“Trump on declaring national security emergency for elections: ‘Stranger things have happened’
President Trump on Tuesday left the door open to declaring a national security emergency and federalizing control over the November midterms.”
From The Guardian, January 23, 2026
Democrats are campaigning as if the 2026 election will be fair. That’s a mistake
Austin Sarat
The following are excerpts from this article:
In a 16 January podcast interview, Robert Kagan, a historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explained why this is a mistake.
Because of Donald Trump’s desire and need for complete domination, he cannot tolerate and will not allow a Republican defeat at the polls.
As Robert Kagan put it: “There’s no chance in the world that Donald Trump is going to allow himself to lose in the 2026 elections, because that would be the end of his ability to wield total power. Unless they got up on the rooftop and said: ‘We are going to subvert the 2026 election,’ they could not be more obvious about what their intention is.”
“Last week, during an Oval Office interview with Reuters, Donald Trump touted his accomplishments and suggested that they were so great that “we shouldn’t even have an election” in November. Not surprisingly, that comment made headlines.
But it is at best a distraction from the real threat: the United States will have elections this year, but they will not be free and fair.
Far more important than his musings about calling off the midterms was what the president told the New York Times in another Oval Office interview. As the Times noted, he said that “he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states after his loss in the 2020 election.”
As the Times observed, “Mr. Trump’s expression of regret … was ... a warning sign that he had not given up on the idea that voting machines were dangerous or that they could be seized in an effort to curb fraud.” We should take that warning seriously.
So far, the leaders of the Democratic party have not. They have focused on mobilizing to compete successfully in November, but have done little to ensure the election is not rigged through executive action, intimidation or interference with vote counting.
At the end of the day, the president may be attracted to the idea of rigging the 2026 election not just out of a fear that he will not be able to work his will but because, as scholars suggest, electoral manipulation is a signal to critical audiences (including “bureaucracy, potential defectors within the elite, or powerful stakeholders within civil society”) of his “strength“ and “invincibility”.
Whatever Trump’s motivations, Democrats are making a mistake by underestimating the likelihood that, for all the artful campaigning and the many unpopular things they can pin on Republicans, none of that will matter. They, and all the rest of us, must mobilize to avoid that result.
We have no time to waste.”
• Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, is the author or editor of more than 100 books, including Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty.
Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.
Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!
What does mobilizing look like? Stop spending? I doubt that will do it. Resist, stop cooperating (with what?). Stop the fascist takeover. How? An article sounding alarm with no helpful guidance.
What is taking place on the USS Abraham Lincoln is deplorable. It kind of takes you back to Operation Desert Storm when the Iraqi soldiers were starving and they surrendered to American forces. This is Trump's military. This is Trump's America. This is the Trump regime.
Mutiny would be nice but I don't see that happening. They will end up in the brig and get a dishonorable discharge. They want to hang on to their pay and benefits.
Well, the American troops seem to be on the verge of jumping ship, because the conditions are too deplorable to sustain life, which would. under normal conditions, considered mutiny.
At what point is it reasonable or even essential to jump ship in order to safe your own life?
Great comparison. My brother served in Desert Storm and told us how heartbreaking it was to see the Iraqis starving and desperate when they surrendered. I never imagined that so many Americans would elect the kind of people who are the 'bad guys' and call it patriotism.
Every American, regardless of political affiliation or ideology, must be up in arms and loud about the mistreatment of our military personnel.
It's a different military now. Even in Trump's first term there were radical MAGAts serving in the military. I personally knew 3 officers who are MAGATs. They were rising up then.
I was a ridiculously young Navy wife in San Diego in the early 70s. I cringe thinking that this could have been happening to the personnel I knew back then. Macho and full of themselves, but they wouldn't have backed anyone like t-Dump.
I hope Vance remembered to say “thank you” to Zelenskyy after begging him to stop taking out oil tankers. I also hope Ukraine got some interceptors in exchange.
1. The horrible conditions for the men and women on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Hegseth and Trump treat our military members as expendable.
2. Trump's Administration (read Project 2025 goons) removing checks on money laundering. Here is the relevant section:
"The Treasury Department and FinCEN announced a final rule permanently killing the requirement for U.S. companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership information, and FinCEN also announced it will delete the beneficial ownership information it’s already collected. Former congressman Tom Malinowski (who helped pass this law in 2020) said the entire purpose of the law was to stop drug traffickers, Russian and Chinese kleptocrats, and other international criminals hiding money behind anonymous shell companies in the U.S. Beneficial ownership information is just a record of who actually owns a company, and it existed to stop Delaware LLCs from laundering millions to offshore accounts on behalf of untraceable people or entities. Malinowski also said the move is likely totally illegal, as they are making their own rules to avoid a law passed by Congress. I cannot think of another reason of why you would do this unless you want to actively aid and abet organized crime syndicates."
Absolutely… it now appears that trump’s treasury has suddenly made the USA the world’s new safe haven for criminals, including the current POTUS and his entire mob family.
Just like when Don Jr asked his dad to get his girlfriend out of the country so he could marry his new squeeze, I’m thinking that Hegseth asked Don to give his wife a job. “ she follows me everywhere, sir, and I can’t get a drink“
Now in the 90 day “quiet period”, the Republican Party’s challenge to the National Voter Registration Act, while not quiet, is losing bad. Of the 30 states that Trump sued for voter rolls Trump has lost 21 and won 0. Even calls for a national security emergency would never pass muster. His ploy against mail in voting has been rebuked by Judge Talwani: “The court finds that enfranchisement heavily outweighs the executive’s attempt to unconstitutionally insert itself into the domain of election regulation.”
Which brings up Trump’s favorite tactic, lies and smears, fear and intimidation through repetition and coordination, with no quiet period, ever. It is just as valid to counter this method as it is any legal challenge.
Trump’s most feared word is loser. He is a 2020 loser and come November he will be an even bigger loser. The memos just released by the WhiteHouse show that the Mueller counterintelligence investigation was short circuited. When Russia released the Clinton emails, at Trump’s request, Russia was listening and responded, without Russia’s help, loser. Call him a Fascist, which he is, but loser, never, call him an autocrat, which he is, but to be called feeble, in mind and body, loser. Accuse him of graft and corruption, but the Iranian War, loser.
All of these very pertinent issues have depth in signifying the complexity of our situation and with the added worth of know your enemy acumen, the ability to be right on target.
Ha ha, go cry in your crappy pillows Mike. Love seeing the "generational" shifts taking place. If they refuse to put forth term limits bills, then this is what they get.
Noticing how the recalls on food have increased, I’m frustrated and angered that this administration cut out most of the infrastructure for overseeing the quality of our food. I’m sure the Prez and his administration can afford high end food sources free from contamination. The country, however, has to check the news daily to see what items on their grocery list are contaminated that day. Thanks Prez. 😬😡🤬
Hung Cao and Pete Hegseth both served in the military; the actions of both of them in support of the deployed forces are just criminal negligence and they both need to be held to account after the Trump administration leaves office. Corporal Bonespurs needs to apologize to the deployed forces for his actions while they spent more months at sea than they were told to expect AND forfeit all the money he has acquired while in office — the Iranians have pegged him perfectly — and the question is whether he dies in office or gets to spend significant time behind bars for his inhumanity.
Hegseth has literally destroyed our military. He fired our best and brightest leaders for purely racial, gender and political reasons. He ran through our munitions without even considering supplies. He failed logistical common sense.
A sex abuser, alcoholic yes man in charge of our armed forces is like putting a convict in the White House.
"Who was secretly with Trump on that catering truck in Turkey?" I just assumed it was that aspiring Mrs. tRump No. 4 who hangs out with him all the time and strokes his--ego...only this time she was loaded up with a buncha iMacs cuz she and tRump thought they were a new burger at McDonalds. But what do I know!
We all know that Trump is pretty much an idiot who is in politics for the money he can steal as well as the power to soothe his always-needy ego. But he has managed, with the help of the Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society, to bring the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world almost to its knees. The in-your-face corruption and lunatic foreign policy could only be accomplished through the thorough participation of every single appointee and every hire since he took the throne! The complete lack of courage, integrity, and honor among the members of the GOP helped too, of course. If this country survives as a thriving democracy, it will be only because we completely overhaul the government from top to bottom, and with all the money since Citizens United involved, that is not likely!
The Superpower of We The People is Voting. It works; Pillow Boy lost. He won't admit it but he is a loser on so many levels, due mostly to his slavish devotion to t-Dump. Another example of people t-Dump destroys and moves on without them.
Hey, Mike Lindell. Didn't you hear? You lost, bitch. Now shut up and go cry in your pillow. We don't want to hear it.
The sad fact is Mike Pillow's percentages were higher than the teens.......still work to be done to crush Maga
Incredible. Seems there are a lot of hardcore MAGATs out there still. I guess they haven't been punished enough. 🤷🏻♀️
"It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled." *
One of the main hallmarks of a CULT.
I know that with every new reveal of their cult leader's corruption, my own (now estranged) relatives just dig in a little deeper.
(*Sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, but the subject of much debate online).
Will Trump Seize the Election?
From The Hill, August 11, 2026
“Trump on declaring national security emergency for elections: ‘Stranger things have happened’
President Trump on Tuesday left the door open to declaring a national security emergency and federalizing control over the November midterms.”
From The Guardian, January 23, 2026
Democrats are campaigning as if the 2026 election will be fair. That’s a mistake
Austin Sarat
The following are excerpts from this article:
In a 16 January podcast interview, Robert Kagan, a historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explained why this is a mistake.
Because of Donald Trump’s desire and need for complete domination, he cannot tolerate and will not allow a Republican defeat at the polls.
As Robert Kagan put it: “There’s no chance in the world that Donald Trump is going to allow himself to lose in the 2026 elections, because that would be the end of his ability to wield total power. Unless they got up on the rooftop and said: ‘We are going to subvert the 2026 election,’ they could not be more obvious about what their intention is.”
“Last week, during an Oval Office interview with Reuters, Donald Trump touted his accomplishments and suggested that they were so great that “we shouldn’t even have an election” in November. Not surprisingly, that comment made headlines.
But it is at best a distraction from the real threat: the United States will have elections this year, but they will not be free and fair.
Far more important than his musings about calling off the midterms was what the president told the New York Times in another Oval Office interview. As the Times noted, he said that “he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize voting machines in swing states after his loss in the 2020 election.”
As the Times observed, “Mr. Trump’s expression of regret … was ... a warning sign that he had not given up on the idea that voting machines were dangerous or that they could be seized in an effort to curb fraud.” We should take that warning seriously.
So far, the leaders of the Democratic party have not. They have focused on mobilizing to compete successfully in November, but have done little to ensure the election is not rigged through executive action, intimidation or interference with vote counting.
At the end of the day, the president may be attracted to the idea of rigging the 2026 election not just out of a fear that he will not be able to work his will but because, as scholars suggest, electoral manipulation is a signal to critical audiences (including “bureaucracy, potential defectors within the elite, or powerful stakeholders within civil society”) of his “strength“ and “invincibility”.
Whatever Trump’s motivations, Democrats are making a mistake by underestimating the likelihood that, for all the artful campaigning and the many unpopular things they can pin on Republicans, none of that will matter. They, and all the rest of us, must mobilize to avoid that result.
We have no time to waste.”
• Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, is the author or editor of more than 100 books, including Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty.
Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.
Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!
What does mobilizing look like? Stop spending? I doubt that will do it. Resist, stop cooperating (with what?). Stop the fascist takeover. How? An article sounding alarm with no helpful guidance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x33hBl5HIi0
"Tears on My Pillow"
Little Anthony & the Imperials
LOL!! That's a good song too! A pity it is being referenced to that piece of shit. 😆
Thank you. It's great.
Looks like he can (and should be) charged with a crime for handing out pillows to "bribe" voters during his campaign.
Charged with assault with a deadly weapon?
That works 😆
I didn't know that. Yes, he should be charged. I know he was bragging that he was endorsed by Trump. 🤣 He thought it would seal the deal 🤣
"Find me 12,500 votes! That's all I need!"
I'm expecting that. 🙄
What is taking place on the USS Abraham Lincoln is deplorable. It kind of takes you back to Operation Desert Storm when the Iraqi soldiers were starving and they surrendered to American forces. This is Trump's military. This is Trump's America. This is the Trump regime.
Hegseth is the treasonous bastard that's caused all this harm. I seriously wish the military would turn on him.
Mutiny would be nice but I don't see that happening. They will end up in the brig and get a dishonorable discharge. They want to hang on to their pay and benefits.
Fragging was a thing in Vietnam. A superior would be shot and it wasn't from the Vietcong. Just saying.
Well, the American troops seem to be on the verge of jumping ship, because the conditions are too deplorable to sustain life, which would. under normal conditions, considered mutiny.
At what point is it reasonable or even essential to jump ship in order to safe your own life?
Great comparison. My brother served in Desert Storm and told us how heartbreaking it was to see the Iraqis starving and desperate when they surrendered. I never imagined that so many Americans would elect the kind of people who are the 'bad guys' and call it patriotism.
Every American, regardless of political affiliation or ideology, must be up in arms and loud about the mistreatment of our military personnel.
I can't believe these horrible conditions that our sailors are in.
Mike Lindell is a joke. I can't even believe he thought he had a chance.
I can’t believe 135,000 idiots voted for him.
Right. I can't believe 70% of the military voted for Trump.
I don't get it - after he is so disrespect to them at every opportunity. Couldn't bring themselves to vote for Kamala?
It's a different military now. Even in Trump's first term there were radical MAGAts serving in the military. I personally knew 3 officers who are MAGATs. They were rising up then.
I was a ridiculously young Navy wife in San Diego in the early 70s. I cringe thinking that this could have been happening to the personnel I knew back then. Macho and full of themselves, but they wouldn't have backed anyone like t-Dump.
It is absolutely unconscionable what the sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are going through!
I hope Vance remembered to say “thank you” to Zelenskyy after begging him to stop taking out oil tankers. I also hope Ukraine got some interceptors in exchange.
Thank you for great reporting.
Another, Despicable day
Two items stand out for me in today's report:
1. The horrible conditions for the men and women on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Hegseth and Trump treat our military members as expendable.
2. Trump's Administration (read Project 2025 goons) removing checks on money laundering. Here is the relevant section:
"The Treasury Department and FinCEN announced a final rule permanently killing the requirement for U.S. companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership information, and FinCEN also announced it will delete the beneficial ownership information it’s already collected. Former congressman Tom Malinowski (who helped pass this law in 2020) said the entire purpose of the law was to stop drug traffickers, Russian and Chinese kleptocrats, and other international criminals hiding money behind anonymous shell companies in the U.S. Beneficial ownership information is just a record of who actually owns a company, and it existed to stop Delaware LLCs from laundering millions to offshore accounts on behalf of untraceable people or entities. Malinowski also said the move is likely totally illegal, as they are making their own rules to avoid a law passed by Congress. I cannot think of another reason of why you would do this unless you want to actively aid and abet organized crime syndicates."
Absolutely… it now appears that trump’s treasury has suddenly made the USA the world’s new safe haven for criminals, including the current POTUS and his entire mob family.
Just like when Don Jr asked his dad to get his girlfriend out of the country so he could marry his new squeeze, I’m thinking that Hegseth asked Don to give his wife a job. “ she follows me everywhere, sir, and I can’t get a drink“
Very distressing to hear about our sailors! Bring them home!
Congrats to David Crowley.
To the Democrats in Congress:
Now in the 90 day “quiet period”, the Republican Party’s challenge to the National Voter Registration Act, while not quiet, is losing bad. Of the 30 states that Trump sued for voter rolls Trump has lost 21 and won 0. Even calls for a national security emergency would never pass muster. His ploy against mail in voting has been rebuked by Judge Talwani: “The court finds that enfranchisement heavily outweighs the executive’s attempt to unconstitutionally insert itself into the domain of election regulation.”
Which brings up Trump’s favorite tactic, lies and smears, fear and intimidation through repetition and coordination, with no quiet period, ever. It is just as valid to counter this method as it is any legal challenge.
Trump’s most feared word is loser. He is a 2020 loser and come November he will be an even bigger loser. The memos just released by the WhiteHouse show that the Mueller counterintelligence investigation was short circuited. When Russia released the Clinton emails, at Trump’s request, Russia was listening and responded, without Russia’s help, loser. Call him a Fascist, which he is, but loser, never, call him an autocrat, which he is, but to be called feeble, in mind and body, loser. Accuse him of graft and corruption, but the Iranian War, loser.
All of these very pertinent issues have depth in signifying the complexity of our situation and with the added worth of know your enemy acumen, the ability to be right on target.
We the people do not consent.
Ha ha, go cry in your crappy pillows Mike. Love seeing the "generational" shifts taking place. If they refuse to put forth term limits bills, then this is what they get.
Noticing how the recalls on food have increased, I’m frustrated and angered that this administration cut out most of the infrastructure for overseeing the quality of our food. I’m sure the Prez and his administration can afford high end food sources free from contamination. The country, however, has to check the news daily to see what items on their grocery list are contaminated that day. Thanks Prez. 😬😡🤬
And his recent vaccine EO -
“Trump signs executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines, falsely linking shots to autism“
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/trump-vaccine-executive-order-autism.html
Hung Cao and Pete Hegseth both served in the military; the actions of both of them in support of the deployed forces are just criminal negligence and they both need to be held to account after the Trump administration leaves office. Corporal Bonespurs needs to apologize to the deployed forces for his actions while they spent more months at sea than they were told to expect AND forfeit all the money he has acquired while in office — the Iranians have pegged him perfectly — and the question is whether he dies in office or gets to spend significant time behind bars for his inhumanity.
Hegseth has literally destroyed our military. He fired our best and brightest leaders for purely racial, gender and political reasons. He ran through our munitions without even considering supplies. He failed logistical common sense.
A sex abuser, alcoholic yes man in charge of our armed forces is like putting a convict in the White House.
Oh, wait, we did that too.
"Who was secretly with Trump on that catering truck in Turkey?" I just assumed it was that aspiring Mrs. tRump No. 4 who hangs out with him all the time and strokes his--ego...only this time she was loaded up with a buncha iMacs cuz she and tRump thought they were a new burger at McDonalds. But what do I know!
The new generation Monica Lewinsky
On steroids and in plain sight for the whole world to see. (Ewwwww…)
Or the new “Melania”.
We all know that Trump is pretty much an idiot who is in politics for the money he can steal as well as the power to soothe his always-needy ego. But he has managed, with the help of the Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society, to bring the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world almost to its knees. The in-your-face corruption and lunatic foreign policy could only be accomplished through the thorough participation of every single appointee and every hire since he took the throne! The complete lack of courage, integrity, and honor among the members of the GOP helped too, of course. If this country survives as a thriving democracy, it will be only because we completely overhaul the government from top to bottom, and with all the money since Citizens United involved, that is not likely!
The Superpower of We The People is Voting. It works; Pillow Boy lost. He won't admit it but he is a loser on so many levels, due mostly to his slavish devotion to t-Dump. Another example of people t-Dump destroys and moves on without them.