Senator Angus King of Maine is an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats. I am not a fan because he seems to me to be more Democrat than independent. With that said, he is on target with a warning that we are at risk for unrest after the November elections, particularly if the results are delayed:
Sen. Angus King, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is warning of protest “violence” and “conspiracy theories” running “rampant” if the November election results are delayed.
"I hate to say it but it invites violence," King said on Monday. "It invites people going into the streets who feel their votes weren't counted or something crooked happened."
I think four factors put us at increased risk of post-election violence:
1. Increased use of mail-in ballots which not only enables election fraud, but increases the number of ballots that are counted late, often days after Election Day.
2. Democrats have not as a whole respected the result of a presidential election that went against them since 1988. They especially and openly disrespected the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Now Biden is already making incoherent noises about Trump trying to steal the election.
By this point, Republicans would surely feel less obligated to respect the 2020 election if it is close and goes against them, particularly in light of the Democrat’s long history of election fraud. If Democrats steal elections then do not respect them when they do not succeed, why should Republican respect an election that goes against them?
Of course, they should respect elections if the results are clean enough. But there is not a tremendous amount of incentive for that after the Democrats’ act since 2016. Sadly, the 2020 election would have to be close to a landslide for both sides to respect it, and there is no guarantee of bipartisan respect for the results even then.
By this point, Republicans would surely feel less obligated to respect the 2020 election if it is close and goes against them, particularly in light of the Democrat’s long history of election fraud. If Democrats steal elections then do not respect them when they do not succeed, why should Republican respect an election that goes against them?
Of course, they should respect elections if the results are clean enough. But there is not a tremendous amount of incentive for that after the Democrats’ act since 2016. Sadly, the 2020 election would have to be close to a landslide for both sides to respect it, and there is no guarantee of bipartisan respect for the results even then.
3. Yes, as mentioned, the Democrats’ long history of election fraud. And they are trying to double down on that with increased mail-in ballots among other ploys. J. Christian Adams has written an article on this that should alarm all reasonable people. It’s gotten to the point that just about any close victory of significance by Democrats is suspect unless proven otherwise. Yes, I’ve said it.
4. This country is divided and practically at each others’ throats already. Imagine how a disputed election might make matters even worse. Well, maybe don’t imagine that too much right now if you have too much to handle at the moment as so many do.
So, yes, Angus King, who is about as middle of the road as a Senator gets anymore, is right – we are indeed at risk of significant unrest after the November elections.
