which seem to be the hotbeds of violence these days

...in order to disrupt elections, for instance.

Needs more imagination. We're presently in the middle of a dystopian nightmare, and we shouldn't assume that because they can't control everyone they can't disrupt democracy and society in ways that severely limit our freedoms and our ability to control the government as a society.

Nationwide martial is a physical impossibility.

Lincoln only had to manage the Union states, not 350 million people across the entire continent.

Trump couldn’t even control 10 million in LA.

...but I wouldn't rule out a clumsy, mass imposition of military into Democratic cities before the election to sieze voting machines, or any of the other voter suppression plans.

I don't think we should assume that just because they can't they won't try, and that would devastate and impact many democratic and social institutions, as well as the independence of our system of elections.

But the possibility of total control is nil.

Even attempts to seize voting machines would be met with resistance from the states, and I don’t think they would be successful at preventing blue states from sending representatives to Congress.

...when you're looking at the small margins in the Senate and the House they need to overcome.

It doesn't take much to shift the balance just so to advantage one side or the other, and when you consider all of the tools Trump has available, many that other presidents didn't dare attempt to employ, you have to have some concern for his manipulations affecting the outcome.

And this isn't a zero sum dilemma.I get that people look at the country and determine that it's strong enough, collectively, to bear an autocratic regime.

But if you take individual harm into account, and don't just regard those abuses as essentially collateral, then you might view these autocratic moves as more than shuffling deck chairs.

But the narrow republican margin in the house works in our favor, because Dems are likely to gain 20-30 seats, despite gerrymandering.

With the fierce Dem govs and strong willed Dem secs of state we have, I feel pretty confident we will prevail despite any MAGA chicanery.

I think turnout will be higher than normal for an off year election, and that too will work in our favor, especially if young voters increase their turnout.

...I'd think vigilence would be our best defense, not confidence, especially after the last loss.

And not sure about brushing past the concerted efforts by republicans, advantaged by the weight of the federal government to restrict or eliminate voting rights and registrations, with assertions about turnout.

The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Undermine the Next Election

They include:

attempting to rewrite election rules to burden voters and usurp control of election systems;

targeting or threatening to target election officials and others who keep elections free and fair;

supporting people who undermine election administration; and

retreating from the federal government’s role of protecting voters and the election process.

To be sure, previous elections were marred by rules and practices that hindered full participation. Restrictive voting laws (some of which had already been ruled unconstitutional), skewed maps, and bomb threats at polling places impeded the freedom to vote. Federal officials had an important role in countering disinformation and combatting racial discrimination. This federal protection for fair elections may no longer exist.

The president’s attempt to interfere with voting systems is not novel. In his first term, he tried to direct the attorney general, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seize voting machines. He was unsuccessful. Yet now there are signs that the federal government may already be attempting to interfere with voting systems, beyond anything expressed in the executive order. A DHS official and an individual claiming to work for the administration have asked election officials in Colorado for access to their voting equipment.

Third, the order calls on the administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and DHS to obtain state voter files and other records kept by election officials, including voter list maintenance records. The DOJ has already requested voter lists from at least nine states, and at least two have provided them. Unredacted voter files and voter list maintenance records can contain sensitive private information about U.S. citizens. Other records may contain information that is subject to access controls for security reasons. Relatedly, the order mandates that states have access to federal citizenship data for voter list maintenance purposes; DHS recently overhauled and expanded the scope of its program for states to identify supposed noncitizens on the voter rolls.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/trump-administrations-campaign-undermine-next-election

But that doesn’t negate having confidence that the majority of the people will be on our side by November 2026.

seems the battle is between shithole and shithole.

...it really does appear to be, mainly, just Trump struggling to accumulate power which doesn't necessarily leverage conrol over all Americans, just a select (increasing) number for whatever purpose.

It's still OUR power and authority that he's supposed to just be managing for the American people, so I'm not as enthralled or particularily exercised right now over whatever is personally at stake for him, as much as I'm concerned with the people he uses like toilet paper.

...something he must realize by now is a permanent leash of Kompromat.

Fuck Trump, fuck Hegseth and fuck their stupid military psych-out bullshit!