The Democrats have for decades let the Republicans get away with anything they felt like, shielding them with necessary. The Republicans have no reason to fear being punished; even if the Democrats were actually allowed back into power, shielding Trump and the Republicans would be their top priority. Even if it meant they doomed themselves in the process.
What was the name of that guy in Germany’s Beer Hall Putsch?
I mean … after he got arrested, you never heard of or from him again, right? I think he wound up on Dancing With The Stars or something.
And nobody of consequence ever got in line behind him after that, right?
I defer to the smartest guy on TV and GOAT of the SDMB’s favorite show.
Go on, tell him he’s a blinkered idiot who’s minimizing the problem and thinks everything is gonna be fine.
Once again, I will stress:
There WILL CERTAINLY be elections going forward.
Russia has “elections”
North Korea has “elections”.
The US will certainly have “elections”, just like them.
Yes. While I’m sure that they could end elections, most authoritarian regimes like their staged elections. So that’s what we’ll have, “elections” that are just ritual coronations with a pre-determined outcome.
Not only do those countries have elections, but their leaders are so beloved that they tend to get almost 100% of the vote!
I find it ‘amusing’ (probably the wrong word in this context) that Kim etc don’t ever quite get 100%, it’s always something like 99.2% or whatever, as though they think 100% would look fishy but 99.2% seems legit.
Except that that isn’t the “only answer” you’ve gotten. But when you get them you ignore them, handwave them away, or deliberately misrepresent them.
The only conclusion we can come to is that you’re incapable of any honesty whatsoever on this subject.
Depending on rank-and-file Republicans to uphold norms seems increasingly problematic to me. Holding elections requires action. State legislatures have to allocate funds. State election boards have to test equipment and oversee local efforts. Local boards have to procure voting locations and recruit workers. If they don’t, who will make them or punish them for not doing their duty?
If 200 new Democratic reps show up in January 2027, who will swear them in and seat them? That requires Mike Johnson doing something and he’s already demonstrated that he’s willing to shut down the nation’s business before doing that which is required by law. Who will make him do otherwise?
Republicans are a criminal organization dedicated to maintaining power. If counting on them to do the lawful thing “because that’s what they did in 2020” is what we’re banking on to save us, we’re in deep shit.
I think that once Greenland happens then everything else will follow quickly: Canda, Panama Canal, end to real elections, etc. and it looks like Greenland is happening soon.
And Chuck Schumer is going to write such a strongly worded letter.
Trump, Vance, Hegseth and others are openly saying that the new policy is “might makes right.” Why would we expect an administration which believes that to voluntarily surrender power?
Because some people are just fucking stupid.
I happen to think that – while hugely important – restricting the topic to the '26 and '28 elections is casting too narrow a net.
But …
{..}
How the Trump administration is trying to change the way people vote - PBS
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U.S. Democratic Backsliding in Comparative Perspective - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
For any whose primary argument is that “elections are run by the States,” it’s naive, reductive, and harmfully uninformed.
A hundred small changes (“flooding the zone”) can be overwhelming, more opaque, and – in aggregate – shift the outcome of critical elections.
These people are evil, not stupid. They know this.
Mike Johnson won’t be the Speaker in 2027 unless he’s elected to that position by the members-elect of the new Congress. The House is not a continuing body.
How easy is this going to be to put together again? And there are a LOT MORE things like this.
Trump withdraws US from UN climate treaty and 65 other global bodies
Your cite is a game show host?
I continue to be amazed at your ability to find ever deeper levels of dumbfuckery to which you can descend.
Yes, my cite is a 74-time winner officially named by the show’s producers as the greatest contestant in the nearly half-century history of the show.
Would you care to tell the class why he’s stupid and wrong?
We’re not saying he’s stupid and wrong. We’re saying you’re stupid and wrong. Which you keep providing evidence for.
Because you’re once again misrepresenting the arguments in this thread and are now misapplying the statements of Jennings to them.
You really are incapable of an honest argument here.
I didn’t say Jennings was stupid, I said you’re stupid, because you think being good at memorizing trivia is the same as being smart.
Your fallacy is: Appeal to False Authority.