Is the United States prepared for the aftermath of the upcoming Presidential election? Imagine this scenario, bearing in mind that all of its elements are eminently plausible.
On the morning of November 5, 2020, the election results are inconclusive, and neither candidate has conceded. Remarkably, most public polling over the past six months failed to predict this outcome. Either a large number of voters kept their preference to themselves or lied to the pollsters.
Substantiated reports of errors and blunders in tallying ballots and evidence of widespread mail-in voters’ fraud, lead both parties to challenge the results before the Supreme Court, which invalidates the election. A new election day has yet to be announced.
Conflicting disinformation campaigns flood traditional and social media, most of which are controlled by the Left. They are spreading falsehoods and fake news, including disinformation spawned by U.S. enemies, to further confuse and incite large segments of the population, especially the young. Real and fake images of clashes between law enforcement and rioters increase racial tension, goading the public into arming themselves against the police and causing more violent outbursts.
The civil unrest that erupted after the murder of George Floyd has now been aggravated by groups supporting the opposing Presidential candidates, each declaring their candidate the winner. Armed anarchist groups are joined by radical Islamists and criminal gangs destroying and looting government buildings, churches, and synagogues, as well as private, public and commercial properties alike, increasing chaos throughout the country.
Police forces are hindered by “progressive” mayors and governors and are vastly outnumbered; Federal law enforcement and National Guard personnel are confronted by heavily armed gangs.
Meanwhile, the lack of accurate COVID-19 testing and the absence of proper contact tracing systems necessitate severe lockdowns, which “progressive” mayors disregard, allowing mobs to storm the streets, thus causing an upsurge of virus infections. Hospitals are overwhelmed by newly infected cases, as well as a large number of casualties from the raging violence. Terrified and pandemic-fatigued citizens shelter at home under ever-increasing stress, as suicide and drug overdose numbers are escalating. The nation is still waiting for effective vaccines and readily available, reliable treatments.
The chaos and lack of coordination among the different agencies responsible for local law enforcement and national security is aggravated by U.S. enemies who intensify their disinformation campaigns and economic warfare against America
Not known for missing opportunities to harm the U.S., Chinese, Russian, Iranian, international Islamic terrorist groups and organized crime syndicates’ highly trained cyber forces have already been taking advantage of deficient cybersecurity worsened by millions working from home. The hackers are using identities stolen from tens of millions of employees in government agencies, particularly defense and medical and research institutions, stealing critical research data, and corrupting research findings. They are also hacking into financial institutions and clearinghouses, diverting hundreds of billions of dollars to accounts controlled by them and their allies.
As if this were not enough, Vicky, which began as a tropical storm in the western Caribbean Sea, turned into a Category 4 hurricane, is pounding a large swath of the eastern seaboard. Hurricane-force winds, flooding, and tornadoes cause widespread power outages, further hindering cyber and physical security systems. Well-coordinated hacking attacks breach ageing water and nuclear disposal and waste facilities contaminating large areas, successfully interrupt communication and transportation systems, as well as other vulnerable critical infrastructure sectors.
The prospect of such a full-on nightmare scenario hitting the U.S. has never been more realistic. In fact, the country is already struggling to cope with many elements of that nightmare.
It is late, but not too late for the President to use his Constitutionally mandated executive power to order U.S. national security and all other government agencies to better coordinate and prepare for a number of alternate future scenarios that may soon arise. This is no time to wing it.
