still dodging a bullet: the near death experience of Trumpist calls for martial law
We were closer than one thinks to what can still happen without stronger Congressional action, namely an anti-democratic authoritarian regime that resembles a republic in name only. There were seven new Trump election lawsuits filed today.
‘Temporarily Suspend the Constitution’ and Impose Martial Law
There was a great piece by Susan Rice in NYT yesterday about this:https://t.co/fccPJKNtlQ
— Thinking out random (@AlsoGrateful) December 2, 2020
First, the Trump campaign labored (largely in vain) to concoct bogus conspiracy theories to discredit Mr. Biden by falsely smearing his son Hunter. To do so, Mr. Trump and his associates solicited foreign assistance from Ukraine and China and relied on Russian agents to disseminate disinformation.Second, Trump supporters worked assiduously to suppress the vote by denigrating the legitimacy of mail-in ballots during a pandemic, limiting access to ballot drop-boxes and polling stations, flooding social media with messaging to dampen minority voter turnout, blasting robocalls to deceive voters about where and when to vote and manipulating the postal system to delay ballot delivery.
Third, some of Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters intimidated voters at the polls. Heeding calls to “stand by” and “go into the polls and watch very carefully,” they deployed, sometimes armed, in Black and brown communities under the guise of ensuring no fraudulent votes were cast.
Fourth, in the run-up to Election Day, Mr. Trump dispatched an army of litigants to enlist the courts in curtailing access to the polls. Since the election, his legal team has tried repeatedly to halt ballot counting and toss out legitimately cast votes that most likely favored Mr. Biden. Ultimately, Mr. Trump summoned Michigan’s Republican leaders to the White House, apparently in an attempt to coax the state’s Legislature into unilaterally appointing Trump electors.
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So, bolstering our democracy depends in large part on the people of Georgia voting out their incumbent senators on Jan. 5. If the Senate flips to Democratic control, Congress will be able to apply the lessons of our democracy’s near-death experience.
It would enact the For the People Act to combat corruption, strengthen ethics rules and improve voter access as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore the protections of the 1965 legislation. Congress would pass the Protecting Our Democracy Act to constrain the power of future presidents who deem themselves above the law and finally adopt long-stalled legislation to shore up our election infrastructure against adversaries, foreign or domestic.
Now is no time for self-congratulation or complacency. We must act with the unique urgency and courage of those who know they are living on borrowed time.
America inspired the fascist movements of the 20th century. We were linked directly to the Third Reich in ideology and laws. Burying and denying this has only allowed anti democratic sentiments to fester and grow, leading us to this point of crisis.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) December 2, 2020
3/
Big pro-authoritarian energy in Trumpland today:
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) December 2, 2020
The president's (recently pardoned) former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, shared a message encouraging President Trump to "temporarily suspend the Constitution," impose martial law and "silence the destructive media." pic.twitter.com/cQh0wl7oWw
Flynn endorsed manifesto calling on Trump “to immediately declare a limited form of Martial Law and temporarily suspend the Constitution and civilian control of these federal elections for the sole purpose of having the military oversee a national re-vote.”https://t.co/00CPRZEKex
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) December 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/FridaGhitis/status/1334172927734984708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Enough with elected officials that Welcome QAnon terrorists.
— VivianaMT (@Meidas_Viviana) December 3, 2020
Say No to Kelly Loeffler
Say No to David Perdue#StopTeamQ https://t.co/J0EFtTgNRC
