(11-11-2020, 04:15 AM)GethN7 Wrote: Guys, here's a thought: Let Trump have his recounts, let the courts weigh the arguments.
Now, let's say after the recounts are done and the courts make their decision, the revised numbers still go to Biden.
In that case, you get the best of both worlds. Trump looks like a petulant manchild and loses the Oval Office, and Biden wins clean once any possible fraud (on either side) has been winnowed out. If that happens, Trump was well and truly trumped (pun intended) and Biden avoids being regarded like Rutherford Hayes was and might actually get something accomplished because he's seen as truly legitimate.
Trump will loudly trumpet the courts are corrupt in that case, even though he's assigned more judges than any other president in recent history.
(11-11-2020, 04:15 AM)GethN7 Wrote: Now, let's examine another possibility. Trump wins, but Biden is still discovered to be personally honest, and any actual fraud, if any, is in no way tied to him and his people (at best, a few morons who decided they were going to go rogue on one or both sides), and you still get a decent consolation prize.
That prize being that Biden and the Democrats are revealed to not be what the Republicans insist (dirty as pigs) and even if Trump wins, he looks aa like a petty jackass who had to shake his fist and cry foul out of fear he wouldn't get reelected, which would long-term give the Democrats a second wind and allow them to regroup handily at the mid-terms so long as they play the nice guy to the Republican douchebags.
Trump and the Republicans' behaviour has been such that it's difficult to trust they won't exploit it to dismantle more of the US and its government functions. Indeed, it's far easier to trust it will only get worse.
(11-11-2020, 04:15 AM)GethN7 Wrote: In the interests of honesty, let's consider the worst situation: Trump wins, Biden loses, and there is massive fraud that was used to push Biden over the finish line by a sickening degree. In this case, the best thing to do is to accept it and simply encourage the Democrats to clean house and make sure things are scrupulously honest next time, so there is no reason the Republicans could cry foul save crying wolf. The benefit of doing this is that the Democrats can still regroup if they play their cards right and the American political system can purge any hint of scandal before it leaves a cloying cloud over the losing party for very long.
Most likely result is that the Democrats start to splinter, with the democratic socialists and similar separating from the establishment on the basis of the establishment being too far gone to be rescued. Establishment democrats probably maintain position for a few house election cycles only to over time fold into the Republican party, there's going to be a monopole political system for at least several cycles while that all happens.
US elections may continue, but (permanent) abolishment of the election system is likely. The USA devolves into an authocratic state like many other democratic states in crisis and doesn't crawl out for decades, or at least until the fellow up front keels over and triggers a succession crisis. Given the current candidate for being the front man is old, it may not take long, but I can believe they've got a replacement for him in mind already. While that's going on the US economy and living standards collapse further along with its world wide influence.
(11-11-2020, 04:15 AM)GethN7 Wrote: Just some ideas I wanted to toss out there. I'm willing to accept whoever is decided as the legit winner, but I see several ways this could still redound to the Democrats long-term favor even if the worst occurs, but it requires showing maturity even in the face of what could be the worst outcome.
I'm unfortunately not as optimistic as you.