I have written an essay that I’m fairly proud of in which I confess that I cannot see past November 10th, 2024. We don’t “know” who will be the Republican nominee, but we can be pretty sure that it will either be Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, and though the two hate each other, they both play the same type of politics, savage zero-sum game stuff in which rules and laws can be ignored if one has the raw power. Furthermore, the MAGAs, the people who will be voting for these two, will be doing so in states with newly designed voting restrictions and, quite possibly, a SCOTUS case that helps them win any state with a Republican legislature. These people still believe that the 2020 election was “stolen” and “rigged,” and they expect “payback” in 2024, whether they actually win or not.

They believe they’re entitled to a win, and so, if the 2024 election goes to the Democrats, I see violence in the streets along with a massive court struggle trying to get the election to the SCOTUS and House of Representatives (Where the Republicans will always win because of all the little small red states, and no Washington D.C. vote). They might well succeed. It would leave the Democrats screaming about whether we even have a republic anymore where the Democrats can win the popular vote by 10 million (that’s my prediction for 2024, a ten million popular vote win) and yet “lose” again to the Republicans.

At some point, states on the west coast, the northeast, they’re going to start to wonder how long they want to pay into a system of red welfare states and then have power stolen.

Does that make 2024 sound scary enough for you? Well, let’s make it scarier. Trump is always around to make about him and the country’s future dependent upon him. From his Truth Social account yesterday evening:

I was the one that brought China to everyone’s attention. Under “Trump,” China was paying us a fortune in taxes and tariffs for the “privilege” of selling their products to the U.S. No other President got 10 cents from a very smart and savvy China. I got Hundreds of $BILLIONS of Dollars, gave $28 Billion Dollars to our great FARMERS. But now China is really going at the good ol’ USA, and we have no one to defend us. Our Country does not have long to live, or even survive. We better WIN in 2024!

Just so awful. He put tariffs on China, which did nothing but up the price of whatever is being sold. The money is paid for directly by Americans.

But it’s the “Now China is really going at the good ol’ USA, and we have no one to defend us. Our country does not have long to live or even survive. We better WIN in 2024.”

Nice. Tell your supporters that the country will not survive if you lose in 2024. Get a bunch of people, armed to the teeth, convinced that if Trump isn’t in the White House, the country will die. Sounds like a recipe for Civil War to me. It is so irresponsible that only a child – or childlike narcissist – can justify getting violent again. Childlike, most junior high school kids know it’s poor English and redundant to say, “Our country doesn’t have long to live or even survimg.” But Trump has to make each line as extreme as possible. These are marching orders.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: MUCH LEFT ADO