What Would Nellis Say?
Last Chance!
Polling suggests a blue wave will roll across the country as we approach the midterm elections and angry voters seize the opportunity to vent their frustration over Trump’s senseless war of choice in Iran; his lies, incompetence, and blatant and unprecedented corruption; his personal militia kidnapping and murdering innocent refugees without cause or legal justification; the perversion of the Supreme Court and our justice system; the elimination and decimation of our health care systems, nutritional supplements, and child welfare; the demolition of public education in favor of “Christian” charter schools and white supremacy; a Republican Congress that goes into recess every time they face a challenging vote; and the billions being spent on his vanity projects while he refuses to acknowledge or address the basic needs of working Americans.
Gas and grocery prices are devastating every family’s budget, and the cost of diesel fuel is gouging transportation which accelerates inflation, and cripples the farming and ranching industries. His tariffs have driven our closest allies to seek other markets and his isolationist policies and support for Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza have destroyed our standing in the international community as leader and defender of the free world.
His entire administration is manned by sleazy and unqualified incompetents whose only redeeming traits seem to be complete loyalty to the orange toad, looking as if they were sent by “central casting”, and a dedication to dismantling our government with the vigilance of an institutional cancer, while exploiting their positions for every dime they can pinch.
Trump and his MAGA Klan are terrified of losing the protections guaranteed by maintaining power in Washington and red states across the country, which offer their only hope of avoiding investigations, indictments, and incarceration…and it is becoming obvious that they will do anything to impede voting, exclude ballots, demand recounts and audits, and challenge certification of legitimate results.
We should expect local Republican authorities to eliminate or change locations of polling places in minority districts; the insertion of “monitors”, ICE agents, Federal Marshals, and armed militia in or around those stations to harass, intimidate, and impede voters; challenges to provisional and mail-in ballots; premature declarations of victory by Republican candidates; claims of fraud and “rigged” elections, and allegations that ballots counted after election day are illegitimate.
The hours and days immediately following the election will provide an opportunity for federal officials to seize ballots and voting machines; file lawsuits to exclude categories of ballots; contest voter eligibility and ballot signatures; dispute ballot counting and recounts; delay or refuse certification; claim irregularities to justify tossing valid votes; and threaten, harass, arrest, and charge poll workers with felonies, in a campaign to delay certification and create uncertainty.
Count on the Trump Administration, Republican Party, State organizations, and party affiliates to file emergency appeals, injunctions against certification and recounts, state investigations of chain-of-custody procedures and election administration, contentions of fraud, and demands for state officials to refuse certification.
They will also use the media to spread disinformation and create uncertainty by claiming that routine recounts are suspicious, provisional ballots are fraudulent, mail-in ballots are unreliable, and any court losses prove judicial corruption.
And, while we are distracted with the chaos, Trump could ask Supreme Court Justices Alito and Thomas to retire, so he can push through the nominations of two extremely young, radical “conservatives” who might serve for decades, while Republicans still control the House and the Senate.
On January 3rd, The Senate will organize its new members as a “continuing body” which operates continuously from one year to the next, while the current Congress ceases to exist and none of its members remain in office until the Clerk of the House presents the roll of new members who elect the next Speaker of the House, who will swear in members, organize committees, and address any unresolved or disputed House election contests.
But we could face a Constitutional crisis if Trump commands current Speaker Mikey Johnson to fire Kevin McCumber, the current nonpartisan House Clerk, and replace him with an election denier during the interim between the election and January 3rd, who could substitute a roll that includes unelected Republicans who were defeated by Democrats, who would then elect the next Republican Speaker of the House.
The result would create chaos while lawsuits work through the judicial system to land at the Supreme Court, which, with its MAGA majority, could delay hearings indefinitely or decide in favor of the alternative representatives. If the Court sides with Trump’s scheme, the House is castrated, and toadies Kash Patel at the FBI and Attorney General Todd Blanch enforce the President’s conspiracy, there is no backstop to tyranny.
If the defeat is monumental, Trump is capable of declaring a “National Emergency”, invoking the “Insurrection Act” to institute Martial Law to justify deploying troops on the streets to violently suppress protests, using the courts, the Justice Department, and the FCC to restrain the press, arresting and jailing outspoken journalists, restricting freedom of speech, and flooding the airwaves with propaganda on networks and media platforms owned and controlled by his MAGA billionaire supporters.
He could loose the pardoned and loyal thugs, who attacked the Capitol on January 6th 2021 in an unprecedented riot, to disrupt the Electoral count, obstruct the Constitutional transfer of power to protect their sponsors’ grip on power, and, as a last resort, start a second civil war.
These are all realistic possibilities that have been publicly discussed or proposed by members of Trump’s administration, the Heritage Foundation, and MAGA media.
While we hope that none become reality, we have a duty to VOTE and ensure that every citizen is free to cast their ballots. We must remain alert to threats to a free and fair election, expose and react to interference or intimidation with overwhelming protests, and stand together against any authoritarian threat in the midst of institutional turmoil.
Our nation was founded on the principle that our government’s only legitimacy is granted “Of, By, and For The People”. When that authority is threatened or usurped, it is up to “We The People” to defend our future as a constitutional republic.
This might be our final chance to Stand Up, Speak Out, and Make A Difference!
For more of Rick's essays and novels visit www.rickstiller.com and enjoy a few moments of calm with his floral portraits from Kelian’s Garden at www.rickstillerart.com.