Little Chickens? Oh, "Chicken Little"!

Opinion: All the warning lights are blinking red.

Here’s how to prepare for Trump rejecting the election results in November. https://t.co/Pq1534iVsN

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 27, 2020

"Organized militias" means "clowns with guns."  And they are scattered across the face of the country, in numbers far smaller than we imagine from the media attention they get (people with guns get more attention than people without them.  Would you have known there was a BLM march in Austin recently, if somebody hadn't been carrying a rifle and gotten shot to death for his troubles?  Do you know how many BLM marches there have been in Houston?  No?  No guns, is why.)

"a leader who is not prepared to lose"  Trump is not a leader,  he's a clown in a business suit.  He couldn't lead a family of ducks to water.  He has no support, just scattered boobs who want to scream in public and maybe brandish a gun or two.  Guns are scary, stupid people are just stupid.  Trump doesn't have to accept the results to make them legally binding, and he can be ushered out of office by force, if necessary.  The graver problem is what he will do between November and January.  It ain't gonna be just prying all the "B's" off the keyboards, either (no, that didn't happen to W., but the myth persists).  Whether he accepts the loss or not, he loses.  If he wants to challenge, it will have to be more serious than "millions of illegals voted!"  It will have to be actually grounded in something, and that something is not whatever spew emanates from Fox&Friends.  The ugliness will just be another reason to see the backside of Trump soonest, and probably will provide political support for prosecuting Trump for whatever federal crimes he is guilty off, performed in office or before.  Or after, for that matter.

"distrust of the political system"--I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that's as American as cherry pie and runs back to before there was a Constitution.  Why do you think we had Articles of Confederation to begin with?  And still have politicians who campaign on "states rights" (or 10th Amendment "rights," which is the more palatable euphemism these days), or against "big government," etc.?  Yeah, this ain't a bug, it's a feature.

"disinformation"--Well, there is a pre-post-modernism understanding that one man's fact is another man's fancy, especially since all "facts" about "the way things are" are just the product of interpretation.  The "ruling class" always determines that the "facts" favor the continuation of their rule, for example.  I grew up on "disinformation" about the "evils of socialism" which were equated with Marxism which were equated with Communism.  It was all disinformation meant to be sure I worshipped at the altar of capitalism and looked to no other false idol for my material salvation or the perpetuation of the "American Dream." Disinformation?  You're gonna have to do better than that.  Yes, conspiracy theories that were once fringe are not mainstream (Q Anon is still trying, but with Jesse Waters disavowing it this week, it's not there yet).  Somehow none of those theories are keeping people from protesting police brutality and the death of George Floyd or demanding justice for all, or mourning the death of John Lewis.  Disinformation has always been with us, but it's not winning right now; no reason to believe it will win in November, or the period between November and January 20, 2021.

"a potentially close contest."--If the contest is close, it will be close in the EC, again.  And that might produce some problems that even wind up in court, or in the new Congress.  Representatives and Senators are not chosen by electors, but by direct vote.  Unless every GOP incumbent wants to challenge the results of his or her election, the Congress that decides who the President is will probably be a Democratic one.  And without a Bush v. Gore scenario, the Court won't intervene (might not even then; once burned twice shy).  We've been down this road once or twice before, IOW.

Just because Trump is a dumbass doesn't mean the sky is falling.  It could be, but let's wait at least until we all have pieces landing on our heads.  Panicking before the event that hasn't happened, or even planning for it outside the laws and provisions we already have for such occasions, seems to me, as ever, to be unwarranted.  Better you should vote, so it isn't a close contest anywhere in the country.