(To the mods: I didn't see an obvious thread already opened to cover the actual election. Please merge if there was?)
So we're only four days away from it now. It's snowing thickly here in central Massachusetts, which seems appropriate somehow. Better than raining frogs or locusts anyway. At least the snow will (probably) melt by election night.
Sobering: We live in a very small town. The town's fire marshal often sends an auto-dialed pre-recorded telephone message to all residents. Usually it's for things like warning us of fire risks when it's been very dry. This year it's often been about COVID, such as letting us know when there's been cases reported in town, or what the town is doing to mitigate risks.
This morning, it was a message about how this election is likely to see "unrest" (read: violence) afterwards, depending on the outcome. He talked about the number of national guard and state police that were being deployed ahead of election night, and suggested that we all remove any signs of political affiliation, to avoid being targeted by 'individuals who might be upset by the results'.
This is in Massachusetts, which is not a swing state. We've been a reliably "blue" state for decades. I don't know how to judge whether he's being wildly hyperbolic with this warning, or just prudent. But if this is a real concern here in Central Podunk Liberal State, I imagine states where polling shows a closer race must be quite nervous about election night.
Of all the things I've been paranoid of in my adult life, "actual breakdown of democracy" in the US was never one of them. I really really hope that the election results are quickly and incontrovertibly a victory for Biden/Harris, so this doesn't drag out for weeks or months. And I hope our town's fire marshal warnings this morning were unnecessary.
So we're only four days away from it now. It's snowing thickly here in central Massachusetts, which seems appropriate somehow. Better than raining frogs or locusts anyway. At least the snow will (probably) melt by election night.
Sobering: We live in a very small town. The town's fire marshal often sends an auto-dialed pre-recorded telephone message to all residents. Usually it's for things like warning us of fire risks when it's been very dry. This year it's often been about COVID, such as letting us know when there's been cases reported in town, or what the town is doing to mitigate risks.
This morning, it was a message about how this election is likely to see "unrest" (read: violence) afterwards, depending on the outcome. He talked about the number of national guard and state police that were being deployed ahead of election night, and suggested that we all remove any signs of political affiliation, to avoid being targeted by 'individuals who might be upset by the results'.
This is in Massachusetts, which is not a swing state. We've been a reliably "blue" state for decades. I don't know how to judge whether he's being wildly hyperbolic with this warning, or just prudent. But if this is a real concern here in Central Podunk Liberal State, I imagine states where polling shows a closer race must be quite nervous about election night.
Of all the things I've been paranoid of in my adult life, "actual breakdown of democracy" in the US was never one of them. I really really hope that the election results are quickly and incontrovertibly a victory for Biden/Harris, so this doesn't drag out for weeks or months. And I hope our town's fire marshal warnings this morning were unnecessary.
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