Tag: Autocrats Never Lose

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If I had the means, I would leave the United States by the end of the week and never look back. But there’s one problem — I don’t have any money. I live in a state of perpetual poverty.

So. That’s a big problem.

But I do think that if — and this is a big if — Trump goes “full tyrant” on the citizens of the United States that some pretty big choices might be made for me — and millions of others. I might, in some way, become a political refugee simply because I simply refuse to shut the fuck up about how much I fucking hate MAGA.

I’m reading a book called “Death of Democracy” that talks about the end of the Weimar Republic and…well…it definitely reads like what’s going on right now. I will note that, as I keep saying, Trump is not Hitler in the sense that Hitler really was a “great man.”

Trump not a great man, but rather a vessel, an avatar for some structural problems with the American political system.

But, back to me.

As I keep saying, I’m going to throw myself back into working on a novel now. I’m not going to use social media that much for the time being. I just need to process what’s just happened in my own way.

But I have to accept that my life could very well be thrown up in the air if Trump goes nuts and goes full tyrant on us.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am still processing the fact that a malignant ding-dong like Trump won. Regardless of what the nattering nabobs of negativism may say, Kamala Harris ran a good campaign.

The issue is that the United States is a lot further down the road towards autocracy than any of us knew. So, there you go.

To me, the biggest issue at the moment going forward is what will be the reaction of Blues should Trump go “full tyrant.” If he would just ease us into being an autocratic state more like Hungary than Russia, then I think things would be fine.

But my fear is that Trump is so dumb and lazy that he will try to go from zero to 100 on the autocratic scale overnight and, well, that’s when there might be some problems. If Trump attempts to simply rule by decree the moment he becomes POTUS again, then there’s a real chance the country will buckle in some way and we’re going to have some sort of civil war.

I don’t want that, but it is something we have to contemplate going forward. But I am known to overthink things a great deal. As such, I think because of the collective temperament of Blues if nothing else, that lulz, Trump is going to turn us into something closer to Russia than Hungary.

But, remember, the counter-revolution that Trump is about to begin will be like all the others before it — it’s going to eat its young. Probably, specifically, the Jewish and gay members of its leadership.

It won’t happen immediately, but it will happen.

As for me, I’m just going to hunker down and work on my novels, etc.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Well, America 2024 is the Weimer Republic 1933. Who knew? Anyway, this election could very well dramatically change my life because I’m not fucking shutting up, no matter what.

So, there you go — even if ICE is weaponized and it used to come after people like me, well, I guess I got a problem.

It’s going to suck, but I know what I believe in.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If Trump wins tonight, I’m going to do what I did in late 2016 — just tune out. I’m not going to watch or listen to any media for a few months. I probably will focus all my attention on the novel(s) I have to work on.

Because I like to make my abstract fears concrete, I have a number of dark scenarios rolling around in my head, even if Trump loses. I fear that the next few months could be quite turbulent, no matter who wins.

But if Trump wins, oh boy. We really have a problem on our hands. Because Trump is so dumb and lazy, he could go “full tyrant” on us and the next thing you know, the country buckles and I become a domestic political refugee.

Hopefully, that won’t happen. Hopefully.

But if Trump wins, things are going to get pretty nuts, no matter what. For some reason, I have a hunch that if Trump wins, my life is going to change in a big way. I have no idea what that means, but it’s just a hunch.

I live in a really Red part of my state and so, lulz….maybe I’ll be forced out of my home as the country buckles into absolute Blue and absolute Red.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is an experiment. It’s and effort to distance myself from what might happen today by seeing it as a story to cover, rather than a life or death situation as it might be. (Ugh.) So, I can’t promise you that I will do a very good job, but I am going to do my best until I get distracted.

(I realize this makes more sense if I post things the opposite way I have been posting them.)

8:43 p.m.
Things are beginning to not look so great for Harris. So, I think I will end this liveblog for the night and just post individual posts instead. Even if he doesn’t win, this election is far closer than I could have possibly have imagine.

3:10 p.m.
Apparently, Steve Bannon has told Trump to just declare victory early in the night. If that happens, my fear is, of course, that MAGA will rush polling stations to stop the vote and then…oh boy.

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10:40 a.m.
The quiet before the storm. I’ve been keeping an eye on Twitter the last few hours and nothing much is going on. In fact, the thing I have noticed is how little is going on with Twitter. We’re all just treading water at the moment it seems. Though I must note that Steve fucking Bannon apparently — according to Twitter — has setup a new “War Room” in an undemocratic effort to overturn the election…again.

11:07 a.m.

11:19 a.m.
Jonah Goldberg’s punt:

11:29 a.m.
There seems to be some debate as to how many people have voted in the NOVA region of Virginia. MAGA is claiming no one is showing up, not taking into account how many liberals probably already voted early.

11:48 a.m

I have no idea what is going on. I am beginning to believe this election is going to be a lot closer than we might otherwise think. To the point that SCOTUS might get involved and, by definition, Trump wins. And I had such hope. Ugh.

12:14
Well, this is not cool. I continue to worry that election day is just the beginning of long, drawn out process between now and January 20th. Today could be just the beginning, rather than the end of how we figure out who the next POTUS is going to be.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s pretty bad when you can’t even reference things in the news because you’re afraid an app’s algorithm will freak out. But, here we are, one day before election day with that very problem.

Anyway, I can’t wait for all of this to be over. I don’t know if I’ll do much of anything on Election Day itself other than stew in my juices and worry.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In general, it’s looking more and more like the 2016 election of Donald Trump was something of a political historical fluke. Just the right set of conditions were in play at just the right moment for it happen. And Trump has been riding off of the fumes of that win since it happened.

This raises the question — if he loses AGAIN on Election Day 2024, what does that mean? One thing I don’t think it means is the end of MAGA. The political movement is such a force of political nature that what might happen is Trump fades while some new, young fascist slips in to take his place.

I say this because I think American democracy is on its last legs for various political, historical and economic reasons. So, even if Trump doesn’t turn us into a Hungary-style autocracy, someone else will soon enough.

One lingering fear I continue to have is that if Trump loses in a landslide that he is going to start ranting about the need for a National Divorce because Reds are “unwelcome” in the Union. I don’t really think he’s going to do such a thing, but I do worry about it.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I was at a nursing home recently when I overheard a visitor say something along the lines of, “You can’t vote for Kamala Harris, she’s the devil’s choice.”

Oh boy.

That doesn’t really encourage me that if Trump loses there won’t be significant political of some sort. Today, I was running in my mind one of the many dark scenarios that might happen if Harris wins and…oh boy. I can just imagine Virginia imploding into Red and Blue parts that want to destroy each other.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do, in practical terms, if something like that happens.