The “Cowboys” being acknowledged are Cowboys for Trump and the speaker featured in this retweet is Couy Griffin the founder and lead spokesperson of “Cowboys for Trump” and a GOP commissioner for Otero county (New Mexico):
So, what did Mr. Griffin say in the speech re-tweeted by President “should I take insulin”?
I’ve come to a place where I’ve come to the conclusion that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat. [Crowd cheers and claps enthusiastically ] I don’t say that in the physical sense, and I can already see where the videos getting edited where it says I want to go murder Democrats. No, I say that in the political sense because the Democrat agenda and policy is anti-American right now.”
To put this statement in context, here is the mission statement of the organization that Mr. Griffin represents:
To support our sitting President Donald J. Trump and his Make America Great Again policies. We believe that by securing our border, protecting our second Amendment, and protecting the lives of the unborn are the most vital and key aspects in Americas Greatness. We also want to stand up and support rural America thru greater access to public lands, natural resources, and rural industries. We advocate against the attacks of environmental and radical endangered species acts. The backbone of America is found in the logging, ranching, mining, farming and oil and gas industries. And those are the industries in which we support.
“Cowboys who parrot every damn right wing talking point” might be a more accurate moniker but Mr. Griffin describes this image as capturing the greatest honor of his life:
1. Given Griffin’s disclaimer, his choice of lead phrase seems particularly odd. [And no, I am not referring to the Trumpian locution of “I’ve come to place where I have come to a decision” and yes, he forgot the requisite “bigly”]. So let us consider the (not) shocking alternative that Mr. Griffin’s convoluted disclaimer was strategic rather than genuine.
2. Yes, the video will be edited. And MAGA nation will cheer that edit and its violent implications while simultaneously expressing full-throated rage at those who take exception toward those implications.
So, fake news, libtard anti-free speech, mask wearing tyrants blah, blah…We MAGAs are the true aggrieved victims here….
MAGAs have learned their Trumpian/Faux News propaganda lessons quite well.
3. For Trump to retweet with a big thank you, in turn signals his (not so) tacit endorsement of the totalitarian sentiment and his complete alliance with the “very fine” people who fantasize about killing his political opponents and critics.
4. It is equally obvious that Trump, realizing the trajectory of the polls, wants to not only undermine the legitimacy of the upcoming election (amplifying the seeds he has already sown about rampant voter fraud in CA during the 2016 election) but to weaponize his hard core gun-toting followers.
5. I don’t think the end game here is necessarily a mass, violent insurrection so much as a significantly scaled up version of the re-open protests, with armed cospatriots flooding D.C. and various Blue State capitals demanding that the election results be overturned (imagine a cross between the Michigan and Wisconsin re-open protesters and the Florida recount “Burberry riots” of 2000).
6. Of course, this movement would be fueled by Trump’s cries of voter fraud and their reverberations across the conservative media echo chamber, with mainstream outlets like CNN giving Kelly Anne Conway and other Trumpian propagandists a broader forum to spread the destabilizing message. We have already seen that the MSM is not up to the challenge of countering Trump’s assault on democracy; instead, they treat these disruptive events as conventional partisan disputes. I think they will be similarly outflanked when Trump plays his version of “the immigrants stole my job” card.
7. At this point, Trump could then declare a national emergency and, remember, he would still have a GOP controlled Senate, Supreme Court and puppet AG at his behest.
8. One the one hand, you might say that it would be crazy for Trump and the GOP to force a constitutional crisis but 1) Trump is megalomaniac enough to do so and 2) we have seen that the GOP has been steadily ratcheting up the extremeness of their power plays so why assume, that facing an electoral wipe-out, they might not try to permanently change the rules of the game.
9. For Trump, Covid-19 has actually provided an opportunity to even more fully brandish any news source that counters his world-view as fake news and he has seen that his base will rally around his condemnations and fully inhabit the world of alternative facts that he has constructed (along with ideologically aligned conspiracy provocateurs like Alex Jones and networks, like OAN, that make Fox News seem “fair and balanced” by comparison).
10. No matter what, the aftermath of the election is going to be ugly, with Trump partisans immediately wanting to discredit the outcome and the legitimacy of a Biden presidency, with the GOP using this manufactured dissent as yet another reason to be obstructionist in the fullest sense of the word (and that might be the best case outcome)
I conclude with a definition of risk offered by the late great Sociologist UIrich Beck — “risk is the anticipation of catastrophe.” The available evidence of the last four years suggests that there is a definite risk that Trump may challenge and refuse the results of the upcoming election, perhaps using social insurrections as a pretense for declaring an extended national emergency.
In sum, we actually face two main risks; 1) Trump could still conceivably carry the electoral college again. Though that outcome currently seems unlikely, GOTV, protecting of voter rights, contesting social media disinfo and other mobilizing and vigilance measures are still needed to ensure that catastrophe is avoided.
And per that first risk, we have the knowledge and means to accomplish that goal.
However, the second risk, related to Trump undermining the legitimacy of the election and seeking to maintain power is, analogous to Covid-19. It is a newer threat with fewer established defense mechanisms in place and advance preparation is needed to avoid the crisis point from being reached.
So, what are the counter measures that could be taken to significantly mitigate the risk of this latter catastrophe?