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We Win, They Riot
The hysteria about the process, outcome and follow-up to the upcoming November 5 election is ramping up. Given the riots of June 2020, we have reason to be concerned. So, it’s gratifying that some people are being proactive in anticipation of political violence.
A small group of active and retired law enforcement officials, intelligence officials and national security analysts and legal scholars gathered to discuss the best ways to be prepared:
The result is ‘Addressing the Threat of Political Violence in the 2024 Elections,’ a 70-page summary report I wrote that serves as both a warning and a playbook for those charged with overseeing public safety at the federal, state and local levels.
If they aren’t already, authorities should be collecting intelligence and devising plans for a range of possible disruptive scenarios. These could include attacks on — or abductions of — candidates, major public disturbances like riots, actions aimed at disrupting voting like cyberattacks or attacks on critical infrastructure as well as bombings, arsons, shootings or other violence at or near polling places.
The primary concern of the writers of this report was to try to reassure citizens that they could safely participate in elections; they would also be communicating to other nations that we are determined to conduct safe and fair elections. That commitment to integrity could only help our reputation internationally, given the battering we have taken globally.
The report recommended that state “fusion centers” be created to coordinate responses to violence:
Drawing on the fusion centers’ work and a reexamination of existing law, playbooks could guide authorities from the state level down to the polling station level. Chains of command should be established, public hotlines set up and press strategies devised.
The work of these groups should be networked to share intelligence, information and warnings, as well as best practices.
The degree to which these recommendations, which were distributed in August of this year, have been activated is unclear. But it makes sense to try to create an environment for citizens to not only vote without fear, but to feel safe before, during and after the election.
Still, the Left insists on implicating the political Right when it comes to disruption:
Now, Donald Trump’s political comeback has revived a sense of dread among the officials and institutions who stood in his way last time: Could it happen again?
Dozens of interviews with people deeply familiar or involved with the election process point to a clear consensus: Not only could Trump make a second attempt at overturning an election he loses, he and his allies are already laying the groundwork.
I suspect that the Left is projecting the steps they would like to take onto Trump:
Politico states that the potential disruption is dire:
— He will deepen distrust in the election results by making unsupported or hyperbolic claims of widespread voter fraud and mounting longshot lawsuits challenging enough ballots to flip the outcome in key states.
— He will lean on friendly county and state officials to resist certifying election results — a futile errand that would nevertheless fuel a campaign to put pressure on elected Republican legislators in statehouses and Congress.
— He will call on allies in GOP-controlled swing-state legislatures to appoint “alternate” presidential electors.
— He will rely on congressional Republicans to endorse these alternate electors — or at least reject Democratic electors — when they convene to certify the outcome.
— He will try to ensure Harris is denied 270 votes in the Electoral College, sending the election to the House, where Republicans are likely to have the numbers to choose Trump as the next president.
I think it’s unlikely that these strategies will be carried out by the Trump camp, since I believe he’s not interested in creating this type of disruption, and he has a good chance of winning the Presidency.
And I predict that the Democrats are likely to adopt these destructive strategies to make sure that chaos reigns.
Published in Elections
Also…They win, they riot.
Hopefully, not this time…
Based on reports, I am cautiously optimistic that Trump will pull this off, in spite of all their potential machinations. He has a lot of things going in his direction, and all the Hitler, fascist, dementia comments seem to be receiving some skepticism. I’m putting my optimism in the ring.
“In 2020, however, some Trump allies argued that legislatures have unilateral, incontestable power to change their minds — and could simply claim lack of faith in the results to snatch the decision back for themselves. Conservative attorneys like John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, who have both been criminally charged for their roles in the 2020 election process, developed this theory and lobbied for such an outcome. Under their theories, state legislatures would send their own competing slate of electors to Congress — alongside the slates submitted by governors — and urge Congress to choose between them. Trump increasingly leaned on these fringe ideas as his traditional routes to power began to close.”
I never thought sending multiple slates of electors and having Congress choose which to accept meets any of the Constitutional requirements. Congress makes a decision on who becomes President if no candidate is certified getting a majority of Electoral College votes. I also never became aware that what is described was what Eastman and colleagues were suggesting. Of course, getting truth from media has been a problem for a while now.
The Constitution places that role solely with the state legislatures so, if there is some sort of conflict within the state, the state legislature is where the authority to decide which slate to certify is to be made, not the federal Congress.
We should always remember that when an authority for a responsibility, in this case certifying EC electors to vote for President, is delegated in some fashion by a state legislature, it is only valid until rescinded by a future state legislative action.
This power is what makes a request by the VP (Pence for the 2020 election) to the state legislatures or governors of certain states where there was evidence of election process irregularities to reconsider the certifications and resubmit reasonable and not prohibited by any law including the Constitution.
Please remind how to prepare for the Dems peaceful transfer of power:
* horde toilet paper
* 500 gallons of water
* dry food for 180 days
* 1000+ rounds of ammunition
I agree, Bob. Especially since we are trying to make sure that the state legislatures are empowered.
I refuse to live in fear and will maintain my normal supply of everything. Except maybe the ammunition.
Sorry for the brief diversion from your intended post…
I expect there will be a flurry of activity from across the Executive Branch between November 5 and January 20 no matter who wins in order to do as much as possible under Joe Biden’s name. (Why not soil the legacy of that characterless twit even more…few are as deserving.) Whether it be due to gluttonous joy for free, unfettered progressive loot at no cost to the incoming communist administration or the fearful last grasp at stockpiles of contraband (and placing land mines and hurdles for the incoming Trump team), the leftist hordes will be in the streets.
I think you’re right. My hope is that with some of this preparation and the supposed willingness of law enforcement to act, the worst will be mitigated. But I have no doubt that the Left will do as much damage as it can, within and outside the government, simply because they can.
Not trying to highjack the thread, but they don’t intend to lose:
How were they “intercepted” without help from someone in the Postal Service? Unless they were delivered to an unsecured mailbox. I doubt that, unless there are hundreds of people checking those mailboxes during the time of the mass mailings.
Thousands of Votes Already Cast in Mesa County, Colorado, to Be Reexamined for Evidence of Fraud | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hᴏft
Which riots are those?
We can only hope that our efforts to identify fraud will be sufficient and tough enough to stop of their efforts. It’s unbelievable what they are willing to try.
Sorry. I meant 2020. My bad. Thanks for letting me correct it.
I’m going to disagree with this premise.
The riots over the summer of 2020 were obviously planned, coordinated, and funded traceable through ActBlue and the Democrat party, including VP candidate Kamala Harris. Democrat-run cities allowed the riots to occur and refused to prosecute those involved.
And the goal was to create widespread unrest to pin on the Trump presidency, especially racial unrest, because they’ve been calling Trump a racist continuously for the past five years.
President Trump failed to point this out… he should have. And every Republican in office should have joined in. They should have spoke together in solidarity and made it clear that these were Democrat-managed riots in cities run by Democrats for over half a century. Every complaint espoused by the rioters were of Democrat-run institutions, including the local police departments.
Unfortunately so many of the Republicans were weenies, and so many were never-Trumpers, that didn’t happen.
I expect to see something similar to the violence at President Trump’s inauguration in 2017. See Figure 1.
But probably not as much, as we’ve experienced a Trump presidency.
Anyway, the whole point of the 2020 riots was to keep Trump from being elected. That’s not the situation this time.
Good points, Don. I’d point out these counterpoints:
–Are we sure that law enforcement in blue cities won’t be proactive?
–Do we know that Republicans haven’t wised up and are prepared to blame the Democrats for the riots?
It will be interesting to see if riots only occur in blue cities, since rioters have been known to travel. I’d love to see them nailed in a red city if they have the nerve to invade them.
Not sure what you mean by law enforcement in blue cities being proactive.
Yes, the Republicans have wisened up a bit. Most of the never-Trumpers have been dismissed, and the rest seem to have learned some lessons, especially the “united we stand, divided we fall” thing.
“Blaming the Democrats” isn’t the right approach; the parties already blame each other, the people have heard it all before and are uninterested, and it’s not helpful. And there *are* major cities that have been run by Democrats for over half a century that are doing pretty well. (“Really?”) (“Certainly; Phoenix, San Jose, Salt Lake City, others I’m sure.)
It’s more useful and more accurate to blame specific corrupt institutions. Like the Minneapolis police department (which gets pretty ugly when you research it).
The 2020-style riots required coordination with the city management and the city police department, so you’ll only see them in “blue cities”.
Some locales actually have conservative police chiefs and sheriffs who show up now and then to do the right thing, even if they’re subject to blue management. I guess we’ll have to see what transpires. I guess I’m more pessimistic that corrupt organizations will be investigated. Who will lead the charge? Great input, Don.
In 2020 BLM/Antifa/ActBlue riot management flew 1st class from event to event, city to city, to create and coordinate the arson and looting under AG Bill Barr’s nose. I don’t know why he refused to roll up the whole operation, but it seems likely that complicit blue governors and law enforcement were a complication. Andy Ngo and Michael Yon and John Bachelor and others were doing the reporting Jake Tapper and Morning Joe and the rest were too corrupt to report.
They spent one night in Richmond, Virginia, late in their season of love, and the blue mayor made it clear that these were his best buddies while the arson and looting went unchecked. The sickness runs deep.
But any BLM/Antifa/ActBlue setting up in the red won’t be available for subsequent events. There is still a rule of law in some parts of this country despite the best efforts of some.
Ever live in an apartment or condominium complex where there’s a common area post box? Many landlords provide recycling containers for “junk mail.” I’ve seen several posts on X where people threw absentee ballots into them simply because they weren’t the addressee.
No. All had locking personal mailboxes either at the apartment door or in the common building “mail room”. In any case, the recycling containers I’ve seen were for “deposit only”. Getting stuff out was almost impossible.
Proactive if it’s the right rioting, ordered to stand down if it’s the left . . .
This is one reason why Trump is not using government funds/employees for transition team. Last time, the transition team sabotaged his efforts. This is a good sign that Trump plans to hit the ground running.
Also, even in the blue, Antifa tried forays into the suburbs only to discover those police and the veterans and the church groups and the football teams were more than prepared to make them squeal like pigs and run back to their Stygian holes.
That’s very encouraging to hear, S!
Just to be clear here, that’s 1000 rounds “per firearm?” Just kidding (sort of), as the Right Honorable Oliver Cromwell once said, “Trust in God and keep your powder dry.” Also, save your used center fire brass cartridge cases.
I agree. My now very limited direct intel and active duty military personnel access (just another old military retiree setting at the all-ranks bar talking to the troops), and following the general discussions of various on-line military and intelligence discussion groups, I’ve come to a similar conclusion as you have @susanquinn . The far-left groups are still out there, but they don’t seem to be as organized/funded/protected, as they were in 2020. That being said doesn’t mean they can’t be ramp up quickly, there just doesn’t seem to be the desire to do so right now. The troops I talk to in general like the idea of a Trump Presidency and are pledged to uphold the Constitution and follow the orders of those appointed over then. I found it interesting that with no prompting from me, many said they set down and read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the first time in their young lives. Funny, that use to be taught in K-12. The E-1 to E-5 crowd are much more open in their opinions, while E-6 and above , and the few officers I run into (Lt thru Maj), are not as chatty about current affairs. Understandable really, they have a lot more to lose. Everyone seems to be watching a waiting to see what happens next.
I believe the poop storm, when it happens, will take place in Washington D.C. Everyone dust off you pink pussyhat.
I love America – the place where people come together around a common cause and have some fun at the same time, all on their way to the best city in the world – Washington, DC USA :).
haha hheeeeeehehehehehehe haaaaahahahahahahhahahahahahah!
That’s outstanding news, Ronin! I’m very encouraged.
When Rona was dumped and Michael Whatley said back in the spring that the RNC had 500+ lawyers ready for action to fight voter fraud, I became VERY cautiously optimistic.
I am surprised at how rarely the violence of January 2017 is brought up. Not only were there extensive riots throughout Washington, D.C., but celebrity speakers at rallies were openly advocating the assassination of newly inaugurated President Trump and the burning of the White House.
But keep your powder dry.