#Politics Idle thoughts ... What if Pence had gone along with the #Trump coup scheme?
The question then becomes, how many members of Congress would have gone along.
We know some members were aware of the scheme. But how many on the floor would have voted to accept the fake electors? That's an act that puts one in the crosshairs with one's voters.
The scheme, as we know, was to force a state vote in the House where the Republicans held a 26-24 majority ... (1/x)
Presumably the Democrats would have filed suit with the US Supreme Court. What would the Supremes have done?
My guess is they'd want no part of it, saying the Constitution leaves it up to Congress.
But would the states have adopted the fake electors as the legitimate ones? That's another unknown. My guess is most of them would not have; they would have told the House to disregard the fake electors.
It's quite possible that all this mishegoss would have dragged out past January 20 ... (2/x)
At that point, with no President or Vice President, the Constitution would have delegated the presidency to the Speaker of the House, at the time Nancy Pelosi. What then happens with an interim Democratic president?
What would have happened, meanwhile, back in the questioned states. I doubt there would be "rioting in the streets," but certainly there would be protests. A lot of Republicans would have found themselves under great pressure from their constituents ... (3/x)
In the Trump era, we've seen that Republicans are fairly shameless. They're all about power, regardless of the cost. Would any of them stand up to defy Trump and declare they would not be part of a coup, enough to keep the fake electors from being counted?
One obvious answer is that we need to amend the Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College. All these "what ifs" then go away. (4/x)
That solution has its own problems. What if the national margin of difference is, say, within 1,000? Recounts would abound. Should Congress have a say? I'd say no.
Hopefully these questions are asked as we move forward with the #J6 trials. I doubt anything would be done, especially by the Republicans, because the electoral college works in their favor, the popular vote not so much.
Fin. (5/5)