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).

QOTD -- Testing, Testing

 

"... The general public is not likely to get an accurate accounting of Trump's results on either of these tests, or on any other tests he might have had. And the general public certainly isn't going to get an accurate answer to, arguably, the most important question of all: Why did Trump have the tests in the first place? Neither an MRI nor a cognitive test are routine parts of an annual physical, much less a person's second physical in 6 months. They are only administered if there is a reason for them. So, what prompted Trump (well, his people) to make the appointment?

"We are a little surprised, actually, that Trump shared as much information as he did. Maybe he developed a case of loose lips, as he so often does. Maybe he was pleased enough by the results that he felt the need to do a little peacocking. Either he doesn't realize, or he doesn't care, that announcing 'Yep! I had an unexpected MRI! And another cognitive test!' is not a good look, no matter how 'well' he did on them." -- Christopher Bates ("Z"), at Electoral-vote.com, on the curious cognitive and MRI tests given the cankled, sundowning moron Malignant Fascist recently during his second "annual physical" this year.  Never a cognitive overachiever on his best days, nor a healthy physical specimen, the Malignant Fascist must be in worse shape than he even appears to be in public for his staff to arrange these tests (and tell him the cognitive test is really an IQ test!).  Time to take away the nuclear football and give him one made by Wilson and tell him it contains the nuclear codes?

BONUS:

QOTD -- MAGA Conspiracists' Takes On Epstein's Missing Client List

 

Christopher Bates at Electoral-vote.com  suggests four ways MAGA world is reacting to the magical disappearance of Jeffrey Epstein's client list that was/ wasn't on AG Pam "Blondie" Bondi's desk in February:

• Oops!: The conspiracists could decide they were wrong, at least this time, and that there's no smoke and no fire here. This is only theoretical; conspiracists NEVER admit to being wrong.
  
  
• Blame Trump: The conspiracists could declare that there's a cover up, specifically to protect Donald Trump from being outed as one of Epstein's clients. This was an uncommon, but not unheard of, response yesterday, likely coming from people who like Elon Musk better than they like Trump, and who have bought into the South African's insinuations that the Epstein materials implicate Trump.
  
  
• The Deep State Deepens: The conspiracists could accuse Bondi, Patel and Bongino of having been co-opted by the Deep State, such that they are now doing its bidding. This was the most common response yesterday; Bongino, in particular, is absolutely getting flayed on social media.
  
  
• 3-D Chess: The conspiracists could assert that this is actually a brilliant plan by the Trump administration, and that the Epstein client list exists, but that the White House is pretending it doesn't so that it can use that information to blackmail the Deep State, and thus to tame the Deep State. You really have to stand on your head to go through this many mental gymnastics, which is why it's not surprising that the foremost advocate of this perspective yesterday was certifiable loon Alex Jones.

The answer, of course, is option 2 above.  But, imagine the number of tiny, empty heads that would explode if the truth ever came out.