"If Biden loses, 2020 will be the last remotely free and fair election we have for decades"

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1299305312256757761.html

The more I write about this, the more it becomes plain: if Biden loses, 2020 will be the last remotely free and fair election we have for decades, and certainly my lifetime. We are in the middle of an autocratic attempt, and it looks so much like Hungary's... 1/n

The courts are being packed with loyalists. Most state legislatures in swing states are gerrymandered beyond belief. The executive branch is gaining unitary power. The Dept of Justice is blatantly selectively applying the law to favor the autocrat. IGs are being destroyed 2/n

AGs are being replaced. Congress is no longer a check on corruption, as the Senate has been captured by Trump loyalists. RBG is in bad shape. Ditto Breyer. Hybrid regimes (competitive authoritarianism) are remarkably stable. This is why 2020 is for all the marbles. 3/n

This is why I have no use for people who whinge about Biden/Harris not being far enough left for their tastes. They are under the mistaken belief that if Biden loses, they will have another chance to elect people that are far enough left for their liking. 4/n

The truth is, if Biden/Harris lose, there isn't going to be an opportunity to elect someone they like in their lifetime. Not without secession of blue states. That's the only plausible scenario I can come up with after the autocratic breakthrough. 5/n

The people who study autocracy are all singing the same tune: American Democracy is not strong enough to survive another 4 years. The guardrails are already almost completely down. This is entirely consistent with how others have fallen in the post-Cold War period. 6/n

Trump's intentions are clear. So are the GOP's. While Republicans are fear-mongering the hell out of this election, Democrats refuse to call what is happening what it is for fear of sounding alarmist. Maybe this helps their chances of election... 7/n

But it leaves the vast majority of the American public in the dark as to how incredibly dangerous this moment is. Especially with QAnon, a group that wants enemies thrown in concentration camps, inexorably capturing the Republican party even as it becomes autocratic. 8/n

Beware, be warned, or don't. Because once this election comes and goes, if Donald J. Trump is still President on January 21st, 2021, We're Fucked. Democracy in America is not coming back. 9/n

In most states, your vote no longer matters. We are rapidly approaching it at a federal level.

"You know that you are no longer living in a democracy because the elections in which you are participating no longer can yield political change" 10/n

[regnaD kciN]

1. I'd question one point...

As far as I'm concerned, if Biden loses, it will be because we didn't have a "remotely free and fair election" this time, either.

[soothsayer]

2. Or last time

[uponit7771]

3. AMEN!!

[Nevilledog]

4. Only the mere "appearance". I agree with you.

[Totally Tunsie]

6. Thank you.

My thought also.

[Yavin4]

9. Especially since every single poll since March 2019!! points to a Biden victory

Trump would need an epic comeback for the ages to win which would for the second time. Epic comebacks are rare and doing it twice is highly unusual without cheating.

[Yavin4]

5. THE most important quote of her post

This is why I have no use for people who whinge about Biden/Harris not being far enough left for their tastes. They are under the mistaken belief that if Biden loses, they will have another chance to elect people that are far enough left for their liking. The truth is, if Biden/Harris lose, there isn't going to be an opportunity to elect someone they like in their lifetime. Not without secession of blue states.

[abqtommy]

7. The American Revolution that spawned this country was an illegal act against the English

Crown. Time to think outside the legal box, folks...

[misanthrope]

8. I strongly concur

In the way I was sure on the morning of 9/11 that the catastrophe would advance the authoritarian state and erode civil liberties, I feel this is true.

In the way I was sure on the evening of Nov. 4, 2008 that the presence of Barack Obama in the White House was going to invigorate the nation's subsurface racism, I feel this is true.

In the way I was sure on the evening of Nov. 8, 2016, that America had taken a dangerous step into autocracy, that racial animosity and violence would increase, that political polarization would provide distraction for the Trump family's grifting and financial con games.

I have loved history all my life, even before I ever thought about its formal study as a college major. I've lived in the heart of a region determined to remain in the past, determined to re-litigate its facts and events. I've seen its flow, its rise and fall and tribulations.

I don't believe the United States as we know it can survive what lies ahead if Trump remains in power.

[unblock]

10. moreover, even if biden wins, we'll still have a ton of work to do to secure our democracy

the right wing will not go quietly. never mind any contesting of the election itself, even if we win that battle and biden becomes president, we'll have some major challenges rebuilding our institutions in a way that republicans can't just knock down if they win in 2024.

we may be in big trouble if we win the white house but fail to win the senate. republicans will block nominees, preventing us from fixing the courts, and delaying normal functioning of government. they won't pass any bill responsibly. and they'll investigate every molehill.

then they'll blame us for four years of neglect. and the next republican president will be every bit as authoritarian as donnie but likely much more capable of making it happen.

at that point, we're screwed.


so we have to work really hard to make sure biden wins; but then, the real work begins.

[GeorgeGist]

11. If Biden loses ...

it won't be a free and fair election.