Thread by @SethAbramson

The question is not whether the decision today allows President Biden to use SEALs to eliminate Donald Trump; it does, but he definitely should not. The question is if he can use DHS to preclude Trump from appearing on any ballots, forcing the GOP to select a different candidate.

Certainly he can find that Trump has colluded with foreign powers. And he can find that Trump incited an insurrection. Certainly it is at the outer limits of his official powers to preclude the federal government from sponsoring an election in which Trump appears on ballots.

He is not going to do any of that because he knows this Court is lawless; he knows that to take advantage of this ruling today would be anti-democratic; he knows his party would not go along; he knows it would cost him the election; he knows this SCOTUS would eventually jail him.

So the point I'm making is actually a different one: the decision today is *very* similar to Bush v. Gore in that it is an attempt by the Supreme Court to hand the election to a Republican. Even a sitting president cannot succeed in protecting democracy under these circumstances.

And because the standards for Biden are different than the standards for Trump, and media has made sure of that *meticulously* over the last 8 years, if Biden even attempts to expand the Supreme Court it will cost him the election—even As Trump being an insurrectionist does not.

It does feel to me, today, as though we have reached the apex of a reality that actually became clear back in 1992: Republicans can no longer win elections honestly, and they are not going to stand for it. They will use crime, graft and theft to ensure we are ruled by a minority.

The Democrats have two options: go nuclear or permit lawless men to install a dictator in the United States—hoping that somewhere down the line we'll find a way short of civil war to return to democracy. Of course history tells us tyrants do not leave office without a revolution.

Honestly I don't feel properly equipped to say what the proper course is. My historical research is fairly narrow. I would urge people to listen to Snyder and Bechloss and Kearns Goodwin and Litchman and other historians—who might be able to shed some light on our dire situation.

What I do not think we can doubt is that this Court is working alongside a man who promises to be a dictator to end our democracy—and that media and many voters have decided to punish the Democratic Party if it does anything to fight back.

A catch-22 unlike any other in history.

My guess is that the best analogy for this would be the situation Abraham Lincoln was in when he entered office in 1861. Anything he did to protect the nation was going to lead either to a civil war or the end of his presidency. It seems we are rather in that situation right now.

(PS) Please understand that if Trump is elected he will be a figurehead for the most part; the country will be run by Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, John McEntee, Leonard Leo, Ginni Thomas, Michael Flynn and people even more radical. So do expect America to become a failed nation.