Electoral-vote.com asks the question, what was the election- denying Malignant  Fascist trying to accomplish with his bullshit address on "election security" Thursday night?

"... We can only see two possible answers to that question. The first is that Trump, desperate to pass the SAVE Act, which he thinks will SAVE his A**, is about to put the full-court pressure on in the Senate. He could say he won't sign any bills, that he won't nominate any more judges, and maybe that he'll impound every dollar currently set to go to the senators' home states. The sky could well be the limit. Of course, it's also possible that his "plan" for a full-court press is merely to double the number of appearances he makes on Fox and triple the number of whiny 'Truths' he sends out. He is not a man known for having much in the way of imagination, or a spine.

"The more worrisome possibility is that this is a declaration of war against the midterms, and that he's planning to use this 'proof' as the basis for declaring martial law, or trying to suspend the elections, or sending armed soldiers to polling places, or refusing to seat members of Congress from blue states, or something along those lines. It is certainly concerning that, in his speech, Trump said that he planned to have the DNI lead this investigation. That is the same obeisant DNI he has bent over backwards to put in that job on an "interim" basis.

"Let us be clear, however, that if Trump IS thinking this way, he is delusional. He very clearly imagines a world in which, by force of will, or fiat, or gaslighting, or whatever, he can keep the elections that a Republican wins valid, but can invalidate most or all of the elections won by Democrats. It just cannot work. Most Americans—Democrats, independents, and many Republicans—are simply not going to accept the legitimacy of a government constructed in this way, and aren't going to consent to be governed by it. One can imagine something like Govs. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and Gavin Newsom (D-CA) using state troopers to escort their delegations through Washington, DC, so they may take their seats. Or everyone in blue and purple states (and probably some red states) just stopping all income tax payments. Or riots in the streets, in every city in America. It would be the Second American Civil War..." 

The pressure campaign on the "SAVE America My Ass Act" doesn't appear to have moved the needle with the handful of Republican Senators opposing the voter suppression bill.  But the longer-term blueprint for overturning results of elections that don't keep Republicans in power is still alive, even as delusional as it is (as Bates goes on to discuss).