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THREAD: @CheriJacobus wrote: "His ONLY way out is to be convicted and ousted by the GOP Senate and have Pence pardon him before they are gone."
Nah, there are plenty of other possibilities here. Let us count the ways... 1/14
Nah, there are plenty of other possibilities here. Let us count the ways... 1/14
Some may seem absurd but they are really no more absurd than the idea that he got elected in the first place. STOP PRETENDING that authoritarian despots will make any attempt to follow the rules of democratic societies. 2/14
A) He could win re-election. 3/14
FACT: there are an unhealthy percentage of Americans who are very happy seeing America run as a fascist state protecting white privilege, even a grossly corrupt one under a president who is an avowed sexual predator acting consistent with his being a Russian asset. 4/14
B) He could lose re-election, resign with a week or two left, and give Pence a few days in the presidency on the condition that he is given a pardon. Face reality... the odds that Trump will ever face trial for his federal crimes is SMALL. 5/14
C) He could start a war, declare a national emergency, and attempt to cancel the election. Will it work? I dunno. Will he try? Good chance. Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, who knows... 6/14
but the most stupid war ever has a good chance of happening in the next two years. People will die, maybe lots and lots of them. And by the time Congress realizes the only way to stop it is to impeach him and remove him from office, it will be too late. 7/14
D) He could lose the election, declare it invalid for whatever reasons he decides to make up, and refuse to leave office. Will the military or secret service follow the legitimate president to throw him out of the White House? 8/14
I dunno, but I expect that he is going to spend the next two years trying to put in place leadership that won't. 9/14
E) He can and will refuse to stop and will even encourage election tampering by Russia, and he could "win" an invalid re-election as a result of such tampering. 10/14
Or the tampering could make the results unknowable and require a new election. Look at what happened in NC 9th Congressional district. 11/14
F) Still plenty of time for him to name more Supreme Court justices. What if RBG doesn't make it to 2021? By the time challenges to his presidency make it to the Supreme Court, he may completely own it, Constitution be damned. 12/14
Recognize that he doesn't plan to leave office until he drops dead. EVER. Then start thinking about what he will do under that premise. 13/14
What have I forgotten @RuthBenghiat? @djrothkopf? 14/END
