After the 2018 Midterms, I looked forward to the 2020 campaign with dread. Between the MAGA bomber’s reign of terror and the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and then the El Paso Walmart shooting in 2019, I had a lot of anxiety for bloodshed at either the run-up to the election or the immediate aftermath – never mind the amount of shit-talking that came from the right promising violence if things didn’t go their way.

This isn’t to say 2020 hasn’t been brutal. According to The Guardian, as of October 31st “at least 11 Americans have been killed while participating in political demonstrations this year and another 14 have died in other incidents linked to political unrest, according to new data from a non-profit monitoring political unrest in the United States” which of course is bad, but isn’t remotely as bad as it could be considering the sheer volume of public demonstrations that occurred this year following the police murders of Breonna Taylor in March and George Floyd in May.

So what’s the good news? As far as I can tell nobody’s been killed so far this November, and I think Trump’s refusal to concede his loss to Joe Biden has a lot to do with it. By dragging it out and fighting it in court, the steam in MAGA Nation’s rage tank is being vented slowly instead of erupting into bloodshed with the gut punch of a landslide election night loss for their Lord and Savior. It’s sinking in unevenly among them, some know it’s over, some are still holding out hope, and some believe Trump really is going to be sworn in for a second term. That last group is what worries me, because three more flash points remain (though every day is potentially as flash point with these maniacs). First is the final state-by-state certification of votes (Wisconsin on December 1st is the last flipped state deadline), then the Electoral College vote on December 14th, and finally the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on January 20th.

Let’s pray those come and go without anyone getting hurt. Trump could also be doing us a favor if tomorrow he says he’s running again in 2024, let his hardcore fans believe this Biden Administration is just an interregnum rather than the permanent end of their White Nationalist MAGA Empire. That will hopefully lull them into keeping the gun cabinet locked.