I've seen enough. We have 9 months.

[ThoughtCriminal]

Trump's plan is now blindingly obvious and unless we figure out a way to stop him, democracy ends on Election Day 2026.

Some will just say that these warnings have become routine every election cycle - from all sides. But clearly, the events of the past year provide overwhelming evidence that this year is different.

ICE will surround election sites in blue leaning districts under the justification of "Preventing illegals from voting. Ina addition, they will send in the FBI to seize mail in ballots. They will harass voters and arrest anyone who protests. It will not matter to them if the arrests are illegal. They will ignore any restraining court orders. They won't care if you have identification. There will be violence from the ICE goons - they want violence. There will no consequences - especially if they succeed. And all that is necessary is for them to slow down the lines enough so that people give up. Working people have jobs they have to get back to. Parents have children that must be picked up from school. The GOP leadership has made it clear that they do not believe that only votes cast and counted on Election Day are legitimate. Republicans understand that a small amount of vote suppression in the right places is all they need

There will be denunciations from Democratic leadership, ignored court orders, raised eyebrows from pundits and maybe Sen. Collins will be concerned. Those won't matter on November 4.

There are no do-overs. Once ballots are destroyed and voters are unable to cast their ballots, all the condemnation and outrage won't matter to them. And if you think the daily outrage of corruption and incompetence is bad now, life after 2026 is going to be horrifying. I don't even know what preparations I can suggest for life under Trump 3.0. The consequences to our personal freedom, the rule of law, the environment, press freedom civil rights, world peace, and quality of life in every way will be devastating - and it will happen faster than most people can imagine. Being white won't save you. Even being wealthy won't save you. The message will be clear - you must be loyal to Trump - or else.

If you want an idea for what to expect, look at life in Putin's Russia - but with more stupid and more corruption.

I wish I had a great plan on how to stop this. Perhaps the comments will provide ideas. I would start by saying that ICE needs to be completely de funded and abolished, but sadly, I expect our current leadership is going to settle for very minor concessions. There has to be preemptive action to stop ICE before Election Day. I would also encourage everyone to vote as early as possible and check the status of their ballots. But most important of all: DO NOT EVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT.

[gab13by13]

1. ICE surrounding polling places is a felony,

Democrats need to remind everyone of this and promise to prosecute the people who surround the polling places when they regain power.

[Dixiegrrrl]

10. If they prevent power change thru felonious election interference

Democrats won't have the power to prosecute.
Which is the exact point.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. You're making predictions with certainty, where there is none

You can’t use Bannon’s master-level trolling as evidence to support your fearmongering assertions, especially when the math doesn’t add up.

3000 ICE agents couldn’t control the city of Minneapolis, despite spreading chaos and terror, and there definitely aren’t enough to impact every blue leaning polling place in the nation. (And with Dem over performance in recent special elections, the number of blue leaning precincts is growing and becoming increasingly unpredictable)

The likelihood of ratfuckery and shenanigans is high, to be sure, but to presume this administration’s potential authoritarian actions will be accepted without pushback is the epitome of defeatist Doomerism.

The stakes are indeed high, which is why it is critical to never forget this one absolute truth:

Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless

The people of Minneapolis are just the most recent example of this truth.

Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami coming this November

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. He doesn't have to take over entire cities

And not every polling site. They can target a few critical sites that have large Democratic support and concentrate in districts where the election will be close.

Several House seats are determined by less than 2000 votes. In 2024, 37 seats were decided by less and 5% of the vote. This is where I expect to see ICE deployed.

The Senate is a bit harder since they are statewide, but 6 Senate seats were decide by less than 5% in 2024.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. That's where your certainty is seriously flawed

As the special elections have shown, it’s getting harder and harder to predict which precincts will be reliably blue or red.

They could target a solid blue district, reducing the margin of the Dem victory, and ignore a red district, where the Dem will have a narrow win.

And not every polling site. They can target a few critical sites that have large Democratic support and concentrate in districts where the election will be close.

You continue to presume they will be successful in their attempts to use violence and intimidation, without pushback from the states or the people in the affected communities.

And you continue to show poor math skills- just how many “critical sites” would have to be disrupted to change the outcome of an election that some are predicting will result in 40-50 seats flipping from red to blue? How many ICE agents would it take to successfully disrupt each precinct in each of those districts? (there would be tens of thousands of precincts involved).

What about Governors/Secs of State who respond to such intimidation by keeping the polls open for hours longer, and allowing voters to vote at any precinct in their district? (This has been done in the past in response to bomb threats, power outages and ballot shortages)

That’s the trouble with fear mongering defeatist Doomers- they never think through the logistics or apply the laws of physics to their dystopian fantasies, they just proclaim “he will just do it”, as if it were an unquestionable fait accompli.

If the strength and solidarity of the people of Minneapolis is any indicator, they will fail.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

7. I can't rec this enough-thank you! n/t

[moonscape]

8. I needed to read this.

[themaguffin]

12. Thank you. We are in a serious situation, but the dooming solves nothing... while enabling donnie.

[Wiz Imp]

11. He keeps talking about places like Philadlephia, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta

Districts in those cities are NOT close. .

[dpibel]

13. Straw Trump

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone on this site claim that Trump is omnipotent. So you are gainsaying a position no one takes.

It is undeniable that Trump has pushed, and continues to push, the envelope. He has gotten away with massive wrongdoing. That doesn't make him omnipotent, but it makes him and his handlers pretty darned effective.

Just a quick for instance: If, a year ago, someone had said, "Trump's going to tear down the East Wing," it would have been the sort of thing one could dismiss out of hand--too foolish, too brash, just impossible. Yet here we are.

But don't take my word for it:

We are now one year into Donald Trump’s second term, and something strange is happening in political media. A lot of people who spent years insisting that the so-called “alarmists” were being hysterical have started, tentatively, to admit that maybe they got it wrong.

Last April, David Brooks published a long essay in The Atlantic titled “I Should Have Seen This Coming,” in which he acknowledged that he’d underestimated how much conservatism had become pure anti-liberal reaction. Jon Stewart, who spent the early weeks of the second Trump administration chiding liberals for being too quick to use the word “fascism,” eventually conceded on air: “I did not think we would get this authoritarian this fast. I really didn’t. I’m sorry. Who could’ve known? Maybe if somebody out there had yelled at me on Bluesky about this, I would have known. But no one did. Except every day. In all caps.”

Political scientist Corey Robin, who had spent years dismissing those who called MAGA fascist, admitted on an October podcast: “I was skeptical coming into this second administration that they would be able to wield the kind of power that people feared they would wield. I have since turned out to be wrong.”

But sure. Do. The. Math.

Got it.

[tableturner]

4. Posts 1 and 2 above are downright delusional.

The OP is correct. Trump and the GOP will run roughshod over the elections UNLESS WE STOP THEM. They won't care about laws. They won't care about court rulings. They will fuck it up in enough key places to screw us. People need to get their heads out of the sand.

[Fiendish Thingy]

9. The delusions lie with those who predict doom without details.

Do.The.Math.

[dalton99a]

5. Democrats WILL lose if they let Trump do whatever he wants. It is that simple.