I’m convinced of that now. At least not a fair and legitimate one. Between the vote suppression, justice department October surprises, USPS shenanigans, and Russia… it’s just not gonna happen. Either the 45th president of the United States and his backers are going to blow up the election so hard that there won’t be any confidence in any result it produces, and/or he’s just going to refuse to accept a defeat.
What if they just shut down the post office? Before you say “they can’t do that” stop and ask yourself if you’re really, really sure about that. Yes, it’s clearly unconstitutional but who’s going to stop it? Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer would write a sternly worded letter, I suppose. Lawsuits would get filed, I guess. But in the end: no election. Not a real one.
Suppose Russia decides to jack up the election? I mean worse than before. All they’d have to do is target a few metropolitan areas–Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Minneapolis–break into the voting registration systems and maybe change the addresses of half the people on file. It would be chaos. And in the end, no one would have any confidence in any result produced by the final counts. And if you feel another “they can’t do that” rising in your throat, stop, swallow it down and remind yourself that Putin knows the same thing we know: Republicans are never going to hold him accountable.
It’s happening right in front of us. Election Day is just weeks away. Between now and then we’re going to see just how far the fascists are willing to go. I for one think they’re going to reach for the gold. If they do grab it, we’re toast. There’s no American democracy anymore. We’ll have become an authoritarian state and we’ll remain one for a good long while. I don’t think there are any quick or easy ways back from that kind of collapse.