Thomas Hartman games out one of the most terrifying scenarios imaginable in a new article on Altnernet entitled [1]: We Need to Plan Now in Case Trump Loses in November but Refuses to Leave Office. Hartman reviews constitutional provisions unknown to even those of us who have had a year long class in constitutional law at an elite law school, and the conclusion is terrifying. It could be called a nightmare.
Simply put, the citizens’ vote for president is definitive, unless and until things get contested. It doesn’t matter “which” things are contested, only that the election is contested – and you know that if Trump loses, he will contest it. The constitution contains provisions that do not favor Democrats, indeed they do the opposite. These obscure constitutional provisions favor the party that has proven itself willing to burn democracy’s flag in order to get what they want. The Constitution favors Republicans, and a man like Trump – who truly couldn’t care what kind of country is left to our kids, so long as he stays in power.
As hard as it is to hear, everyone should read this article, as we ourselves need to start planning, especially since Trump’s electoral chances have taken a nosedive in the last few days. Indeed, the more likely it is that Trump loses the election, the more likely we’ll need to counter moves already planned within hushed Republican circles:
Additionally, the Constitution says that if a presidential election really turns into a mess with multiple claims of fraud or some other crisis, the president is selected by the U.S. House of Representatives.
While that sounds like good news, with Democrats controlling the House today, each state’s delegation only gets one vote—50 votes from 50 states determine the president. And a majority of the states are Republican-controlled, so this remedy would put Trump into office regardless of how badly he lost the popular vote, the electoral vote, or both.
Remember, Trump has pre-set the fraud claim. Even in the last election, he declared that the millions who put Hillary Clinton over the top in the popular vote were “illegals.” He also went into the 2016 election stating that the fix was in against him, and the only way he could be beaten was if the vote was “rigged.”
The exact same dynamic is being built in 2020 again, by claiming that Democrats want sanctuary cities so as to get the votes of illegal immigrants. It matters not in the least that there has never been proof of voter fraud on any scale significant enough to matter. He needs only something at which to point, to send the entire thing into chaos, and thus invoke the constitutional provisions which deal with “chaos.”
It is critical to read the article to see the mechanism by which it can be done, but in a scenario where there is a question, state legislatures – largely controlled by Republicans, control the voting process. Therein lies the problem. Legislatures in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are all heavily controlled by Republicans and could be counted upon to do Trump’s work.
Thus, through simple brute force, if Trump, Fox News and Limbaugh, et al, were to loudly claim that there was “voter fraud” in any or all of those states and succeed in casting doubts about the integrity of an election that would put a Democrat in the White House, the manufactured conflict could be resolved and the election given to Trump by one or more state legislatures as Florida threatened to do in 2000.
The GOP and right-wing radio and TV have been preparing this ground for the better part of two decades [2], constantly harping on non-existent voter fraud by undocumented Hispanics and African Americans who, as Trump alleged, go from polling place to polling place by bus to double- or even triple-vote.
The scenario is terrifying. If one sits back and thinks about it, it is difficult imagining it going any other way. It is beyond conceivable that Trump could gracefully concede defeat and welcome the Bidens to the White House as the transition moves apace. Can one imagine Trump sitting on the Capitol steps watching and smiling as his replacement is sworn in, like every other president has done in living memory?
No, I cannot, imagine it. It goes against everything Trump stands for, never surrender, never put something ahead of his own personal interests, never think of something bigger or the damage he is doing.
For that very reason, we should read this article and start planning ourselves. Hartmann assures us that the Republicans are already game planning this out, preparing to contest a loss, and are ready to pounce, even if the loss is rather substantial. I suggest we start assuming that Trump will do everything in his power. For now, we’re even ignoring the possibility that he cancels the election in the first place due to a “State of Emergency” like the Coronavirus.
There is plenty of video out there with him bragging that he’ll stay longer than two terms, it applies equally well with respect to stealing an election:
We cannot allow one man and his cult to overthrow the government of the United States – which is exactly what he will do, and indeed, with the help of others, is already planning.
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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom