Surely you don't believe any variant of that scenario? Plausible scenarios.
Most likely — trump wins, Dems retain House, frenzied hysteria on behalf of losers, chaos, perhaps serial impeachments, governmental semi-paralysis, T continues to reshape the judiciary. Total disdain for govenment "careerists" in Executive branch, and Trump's way or the highway for personnel. Less likely — trump loses, is escorted to Mar-A-Largo, Dems indulge in their own version of retaliation with T as a Greek chorus on Twitter 24-7 only to run again in 2024 and win in a massive landslide. Dems will NOT be able to learn from their mistakes and that is why they will inevitably go down in flames "next time." Least likely — trump wins and wins both houses of congress. Four years of unbearable gloating, dubious policies tempered with good policy. E.g. progress on global warming and climate change which T will see as a magnanimous gesture and legacy as opposed to concession to his enemies. The only possible examples of violent confrontation/conflict. Most likely — sanctimonious "gangster mentality" leftist groups attacking anyone who disagrees with them. Less likely but quite possible — armed standoffs ala Idaho and Nevada by anti-government right-wing fringe groups (but not racist groups like KKK). In either case, standard law enforcement will suffice to quell. davew On Sun, Feb 9, 2020, at 5:53 PM, thompnicks...@gmail.com wrote: > Well, Dave, I am not assuaged. Like you, I worry about the Next Guy, perhaps > Blumberg? The Marc Anthony, the Savior from the Center. Trump looses the > election by a slim margin, briongs his base, with their guns, into the > streets. Nobody wants the fight. Either he prevails and gets a third term, or > Blumberg comes in and tries to clear the streets. Mayhem. Martial Law. > > FWIW, read the following, courtesy of WIKIPEDIA, > > **Hitler rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Being > one of its best speakers, he was made leader after he threatened to leave > otherwise. He was aided in part by his willingness to use violence in > advancing his political objectives and to recruit party members who were > willing to do the same. The Beer Hall Putsch > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch> in November 1923 and the > later release of his book Mein Kampf > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf> (My Struggle) expanded Hitler's > audience. In the mid-1920s, the party engaged in electoral battles in which > Hitler participated as a speaker and organizer,[a] > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power#cite_note-citizenship-1> > as well as in street battles and violence between the Rotfrontkämpferbund > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotfrontk%C3%A4mpferbund> and the Nazis' > Sturmabteilung <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung> (SA). Through > the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Nazis gathered enough electoral support > to become the largest political party in the Reichstag, and Hitler's blend of > political acuity, deceptiveness, and cunning converted the party's > non-majority <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority> but plurality > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_(voting)> status into effective > governing power in the ailing Weimar Republic of 1933****** > I agree that chilling is a good thing. Better a cold fear than a hot one. > > Nick > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > thompnicks...@gmail.com > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Prof David West > *Sent:* Sunday, February 9, 2020 4:03 AM > *To:* friam@redfish.com > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Up and Out vs Down and in > > Nick, > > May I make a simple suggestion? > > Chill. > > I recall the conversations at FRIAM the months after mr. T was elected — > Apocalypse NOW! is a pretty accurate depiction. (And the same list of "safe > havens was presented then.) > > There is no conceivable path whereby the donald could become a dictator. > > The only way that any president could do so is if the electoral college were > eliminated and some parallel of the circumstances around the FDR era were in > place. The constitution could be quickly amended to allow more than two > terms, and off we go. I guarantee, if that were to happen it would be a > dictatorship of the left, not the right. > > I used to worry about an American Theocracy, but trump pretty much destroyed > the likelihood of that. > > As to how *"we use our considerable talent, skill, knowledge, resources, and > technical knowhow to do everything in our power to reverse the authoritarian > pandemic that is sweeping the world."* First, recognize that "there is no > pandemic; then figure out why almost half the electorate voted the way they > did. (It was not FOR trump.) > > it would not hurt to understand the difference between finite and infinite > games and apply that knowledge to an analysis of US politics since, circa, > 1900. > > davew > > > > On Sun, Feb 9, 2020, at 6:04 AM, thompnicks...@gmail.com wrote: >> All, >> >> I have a friend who reads a lot of history and thinks HARD about what he >> reads. For months he has been reassuring me about the state of American >> democracy because, as he said, Trump wasn’t a well focused dictator like >> Hitler. But I saw him last Monday and he asked me, with an air of genuine >> panic, “What do I do?” The reason for his new panic was his realization that >> Hitler had not always been a focused dictator, but had been entrained, over >> his career, to play just those themes that would rouse the German people to >> War. The impeachment process had convinced him that Trump was gradually >> developing the focus of a proper Hitler. >> >> So I passed the question he asked me onto the group on Friday. “What do we >> do?” What struck me was that many of us took the question to be, “where do >> we best escape to?” Options included New Zealand, Costa Rica, Bermuda, >> Canada, Italy, etc. These answers startled me, because, of course, the >> question I meant to be asking was, how do we use our considerable talent, >> skill, knowledge, resources, and technical knowhow to do everything in our >> power to reverse the authoritarian pandemic that is sweeping the world. >> >> Now some of you, perhaps many, that we in any kind of an emergency, or even >> if we are, that there is anything we might do about it, or even that there >> is any particular reason to save American democracy. I am happy to have that >> discussion, too. However, from those of you who share my panic, I would love >> to hear suggestions about what I (and others) might do in the next year . >> >> All the best, >> >> Nick >> >> >> >> Nicholas Thompson >> Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology >> Clark University >> thompnicks...@gmail.com >> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ >> >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >> > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
