Preview of 2020?
I believe most thoughtful Americans are more than a little concerned that, should Trump lose the election in 2020 he would refuse to concede and vacate office. We’re getting a preview of that possibility right now in Israel as Netanyahu failed to get a majority of the votes last night in that country’s elections. In his first speech after the election he refused to concede and blamed the media for biased coverage. He went on to say that the Israeli government should be Zionist and not involve representatives of Arab heritage. To be clear, 21% of the population of Israel are Arab muslims.
If you’re looking for a preview of 2020, here it is. Netanyahu just blamed his loss at the polls on the election. Trump will do the same. The only way Trump will ever leave office after an election defeat is to be be dragged out by his armpits. Even his lawyer, Michael Cohen, said before Congress that if Trump loses the election next year that there will “never be a peaceful transition of power.”
It gives me cold chills thinking about it.
I’m less worried about that as time goes on simply because he has surrounded himself with incompetent know-nothings. Does he really think the Secret Service or the US military will back him up? I. Don’t. Think. So.
1I am more concerned that he will loose the popular vote by a crushing majority but win the highly gerrymandered Electoral College
2I don’t see any problem. Hell, any vet can tranquilize an elephant, even a big orange one. A Dumbo is just a Dumbo.
3Dart him, truss him up and put him on skids. Problem solved.
I hope to see him carried out head first, like Julian Assange was, but with the Secret Service doing the carrying.
4I saw what Netanyahu did last night and I got cold chills, too. I don’t know if he’ll succeed or not, as I don’t know how Israel’s law enforcement is set up — but I imagine they’ll figure out how to deal with a criminal PM. I hope they do a better job than we’re doing.
As to our situation, I’m not overly worried. Though I doubt the Secret Service is empowered to remove a president — even a former one — from the White House, the US Marshals Bureau is a federal law enforcement body.
5They’ll arrive with handcuffs and the guy who bellowed, “You’re fired!” on TV but sent a private citizen to fire Jeff Sessions will meekly surrender.
@ BarbinDC:
I doubt he knows it, but there IS precedent. The praetorian guard installed and kept Claudius in office. And since Trump believes he is Caesar and that he rules by divine right, I’ll bet he does believe the military will rally round him keeping his subjects at bay.
He’s been trying to soften up the public by declaring that he will run in 2024 and floating the idea of being in office for 14 years — proving that he still doesn’t believe the laws apply to him. Still, precedent or not — he’s in for a rude awakening.
6twocrows @5 I don’t know about Bibi. I thought he would have borked the count but I’ll wait through today.
Trump’s Electoral College win was not a fluke: New study says Republicans will win 65 percent of close elections where they lose the popular vote.
The operative thing here is to not let it be a close election. Thats on us.
THE BIG LEWANDOWSKI The Dude abides… in this case, not really.
The GOOPs were fussin’ and hissin’ to shame the viper at the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYDOM4lGX1M
7I’d rather see him drug out by his fake bone spurs.
8And the rethuglicans tell us that we must support Israel because it is the only democracy in the middle east. I hope they continue to be a democracy with aholes like Netanyahu in office.
9@BarbinDC, @ two crows #6,
Beware the Ides of March.
10“never be a peaceful transition of power.” Really is that a problem? There hasn’t been a peaceful moment since this gold plated ass was sworn in. We can handle this.
11Trump never met a tradition or norm he wouldn’t push through. What would be much funnier than seeing him forcibly removed would be for him to barricade himself in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., all full of bluster, and the world just ignores him. The new president moves into Blair House, Congress ignores the Pretender except for a few die-hards, the press forgets about him, and five years later some human interest story reminds us he’s still there, red-faced and shouting about he’s still president, and the whole country laughs at the dotty old guy.
12I believe he will refuse to vacate office even if there is clear evidence that he lost the popular election. Even he lost the electoral college there will be an attempt to invalidate the result (doesn’t take much imagination on how he will try to invalidate the process). Additionally, there are now a significant enough number of government officials who support him to make the bureaucracy sufficiently averse to a smooth transition that does not agree with his vision. There is also a 30-40% portion of the voters who will support him no matter what he does. Even if only 15% of the population are willing to take violent action to back the current occupant of the office….we are in for a very, very rough transition to something new.
There are appear too many people in the US population who no longer seem to be able to link thoughts together in any rational way.
In any biological system, if an organism becomes too successful, there is a self-limiter built into the system. Usually catastrophic in nature (see dinosaurs, any bacteria that overtakes a host, etc).
I really hope I am wrong and that a lack of sleep an insufficient coffee is affecting my thought process this morning.
13i though this no brainer recently, it has only a single answer…
14what kind of books will be found in the trump presidential library?? COMIC BOOKS
I worry more about what he will do between the lost election and the inauguration of the new president. He is totally consumed with revenge and the damage he could do the country in 2 1/2 months is significant as he doesn’t care if he destroys the country.
15I don’t think there’ll be a problem getting Trump out of the White House. He doesn’t get to choose whether he wins or not. The numbers speak for themselves. Once the votes are counted, hold the Inauguration, then he’s just an ordinary citizen, trespassing on Federal land. Send in the marshalls to arrest him. As craven as they all have been so far I don’t believe the rest of his crew will go along on this ride. Except maybe Lewindowsky, but he can be arrested too at that point.
16I had this sudden image of Madame DeFarge knitting in from of a guillotine. I wonder if I will get to see Trump metaphorically marched in front of me to his end?
17@ BillR #16, I think you are right. How Laurence O’Donnell explained it to Bill Maher is that there have been a handful of presidents that never conceded – it wasn’t necessary. The oath of office is given anyways and the new president is now THE president. The Orange Turd will no longer be relevant. Secret Service will be ordered to remove him.
18At 12:00 noon on January 20th, 2021, if Fat Donnie lost the election, he will be gone. Out of the White House, out of office, out of time.
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