In the midst of all the debates, analysis, pseudoanalysis, charges, countercharges, memes, countermemes and whatnot during this election cycle, Tucker Carlson made an astounding prediction regarding former President Donald Trump’s chances of winning the White House once again:

“If they think that there’s a chance that Trump could win decisively enough in November that they can’t steal it, then I think their only option there is to in some way throw the society into chaos,” Carlson said. “It’s pretty simple. If they feel like they’re going to lose, we will have some kind of crisis.”

That might mean Joe Biden could remain in the White House past Jan. 21, 2025. That might mean he could resign for alleged health reasons, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to become the nation’s 47th president — with or without an election.

That might even mean somebody with connections to such favored establishment entities as Blackrock or Ukraine could try to assassinate Trump yet again before Election Day.

You might think this sounds like bad political fiction. Think again.

As they did during the last presidential election, the powers that be will use any means necessary — and all means available — to maintain power and deny Trump a second term. (After all, why else would Republican Dick Cheney — a former Congressman, Secretary of Defense, and vice president — endorse Harris?)

Those means could include fears of another pandemic, economic collapse, or even a world war.

Contempt for Trump

The following comments, from a lawyer who works at the United Nations, perfectly express both the contempt and irrational panic Trump generates among domestic and international elites. Jorge Paoletti, the associate legal officer for the Treaty Section of the UN’s Office of Legal Affairs, spoke while being surreptitiously recorded by a reporter working for Steven Crowder’s podcast:

“I’m the definition of a globalist. Absolutely nobody wants Trump.

“I’m not sure the United Nations as an institution is going to survive a second term of Donald Trump. I mean, we are terrified. The purpose of Donald Trump is to end the international institutions that somehow level the playing field.”

For Paoletti, “leveling the playing field” includes supporting the kind of international environmental agreements that fuel the hysteria over climate change — one globalist justification for a Great Reset. Trump rejects both that hysteria and the ensuing agreements, which he believes disable American industry and sovereignty.

“For example, say the United Nations creates an environmental agency, and that environmental agency says that countries can only reach a certain level of pollution,” Paoletti said. “How do you think all these crazy MAGA people are going to react to that? ‘Who are you globalists to tell me, the United States, what I can do?’”

A Preview of Coming Attractions?

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken might have signaled the nation’s future course in May while in the Ukraine for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. When Russia invaded his nation in 2022, Zelensky declared nationwide martial law. Since Ukraine’s constitution prohibits elections during periods of martial law, the country’s presidential election, scheduled for this year, was postponed indefinitely.

“We’re working with the government and civil society groups to shore up Ukraine’s election infrastructure,” Blinken said. “That way, as soon as Ukrainians agree that conditions allow, all Ukrainians — all Ukrainians, including those displaced by Russia’s aggression — can exercise their right to vote. People in Ukraine and around the world can have confidence that the voting process is free, fair and secure.” (Emphasis added)

Of course, the Civil War did not keep the United States from holding a presidential election in 1864. Nor did World War II prevent the nation from holding a presidential election in 1944, when things were at a fever pitch. The Constitution makes no provision for cancellation due to martial law. Yet a group of leaders who have less regard for the Constitution than for used wrapping paper the day after Christmaslikely has no interest in legal or historical precedent.

So to paraphrase Blinken, we must destroy democracy in order to preserve democracy.

A Pandemic of Fraud

One way to destroy democracy is to introduce chaos into the electoral system, such as through mail-in ballots. The procedure is so disruptive that political scientists from CalTech and MIT warned in a 2001 study about the potential for massive fraud in the nation’s electoral system. Yet Democrats and progressives endorse mail-in voting because they benefit from it.

The biggest benefit came during the 2020 presidential election, when ballots mysteriously appeared overnight in key precincts nationwide, enabling Biden to defeat Trump by a narrow margin. The same tactic appears likely to be deployed again. Already, The New York Times has run articles saying it could take a long time after November 5 to determine who has really won the White House.

In Pennsylvania, nine activist groups petitioned the Commonwealth State Appeals Court to allow mail-in ballots without correct dates (or any dates) to be counted regardless of the time of their arrival. On Aug. 30, the court ruled that rejecting such ballots violates the commonwealth’s constitution. The ruling affected two heavily Democratic counties, Allegheny and Philadelphia, home of Pennsylvania’s two largest cities.

Yet on Sept. 13, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the ruling. Nevertheless, regular citizens see what’s going on.

“It’s cheating, plain and simple,” said KP on the Epoch Times’ comment thread. “It worked to help Democrats steal the 2020 election and they are going to do it again for the upcoming election if everybody does not get out and vote.”

Four years ago, COVID-19 provided the excuse for mail-in voting, which has since become commonplace. As warnings of more devastating pathogens escalate, public health once again could serve as an excuse to make voters use mail-in ballots or stay home instead of heading to the polls. On Sept. 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered hospitals and nursing facilities to report incidents of various respiratory diseases — including COVID-19 — starting Nov. 1, four days before the election.

Hyperinflation? Depression?

Meanwhile, reckless federal spending could generate the kind of economic collapse not seen since the Great Depression began in 1929.

The national debt stands at $35 trillion, an all-time high. When the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, annual interest on that debt will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in U.S. history. Only Social Security surpasses those interest payments in the federal budget.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index in the first week of September lost $2.2 trillion — the largest amount since the five-day trading week began in 1953. Analysts warn that stock prices could fall 70%.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sees stagflation as a distinct possibility, he told CNBC on Sept. 10. In stagflation, a combination of inflation and economic stagnation, both unemployment and prices would escalate. Dimon cited increased spending and deficits as major reasons for stagflation.

Economist Harry Dent projects an even worse scenario: “I think we’re going to see the S&P go down 86 percent from the top,” he told Fox Business, “and the NASDAQ 92 percent.”

“Flooding the economy with extra money forever might actually enhance the overall economy long-term,” he added. “But we’ll only see when we see this bubble bursts. And this bubble has been going 14 years. Instead of most bubbles lasting five to six, it’s been stretched higher, longer. So you’d have to expect a bigger crash than we got in 2008 to ’09.”

To protect their own economies and evade American economic sanctions, five nations —Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — have formed a coalition called BRICS, (for their initials). The group, which includes nine members, seeks to reduce reliance on the dollar as an international reserve currency and reinforce transactions with gold. Russia and China have been buying so much gold that it closed at its highest price ever on Aug. 20: $2,530.30 per ounce.

“They can read the writing on the wall,” Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff told Fox Business in 2019.

The Ultimate Disruption

That writing includes the possibility of war — even nuclear war. Ukraine could provide the spark, with NATO willing to take the fighting deep into Russia.

On Sept. 11, Andrei Chibis, the governor of Russia’s Murmansk Province in the Arctic, said three Ukrainian drones launched from Scandinavia were shot down in his territory. Finland’s general staff and the Swedish Air Force denied the attack and called his claim disinformation. Finland joined NATO last year, with Sweden following in March.

Yet it appears likely that such an attack occurred, not only given Ukraine’s use of drones to strike as far as Moscow but also judging from subsequent moves by NATO’s biggest members.

Britain and France have sent Ukraine long-range ballistic missiles, but limited their use to within Ukraine’s borders. Zelensky, with British support, wants to use them to attack Russia and also wants NATO to provide cruise missiles. But the United States must agree to those measures. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly and enthusiastically supports both moves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that any such attacks would mean war with NATO members — including Canada and the United States.

“Experts will confirm both here and in the West that the Ukrainian army is unable to strike with modern, high-precision, long-range weapons of Western production,” Putin said. “This is only possible with the use of satellite intelligence data which Ukraine does not have. This data only (comes) from the satellites of the European Union or the United States. Only NATO servicemen can carry out flight missions using these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this.

“We are talking about … whether NATO countries will directly participate in the military conflict. If this decision is made … this will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war against Russia.”

Destruction for Disruption?

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, even said Americans could become nuclear targets.

“There is some kind of illusion here that if there is a conflict, it will not spread to the territory of the United States of America,” he told Russian television on Sept. 13. “I am constantly trying to convey one thesis to them: Americans will not be able to sit it out behind the waters of the ocean. This war will affect everyone.”

Are the Russians bluffing? Perhaps, but consider the following:

• Between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracked eight Russian military aircraft near Alaska.
• Switzerland is considering abandoning its geopolitical neutrality, a position it has held since 1515, in order to increase defense spending, allow arms sales to nations at war, and develop g a “common defense capability” with NATO and the European Union.
• On Sept. 10, the Army Corps of Engineers commissioned a study to analyze the effects of nuclear war on farmland — especially in Eastern Europe and Western Russia.

Would the powers that be in Washington really risk the annihilation of millions of Americans just to satisfy their lust for power? The answer to that question takes the form of another question:

Where have you been the past four years?

Joseph D’Hippolito is a freelance writer who has written commentaries for such outlets as The Jerusalem Post, American Thinker, and Front Page Magazine.