For nearly three years now I have told myself dystopian stories to get myself to sleep at night. I take the events of the world that distress me and spin them out to their worst conclusions in order to look them in the face and control my own fear.  This is the one I told myself last night.

What if Trump is the Reichstag Fire?

Pence and his ilk, who must watch Handmaid’s Tale to take notes between wanks, have been using him all along, encouraging his worst tendencies, hoping he will ultimately do something so outrageous that Congress must act to remove him from power. Meanwhile, they enact their own far-right agenda, get one Supreme Court justice in, and another in the wings. Then, they move to oust Trump, their Clown who has kept their base, the minority who kept them in power, entertained and preoccupied. They do this before the mid-term when, by this time, all polls predict many of them will lose their seats. In ousting him, they suddenly become concerned about the election hacking and say that our system has become so compromised that we must suspend elections “temporarily.”

Except, the suspension continues indefinitely, or continues until the rolls can be purged of the “undesirables.” They can target undesirables, too, by using social media to determine political affiliation. Polling places in liberal, black, Latino, and immigrant districts become fewer and further between before they disappear altogether. People will have to declare a party affiliation, ending the “independent” designation.  Donated to Planned Parenthood, to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Amnesty International? Suddenly they can’t find your name. They start with the margins and work their way in.

I could go on, and I will tonight as I try to go to sleep . This was a hell of a week to stop drinking, and melatonin can only do so much.