if we don’t prevail, I highly doubt there will be a real 2020 election.

This is the biggest debugging Democracy has ever been given. We are going to come out the other side of this and know exactly what needs fixing.

It turns out I would qualify.

I have never felt so despairing of the US's future. Or the rest of the world, for that matter. With climate change, Brexit, and the refugee crises around the world, it feels as if history is about to take an abrupt, catastrophic turn.

I am pretty sure my oldest son and his partner would qualify to immigrate to Canada. Then they could apply to sponsor me--as a parent--to come. I can't get there on my own as a retiree. BUT, here's the interesting thing. Canada CLOSED family sponsorships in February of this year because they'd already had their quota of 10,000. applications!

I am taking a serious look at France as an alternative. I'm also thinking of just getting as far away as possible--Hawaii--without leaving the US.

Several countries have ancestry immigration/citizenship programs. Among them are Ireland, Hungary, Italy and Germany. See if you qualify.

Some like Italy allow you to claim citizenship without having to set foot in the country.

Hungary is run but a Trumpian madman but that citizenship opens up the doors to the rest of the EU, including France.

They are very serious about all French speaking French and do absolutely nothing to help those who do not.

The last 200 years of rising republics taking over monarchies could be an anomaly that is about to revert to the historic norm.

it's perfectly possible for a country to have a democratic government without being a republic. (And if the colonists hadn't engaged in that revolt over paying taxes, independence would've come anyway, slavery would've ended sooner, and the early 19th century ethnic cleansing of eastern Native American tribes might not've happened; so in hindsight the American Revolution was probably a bad thing.)

which are really republics with a figurehead. I am talking about absolute monarchies. Up until a few hundred years ago, a heriditary king with absolute or near absolute power was assumed to be the natural form of government with few exceptions.

So who is crazy? The people who lived with the standard form of government for 5,000 years, or we with our messy votes and sharing of power that is barely 200 years old and can be subverted as soon as soon as people vote themselves a tyrant.

Has been since the Glorious Revolution of 1688. So if you're talking about 18th century Britain, then you are in fact talking about a constitutional monarchy.

it was a constitutonal monarchy throughout the 18th century. The American Revolution didn't take place in the 1500's. (Although it was a limited monarchy constrained by Parliament for some time before that, and at least back to Magna Carta.)

Which is about the grand sweep of history, not just the past few hundred years.

Presidential systems (like the US's) are inherently unstable and usually fail. The US is the oldest country with its particular form of government; it's been tried elsewhere, and usually failed much more quickly. See here: https://scholar.harvard.edu/levitsky/files/1.1linz.pdf

But there is a wave of authoritarian populism sweeping the world. It could sweep them away too. We don't know the answer yet.

after November, then it is a real possibility.

i'm cautiously optimistic that enough people will get their shit together and vote this November to stem the tide of fascism by returning the House and/or Senate to Democrats. otherwise, well, let's not do "otherwise" quite yet.