Let me put this a different way about why I am very concerned that Trump will try to overturn the election and stay in power (and the very serious people telling others to "stop being hysterical" should not be heeded):
1/

Nearly every elected Republican official in the last four years has walked in lock-step with Trump, violating norms that their previous selves would have never imagined violating. 2/

Maybe that behavior will change now, but we have seen very little sign of this. In fact, slowly since the election, more and more elected Republicans have taken the opportunity to display their fealty to Trump. 3/

As time goes on, the pressure on holdouts will increase. The media environment is not helping here. Outside of some sectors of Fox News (the least-watched parts), Republican media is falling into step too. 4/

If Republican-controlled state legislators or other elected officials violate the law to award the election to Trump, Democrats will object. Where will the resulting dispute be resolved? In the courts. 5/

The ultimate arbiter of these disputes will be the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has a bias favoring Trump. You can yell and scream that the law is clear and they can't do this, but law only matters in so far as it is interpreted and enforced. 6/

Where does that leave us? The silver lining is that so far, the pre-Barrett Court has shown that it will push back against Trump and maybe would not fall into line. 7/

Democracy sorta survives. But, at that point, we are left with elections being decided by the courts, not a great situation. The Court does enjoy great legitimacy and can shape public opinion by rebuking Trump. 8/

But we are now waiting on 9 (mostly Republican) justices to decide the future of our democracy. This is not a great situation. 9/

Am I panicking? Yes, pretty much. This is one of the gravest threats to democracy we have ever faced. I hope I am wrong and you can then call me chicken little, but I'll take that risk. 10/10

[and to reply to some responses - no, it's not all cool because we are pretty sure the military won't follow Trump's orders...we are in an awful, awful place if we are having that conversation]