Ah, yet again, just like I abuse the memory of another of my fav movies, namely "Planet of the Apes," I'm about to again make a metaphorical connection, loosely as it would appear, to "WarGames."
I read an article in "The Atlantic" tonight which posits the burning question (be truthful, we've all been asking ourselves lately), "What if Donald Trump Refuses to Concede?"
Fair enough query considering all the obvious tactics and ramblings thrown down in recent weeks already. The article delves into seriously considering the "what ifs" quite thoroughly including what some political theorists have already played out in potential scenarios.
Like the NORAD computer in the film "teaching itself" what likely ramifications would present if global thermonuclear warfare actually broke out amidst the geopolitics of the then-contemporaneous apex of the Cold War, scenarios of all manner of probability were considered in the context of the event of a contested 2020 presidential election.
Most of them seemingly incredibly improbable if this weren't in the midst our crazy current geopolitical, social, technological and even biological (yeah I'm talkin' Covid, folks!) present-day world.
Based on this, I came up with a short list of mind-boggling, but actually legal (maybe), potentialities:
THE "I HAVE THE GAVEL, SO..." SCENARIO:
If the votes are close enough, and by what margin you define that may vary greatly depending on your own proclivities, but let's just say by Electoral Vote Count, then it might come down to a situation where both candidates refuse to concede through to the date of December 8th.
December 8 is known as the “safe harbor” deadline for appointing the 538 men and women who make up the Electoral College. The electors do not meet until six days later, December 14, but each state must appoint them by the safe-harbor date to guarantee that Congress will accept their credentials. The controlling statute says that if “any controversy or contest” remains after that, then Congress will decide which electors, if any, may cast the state’s ballots for president.
The Constitution provides, “to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.” Thus, the next move would belong to Vice President Mike Pence.
Game over, Pence choses the Trump-aligned electors and bingo, bango, bongo, Trump wins.
THE "BUT WAIT A CALIFORNIA MINUTE" PLOY:
All the above happens up to the point where the electoral votes for each state are roll-called in on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Speaker of the House slams HER gavel down before the electoral vote 270 point is reached and, again within her powers as leader of the House, she evicts the Senate (and its president, Mike Pence) from the House floor. Since the Senate is no longer in session together with the House, the proceedings are stalled and if she holds the stall until January 20, again as prescribed by The Constitution, the administration is thereby automatically dissolved and as per the Acts of Succession, she becomes Nancy Pelosi, the 46th President of the United States!
THE "TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS" GAMBIT:
Trump declares a "State of Emergency" suspending it all. Why? Maybe suspected mail-in voter fraud, foreign intervention (again), Coronavirus escalation crisis, protests and riots disrupting polls, alleged Democratic state officials illegal intervention, supposed concerted Antifa, Neo-Communist, BLM, Radical Islamic Terrorism, illegal immigrants? How about witchcraft invoked by the QAnon-exposed Cabal of Satanic, blood-guzzling child molesters? (People really fuckin' believe this shit.)
You name it. He can prop up more "threats" to the "good of the country" than Hitler, Stalin, Po Pot or Mao ever could for their realms.
And, as he boasted back in 2018, he has his "huge hands" poised over the Biggest Nuclear Button in the world. Which brings us to:
THE "STEPHEN KING HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG" CHECKMATE: