I think the thing people need to come to terms with is that while we insist on playing everything by the book, because it's the right thing to do, they are playing by a completely different book that literally uses our own book against us. We continue playing right into their hands, and we're eventually going to have to change our playbook very drastically, and it's not going to be comfortable. We can't win this by continuing to play by the same book that got us here.

It seems like everyone's pinning their hopes on the midterms despite the clear evidence already available that not only are they in the process of being manipulated and rigged, and they've still got over half a year to be even more egregious about it, but even if they aren't or if they don't succeed, there's a good chance that the other side will make up their own numbers anyway and create a smoke screen of misinformation or simply refuse to follow the rules like they've already been doing this whole time. Even if Dems take back the house and the senate, where's their actual power to do anything about any of this? What actual enforcement mechanism can they actually implement that isn't procedural and "by the book", the exact same book that Trump's administration is ignoring?

"The book" and even "the constitution" is just words on paper, and we've entered an era where the sword is once again mightier than the pen. Where's our swords? If Trump starts doing everything by executive order again, continues stacking the deck in all the militarized federal law enforcement institutions to surround himself in his own personal gestapo and use them to enforce his executive orders, who's going to actually try anything to stop him? Who's going to be brave enough to take actual action against his militarized forces to stop him? And it's not enough to just have one guy or a handful willing to stand up to him. Yeah, maybe that will embolden some more to stand up to him, but you don't just need to have some guys stand up to him, you need to stand up and win against an army of violent thugs, you need your own army, and it needs to be a well-trained army that can actually beat these fuckers in direct combat. A bunch of angry guys shouting mean things in congress and the senate and courtrooms and hearings aren't going to stop him, no matter what book they think still matters. The violent thugs on the ground will not stop because of any book unless Trump's the one writing it. I think this is going to get real, real bad. I desperately hope to be wrong, but I'm not willing to concede that I am.