Just for the record, Trump can’t do this. The Constitution is very clear that the “times, places, and manner“ of elections for federal office are determined by individual states (though can be altered by Congress).
The president simply has no role in US elections (except to sign into law or veto whatever election-related bills that congress might pass).
Finally, the federal government has no role in actually running US elections. States do that (usually via counties). So there is no one subject to this order in a position to follow it.
There are plenty of things to worry about with Trump. The legitimate power of the presidency is already vast, and he constantly pushes at its edges to abuse the office further still. But this “order” is just empty blather on his part, not something that he has any ability to actually implement or require.
A thing that makes this difficult to discuss is that many people (across the political spectrum) demand simple narratives about Trump. “He’s our savior!” “He’s an all-powerful monster who can’t be stopped by the rule of law!” Or whatever.
Explanations that don’t fully fit a clean narrative, including much to do with elections, are upsetting.
Anyway, this thread seems to have enraged some people here, but I stand by it.
I think understanding the details is helpful. YMMV.
@uncleslacky I’m trying to provide context and background about a current event related to my area of expertise.
Take it or leave it.
@mattblaze Understanding the details *is* helpful, so thank you for this thread!
But it's so difficult to trust that everyone involved in carrying out all his whims won't somehow make this happen for him--the way they've made so much else happen for him that is at least highly questionable if not outright illegal. I've heard "he can't do that" from so many people over so many things that he then *did* without anyone engaging the so-called "checks & balances."
We are so disheartened out here.😔
If youre disheartened, youre looking in the wrong places. Look at the people resisting. They are resisting HARD. Being disheartened is what the fascists want. Fight back by looking at the people resisting. Take heart from their courage. Dont lose any more heart by looking any longer wherever the fascsists are pointing.
@mattblaze I understand that technically this is all correct, Trump does not have the power to makes these changes. However, Trump and his regime did act, do act and plan to act precisely *against* any law which does not fit their plan. They use violence and heavily employ technology to do so. They label their political opponents as enemies, they deport people.
So I wonder: Do you believe Trump is *not* a fascist?
@reimar I’m trying to provide context and background about a current event related to my area of expertise.
Take it or leave it.
@mattblaze I see a lot of people that say “this person can do this”, and “this person can’t do that”, referring to legality. You are far from the first, society and Mastodon are full of them.
As I wrote, I understand the reason for making this type of naive analysis, but it also perpetuates myths of how power works in society, and people are probably better off studying Foucault or Mbembe than the law at this stage. Sorry if this offends you.
@ahltorp Again, I apologize if you found my analysis insufficiently broad. However, I think you have also mischaracterized it.
Again, my best advice is to find posters to follow who better serve your needs.
I am sorry that I am unable to be of further assistance.
@mattblaze @ahltorp Why are they so opposed to mail-in ballots?
Here in Australia, they send me a mailing ballot application 'just in case' and I barely need a reason to use it. They go out of their way to make it easy to vote. I can vote at a booth for a week ahead of time, and there's absentee booths in every town if I'm travelling and have forgotten to mail ballot.
@bluetea Because “the wrong people” are more likely to vote if it’s easier. Voter suppression is a very important part of the American voting system. Voter participation is actively kept low using this and other methods, like employers threatening to fire people if they go vote on election day.
(In Sweden we have a similar system to yours)
@bluetea @mattblaze @ahltorp Historically in the US (although this seems less true of Trump specifically), Republicans are more steady voters and Democrats less so but more of them. So low turnout elections favor R and high turnout favors D.
Thus, anything that makes voting harder tends to help the R party.
Things must be a lot different in Australia, as I understand everyone has to vote? So you don't have turnout biases like this, probably.
@bluetea @mattblaze @ahltorp That's a good question. Certainly before Biden, trunp placed a loyalist in power over the post office, and he then destroyed it - literally bricking the sorting machines, for example - and Biden didn't replace him, and instead DeJoy waited until trunp was back in power to resign suddenly (fell or pushed?) in March.
My theory is that trunp knows Elno isn't to be trusted now since they fell out, so he can't rely on the e-voting machines any more, so he's "banning" them. Better to get postal votes banned too, because he's railed against those for forever as too ~~hard~~easy to corrupt. Better to go with the easier voter suppression of closing down every way for black people to get an ID, and make them wait 12 hours to present it to vote, which they could sidestep with a postal ballot.
Sorry, too much?
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