By Dawn's Early Light

"To the People of the State of New York:

IT IS sometimes asked, with an air of seeming triumph, what inducements could the States have, if disunited, to make war upon each other? It would be a full answer to this question to say--precisely the same inducements which have, at different times, deluged in blood all the nations in the world. But, unfortunately for us, the question admits of a more particular answer. There are causes of differences within our immediate contemplation, of the tendency of which, even under the restraints of a federal constitution, we have had sufficient experience to enable us to form a judgment of what might be expected if those restraints were removed." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers #7

There is no way this ends well.

I freely admit to being a paranoid noodnik in many aspects of life. It is that same paranoia that has allowed me to still be alive and writing. However, that exact paranoia is pointing me in a different direction and it is a direction that will result in the obliteration of many a paradigm.

This election fiasco is going to be the final spark that lights the tinderbox that our Republic has become. It will burn long. It will burn hot. By the time the ash cools, we will be left with something that only vaguely resembles what we once were.

While I am not a constitutional scholar, there is at least one who claims that the only possible path for Trump to win the election is by denying Biden the 270 needed through challenges and legal actions. Thursday's press conference sure does feel like that is the path they have chosen. Trump can't stand losing. That is not even an item of debate. He saw all his huge rallies and assumed that he had already won. When the results showed otherwise, the only answer in his and his supporters minds was that it had to be cheating.

I'm not here to debate the fraud allegations. Was there fraud? Sure. There have been lots of cases for decades on both sides of fraud. The problem is, now that all the votes have been counted, it is extremely difficult to prove fraud. I am here to discuss the aftermath of the electoral mess.

If this election comes down to the state delegations and they decide to go with Trump, this country will descend into anarchy. Not simply widespread chaos, full blown anarchy. If you live in a major city and do not have the means to leave, you truly have my sympathy. There are going to be millions of good people who will suffer whose only offense is living in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cities will burn. People will die. All over an election of a president.

If for some reason it is not controlled quickly, and I have little faith in that being possible, you will have states who will be left with little choice other than removing themselves from the Republic to save their sovereignty. None of them will take that action lightly, but once the first one does, the rest will fly apart faster than a spring driven wristwatch in an old cartoon. Some will survive on their own or in small confederations, but the Republic we currently enjoy will be far gone... possibly for good.

I am not rooting for this outcome, nor will I welcome it, but I would be foolish to not consider the possibility and plan accordingly. As you shall too. It is imperative that we try to avoid this outcome at all costs, but I fear that the cooler heads will not prevail. Lines are being drawn and if you are not 100% behind the prevailing ideologies, then you must be marginalized and ignored.

Like the proverbial musicians on the Titanic, I shall continue to play my symphonies of words until I can no longer do so. I invite you to join me.