Today Americans were roiled by an article in The Atlantic, detailing the method by which the Trump campaign is planning to steal the 2020 election. The article was slated for The Atlantic’s November issue, but the editor decided to release it early because of its importance.
It’s important for us to equip ourselves to prevent the illegal takeover of our country. We can’t allow ourselves to fall into a state of helplessness and despair. We must be disciplined and follow a plan.
In any war of words...or worse...the choice of the form, text and themes for propaganda put out by the "enemy" is always extremely interesting for what it reveals about them and their view of the state of play. That the article was a juicy "mouse trap" for the Atlantic Journalist I have no doubt, but it was not necessarily all lies. The journalist was of course doing his job ...and doing it very well at that.
What the article says to me is that Trump/GOP has given up on even being seen to win on Nov 3rd and considers that it will indicate a Biden victory even without mail-in votes....which they will hope to have declared invalid as "obviously" tainted by Democrat's fraud and challenge every contrary vote as they indicate. The "kindly" legal adviser to Trump then gives the path that they would like this to follow from their cloned State Assemblies to their recently "cleansed" SCOTUS...and they would expect it to go their way despite significant recent judgements against them. Firstly, their plan adds fuel to the fire that is incinerating the legitimacy of an indirect election process for POTUS but it also adds more elements to the plans for much needed reforms....like getting rid of the States' power to invalidate the election and name their own choices.
Logic would suggest also that they would also challenge at the same time every Senatorial election they lost to ensure that McConnell was safe and the Senate would not become a centre of resistance. They won't necessarily waste any money on the House of Representatives as they believe they can ignore it anyway in the first instance and do away with it afterwards!
It also gives, on the one hand, a degree of confidence to the Biden camp that, as the polls suggest constantly, they are progressing in every part of the field of battle but, on the other hand, it is a warning that their will be no holds "Barred", no moral repugnance at any level of baseness, no stone unturned....but that we know already. Plans need to be made to counter every move laid out in the articleand and in many others like it ...and they were kind enough to give us a detailed foretaste....but I'm sure Biden is already knows it. The enemy does not have the monopoly on brainy strategists, tacticians and lawyers and most evidently their effective army is much smaller than the one the Democrats could put in the field to block the every move. If the Democrats can summon the same level of intense motivation and dedication to the cause...or greater...than their opposition and get their troops out there moving under the direction of daring and intrepid generals..then they will come through to a stunning victory...that's how we win wars. Time for structured action as well as intelligent words...just caring and bemoaning the iniquity is never enough! Time to redouble efforts to infect your neighbours with your active enthusiasm and get them out there too alongside you.
Despite the despair that Trump's comments bring, the good news is that he has dispelled any doubt about his intentions. We now know the game and the stakes. Trump will attempt a coup if he thinks he will lose. At all costs. The unthinkable has arrived at our doorsteps.
Bart Geller says, at the end of his worrisome article, that people should vote in person and, if they are at relatively low risk for Covid 19, volunteer to work the polls. I would add that if we wish to produce an election day landslide for Biden, we should assure our mail in ballots are early in states that count them as they come in, that we use the early voting in person option, and that we literally hold our noses, mask up, and vote on election day if we haven't taken advantage of the first two options. This election is going to be won by having the vote reflect the country's growing disgust with the Trump administration. Blue Wave!
THIS: “Trump’s statement is abhorrent, indeed; but the future remains unwritten.“
I refuse to be frightened nor give up hope. That is what President Trump desires. (Thank you, Heather. You are balm to our fears.)
Remain diligent about voting, getting out the vote, etc. We can and will defeat President Trump. Slow and steady is the course, my fellow Heather-loving peeps!
Thank you HCR and Atlantic. Journalism at work to bring the facts to an American public under assault. Can anyone explain what Nancy Pelosi and the Dems are doing strategically to counter and prepare for these threats? I know she isn’t a good public speaking figure. But isn’t there some benefit to screaming 😱 to acting to say this is really bad, terrible changes are coming if a SCOTUS is replaced now? All of us have to be prepared to show a little courage to save our country? Be courageous? Continuing to read Biden’s position papers, writing, donating now when it counts, and phone banking. Planing to walk my ballot in and take to the streets at the age of 70! ❤️🤍💙
Please vote, and if you can figure out a way to safely get to a polling place, so as to not to mail in your ballot, please consider doing so.
While the efficacy of mail-in voting is being attacked, the fact remains, that any mail-in votes, won’t even begin to be counted, until after ELECTION DAY!
I for one, don’t plan to add to the uncertainty of this presidential election outcome, by mailing in my ballot, which then won’t even be counted, until a week after the polls officially close.
That sounds like a total recipe for disaster, to me.
Lastly, I only recently learned that in New York State, for the first time in state history, NY state is allowing early voting at many, specifically designated, polling places, starting on Saturday, October 24.
While this would be a great way to celebrate my actual birthday, I digress, let’s not make this all about me.
I plan to be casting my vote in New York State for the next President of the United States, on Monday October 26th, 2020.
If you’re in New York State and you didn’t know about this, now you do, so please look into it further.
If you are not a resident of New York State, please, please, look into the possibility of any early voting options that may exist in your state.
Of course, you could always cast your ballot on November 3. That is still an option.
Please remember, if you can cast an early vote, or an actual vote on election day, that’s going to be a lot more beneficial to the legitimacy of this upcoming elections, than a mail in vote would be.
Please help me circulate this information on the opportunities for early voting that exist across the United States of America.
The frightening aspect to this isn't Trump, it's all those, especially the "legal" team, openly conspiring to torpedo a national election. The thunderous silence of congressional Republicans literally makes my skin crawl. It is self-evident that all of these people are convinced Trump can't win an open, honest election; so the will of the people be damned.
These people are openly, overtly, planning an American coup d'etat.
Thank you, Heather, for addressing both of these stories. I was initially quite distressed about the Atlantic story until I read a Twitter comment pointing out that it was a trump adviser who gave information for it. Why now? So, somewhat less concerned but still worried. Then came the transfer of power comment. But then another reminder that he wants us to believe that all is lost because it suits his purposes. And now your reminder that the future isn’t written yet. And now I can sleep.
So, the Electoral College, the failsafe of the White, Aristocratic (slave owning) Founders of this Republic, designed to prevent the unwashed masses from electing an Idiot, and which not only failed that task twice in my lifetime, will now be the tool of the unthinking masses to destroy this Republic.
I was born at the end of WWII, (the day after FDR won his 4th term). The Nazis and the Axis powers that threw the world into such deadly discord were about to be defeated. Now, ¾ of a century later we have gone full circle to the beginning of another lawless, violent regime about to wrest the legitimate government of the U.S. from We The People.
Oh well, at least the perplexing mystery of how a progressive, civilized nation like Germany could transform into an insane, fascist dictatorship has been solved as we watch it happening here. And, it only took 4 years to go from progress to ruin. I fear for the world of my grandchildren.
I will vote. I volunteered to be an election judge. I will help people get to the polls. But I think any of the people connected to me who once were rational conservatives have stopped reading my posts on social media. I wish I knew of something else I could do. If I were more creative, I’d write a song with a catchy, dramatic tune about what’s happening. Maybe we can find out where the danger will be and just stand as nonviolent, peaceful sentry like the wall of moms in Portland.
I live in the swingiest part of a swing state - a small college city surrounded by rural districts. I feel you are overly optimustic. Yes, we are "blue" in town, but step one foot up or down the river and, as one friend noted, it's not just a sea of Trump signs, it's a never-ending sea of Trump SHRINES (and, I have heard, "patriot militias"). Yesterday, on my way home from working at our county's Dem party HQ, a solitary affair because of COVID restrictions and the lack of ANY Biden signs or buttons or stickers, I followed a large truck festooned with a 4x6 (at least) American flag on a pole stuck into the left rear bumper and a giant TRUMP flag stuck into the right rear bumper. It was like being in a nightmare parade. Because our brilliant news geniuses report elections like sports events and vote totals as if dirt could vote (using geographical maps), when our state's votes are reported, we have the visuals of a huge patch of red with a few small dots of blue. If they would use CARTOGRAMS, maps that can depict the sizes of populations of each district or county, we would see big splashes of blue with pimples of red. But, because they never use cartograms, it's easy for rural Republican voters to get the impression that there are far more of them than of Democrats and that our state's hyper-gerrymandered voting districts make things more fair. I also feel the Biden campaign is going down the HRC path of kicking the enthusiasm out of young progressives for whom Green New Deal, M4A, and #BLM are top, motivating issues. Some (wrongly, I believe) think voting for a Green presidential candidate and progressives down ballot will send a message to Dems and neutralize Trump in a second term.(https://www.wiscontext.org/cartogram-wisconsins-2018-election-governor)
Many states begin counting absentee and mailed-in ballots well before November 3. To learn what your state will be doing this year year, check out this chart, and please share within your own circles of influence.
To all the words on nonviolent protest. YES. ONLY nonviolent. BUT the Democrats must lawyer up and confront the GOP goon squad lawyers. The Dems failed in 2000 Florida and 2016 Flint MI. this is a battle. And it’s not just Trump. The GOP is fully involved.
Reading the recent responses to Professor Richardson’s excellent encapsulation of each day’s most important news on the civic and governmental front, I’ve been saddened by the discouraged, woeful emotions expressed. There certainly is much that’s been reported that might be characterized as gloom and doom, and this morning’s “Letter” might be the most daunting yet.
It is only realistic to expect the chaos we’ve endured these past four years to intensify, and it is all too possible that it may lead to insurrection and, ultimately, anarchy. But I’ve recently come upon some encouraging material that I think offers a more constructive and hopeful outlook. These articles/projects offer very credible information that could inform our vital and necessary neo-Reconstruction efforts in the months and years ahead.
I’ll be extremely interested in your reactions to these articles.
My take, for what it’s worth, is that there are numerous opportunities for us to become involved in creating a bright, viable and sustainable future. We just need to search them out, and when we discover the ideal project or process, cast our lot with like-minded activists and begin the arduous but rewarding task of rebuilding our society, this time truly in the likeness of the glorious language of the Founders.
By the way...Some of you might have read my little — alright, not so little — rant in response to Professor Richardson’s Sept. 8 Letter… . My primary point was that any attempt that we make to rescue our homeland will be doomed to failure if we do not make racial justice, and social justice in general, the hallmark of our efforts.
It’s time to band together and begin creating a world that’s only been dreamed of by our forbearers. We’ve got plenty of lemons; so let’s make the biggest batch of the best lemonade the human race has ever tasted!
It’s important for us to equip ourselves to prevent the illegal takeover of our country. We can’t allow ourselves to fall into a state of helplessness and despair. We must be disciplined and follow a plan.
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2020/09/10-things-you-need-to-know-to-stop-a-coup/
In any war of words...or worse...the choice of the form, text and themes for propaganda put out by the "enemy" is always extremely interesting for what it reveals about them and their view of the state of play. That the article was a juicy "mouse trap" for the Atlantic Journalist I have no doubt, but it was not necessarily all lies. The journalist was of course doing his job ...and doing it very well at that.
What the article says to me is that Trump/GOP has given up on even being seen to win on Nov 3rd and considers that it will indicate a Biden victory even without mail-in votes....which they will hope to have declared invalid as "obviously" tainted by Democrat's fraud and challenge every contrary vote as they indicate. The "kindly" legal adviser to Trump then gives the path that they would like this to follow from their cloned State Assemblies to their recently "cleansed" SCOTUS...and they would expect it to go their way despite significant recent judgements against them. Firstly, their plan adds fuel to the fire that is incinerating the legitimacy of an indirect election process for POTUS but it also adds more elements to the plans for much needed reforms....like getting rid of the States' power to invalidate the election and name their own choices.
Logic would suggest also that they would also challenge at the same time every Senatorial election they lost to ensure that McConnell was safe and the Senate would not become a centre of resistance. They won't necessarily waste any money on the House of Representatives as they believe they can ignore it anyway in the first instance and do away with it afterwards!
It also gives, on the one hand, a degree of confidence to the Biden camp that, as the polls suggest constantly, they are progressing in every part of the field of battle but, on the other hand, it is a warning that their will be no holds "Barred", no moral repugnance at any level of baseness, no stone unturned....but that we know already. Plans need to be made to counter every move laid out in the articleand and in many others like it ...and they were kind enough to give us a detailed foretaste....but I'm sure Biden is already knows it. The enemy does not have the monopoly on brainy strategists, tacticians and lawyers and most evidently their effective army is much smaller than the one the Democrats could put in the field to block the every move. If the Democrats can summon the same level of intense motivation and dedication to the cause...or greater...than their opposition and get their troops out there moving under the direction of daring and intrepid generals..then they will come through to a stunning victory...that's how we win wars. Time for structured action as well as intelligent words...just caring and bemoaning the iniquity is never enough! Time to redouble efforts to infect your neighbours with your active enthusiasm and get them out there too alongside you.
Despite the despair that Trump's comments bring, the good news is that he has dispelled any doubt about his intentions. We now know the game and the stakes. Trump will attempt a coup if he thinks he will lose. At all costs. The unthinkable has arrived at our doorsteps.
Bart Geller says, at the end of his worrisome article, that people should vote in person and, if they are at relatively low risk for Covid 19, volunteer to work the polls. I would add that if we wish to produce an election day landslide for Biden, we should assure our mail in ballots are early in states that count them as they come in, that we use the early voting in person option, and that we literally hold our noses, mask up, and vote on election day if we haven't taken advantage of the first two options. This election is going to be won by having the vote reflect the country's growing disgust with the Trump administration. Blue Wave!
THIS: “Trump’s statement is abhorrent, indeed; but the future remains unwritten.“
I refuse to be frightened nor give up hope. That is what President Trump desires. (Thank you, Heather. You are balm to our fears.)
Remain diligent about voting, getting out the vote, etc. We can and will defeat President Trump. Slow and steady is the course, my fellow Heather-loving peeps!
Sending love and peace from Texas. ❤️ 🇱🇷❤️
Thank you HCR and Atlantic. Journalism at work to bring the facts to an American public under assault. Can anyone explain what Nancy Pelosi and the Dems are doing strategically to counter and prepare for these threats? I know she isn’t a good public speaking figure. But isn’t there some benefit to screaming 😱 to acting to say this is really bad, terrible changes are coming if a SCOTUS is replaced now? All of us have to be prepared to show a little courage to save our country? Be courageous? Continuing to read Biden’s position papers, writing, donating now when it counts, and phone banking. Planing to walk my ballot in and take to the streets at the age of 70! ❤️🤍💙
40 Days
UNTIL ELECTION DAY !!!
Please vote, and if you can figure out a way to safely get to a polling place, so as to not to mail in your ballot, please consider doing so.
While the efficacy of mail-in voting is being attacked, the fact remains, that any mail-in votes, won’t even begin to be counted, until after ELECTION DAY!
I for one, don’t plan to add to the uncertainty of this presidential election outcome, by mailing in my ballot, which then won’t even be counted, until a week after the polls officially close.
That sounds like a total recipe for disaster, to me.
Lastly, I only recently learned that in New York State, for the first time in state history, NY state is allowing early voting at many, specifically designated, polling places, starting on Saturday, October 24.
While this would be a great way to celebrate my actual birthday, I digress, let’s not make this all about me.
I plan to be casting my vote in New York State for the next President of the United States, on Monday October 26th, 2020.
If you’re in New York State and you didn’t know about this, now you do, so please look into it further.
If you are not a resident of New York State, please, please, look into the possibility of any early voting options that may exist in your state.
Of course, you could always cast your ballot on November 3. That is still an option.
Please remember, if you can cast an early vote, or an actual vote on election day, that’s going to be a lot more beneficial to the legitimacy of this upcoming elections, than a mail in vote would be.
Please help me circulate this information on the opportunities for early voting that exist across the United States of America.
The frightening aspect to this isn't Trump, it's all those, especially the "legal" team, openly conspiring to torpedo a national election. The thunderous silence of congressional Republicans literally makes my skin crawl. It is self-evident that all of these people are convinced Trump can't win an open, honest election; so the will of the people be damned.
These people are openly, overtly, planning an American coup d'etat.
Thank you, Heather, for addressing both of these stories. I was initially quite distressed about the Atlantic story until I read a Twitter comment pointing out that it was a trump adviser who gave information for it. Why now? So, somewhat less concerned but still worried. Then came the transfer of power comment. But then another reminder that he wants us to believe that all is lost because it suits his purposes. And now your reminder that the future isn’t written yet. And now I can sleep.
So, the Electoral College, the failsafe of the White, Aristocratic (slave owning) Founders of this Republic, designed to prevent the unwashed masses from electing an Idiot, and which not only failed that task twice in my lifetime, will now be the tool of the unthinking masses to destroy this Republic.
I was born at the end of WWII, (the day after FDR won his 4th term). The Nazis and the Axis powers that threw the world into such deadly discord were about to be defeated. Now, ¾ of a century later we have gone full circle to the beginning of another lawless, violent regime about to wrest the legitimate government of the U.S. from We The People.
Oh well, at least the perplexing mystery of how a progressive, civilized nation like Germany could transform into an insane, fascist dictatorship has been solved as we watch it happening here. And, it only took 4 years to go from progress to ruin. I fear for the world of my grandchildren.
I will vote. I volunteered to be an election judge. I will help people get to the polls. But I think any of the people connected to me who once were rational conservatives have stopped reading my posts on social media. I wish I knew of something else I could do. If I were more creative, I’d write a song with a catchy, dramatic tune about what’s happening. Maybe we can find out where the danger will be and just stand as nonviolent, peaceful sentry like the wall of moms in Portland.
I live in the swingiest part of a swing state - a small college city surrounded by rural districts. I feel you are overly optimustic. Yes, we are "blue" in town, but step one foot up or down the river and, as one friend noted, it's not just a sea of Trump signs, it's a never-ending sea of Trump SHRINES (and, I have heard, "patriot militias"). Yesterday, on my way home from working at our county's Dem party HQ, a solitary affair because of COVID restrictions and the lack of ANY Biden signs or buttons or stickers, I followed a large truck festooned with a 4x6 (at least) American flag on a pole stuck into the left rear bumper and a giant TRUMP flag stuck into the right rear bumper. It was like being in a nightmare parade. Because our brilliant news geniuses report elections like sports events and vote totals as if dirt could vote (using geographical maps), when our state's votes are reported, we have the visuals of a huge patch of red with a few small dots of blue. If they would use CARTOGRAMS, maps that can depict the sizes of populations of each district or county, we would see big splashes of blue with pimples of red. But, because they never use cartograms, it's easy for rural Republican voters to get the impression that there are far more of them than of Democrats and that our state's hyper-gerrymandered voting districts make things more fair. I also feel the Biden campaign is going down the HRC path of kicking the enthusiasm out of young progressives for whom Green New Deal, M4A, and #BLM are top, motivating issues. Some (wrongly, I believe) think voting for a Green presidential candidate and progressives down ballot will send a message to Dems and neutralize Trump in a second term.(https://www.wiscontext.org/cartogram-wisconsins-2018-election-governor)
Many states begin counting absentee and mailed-in ballots well before November 3. To learn what your state will be doing this year year, check out this chart, and please share within your own circles of influence.
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-mail-voting-policies-in-effect-for-the-2020-election.aspx
To all the words on nonviolent protest. YES. ONLY nonviolent. BUT the Democrats must lawyer up and confront the GOP goon squad lawyers. The Dems failed in 2000 Florida and 2016 Flint MI. this is a battle. And it’s not just Trump. The GOP is fully involved.
Thank you! A great list of non-violent actions in anticipation of a coup: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2020/09/10-things-you-need-to-know-to-stop-a-coup/?fbclid=IwAR0dOG5lVdDbTMN0lc17hEucP93x8XCrrm6EqAfc6wUpxqKQPNseOj6t6i0
Reading the recent responses to Professor Richardson’s excellent encapsulation of each day’s most important news on the civic and governmental front, I’ve been saddened by the discouraged, woeful emotions expressed. There certainly is much that’s been reported that might be characterized as gloom and doom, and this morning’s “Letter” might be the most daunting yet.
It is only realistic to expect the chaos we’ve endured these past four years to intensify, and it is all too possible that it may lead to insurrection and, ultimately, anarchy. But I’ve recently come upon some encouraging material that I think offers a more constructive and hopeful outlook. These articles/projects offer very credible information that could inform our vital and necessary neo-Reconstruction efforts in the months and years ahead.
I’ll be extremely interested in your reactions to these articles.
https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report
https://theconversation.com/american-society-teaches-everyone-to-be-racist-but-you-can-rewrite-subconscious-stereotypes-141676
https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2020/09/16/pandemic-capitalism-life-economy
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
https://www.weforum.org/great-reset/
https://theconversation.com/want-the-youth-vote-some-college-students-are-still-up-for-grabs-in-november-146072
My take, for what it’s worth, is that there are numerous opportunities for us to become involved in creating a bright, viable and sustainable future. We just need to search them out, and when we discover the ideal project or process, cast our lot with like-minded activists and begin the arduous but rewarding task of rebuilding our society, this time truly in the likeness of the glorious language of the Founders.
By the way...Some of you might have read my little — alright, not so little — rant in response to Professor Richardson’s Sept. 8 Letter… . My primary point was that any attempt that we make to rescue our homeland will be doomed to failure if we do not make racial justice, and social justice in general, the hallmark of our efforts.
It’s time to band together and begin creating a world that’s only been dreamed of by our forbearers. We’ve got plenty of lemons; so let’s make the biggest batch of the best lemonade the human race has ever tasted!