berg80
Diamond Member
- Oct 28, 2017
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........going on in the country about the seriousness and methods of trump trying to corrupt the midterms in favor of R's......................and it has the feel of normalcy because abnormality is an every day event. Something that in and of itself is off the chain dangerous.
These remarks have caused understandable concern, but they are empty threats. Mr. Trump’s power depends on the appearance of winning elections, and he knows it. He’s obsessed with convincing the world he won in 2020. And control over elections is dispersed among thousands of officials across the country, making cancellation impossible.
But more to the point, it’s election subversion, not cancellation, that is the real authoritarian move. The goal is to keep elections going but without unseating those in power.
Look around the world. Vladimir Putin hasn’t canceled an election. Iran has regular elections. In the 21st century, the name of the game is “competitive authoritarianism,” in which democratic institutions and elections persist, but are hollowed out by authoritarian incumbents. Elections — even if they’re rigged — give rulers legitimacy.
Mr. Trump’s call last week to “nationalize” elections — arguing that Republicans should “take over” voting — more closely reflects how he could subvert the electoral system. The president has no lawful authority for such a takeover: Under our Constitution, states and Congress set the rules that govern elections. Under our laws, state and local officials run our elections. Still, his administration has taken dozens of actions to undermine elections that, together, show that an attempted election “takeover” may be underway.
Every congressional R, every conservative person with a microphone, every conservative media outlet, should be decrying even the most subtle suggestion the elections should be tampered with (the gerrymandering scheme) let alone canceled. Instead, R's like Gov. Abbott and the TX legislature obeyed his call to rig the system. Other R controlled states followed. The unspeakable has been spoken and R's barely batted a eye.
Advocacy for and support of trump's policies can't be more important than the sanctity of fair elections. Can they?
Trump Says He Wants to Cancel Elections, but Here Is the Real Threat
President Trump has dropped unsubtle hints about his desire to cancel the November elections. “We have to even run against these people,” he said in a speech last month. “I won’t say cancel the election; they should cancel the election.” Mr. Trump didn’t stop there. “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election,” he mused a week later.These remarks have caused understandable concern, but they are empty threats. Mr. Trump’s power depends on the appearance of winning elections, and he knows it. He’s obsessed with convincing the world he won in 2020. And control over elections is dispersed among thousands of officials across the country, making cancellation impossible.
But more to the point, it’s election subversion, not cancellation, that is the real authoritarian move. The goal is to keep elections going but without unseating those in power.
Look around the world. Vladimir Putin hasn’t canceled an election. Iran has regular elections. In the 21st century, the name of the game is “competitive authoritarianism,” in which democratic institutions and elections persist, but are hollowed out by authoritarian incumbents. Elections — even if they’re rigged — give rulers legitimacy.
Mr. Trump’s call last week to “nationalize” elections — arguing that Republicans should “take over” voting — more closely reflects how he could subvert the electoral system. The president has no lawful authority for such a takeover: Under our Constitution, states and Congress set the rules that govern elections. Under our laws, state and local officials run our elections. Still, his administration has taken dozens of actions to undermine elections that, together, show that an attempted election “takeover” may be underway.
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www.nytimes.com
Every congressional R, every conservative person with a microphone, every conservative media outlet, should be decrying even the most subtle suggestion the elections should be tampered with (the gerrymandering scheme) let alone canceled. Instead, R's like Gov. Abbott and the TX legislature obeyed his call to rig the system. Other R controlled states followed. The unspeakable has been spoken and R's barely batted a eye.
Advocacy for and support of trump's policies can't be more important than the sanctity of fair elections. Can they?
