Thread by @JoshuaCypess

1/ This is a good mini-thread about the "what if Biden wins & DJT refuses to concede" discussion.

I'll add: people forget that power isn't in rules, or even guns, power is people. See #4 in my 4 Comforts thread: a majority of people actively hate him

2/ But, if the wrong people decide to ignore the law, then he'll stay in power, & that's actually what ppl fear

In 2016, I asked a fellow rabbi how he could support DJT. He said "checks & balances will stop him if he goes too far"

Instinctively, I knew this was foolish

3/ It was folly b/c (a) POTUS can do way too much damage before congress/courts could stop him, & (b) I *knew* the GOP wouldn't stop him, b/c they had many easy chances to do so in 2016 & didn't

My colleague is a naif, so he didn't understand square 1 of why DJT was dangerous.

4/ My colleague was deluded about who the GOP was (like many rabbis, he had a 'good heart' which meant he was easily bullied & allowed terrible people to get away w/murder)

So I scoffed at his trust that checks/balances would stop DJT, but I need to apply that to Jan 21 2021 too

5/ The same powers that have enabled him from 2016 til now will still back him 1.20.21; the law doesn't matter without people backing it up

What we need from the GOP is to give them a way to surrender safely (see Rambam MT Kings 6:7) chabad.org/library/articl…

6/ Rambam writes that a siege needs to offer an avenue for escape. This principle is the converse of Sun Tzu (Book 11:23, suntzusaid.com/book/11/23/) that no escape = fight to the death

Let the GOP know they can survive losing power or else it will increase the chance for mayhem

7/ Bottom line: when people fear "he won't concede" it's actually a fear that people in power will help DJT stay illegally. It's a plausible fear.

Personally, I think a necessary majority desperately want him to go & will be happy to see it.

But I also won't scoff at the fear.