[jimjam]

trump's refusal to wear a mask is a "subtle" que to his heavily armed storm troopers. Masks have cleverly been turned into a symbol of hatred and anger from a common sense protection against a deadly virus. Wear a mask? You are a spineless "liberal" coastal elite. Don't wear a mask? You are a true American standing up for freedom and the constitution. trump's Divide and Conquer 101 technique is really quite effective. I'll grant the man, he is a genius …. an evil genius but a genius just the same.

Does anyone believe that trump will concede the election on November 4th graciously? He claimed he was defrauded the last time---when he won. So after he disavows the validity of the 2020 election, what do we think his armed MAGAs will do? Will the police uphold the rule of law? Does America even stand a chance of avoiding the anarchy that Trump will bring with his defeat?

Well America, you had a good run but your future as a democracy where folks respected each other's right to have differing opinions is in doubt. I am forever grateful that I lived in America when she WAS great. I had the great years.

Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it. Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them

[quetzalcoatl]

I've talked to checkers in grocery stores. It's getting intense. Most people are okay, but there's a subset of angry people who want to shout and get in your face.

Does anyone believe that trump will concede the election on November 4th graciously? He claimed he was defrauded the last time---when he won. So after he disavows the validity of the 2020 election, what do we think his armed MAGAs will do? Will the police uphold the rule of law? Does America even stand a chance of avoiding the anarchy that Trump will bring with his defeat?

My standard joke is that Trump will be the last President of the United States. This is only partially a joke. I see the US either cracking up USSR-style, or (at the minimum) ceding a lot of autonomy.

Incidentally, Trump doesn't have to "cancel" the election. All he has to do is convince a sufficient number of GOP state legislatures to assign their EC electors to him - this is a totally legal procedure, as far as I can see. It would effectively nullify the election.

[SolarCross]

This is only partially a joke. I see the US either cracking up USSR-style, or (at the minimum) ceding a lot of autonomy.

I do not understand what you mean by "ceding a lot of autonomy", who would they cede it to?

[late]

I do not understand what you mean by "ceding a lot of automomy", who would they cede it to?

I suspect he means the empire falling apart, which has already started.

[jimjam]

My parents were born in the early 1900's. They were teenagers in the depression and a young married couple in WWII. I often asked them "How did you get through all that, the economic insecurity, the food rationing, the blackouts at night(they lived on the west coast}, the gas and rubber rationing, It must have been terrible.
They would calmly say, "you just lived day by day, you adjusted, everyone else was going through the same thing, you just had to be grateful that you were alive and anything else was a bonus." You learned to appreciate the little things."
I think of them when I see supposedly grown up men and women talk about what a burden wearing a mask is, that it is a untolerable denial of their right as Americans. I used to chafe a little bit at the term "the greatest generation." Seeing some of the idiocy, selfishness, and lack of concern for the life of others going on today makes me appreciate my parents more and more, and makes me ashamed of how we are responding to our current crisis.

[late]

My parents were born in the early 1900's. They were teenagers in the depression and a young married couple in WWII. I often asked them "How did you get through all that, the economic insecurity, the food rationing, the blackouts at night(they lived on the west coast}, the gas and rubber rationing, It must have been terrible.
They would calmly say, "you just lived day by day, you adjusted, everyone else was going through the same thing, you just had to be grateful that you were alive and anything else was a bonus." You learned to appreciate the little things."
I think of them when I see supposedly grown up men and women talk about what a burden wearing a mask is, that it is a untolerable denial of their right as Americans. I used to chafe a little bit at the term "the greatest generation." Seeing some of the idiocy, selfishness, and lack of concern for the life of others going on today makes me appreciate my parents more and more, and makes me ashamed of how we are responding to our current crisis.

I grew up in my grandparents house, with them and Mom.

One of them was born in 1900, so they were just a bit older. I know what you mean.

My Dad and Stepdad were in WW2, and my Stepdad had a lot of shrapnel in him.

The crazies call themselves conservative, they don't even know what it means.

[quetzalcoatl]

I suspect he means the empire falling apart, which has already started.

I do mean that, of course.

I also see internal conflicts weakening federal hegemony over states and municipalities. This hegemony peaked around LBJ/Nixon and has been declining since. The source of federal power has been its sovereign currency (and the resulting fiscal space). At some point, I expect regional financial "instruments" to be introduced, not denominated in the US dollar. This is a critical point, as it would allow a significant degree of independence from Congressional austerity hawks and/or the central banking system.

The fed-gov's control of the military and the national security apparatus will slow but not stop this dis-integration.