this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2023
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You're getting down voted, but I think your point makes sense ... at least on the surface.

Ultimately though, it would've caused a constitutional crisis if Congress was unable to swear in Biden. It would basically be up to the courts to decide who the president is, and Trump could presumably ask for emergency powers from the reduced head count (likely of loyalists) in Congress ... which would've created further conditional crises. Not to mention martial law was something Trump's team (it hasn't yet been proven to be spoken of directly by Trump or to Trump) was considering using along with the instruction act to squash protest.

Basically, it would've depended on two things:

  • What the courts did
  • What the military did

And that's never where you want your government to be. It might not have made the table collapse itself, but it certainly would've made the table wobbly and put it in a weakened position where it could be much more easily smashed.

It really depends on how much faith you have in institutional leaders and members of those institutions to "see through" the county. If the military leaders or a large majority of the rank and file went "TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP" and state governors got behind the overthrow (or didn't react quickly enough to replace important seats in Congress) that probably would've spelled the end of the US.

Fortunately, we didn't have to find out how that version of the story ends.

[–] pete_the_cat 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think a lot of people are exaggerating the outcomes, yeah it may have delayed having Biden sworn in, but not by long. Also I don't think Trump could have outright instated Martial Law, especially when he was the one causing the disruptions. The president isn't all powerful, the system of checks and balances exist, and not everyone was for Trump in the government, so there definitely would have been pushback against a lot of things. For all we know, if it actually did happen, he could have been forceably evicted from the office and charged with treason outright for essentially becoming a dictator. Stuff like this has never happened in our country so whose to say what would happen exactly.

Like you said, it definitely would have made things messy for a bit, but I highly doubt it would have led to "the downfall of the US". Hell, The Civil War couldn't even bring the downfall of the US over 150 years ago and that was multiple states banding together with tons of guns and support, over the course of a year or longer (I forget how long it lasted). This was like 200 people with no guns, it was only scary because the Capitol Police didn't use deadly force (except in one case) so you had mobs of angry people, which is always scary no matter where it happens. I can guarantee you that if shots started to ring out, 90% or more would have said "fuck this, it isn't worth dying for" (even though they say they'd die for Trump) and ran for cover.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you're probably right. There's still those seeds of doubt in my mind though

[–] pete_the_cat 1 points 1 year ago

😊

Of course there is always the "what ifs" that pop up and some of our imaginations tend to run wild with these things. It's important to keep a level head and look at past conflicts that have been quelled. Our government isn't a house of cards on a folding table.