As Parkrose Permaculture says, dictators seldom just declare martial law and end elections, rather they let elections go forward knowing they have rigged the system well enough to easily “win” the election.  Then the dictator can lie and claim a mandate from the citizens.

Many folks, including moi, thought that Draco II would try and provoke his opposition to commit violent actions in response to his cruel ICE raids and his retribution tactics so he could either invoke the Insurrection Act or declare martial law to end further elections.  And he still may try.  But, even MAGA wants to have a vote; they want to vote for their future tyrant, king, dictator-in-sheep’s-clothing, oppressor of non-white males, most females and people of color, smasher of the constitution.  They want to vote for Draco II or his successor, if he will let them. For Draco II to declare martial law and end elections might make his followers even more mad than the democratic opposition.  Therefore, I now give it a better than 50/50 chance that Draco II will rig the mid-terms to skew the results in his (or his successor’s) favor, giving an element of legitimacy to a rigged system.  Draco II knows that if he loses the House and the Senate, what follows could be his fate.

Draco II has seen what South Korea is doing to their previous president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who DID declare martial law to try and take over the government.  After the 4-hour coup failed, the South Korean government impeached him, arrested him, and is putting him on trial for insurrection, with death being a possible penalty for guilt:  South Korea doesn’t mess around with wannabe dictators plotting against their democracy.

As Claire Berlinski notes, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol used months of “’Stop he Steal’ claims, nationalist slogans, and attacks on the legitimacy of elected institutions” in his efforts to cling to power, all before he declared martial law.  Draco II knows that if democracy prevails in the United States over his bigotry, racism, white Christian nationalism, hate and fascism, then the consequences to his attempt to establish himself the King of America will be equal to or even greater than the consequences melded out at the Nuremburg trials against the atrocities of the Nazi Germans in WWII – who were just following orders from a dictator.

As Chris Hedges recently stated, referring to how American democracy has been functioning for decades, “the consent of the governed is a cruel joke”.  The majority of Americans are against totalitarianism/kleptocracy, even as the right-wing SCOTUS continues to gut the Voting Rights Act to aid Draco II’s dictatorial dreams; Draco II will do whatever he decides is necessary to keep his administration in power while firmly cementing American dictatorship.  The U.S. military will ultimately be the key:  they will either honor their oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution of the United States, or they will turn against democracy in favor of a dictator.   Place your bets.

Bob Bates

Tullahoma