Our constitutional crisis is already here

[Zorro]

“Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation.”
— James Madison

The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves. The warning signs may be obscured by the distractions of politics, the pandemic, the economy and global crises, and by wishful thinking and denial. But about these things there should be no doubt:

First, Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. The hope and expectation that he would fade in visibility and influence have been delusional. He enjoys mammoth leads in the polls; he is building a massive campaign war chest; and at this moment the Democratic ticket looks vulnerable. Barring health problems, he is running.

Second, Trump and his Republican allies are actively preparing to ensure his victory by whatever means necessary. Trump’s charges of fraud in the 2020 election are now primarily aimed at establishing the predicate to challenge future election results that do not go his way. Some Republican candidates have already begun preparing to declare fraud in 2022, just as Larry Elder tried meekly to do in the California recall contest.

Meanwhile, the amateurish “stop the steal” efforts of 2020 have given way to an organized nationwide campaign to ensure that Trump and his supporters will have the control over state and local election officials that they lacked in 2020. Those recalcitrant Republican state officials who effectively saved the country from calamity by refusing to falsely declare fraud or to “find” more votes for Trump are being systematically removed or hounded from office. Republican legislatures are giving themselves greater control over the election certification process. As of this spring, Republicans have proposed or passed measures in at least 16 states that would shift certain election authorities from the purview of the governor, secretary of state or other executive-branch officers to the legislature. An Arizona bill flatly states that the legislature may “revoke the secretary of state’s issuance or certification of a presidential elector’s certificate of election” by a simple majority vote. Some state legislatures seek to impose criminal penalties on local election officials alleged to have committed “technical infractions,” including obstructing the view of poll watchers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/23/robert-kagan-constitutional-crisis/

[Hekate]

1. KnR. Just out of curiosity who is the author? Paywall of paywalls

[leftieNanner]

4. Robert Kagen

It's an Op Ed. And he's a Republican!

[Hekate]

8. Thanks!

[Budi]

2. Trump will be indicted by 2024.

He can piss the hell off & take his Jonestownian cult with him.

Hope he & Bannon & Stone share a 3 bunk cell outta this country somewhere.

[AllBlue]

3. Opinion article by Robert Kagan

Article w/o paywall : [link:https://archive.ph/iBcLD|]

[Hekate]

10. Thanks! How'd you do that?

[AllBlue]

12. Archive.ph

...is a non-profit site where you can search by url for articles you`d like to read, including ones behind a paywall.
They use search engine technology to unlock paywalls and archive articles in full, more or less forever.

[Hekate]

13. I've saved that & will try it sometime

[rickyhall]

5. I hope he goes to jail or dies before then. Dying would be easier, jail more satisfying.

[Ocelot II]

6. Jeez, that was a depressing read.

We can only hope that TFG's diet of KFC and Big Macs catches up with him, and soon.

[lees1975]

7. He'd fade in a heartbeat if the media would stop paying attention to him.

Fox and Newsmax don't have the viewership to give him the kind of visibility he gets from NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and other outlets. Stop paying attention to him, focus on the fact that the economy is roaring, the pandemic is effectively being eliminated by Biden and Democratic governors and Trump will have no audience. Even is infamous "rallies" are petering out.

[leftieNanner]

9. Agree - and we need to do our part

and stop clicking on any stories about TFG. They continue to get clicks, they continue to write about him.

(I admit that I'm guilty of that myself.)

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. I reckon that's wishful thinking

Fox does have the viewership of CNN; but more than that, it's the 21st century, and social media has a greater influence than broadcast networks. Even if Facebook and others were to suddenly change their business model and stop promoting the RW idiocy, they're already in the "we're being oppressed" mode where they'll seek it out, and see their treatment as more oppression.

[appalachiablue]

11. Fasten your seatbelts

[Laurelin]

14. That will give me nightmares

Also, what fresh hell is this, that i agree with a neoconservative?

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. For a neocon, this was quite honest:

"Al Gore and his supporters displayed republican virtue when they abided by the Supreme Court’s judgment in 2000 despite the partisan nature of the justices’ decision. (Whether the court itself displayed republican virtue is another question.)"

[7wo7rees]

17. Propaganda

Kagan is the PNAC'er who sold us the "second Pearl Harbor" scenario, predicting (predating?) 9/11.

If you feel depressed by his words, he accomplished his mission. Give up hope, Dems! Or lose in battle!

Pssh. Fuck off, Kagan.