[Genuine Realist]

Apparently tonight on Fox, Trump water-carrier Tucker Carlson merely offered the observation that Rudy Giuliani had provided no evidence to support his claims that 1.5 million or 2 million votes have been stolen, or whatever the claim du jour is.  And rather than replies from Trump supporters along the lines of, "You know, you make a good point," the mob turned on Carlson as a traitor to the cause.
I fear our institutions are not as strong as some Cardboarders believe, especially when under threat from such a sizeable percentage of the population and fomented by many powerful individuals.

I actually fear something else. I think our institutions are actually pretty resilient. There are always some people on both sides of any issue that are rabid supporters and beyond reason. What I actually fear is the fact there there are probably 60+ million people who are basically rational and voted for the current POTUS anyway. Many of these people are single issue voters. They aren't going to vote for any candidate who is on the other side of a given issue no matter how bad the selected candidate may be on all the other issues. Many more people believe the current political class has totally abandoned them and desperately want literally anybody else. The latter group should really give pause to those who are concerned about our democracy. The "crazies" are bad enough, but much fewer in number. It is the people who aren't crazy (or stupid, believe it or not) who still believe the current POTUS is a better choice that should raise questions about where we are as a democracy.

There are no doubt some single-issue voters who supported Trump - e.g., those who believe Covid is a hoax (see what I did there, BC?) - who are kooks.

But there are also single-issue voter who supported Trump - because he won't tax them as much as Biden will - who are perfectly bright people concerned about their money first and foremost (and with an ability to put on blinders for slew of lesser issues).

There might also have been some number of voters who question Biden's capacity to govern - he actually fared better than I anticipated on this during the campaign, as limited as it was for him.  I wouldn't consider that totally irrational, either.

(a) Covid has had such a devastating effect on lifestyles, and the mobility we all used to take for granted that it's no wonder that a small but vocal portion of the population turns to various theories of demonization. I remember 1973, when gasoline suddenly disappeared from the stations, after the formation of OPEC. There were a lot of people who should have known better who went around believing that brobdingnagian tankers were circling around in mid-ocean,simply waiting for price levels to rise. It made no sense at all, but it gave comfort - there was a human cause for all this. Claims of covid hoax are the same.

(b) There is no coup. There isn't going to be a coup. There is no GOP or Democratic or military support for the same. You will notice that there have been no street riots on behalf of Trump, no massive outcry. (If Trump had unexpectedly won, I don't know how many cities would have gone up.)

© That said, I'm glad I reserved my hyperbole about Trump all these years, because now it's meaningful. Donald J. Trump is really in dangerous ground - personally. (The nation will do fine.) If he is in truth trying to undermine certified election results, after they've been tested and validated in court, cognizable theories of sedition and treason begin to emerge - and, yes, Virginia, I would like to see him prosecuted because I don't want to see anyone behaving like this again. The days when the somewhat unfairly demonized Nixon would relinquish really solid claims of election fraud (in 1960, when the Daley machine in Chicago scrupulously protected the right of the dead to vote) in the interest of national unity have passed. A shame, really - the process is so much more important than the result.

Not that the Democrats have been blameless. Trump's legal claims may have failed factually, but they were far more conventional than the lawsuits Al Gore brought in 2000. But at least when Gore lost, he accepted it. Trump is on the verge of treason.

[Genuine Realist]

Apparently tonight on Fox, Trump water-carrier Tucker Carlson merely offered the observation that Rudy Giuliani had provided no evidence to support his claims that 1.5 million or 2 million votes have been stolen, or whatever the claim du jour is.  And rather than replies from Trump supporters along the lines of, "You know, you make a good point," the mob turned on Carlson as a traitor to the cause.
I fear our institutions are not as strong as some Cardboarders believe, especially when under threat from such a sizeable percentage of the population and fomented by many powerful individuals.

I actually fear something else. I think our institutions are actually pretty resilient. There are always some people on both sides of any issue that are rabid supporters and beyond reason. What I actually fear is the fact there there are probably 60+ million people who are basically rational and voted for the current POTUS anyway. Many of these people are single issue voters. They aren't going to vote for any candidate who is on the other side of a given issue no matter how bad the selected candidate may be on all the other issues. Many more people believe the current political class has totally abandoned them and desperately want literally anybody else. The latter group should really give pause to those who are concerned about our democracy. The "crazies" are bad enough, but much fewer in number. It is the people who aren't crazy (or stupid, believe it or not) who still believe the current POTUS is a better choice that should raise questions about where we are as a democracy.

There are no doubt some single-issue voters who supported Trump - e.g., those who believe Covid is a hoax (see what I did there, BC?) - who are kooks.

But there are also single-issue voter who supported Trump - because he won't tax them as much as Biden will - who are perfectly bright people concerned about their money first and foremost (and with an ability to put on blinders for slew of lesser issues).

There might also have been some number of voters who question Biden's capacity to govern - he actually fared better than I anticipated on this during the campaign, as limited as it was for him.  I wouldn't consider that totally irrational, either.

(a) Covid has had such a devastating effect on lifestyles, and the mobility we all used to take for granted that it's no wonder that a small but vocal portion of the population turns to various theories of demonization. I remember 1973, when gasoline suddenly disappeared from the stations, after the formation of OPEC. There were a lot of people who should have known better who went around believing that brobdingnagian tankers were circling around in mid-ocean,simply waiting for price levels to rise. It made no sense at all, but it gave comfort - there was a human cause for all this. Claims of covid hoax are the same.

(b) There is no coup. There isn't going to be a coup. There is no GOP or Democratic or military support for the same. You will notice that there have been no street riots on behalf of Trump, no massive outcry. (If Trump had unexpectedly won, I don't know how many cities would have gone up.)

© That said, I'm glad I reserved my hyperbole about Trump all these years, because now it's meaningful. Donald J. Trump is really in dangerous ground - personally. (The nation will do fine.) If he is in truth trying to undermine certified election results, after they've been tested and validated in court, cognizable theories of sedition and treason begin to emerge - and, yes, Virginia, I would like to see him prosecuted because I don't want to see anyone behaving like this again. The days when the somewhat unfairly demonized Nixon would relinquish really solid claims of election fraud (in 1960, when the Daley machine in Chicago scrupulously protected the right of the dead to vote) in the interest of national unity have passed. A shame, really - the process is so much more important than the result.

Not that the Democrats have been blameless. Trump's legal claims may have failed factually, but they were far more conventional than the lawsuits Al Gore brought in 2000. But at least when Gore lost, he accepted it. Trump is on the verge of treason.