a relevant this is hell episode. The past 20 years have seen the republicans party using the constitution to undermine the constitution. From Bush V Gore to Merrick Garland. Dozens of instances.
I think if we didn't live in a normalization era and if you asked somebody which is more unthinkable, the Merrick Garland scenario or a Republican state legislature refusing to accept the popular vote for president, I don't think they could say one is clearly more unthinkable than the other.
I've heard people suggest that if a state just replaced it's electors, it'd be tantamount to civil war. Merrick Garland wasn't.
And there's several Airbud style loopholes. Congress certifies the count and with a bipartisan objection, they can adjourn to discuss the results. McConnell: "well technically there's no rule that says we explicitly have end discussion before Jan 20"
My hot take: there is NO WAY Biden becomes president even though he wins. It won't be civil war because constitutional democracy already ended a good 20 years ago and everybody got over it. They will get over this too.
160/160 post title, never leave any character off the table.
My hot take: there is NO WAY Biden becomes president even though he wins.
Nah
Repubs win so hard here. They get to distance themselves from Trump, winning more of the white suburban vote again, all the while "taking revenger on Biden" and winning the Trumpers. This is their best outcome, why challenge it?
Yep. Only Trump's direct allies and the frothing-at-the-mouth fash are really upset about Trump losing. The capitalist class and even white supremacists who are at all strategic know that a Biden presidency isn't going to do them any harm.
I don't see republicans distancing themselves from Trump. They won more with him than without him. I do not see it. I see them shedding more Romney-style politicians (who will be embraced as heroes by dems) but I don't see a party shit at all.
There's always another fascist. Or fuck it, he can come back in 2024
pulling a Grover Cleveland is the funniest outcome, so that will happen unless he dies first
I saw fox news for a few minutes when georgia flipped. they already began the coping process, their guest was talking about how this is still a win for republicans because they won a lot of down ballot seats and still control senate etc. They probably don't mind taking an L for president race so that they can rile up their base and win house back in 2022
I dont think republicans want to the presidency right now because of covid and the economic disaster it caused. I think theyd rather have biden take the fall and come back in the next presidential cycle.
The traditional conservative elites, definitely.
But the actual fash are different. They're emotionally motivated. They believe their own lies. When things are the worst is when they feel the largest urge to seize (or in this case, seize back, I guess) control and cleanse the impure. Failure is kind of their kink.
This is why you get Trump saying one thing, McConnell saying another.
So, how many people in the trump admin are fash, and how many are traditional elites working in uneasy yet effective alliance?
How many SC justices are traditional elites vs Trumpian loyalists? He's definitely got Kavanaugh. Not sure about the rest.
And when Trump pushes hard one way, are those elites going to follow? Or will they break the alliance?
Trump sucked at being a fascist, though, so my mind is saying nah, but this is Hellworld, so I still have that knot in the pit of my stomach.
Nah they're probably just going to let the economy tank and strip all welfare and administrative parts of government down to the copper piping during the lame duck period, then leave the Biden admin to hold the bag and bail only the capitalists out.
No, but he's probably going to steal that Andrew Jackson painting.
Republicans have nothing to lose under Biden will not only retain power, their power from their base and influence will likely grow. Possibly better than under Trump. I only see them going so hard for Trump, like trying to flip a single state via the SC if that'll get him the win, but that's it
I dont think the powers that be are ready to drop the mask of bourgeois democracy.
This is kind of what I'm afraid of, slash, expecting. I mean, part of me knows it's unlikely, but the other part of me is ready for it.
Dems wouldn't oppose it, they'd just shrug and accept it. Libs wouldn't riot, they'd just hold socially distanced crying sessions.
Republicans don't actually care about the Constitution. They kinda treat it like the Bible. They call it sacred, but it ultimately says whatever they want it to, and they'll go to some crazy lengths to make it so, where this one vague statement somehow contradicts a crystal clear one.
Like, one of the central reasons why Robert Paxton, author of "The Anatomy of Fascism," didn't want to call Trump a fascist, despite being very concerned about all the authoritarian behavior, was because of how Trump claims to hold the Constitution sacred, but it doesn't really click with Paxton that Trump and his followers don't actually give a shit about the Constitution, beyond it being an American Civil Religion requirement that they pretend to.
yes, I've made the bible comparison in my head too in that it says whatever they want it to but if they're super reverent it won't look like they're just using it for expediency.
I think it's a likely outcome because Republicans already broke the ice long ago. The difference between electoral fuckery and Bush v Gore isn't large. It only seems like it because we've lived with B v G a long time.
My take is this is a fight between the national bourgeoisie and the neoliberal bourgeoisie and the military will back the neoliberal bourgeoisie IF they try it.
I think there is pretty good chance they are negotiating something and this is at least part bluff.
