Subject: Re: The Problem With Polymarket
So ignore the two term limit. Declare martial law. Cancel federal elections.

C’mon, Al. You’ve got to believe the odds of that - or something along those lines - are non-zero.

I believe they're pretty much zero. If Trump had it in him to do that, he would have done it in 2020. He doesn't have it in him. Plus, to pull off a coup like that you need to have some serious juice with the actual military - which Trump does not have, because he isn't a product of the military.

Not only is he personally too lazy, cowardly, uninvolved with the military, and unserious about how government actually works to engage in that type of maneuver, the American system of government presents such serious obstacles to that happening that it wouldn't work. Unlike virtually every other country on earth, the national government doesn't control elections - they're run by the states. To say nothing of the fact that each state is also its own separate sovereign government, not a creation of the national government (like virtually every other administrative regional government) - with their own police powers and their own ability to use force independent of the national government.

And, of course, to pull something like that off you have to convince a lot of people in power that they're better off going along with your coup than not. That can work in countries where there is a very high likelihood that if the opposition party takes control, they will remove you from office and possibly jail or kill you. But in the U.S., none of the Republicans in the House or Senate (or in any federal office) are the least bit worried about their personal position or safety if a Democrat wins the WH. It's just not that kind of country. No one put John Cornyn in jail when Biden won the WH, and he's not going to worry about being put in jail if the GOP loses the 2028 election, either.

There are a lot of reasons I will vote against Donald Trump. Fear of him not stepping down after 2028 is absolutely not one of them, much less a "main reason" I oppose him.