Trump: “I have never discussed it [Russian bounty on US troops] with him”

Someone on Twitter (Jim Wright, I think) pointed out the right followup question would have been "When ARE you going to discuss it with him?"

Thing is, *rump's becoming increasingly irrelevant. Barr's made it clear they won't accept the election results if it goes against their figurehead. The troops in Portland and the continuing decimation of the post office are methods of distributing the GOP's ability to hold on to power. We have a dictatorship in all but name, but most people won't realize it until after the November election.

Realistically? It'll play out differently in different parts of the country. I suspect he'll leave MA alone, for example; he never had much of a foothold here, and he still doesn't (despite the mask-free woman I encountered at the supermarket).

But I am more and more concerned about a genuine civil war, and a shattering of the country. It's probably always been inevitable, but now it seems imminent.

lizmonster said:

Realistically? It'll play out differently in different parts of the country. I suspect he'll leave MA alone, for example; he never had much of a foothold here, and he still doesn't (despite the mask-free woman I encountered at the supermarket).

But I am more and more concerned about a genuine civil war, and a shattering of the country. It's probably always been inevitable, but now it seems imminent.

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I worry about this too, but ultimately the side that wins is the side that gets the military. We know the police will side with the conservative mobs in the streets but not liberal ones, and they certainly won't really be about keeping order or saving lives impartially.

But it will really depend on the military. I get the impression many military commanders aren't fond of Trump's approach to things, but rank-and-file military types tend to be very conservative. They have all been sworn to uphold the Constitution, however, regardless of political views. If Trump's power grab is blatantly unconstitutional and isn't backed by the courts, then the military would almost certainly side with the courts. I'm guessing the top brass wouldn't support him against a SCOTUS ruling, even if many enlisted are unhappy about that. It'll come down to how well disciplined they actually are. White nationalists have allegedly been infiltrating the military for years, so there could be infighting.

But if the courts uphold Trump? Then the military will likely side with them. The Constitution demands that, even if the courts have become so corrupt and partisan they'd side with someone who is clearly anti-constitutional. Our system has no mechanism I am aware of for dealing with corruption of all three branches of government. They were set up to be checks on one another.

Whichever side gets the military would win. Possibly the military could split regionally, with military bases going with their own states, but I don't see that as likely. The top brass will likely want to follow the Constitution, even if it actually leads them off a cliff. I doubt ordinary citizens could stand against the military for long, even conservatives who stockpile weapons in our garage. Even if the courts oppose Trump, though, and the military backs that up, it could be ugly for a long time. I'm afraid the military could put a liberal rebellion down faster, because we don't tend to stockpile weapons in our garage. Young people throwing rocks don't tend to do well against armed troops who feel no restraint at all. The older suburbanites who have a lot to lose are more likely to "tsk tsk" from the sidelines but ultimately hunker down and hope things get better on their own.

This is just a guess on my part of how things could go if Trump steals the election, or if he attempts to. I'm no expert in the military or politics, or even on human nature, so I could be spectacularly wrong. I hope I am. I am hoping Trump is handed such a resounding defeat in November that even he realizes the best option is to save face by slinking off and claiming he planned it this way all along. I hope that if he challenges the results the courts put it down quickly and most of his followers go back to 8 chan (or whatever it's called nowadays). I doubt they'll quietly retreat to the fringes of US politics again, however, no matter what happens.

His rampaging hordes is a fail. It's already not flying. Trump has a ridiculous ad playing in some key states and they put the ads on hold, installed a new campaign director and started them up again. They aren't going to fly. The troops bailed out of Portland because they were obviously making things worse. And the city is not burning down.

The protests have been peaceful.

You can make up a story about flaming cities without at some point those ads looking ludicrous.

It's like I said earlier, you can gaslight the people all you want about the COVID virus being under control but at some point it's going to be on their local news station. The hospitals are filling up, kids in summer camp had a huge outbreak, parents may want to get their kids back in school, but it's not going to be successful, it just isn't.

Now Trump is dissing Birx along with Fauci.

And Trump wants to shut down vote by mail while admitting absentee ballots are OK.

Well guess what? July 25th: Months away from Election Day, Democrats show signs of outpacing Republicans in mail voting

... as available data seems to indicate that Democrats are leaning into mail voting in greater numbers than Republicans.

The aftermath of a hectic and unprecedented primary season -- one that largely forced election officials to factor health concerns into how elections were administered -- played a major factor in the apparent shift, and led to more voters requesting to cast their ballots by mail than ever before.

In the key battleground of Florida and Ohio, Democrats outpaced Republicans in absentee ballot requests during primary contests. North Carolina, another state that is crucial for the presidential electoral count, is slated to be among the first to mail general election ballots this fall. There, Democrats’ requests for absentee ballots currently top Republicans by nearly five times....

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I think we're good at the moment.