Dude helmed one of the biggest child sex trafficking rings in history, whipped his loyalists into a coup attempt with false claims of “stolen election”, suffered no consequences for that, came back promising revenge, pardoned his convicted loyalists, turned them into a private army that has been given carte blanche to murder peaceful opposition, is operating death camps, has kidnapped and murdered the leaders of foreign countries with impunity, routinely ignores those in his own party and Supreme Court when they occasionally oppose him, is threatening all sorts of voter suppression (up to cancelling elections), defies the Constitution by calling for a third term, is backed by a cabal of the most wealthy and powerful individuals in the nation who are also clients of his child sex trafficking ring, is beloved by the nation’s police forces, has seized total control of the military, and has already ignored every check and balance that exists because he can. You can flip the entire Congress blue but unless they find someone who can physically extricate him and his cronies from their positions, he can ignore every impeachment, court order, and protest if he says “nah, I’m staying”. You really think his backers have worked this hard to gain control just to lose it in two years to the will of the people, the people they know would have a helluva time matching them blow for blow to force his removal?
Don’t not vote, but don’t be so assured winning at the polls translates into the first step of over-throwing the regime. I mean, what are you going to do if voters say “time for you to go” and his response is “fuck you, make me”?
My point is that in November he will try shenanigans and people will need to take to the streets to enforce the results of the election.
If he failed to steel the elections in November his days will be numbered.
The outcome of the elections is less important than the willingness of people to defend them, when he sends in the FBI to steel uncounted ballotboxes in purple districts.
And my point is that regardless of whether he successfully steals them, suppresses them, intimidates voters, even if opposition wins big, without teeth to back up any action they take against him (like impeachment), he’s in a position of power that he needs to keep himself and all of his cronies out of prison. A win for the opposition, even if the opposition breaks with Democratic leadership and starts coming at him hard, is just delaying the inevitable fight to be rid of him and his regime. The opposition wants to obey the rule of law, and that’s a good standard, but we’re dealing with a person in power that ignores the balance of power, defies the courts, and has the support of law enforcement. He keeps calling our bluff and letting us play by the rules while he breaks or ignores every last one to the applause of his base. How many of his supporters did we see lusting for a Putin-style strongman that puts on the facade of elections and democracy but would never concede to the will of the people? They’ve found their dude and will fight just as hard to keep him in power at the expense of democracy as he will. People need to be willing to defend more than the right to vote, they need to be willing to take action when voting occurs but the results are ignored.
lemmyng@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
“I mean, what are you going to do if voters say “time for you to go” and his response is “fuck you, make me”?”
We sic the National Guard on his ass, remove him via a competent military coup, and ensure the actually democratically elected candidate gets in office, while showing that new candidate what happens if they attempt to pull that same bullshit.