It looks like Trump had more people at his insurrection than his inauguration!
I was re-reading my recent posting on knowing when to leave and wondered whether maybe it was already too late - or soon will be. Suppose - just suppose - Trump runs again in 2024. He loses, of course, both the popular vote (which he lost both times) and the Electoral College (which he lost last time around). But the GOP has been proactive in installing Trump-faithful as Secretaries of State in many swing States as well as other election officials faithful to the GOP. If the GOP wins the House and Senate in the mid-terms, well they have a lot more leverage this time around.
Last time around, it came down to about a dozen people or so doing the right thing - Vice President Pence, for starters. Next time, it would be Kamala Harris in the hot seat, but if electors are challenged and enough votes are tallied to disqualify a State's electors, who knows what could happen? At the State level, election officials might refuse to certify their State's tally (as one tried to do last time around), once again making vague claims of "fraud" without any real evidence. State legislators may decide to appoint their own slate of electors. It could get messy.
It could be even more direct - the rioters at the Capital last year assaulted police officers and shouted "hang Mike Pence" and bought a gallows along to do the job. Also, many were armed. For whatever reason, the violence did not escalate beyond where it did - although people were killed and seriously injured. Suppose next time around, it's gloves off? They start gunning down Capitol Police and Democratic legislators?
One would presume that a Democratic administration would take precautions - calling out the National Guard if necessary, or mobilizing the Army. They would not let a riot just "happen" as Trump allowed it to. We are realizing, just now, how close we came to losing our country - it was a matter of a few people doing the right thing - Trump's limo driver was an unsung hero. It was also a matter of a few people who were doing wrong things to not do more wrong things.
Right-wing Christian nationalists have infiltrated the military, that much is clear. It only takes a few people to get a coup going, particularly once the opposition is lined up against the wall and shot. If that happens, what's next? No doubt, Trump would declare "Martial Law" as the MyPillowGuy (the new Secretary of the Interior) suggested. After all, the country would need to calm down after all that violence (that Trump instigated) - right?
And with martial law comes restrictions on travel - and restrictions on taking money out of the country. It is what is going on right now, in places like Russia, which is Trump's role model. Worse yet, a coup government is a weak government - they know they only have a minority support and need to instill fear on the rest of the population in order to keep them in line. Trump would have to round up opposition leaders, intellectuals, members of the press (other than Fox News, of course) and anyone who might be perceived as a threat. And sadly, he would have a willing civilian army - well stocked with weaponry - who have been waiting for this day to come for years.
Neighbor would turn on neighbor. It would be Kristallnacht all over again. Brown-shirted (or brown-panted) thugs would intimidate anyone perceived as "different" or "disloyal" to the new regime. "Owning the libs" and "making them cry" would take on new meaning. They have much to learn from the "death squads" of Central and South America.
By then, it would be too late to leave. Your only choice would be to stay and fight - or die. Or both.
Dramatic? Extreme? "It could never happen here?" Maybe. Maybe not. The history of the world is rife with such examples of coup d'etat, many of which were instigated by our own CIA in small foreign countries. As for "It could never happen here!" - it has in the past. The Civil war was anything but civil and an attempt at insurrection - in fact, that is the term used to describe the "rebels" - insurrectionists.
And we know how the civil war played out - the bloodiest war our nation ever fought in. More dead than in every other war we have fought in, combined.
Maybe this is alarmist. Maybe things will turn out OK. It is hard to say, but one thing is clear: politics are no longer a matter of fun and games. It isn't a matter of differences of opinion. People are willing to kill over these things, as evidenced by the rise in racial and other killings in our country (and abroad as well).
With this sort of thing, it never ends. You don't just defeat fascism and then sit on your laurels. It is more like whack-a-mole, where you have to continually fight for your freedom. It is sad, but many folks have forgotten just how bad things were back in December of 2020 and into January of 2021. The GOP tries to gloss it over as a mere protest, and the rioters mere tourists wanting to visit their nation's capitol. It was a lot more than that. We had a President refusing to accept election results and making noises that he wasn't going to leave.
So much of our country - our democracy - is based on people doing the right thing. Many on the far-left and far-right complain that the two parties are not that different - that they get along and work together too much. But "my way or the highway" accomplishes nothing, and leads to more divisiveness and eventually, to violence.
If Trump gets the nomination, I think I will have some foreign travelling to do!
