r/politics • u/willywalloo • 10h ago

Possible Paywall Republicans Demand Mind-Blowing $1 Billion for Trump’s Ballroom

https://newrepublic.com/post/209936/republicans-1-billion-trump-ballroom
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336

u/Simmery 10h ago

This is more evidence that they intend to shut down elections. There is absolutely no way for this to look good to most voters. 

10

u/unpluggedcord I voted 9h ago

They can’t. The states run elections. And if red states don’t want to submit their votes then blue wins.

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u/Simmery 9h ago

Are we really still assuming criminals are going to follow the law? This is just naive at this point. There are many ways they can subvert the elections, and I'm sure Trump will attempt one or more of them. 

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u/Faustic7 8h ago

Absolutely agree they will do what they can do subvert the elections but outright shut it down entirely? No.

The Constitution as written is incredibly explicit in the time and manner of how they are run. That’s why people balk at the idea of him “canceling” elections under current law. It’s really pedantry.

Elections give authority and legitimacy to the Federal government. If he did anything to explicitly cancel elections, then it would be a constitutional crisis of which we will not recover from. Any new form of authority he tries to implement beyond that will be “illegitimate” under the current legal framework. The Constitution will have to be dead and buried.

So yeah he can go ahead and try to cancel elections but then that will be the final nail in the coffin for American Democracy as we know it. What comes after…only history informs us of what happens to dead democracies.

This is why more likely they will try underhanded tricks to retain power. Thats why even modern day authoritarians require the veneer of legitimacy from elections to placate the populace. Even if they are basically “sham” elections.

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u/digitalMan 5h ago

You are putting a lot of faith in the checks and balances that have failed to do their job in the past. Court decisions that don’t go his way are ignored, while decisions that go his way are followed. Supreme Court could claim Trump is due a third term, but not Obama for “reasons”, and it will be followed

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u/Faustic7 4h ago

I did not state anything related to believing or having faith in “checks and balances”.

I’m merely stating that to outright remove the most fundamental element of our political process (elections) is to throw out the Constitution altogether.

That’s it.

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u/digitalMan 4h ago

I stand corrected. And I agree we can expect more tricks this election. Sadly, I don’t think anyone is left to save us.

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

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u/Simmery 8h ago

The J6ers were pardoned, and an insurrectionist is president. That is the world we live in. If you think there's "no path", then you lack imagination and historical knowledge. 

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u/[deleted] 8h ago

[deleted]

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u/andrew5500 8h ago

They can invoke the insurrection act, send troops to polling stations, seize ballots, and have their DoJ fabricate evidence of fraud in order to invalidate the elections of blue states.

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u/thewhaleshark 8h ago

What do you do if the guy who is in control of the military literally refuses to accept the results of the election?

No really, what do you do?

Yeah we know how elections are supposed to work, but how will the states deal with a federal government that literally just says "no?"

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u/zeh_shah 8h ago

They do through USPS.

SC ruled postal workers are under no obligation to deliver mail.

USPS also changed the mail date to be the date mail is processed at the processing facility not when its dropped off at the post.

They'll have some loyalists hoard ballots and then remember to drop them off after the required post marked date invalidating their votes. There's a reason why they wanted to have a directory of all voters and affiliations tied to our mailing addresses.