It's playing out live in Kenosha.
You've heard him claim that he is owed a third term as a "do-over."
How far will Donald Trump go to ensure his re-election?
On November 8 of 2016, a stunned world watched as the most powerful nation on earth elected as its President a failed real estate tycoon and reality television star. Pundits, politicians and bloggers made dire predictions. Thousands upon thousands of protestors took to the streets, waving signs foretelling a grimly dystopian future, and social media were flooded with Orwellian prophecies. Over the following three and a half years, one after another of these prognostications, and worse, came to pass. The same is coming true with this story, it is beginning to come true already. Don't think for a moment that it's all fantasy, that it could never happen here. It's playing out as you read.
Caution - You may have nightmares as I take you through the scenario where he wins the 2020 election, then spends the next four years with a compliant Congress consolidating power, and the horror story of The Third Term.
Here's a short sample: "...Those who had lower chances of recovery were simply sent home to die, with the bodies waiting up to two weeks for pick-up by over-stressed mortuaries. In mid-August a world-renowned physician working in the Houston Medical Center committed suicide, leaving behind a long note that was essentially a keening cry of surrender.
"To My Dear Family and Friends: I am sorry to leave you this way. Sorry that I can no longer live with the risk of transmitting COVID-19 to you, my loved ones. Sorry that I cannot face another 18 hour day of putting patients onto incubators, of telling families that their own loved ones died alone and in pain, of seeing gurneys bearing dead bodies lined up in the hallways of my hospital, and of seeing my colleagues, exhausted beyond endurance, bravely continue to expose themselves to this deadly disease without the proper protective equipment. I am sorry that I can no longer line up with my hospital's staff to cheer those few ventilator patients who live to be sent home, knowing – in my heart of hearts – that they take with them damaged lungs, compromised cardiovascular systems and a host of other outcomes that will sentence them to dramatically shortened lives of chronic pain.
I am sorry that I can no longer face seeing Donald Trump spout lies that cost lives, sorry that I can no longer conscience his utter failure to take even the simplest measures to contain this virus, and especially sorry that I can no longer bear to live in a nation whose leader eschews the recommendations of my fellow doctors and scientists. I am sorry that I can no longer live among a public who refuse to follow simple guidelines to protect themselves, their families and their fellow human beings. I am sorry that I can no longer tolerate right wing pundits and media outlets for fabricating conspiracy theories, and especially Donald Trump and the Republican Party for their incompetence and continued perverse inaction.
When I became a doctor, I took a sacred oath to do no harm. I am sorry that I can no longer face a life where merely doing no harm is the best I can expect to do. I am sorry to leave my colleagues and especially you, my loved ones, this way. I am sorry to leave the battlefield without having achieved victory, a victory I no longer believe is possible. Godspeed, Dr. Emanuel Rostenberg." ... Trump's poll numbers were in the toilet by the beginning of September. An increasingly nervous Republican Party had begun a series of secret meetings in early August, and began roll out of what could be thought of as an early October surprise by the time early voting began in mid-September. The plan was two-pronged – accelerate voter suppression activities, and spread lies that would frighten white suburbanite women into voting for Republican candidates. "
