It is fair to ask if Trump’s complete failure to lead the country in these trying times has landed him in a governing and reelection crisis? Is he an emperor without clothes to the vast majority of Americans? Is he in a zone of unpopularity, where, except for his zealous supporters, everything he says sounds hollow, insincere, duplicitous, self-serving?

The simple answer is no. Thanks to his loyal base, a supportive right wing media, a supine Republican Party, control over the National Security state, and the resonance of racism among white people, Trump still is a formidable force. His status and standing is diminished, but he still remains an existential danger and a path, narrow as it might be at this moment, to beat Joe Biden still exists.

In the face of this steeper climb to a second term, Trump, true to form, has become more strident, more dangerous, more unhinged. Racism and conspiracy theories ooze from his mouth, like poison from a viper’s fangs. The pandemic and imploding economy have disappeared from his vocabulary. And he is quick to sic his paramilitary dogs on peaceful protesters.

So far, if polls are accurate, he hasn’t been successful in shrinking the spread between him and Biden. The coronation, oops convention, gave him little, if any, bounce in the polls. But no one should take comfort in these polling results, unforeseen events, and especially violent confrontations in the streets, provoked by Trump supporters and out of control police could change the math on the ground to Trump’s advantage.

What adds to the unease is that Trump in some recent interviews appeared more confused, unintelligible, and unstable than he normally is. It’s as if he now lives full time in a world of conspiracies and intense paranoia. Speculation has it that he experienced mini strokes last week that sent him to Walter Reed hospital. That may sound a little over the top, but it wouldn’t be smart to rule that possibility out.

In any case, the challenge is clear. First, mobilize, protect, and prevent the suppression of the vote.

Second, insure a full count of the vote. Due to the high volume of mail-in ballots, it will take days, if not a week or more to know the final results.

Third, block any attempt by Trump to claim victory before the vote is fully counted. According to most experts, it could appear on election night that Trump is the winner, even though he is actually the loser when all the votes are counted.

Finally, be ready to march. In view of his recent behavior and the peculiar nature of this moment, it isn’t out the question that Trump may lose the election, but refuse to concede defeat. In this event, an aroused people peacefully marching for democracy and honoring the results of the election is absolutely imperative.

And even if he does step down in the end, Trump will still hold presidential power and the Republicans a Senate majority, until Inauguration Day in late January. This interregnum has the potential to be volatile, destabilizing, and dangerous. Here too millions should be prepared for any eventuality and ready to act accordingly.

And even if in the end he does step down, Trump will hold still presidential power and the Republicans a Senate majority, until Inauguration Day in late January. This interregnum has the potential to be very volatile, destabilizing, and dangerous. Here too millions should be prepared for any eventuality and ready to act accordingly.

The strike of the NBA and WNBA players in the middle of playoffs has no earlier precedent in sports. It seemed that the buy in of the players was universal. And it was a labor action, in which racial justice and equality was the singular demand. After two days, the players extracted concessions from their governors! One of which is the basketball arenas around the country will be voting sites. Many of these arenas are in battleground states.

Even if you aren’t a basketball nut like me, you still gotta love the WNBA and the NBA and their stand on racial justice!!!! When I was a young boy basketball was my safe space as I processed a lot of turmoil in my family life. Still is a go to place for me, and probably isn’t only because of the beauty of the game.

At the core of Trump-Republican politics in this election season is the ratcheting up of racism, including the incitement of armed vigilantes against anti-racist protesters. For Trump and Trumpers, racism, raw and unapologetic, is the main  weapon in their quiver if Trump has any hope of winning a second term. How Biden-Harris, other Democratic candidates, and the larger democratic coalition respond is of critical importance.

The present day Republican Party long ago stopped being the party of Eisenhower or Gerald Ford or Nelson Rockefeller. Even Nixon might feel out of place in its current iteration. In a process that began in the late 1960s and reached a new level with the ascent of Ronald Reagan to the presidency, the Republican Party was taken over and colonized by its extreme right wing. While its zealous extremists in Congress and on Fox News and right wing radio – and since 2016 Trump – may capture public attention, quietly at the apex and firmly in control of this formidable movement is a section of the billionaire class.

Not only do these billionaires have deep pockets, but they also field an expansive network of organizations and think tanks that set the agenda and frame the politics of this movement and the Republican Party in accord with their interests. Indeed, they give proof to the adage that “whoever pays the fiddler calls the tune.” Trump may seem like an outlier, an out of control rogue, a committee of one, and he is to a degree. But any examination of the policies of the Trump administration, and even Trump’s politics of white resentments and racism reveals not so much a break, but a continuation, albeit it in new conditions and in uniquely and exceedingly dangerous forms, of this extremist political movement, the head of which is the plutocratic class. If you don’t believe me, check out “Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality,” written by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson.