Violence could grip US regardless of the outcome of November election

By Charles Dunaway

Roger Stone, while a trusted advisor to President Trump, is known as a publicity seeker primarily. He is always overtly controversial, in part to make the less extreme methods used by Trump seem like moderate steps.

For example, I don’t expect federal troops to seize the ballots from any state based on unproven accusations that they are fraudulent. Trump’s supporters, however, are likely to hold threatening demonstrations near offices where ballots are being counted that could escalate into violence. I also don’t see Trump arresting major Democratic leaders.

There is a significant chance for post-election violence in the United States regardless of the outcome.  The nation has become so polarized that people don’t agree on the facts and certainly are unwilling to hear one another’s arguments. 

Both parties are running negative campaigns rather than offering anything positive to the people.  Should Trump win by a slim majority, which is very likely, he will be able to use federal forces to suppress any demonstrations by Democrats should they become unruly.  

If Biden wins, it is very likely that the armed militia groups and other Trump supporters will do everything possible to interfere with late ballot counting and any rumors of fraud. Both sides are gathering armies of lawyers to contest every decision by election boards that are seen to favor the other side. 

Outcome of a disputed US vote: A ‘Hot Fall’ or an ‘Icy Crusade’?

If popular and electoral college votes don’t correspond that will mark the third instance in the last six elections.

The voting system in the United States is so fragmented and so poorly designed and administered that almost any close election is problematic. There are hackable voting machines, voting districts engineered to favor one side or another, incompetent election officials, and vote-counting equipment that reject a significant number of ballots. 

Add to that the COVID-19 crisis, the tensions over Black Lives Matter protests and a President who actively impugns the integrity of the voting process, and you have a recipe for disaster.

While it’s easy to blame Trump for all this, he is more a symptom than a cause. For 4 decades both parties have pursued neoliberal economic policies that have greatly exacerbated inequality, removed most of the social safety net, and destroyed US manufacturing and the good jobs it provided. 

Even though they constantly portray Trump as an evil, immoral and incompetent leader that threatens democracy, the Democrats have failed to provide a candidate that anyone is excited about or a platform that could reverse the nation’s decline. If they lose, it will be their own fault.

Roger Stone advises Trump to seize total power if he loses in November

Roger Stone has advised President Trump to seize total power if he loses to Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the November election.

Charles Dunaway is an American political commentator in Oregon. He is a retired computer systems consultant who has been producing and hosting a radio program called Wider View for the last 4 years. The program is distributed nationally by the Pacifica Network and is available as a podcast at widerviewradio.podbean.com.  The program focuses on the United States' imperialist role in the world and the political stagnation in the nation that helps maintain that role. 

He recorded this article for Press TV website.

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