Okay, I'm going to do a political rant and I'm sorry. I'll post something funny afterward.

The federal secret police operating in Portland are exactly what every minority knew the final outcome of Trump's election would be in Nov, 2016. And it's only going to escalate from here.

Even during the campaign, it was clear trump saw the presidency as a dictator's office and believed it came with unchecked authority. His entire term has been to just declare he's doing whatever until someone stops him, regardless of his actual power or legality

But now, with his re-election numbers sagging, he's panicking. Whether it's true or not, he honestly believes being in the office makes him immune to prosecution, and that means leaving the office opens him up to accountability for his actions

So he'll do anything to cling to that office, above and beyond the GOP strategies to gut voting rights. Let a plague run rampant, strip Americans of citizenship, install secret police in "enemy" cities. In his mind, re-election is his only hope to escape accountability

MAYBE--if he trusts Pence--he'll step down during the lame duck period and hope President Pence will pardon him, but I honestly don't think he trusts his VP (with good reason; Pence is distancing himself & the rest of the GOP are setting Trump up as a scapegoat for their crimes)

But before he gets there, he's going to do everything he believes is within his power to swing or stop the election.

We're going to see more secret police in blue cities. We're going to see him try and restrict who counts as an American citizen.

We'll probably see him try to postpone/cancel the election, maybe citing COVID but probably pointing at protesters and screaming "terrorists!"

So as scary as the police riots and Trump's secret police have been the last 6 weeks, be prepared for it to get a lot uglier in the next four months. Keep some extra supplies at home. Build a support network with your family and friends to check in on each other

Get involved with protests, turn out the vote, and independent election groups if you can. Donate to bail funds and community orgs if you have resources. Make sure at least one friend knows where you're supposed to be and how to contact your other friends/family.

We're at this very tenuous position in American politics—and we've been here before, American-style democracy is delicate as fuck—where our political system might still be able to right itself with a ton of direct effort.

If not, we're looking at years of violence.

Either way, things are going to get darker before they improve. And they won't improve without a lot of Americans working together, and even accepting imperfect or even antagonistic allies for the time being.

So deep breaths. Pace yourself. Find love and peace where you can. But don't blind yourself to what's going on and be prepared when they get worse. Because—barring a merciful stroke—Trump is absolutely not going to go down without a fight, and he sees most of America as the enemy

And as promised, here's something funny for getting through my Cassandra ranting

In retrospect, this rant might have had more gravitas if it hadn't been delivered by a cartoon anteater