Dan Shay
@dfs4114.bsky.social
640 followers 410 following 5.5K posts
Father, husband, attorney.
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dfs4114.bsky.social
Look, these talking points come directly from Reichsfuhrer Miller, so they don't really have a choice about what to say.
dfs4114.bsky.social
I mean, I knew you from Twitter, and basically ported over most of my follows when I left there.
dfs4114.bsky.social
Nazis and billionaires.
dfs4114.bsky.social
Great AMA. Thanks for doing it!
dfs4114.bsky.social
I'm kinda surprised the NYT still boasts, like, almost 12m subscribers.
dfs4114.bsky.social
I think you can do both at the same time, but I do agree that, in broad strokes, the left/Democrats ought to be explicitly tying their policies to what is morally good.

E.g., "We support taxing the wealthy and funding social programs because taking care of each other is morally good."
dfs4114.bsky.social
8\I apply this to the larger range of "doomer" scenarios, too. It's not just "rigged elections." There are plenty of others, so instead of debating whether it will occur or how it can't because XYZ, it's probably a good idea to make plans for what to do if it does occur.
dfs4114.bsky.social
7\We spend a lot of time worrying about "Will [thing] happen?!" but comparatively little *preparing* for what to do if/when it does. Personally, I think we would do well to stop agonizing over *whether* it will happen, and start planning for what to do if it does.
dfs4114.bsky.social
6\But here's what I want to ask you, and really everyone who's worried about this: what will *you* do? What's your plan? Do you have one? Have you thought about it? How will you respond and what are you prepared to do?
dfs4114.bsky.social
5\Moreover, any sufficiently large conspiracy to "rig" elections would require *a lot* of moving parts and people, and you have to figure that'd eventually leak out, at which point that would prompt yet more lawsuits and pushback of various sorts.
dfs4114.bsky.social
4\It still remains difficult to "rig" an election nation-wide. I would expect that state Secretaries of State would probably have some kind of standards for certifying voting machines, and those could potentially be challenged by voters ahead of an election.
dfs4114.bsky.social
3\I have zero problem with machines that do that. As long as the information is presented in a way that isn't overly confusing, having a backup paper ballot produced by the machine is a good security system to ensure the voter's choices are accurately recorded.
dfs4114.bsky.social
2\I live in PA, and we use ~5 different vendors, including Dominion. Where I live, the machines produce paper ballots that the voter must review before submitting for a final vote. Those paper ballots are also retained separately from the machines, which provide a better audit trail if needed.
dfs4114.bsky.social
1\Several thoughts here.

I read that story, and it's not great. But a few things to bear in mind: (1) states can contract with other vendors for election machines if they're concerned, (2) many states already use multiple other vendors.
dfs4114.bsky.social
7\If you are *truly* that worried, my advice is to get the fuck off social media and start imagining real-world scenarios and how you will respond to them. Like, strengthen your meatspace social networks. Figure out who you can rely on for mutual aid, and who you can help, etc.
dfs4114.bsky.social
6\I really, really doubt any of them have seriously considered what widespread unrest would actually mean, how it would look, or have begun to form "concepts of a plan" for how they'd respond. It's just "nothing matters, he'll cancel elections" and...that's it.
dfs4114.bsky.social
5\The legal pushback, for starters, would be massive. I would not be surprised if there were mass protests/strikes as well in response to literally *canceling* elections. Beyond that, I rather doubt most people have seriously imagined what happens. Like, truly, the "doomer" mindset stops there.
dfs4114.bsky.social
4\That said, I'm betting 9.5 out of 10 of these folks have zero plan other than "I will simultaneously gloat about being right, and then bemoan our situation while wishing someone would do something." I don't think they truly grasp the implications of such a move by Trump/Miller.
dfs4114.bsky.social
3\A year is a *long* time. Trump has declined a lot over the past year, and by this time next year, who knows how much farther he'll have fallen. I mean in terms of mental & physical capacity, but also in terms of popularity. He's REALLY unpopular now.
dfs4114.bsky.social
2\Trump is...not in good shape. Go watch a video of the '16 GOP debates. He was a dope then, but he's *way* worse now. He's running out of gas and his mind is going, and it shows. Miller and Vought are, I suspect, mostly running the show as his viziers.
dfs4114.bsky.social
1\My view: first, assume the '26 elections will happen, and start building mobilization capacity NOW. Some places have local elections in a month. Great time to start expanding your network or hooking up with existing ones to do canvassing, etc.
Reposted by Dan Shay
dfs4114.bsky.social
I guess nobody wants their MTV...