Marlow’s Note: Whenever America’s leaders point to what it values or way of life as being be threatened or directly attached, we can count on our working white Americans to go off in a homicidal swarm to “defend our way of life.”

This is not just for cases of kinetic warfare. It’s a proven theorem of American politics. We are like cows on a farm whenever the hands nail a cowhide to the barn. After a cow is butchered and its hide is nailed the hide up high on the barn to dry out, the rest of the cows go absolutely freaking berserk until it is removed.

What we are seeing is the party in power has nailed the hide of the “law and order” cow on the barn and they have no damned intention of taking it down. Flyover country and swing state herds are getting agitated and bellowing out there.

Right now, America is having a full-blown case of the cowhide syndrome. There no sense in Biden our time here.

The Red Mirage:

We talked about the “what’s next” of the political circus yesterday, and by the time I did the cartoon version for the Daily, the real thing was on the street.

It is worth a mention because it is so cool. The information operations component, designed to accommodate a number of potential futures is now called “Red Mirage.” It is quite elegant, and having an actual name is useful. Nutshell view? The premise is that GOP voters will show up at the polls the way they normally do, and their votes will be tallied in the usual manner. The results will probably be about what happened last time, since the GOP sentiment is badly sampled in most of the popular polls.

Since that is an unacceptable result, it also represents the decision point for how to play the results. If Mr. Biden (or whoever) wins, the matter is dropped quietly and life will go on. If, as many expect, Mr. Trump prevails, the game evolves. Variable factors are critical, and margins small or large are crucial to execution. There are a wide variety of voting means, including the widely-discussed mail in voting preferred (and sometime mandated) in several states. Mr. Trump could have a margin on election night ranging from thin to significant.

That is what they are calling The Red Mirage, since the continuing information campaign will determine the actual winner, once the number of votes in the critical states is widely known. Over the next several days, re-counts, missing ballots various court suits will be found. Once the number of votes necessary is known- on election night- there are weeks to tabulate the number of changes necessary to achieve the desired result. As one commentator observed, this demonstrates that a Trump victory is only a chimera, and will be fixed by the legitimate system. Or whatever means necessary.

I know, it seems as crazy as the FBI, the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency, having an insurance policy against the last unlikely Presidential election result.

I mean, stuff like that is unthinkable, right? Another gentle reader sent along a detailed account of the fraud that surrounded the JFK-Nixon election. It was spectacular in complexity, and not at all as simple as saying “Mayor Daley cheated.” That one relied on in-person fraud across many jurisdictions, Democrat and Republican. Nixon opted not to challenge the result, and one unlikely but true outcome was his successful run on a “Law and Order” platform after Presidential murder, a land war in Asia, and rioting in the streets.

I mention this only to point out that something quite unique may be coming, and will not be a mirage, Red or Blue. I hope you are enjoying this spectacular development in the management of our country as much as I am. Marlow’s commentary is particularly relevant to the situation. And all that stuff in the Postcard? It is all happening as well. I have earnest pals who are concerned about China’s impending subjugation of Taiwan by force of arms; the Senkaku Island chain in the East China Sea currently held by Japan may be up for grabs. Murders are happening in our streets as part of a deliberate campaign of violence that hasn’t been seen in more than fifty years.

I would be tempted, in “normal” times, to be a little alarmed by all this unusual activity. It is completely possible that all this is just talk, and things are fine. Regrettably, I think there is more, and we could be headed toward a Mirage result that neither side will accept. That is where the “what next” question becomes even more interesting. These are interesting times, you know?

History is grand, but I think I remember that living in interesting times was once described as a Chinese curse.

Copyright 2020 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com