Trump’s actions against the USPS I think go beyond voter suppression to stochastic terrorism.
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GWB vs Gore could be considered within the realm of benefit of doubt. This cannot. Mail-in voting offers enough leverage at the margins that increased friction could change not-even-close outcomes.
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Trump supporters who condone this go from being merely a structurally advantaged minority under the constitution to accessories to de facto treason. If you don’t believe your opponents should have the best possible chance to vote, you’re not democratic.
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Logical next step: moves to prevent extensions to in-person voting times to accommodate social distancing delays.
Cheating isn’t strategy. Those who cheat at games where the entire value rests on fair play are people with an unshakeable belief in their own fundamental loserdom.
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People who make naivecextrapolations based on non-pandemic year postal operations considered in isolation are being either naive or disingenuous. Many levers can be used by an unprincipled incumbent: stacked courts, a co-opted police force primed for selective enforcement...
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Suppression of journalistic presence at voting locations, strict selective enforcement of voting procedures against opponents, disinformation, paperwork snafus, false charges against opponents, fictitious or inflated c,aims of fraud against you...
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Armed intimidation, exploitation of inclement weather. Convenient “breakdowns” in public transportation.
People who think the only 2 ways to interfere with elections is by calling Putin or with fake votes have no idea how huge the creative canvas for cheating is.
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The only thing that prevents system-destroying levels of cheating is really just faith in the basic sanctity of the game, unwillingness to cheat (at least beyond a point of “everybody does it” things), and *wanting* to win fairly out of a minimal sense of self-worth and honor.
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I’m tired of people pretending that electoral systems can’t possibly break down radically when a) there’s plenty of precedent around the world b) there are actors in THIS system who are openly telegraphing that they are willing to do anything they can get away with to “win”
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There are very, very few guardrails for electoral processes even in advanced democracies. What allows the system to work is that people believe in it enough to *want* to work within it. Not elaborate “protections”. Most talk of process security is just concern trolling.
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Despite the legitimate distortions present in 2016 (electoral college, gerrymandering), it was a democratic outcome within the game as defined. Much as I detest him, Trump won fairly in 2016. I’m not sure I‘ll be able to say that about any 2020 outcome.
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Gen X is last generation to have a widespread interest in democracy as a truly interesting idea capable of opening up new human conditions less expressive political systems cannot get to. Millennials believe/disbelieve in it as a matter of values. Z’s seem to have given up on it
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