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Thread with my commentary on the "Transition Integrity Project's" wargames of the election aftermath.
Read it yourself here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/read-the-transition-integrity-projects-full-report/ar-BB17x0w3
h/t @relicn0cer
Read it yourself here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/read-the-transition-integrity-projects-full-report/ar-BB17x0w3
h/t @relicn0cer
1/ The Exec Summary makes it clear that TIP fully expects a contested election, complete with street violence. They dismiss out of hand voter fraud as a real factor and attempt to pre-emptively blame all violence on Trump supporters.
2/ By comparing the current election to 1876 and invoking segregation as the consequence of the bargain that ended reconstruction they are implicitly setting out a moral imperative to defeat Trump *by any means* in order to stop the consolidation of rightist authoritarianism.
3/ Based on TIP's own overview of the kind of people who designed and participated in the games it's clear that it represents the views of much of the political and media classes. So the powers that be are clearly expecting an abnormal election.
4/ The report repeatedly singles out social media and "viral memes" as a prominent source of "disinformation." So expect to see increasing censorship as we get closer to election day and for some after, if it really is contested - and if Trump wins it surely will be.
5/ It also singles out Fox News as a reliable disseminator of pro-Trump narratives. The rest of the MSM's reliable pro-Biden stance passes without comment. So we can expect increasing attempts to censor or otherwise constrain Fox News also.
6/ "The exercises demonstrated that the very first
“move” by each campaign was often decisive; it established a narrative and the overall strategy."
Expect the Biden campaign to question the outcome immediately on election night if Trump even *appears* to be winning.
“move” by each campaign was often decisive; it established a narrative and the overall strategy."
Expect the Biden campaign to question the outcome immediately on election night if Trump even *appears* to be winning.
7/ Team Trump immediately contested the results in all four games and then stoked violent unrest afterwards.
Safe to say that this is projection and is what the Democrats are planning to do.
Safe to say that this is projection and is what the Democrats are planning to do.
8/ "At the same time, the scenario exercises also revealed that for many Democrats and... constituencies, this election represents an existential crisis, the last chance to stop a rapid and potentially irreversible US decline into authoritarianism and unbridled nativism."
9/ Whether democracy is a good thing or not, it is based on the idea that it is tolerable to lose an election. When some large portion of the body politic comes to believe that a single electoral defeat is *intolerable*, the democratic system cannot function.
10/ TIP claims that the Democrats cannot control leftist activists but that the Trump administration can not only rely on rightist activists to do it's bidding but that they will infiltrate leftist movements in order to discredit them with violent acts.
11/ This is setting the stage to give Biden plausible deniability for any leftist violence and to attempt to pin it on not only rightists but the Trump administration directly.
12/ "If there is a crisis, almost every
strategy to protect the democratic process is dependent on mass mobilization, and in particular, on
people taking peacefully to the streets in large numbers, potentially for an extended period."
In other words: a color revolution.
strategy to protect the democratic process is dependent on mass mobilization, and in particular, on
people taking peacefully to the streets in large numbers, potentially for an extended period."
In other words: a color revolution.
13/ "The Trump Campaign stoked chaos and mayhem by urging local police forces to break up Black
Lives Matter and pro-Biden demonstrations and encouraging Alt Right / Boogaloo supporters to
confront liberal protestors."
lol
Lives Matter and pro-Biden demonstrations and encouraging Alt Right / Boogaloo supporters to
confront liberal protestors."
lol
14/ Cutting through the coy euphemism, the results of the four games were:
1. Civil War
2. Great Purge
3. Civil War
4. Great Purge
1. Civil War
2. Great Purge
3. Civil War
4. Great Purge
15/ Appendix C makes it clear that a Biden administration will be characterized by both an unprecedented purge of rightists from the government and silencing of dissent as well as sweeping reforms designed to make it impossible for any Republican to gain the presidency again.
16/ In sum: The Democrats will do anything they possibly can to win this election, even risking civil war by refusing to concede right up to inauguration day and threatening secession if demands are not met.
17/ And if they win they will move to consolidate total control of the federal government through sweeping reforms and permanently and crush all open dissent. All in the name of saving democracy.
18/ All of the scenarios are plausible, but I believe game three reflects TIP's expectation of how things will most likely play out. They think that even if Trump wins he can be forced into accepting vast reforms that will cripple his party by implicitly threatening bloodshed.
