A different kind of shutdown

The question of the day throughout the world is what will happen if, as seems entirely possible, Orange Caligula loses the election but refuse to leave office. It's a legitimate and obvious question.

Normally, you would expect the others in government to ensure that he doesn't even try it. But he is surrounded by yes-people, including the attorney general, who is perhaps the worst of them all. And there are loyal Trump soldiers up and down the chain of command who do as they are told, even when it means disregarding well-established norms. For an example, look no further than the U.S. attorney for Oregon, who plays shadow district attorney in Multnomah County now, and who defended armed federal troops when they abducted people off Portland's streets into Enterprise vans. People like that are not going to stand up to the President. So forget the civilian Executive Branch.

The military? Those folks try to stay out of politics, or at least look like they do. Any action they took against the President would be labeled a coup. That might jeopardize the mega-money they get to play with. Not worth it for them.

The Secret Service? It's not their job, they'll probably say. If we have competing claims to the Presidency after Inauguration Day, they may just guard them both until it's sorted out.

And if they are forced to choose, Biden or Trump, which do you think the military and the Secret Service would pick to follow? Given what I've seen of cops in the last six months, I'm afraid that would be Trump.

The courts? Well, most of us are old enough to remember Bush v. Gore, and now the High Court roster contains even worse people. So you can't trust them.

Congress? At least until January 2, and maybe beyond, everything must be approved by Mitch McConnell, a worm of a man who has not lifted a finger to stop the White House from its worst atrocities. So, no help there. Some of them may be pulling the same stunts as the President when it comes to de-legitimizing an election defeat.

State governments? I'm not sure what they could do. Send the National Guard for a gun fight with the Secret Service?

And so it is entirely natural for a general strike to be under discussion. Everything in the country would be shut down until he agrees to leave. The unions can easily make that happen, especially during the pandemic. There's less to shut down, for one thing.

I'm surprised it hasn't come to that before. When Dear Leader was inaugurated and millions of people marched in their pussy hats, I thought there would be mass walkouts periodically, throughout his reign of terror. But the media normalized every outrage. People were busy. And the prospect of fighting in the streets was too much for many would-be strikers.

But political violence in the streets is here now. People aren't that busy when they're in quarantine. And the media is whipping people into a frenzy, for ratings.

So there could be a general strike. I'm bad at predictions, but I'd even call it likely at this point.

It's long overdue.

The other thing I'm reading is that Trump might trade the office for freedom from prosecution. He'll cut a deal, sort of like the one Bill Clinton cut, only huger. The New York state prosecutors will promise not to put Donnie Boy or his kids in prison, he'll resign, and Pence will pardon him and the kids for all federal crimes. In exchange, he'll admit he lost, or at least leave the White House while his lawyers jerk things around for a few months. He's the master of the art the deal, you know.

We live in fascinating times. If your hoard of toilet paper is running low, you may want to re-stock.

(Poster found here.)