With Roy Moore refusing to concede and the Right's reaction, we're getting a glimpse into just what the Trump movement might lead to: an all-out attack on free elections. 1/
In the past, the sanctity of free-elections was never challenged. You lost, you conceded and walked away. Roy Moore's not just questioning the result, he's refusing it. 2/
Our system works on honor, honor that you compete and then recognize the results. Much like what Trump has done, this is all based on agreeing to play by the rules, which Trump has refused to do and thus benefited. 3/
The way our system was set up was with the belief that politicians would have honor. It's an arbitrary system and it works on agreement. That's been broken, and it might be broken for good. 4/
If you've paid attention to the far right over the past couple of days, the fringe is now talking about voter fraud in Alabama, about ineligible voters, computer hacking. This is where we're going. 5/
Trump's claim that millions voted illegally in 2016 was the beginning. It tested the limits and they found a politician could question an election and not suffer consequences. 6/
If you think for a second that Trump would simply accept an election he didn't win...you don't know the man at all. His delusion is so powerful he'd never, ever accept that possibility. 7/
In his head, he's infallible. An election that goes against him would have to be corrupt or illegal or broken. I can't imagine a possibility he would ever concede a loss. 8/
For the fringe, every election from now on that they lose will be a conspiracy and proof of a larger systematic plot. Roy Moore is now a martyr to them, as will be anyone who stands like he does against a loss. 9/
This is how you see an erosion of norms. It happens with steps. Moore challenging his loss began with Trump calling the 2016 election rigged before a single vote was cast. Now it moves forward. 10/
The way this works is it always moves forward. We're not going to see Pandora's Box closed. It escalates. In 2018 we're going to see a ton of Right candidates lose and question the legitimacy. 11/
Remember this: the Fringe, the conspiracists, all of them, are going to frame any gain by Dems in 2018 as a giant, organized conspiracy. 12/
If Trump is still in office, he'll bite right into that narrative and he'll portray the Democratic Congress as a coup and question their legitimacy. 13/
Again, it never stops, it just moves forward. Moore's lingering in this thing, and Trump's inability to ever accept even the possibility of defeat will be replicated and escalated. 14/
Democracy is, unfortunately, an arbitrary agreement. When people stop honoring the agreement, like Trump and Moore, the agreement begins to crumble. And there's no way this leads anywhere good. 15/15
