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John Hardman's avatar

“America was waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that one-third of our people will kill one-third of our people while one-third of our people watches.”

― Harlan Coben, The Boy from the Woods

I don't like the odds here... With 2/3 of the population either in denial or armed and out for "retribution", that leaves an out-gunned, disempowered minority scrambling for a solution other than head-on violent confrontation.

During the January 6 Insurrection, we witnessed what Trump and his cult are capable of, even without the full power of the presidency. We watch in horror and shock as individuals are snatched off the streets and sent to hellish gulags without due process. Imagine what happens when words turn to action and the full force of the MAGA furies are released.

Congress has been castrated, and the judiciary has no means of enforcement of the law. It is time to imagine actions to take if a domestic terrorist autocrat tears up the Constitution and replaces it with the "Project 2025" manifesto. I am open to suggestions. Will the cavalry arrive to "save the day" and would that need to involve a full military coup? What are our options?

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Stuart S's avatar

I think the most interesting point here, Mike, is:

18. Checks and balances only work if people honor them.

They are not self-executing. They depend on people choosing to uphold them.

A major part of my frustration with where we find ourselves is that there seems to be little accountability. There are laws for the common person that are heavily enforced (witness the massive number of incarcerations we have). For white color crime they are often enforced less. But then if you are the current President they are not enforced at all. We do not have clear mechanisms to ensure there will be a balance among the 3 branches of government, or that the President "presides" but does not dictate. I do not know what the mechanisms should be but we need them. This spot appears to be the "weakest link" right now in the chain that holds democracy together.

Notably when Obama needed to fill a SCOTUS position with a year to spare he could not because there was no clear mechanism to ensure that would happen. WTF.

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