JAMES BOVARD: “What could possibly go wrong with sweeping the 2020 election controversies under the rug? Clues can be found in a recent report, ‘Elections: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan,’ produced by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).”

Plus: “Perhaps the real Afghan lesson is that there is no ‘guardian angel of democracy.’ Politicians permitting citizens to vote does not assure that election results will receive even a whiff of legitimacy. Once fraud or suspicions of fraud reach a certain level, any election winners will be suspected scoundrels. More than 15 years of corrupt elections in Afghanistan have resulted in a central government with little or no popular support or credibility.”

That can happen here. Kleptocrats, of course, don’t care.

Also:

Regardless of any Trump tweets to the contrary, U.S. election processes remain far more credible than Afghanistan’s. But last year’s election was the fourth U.S. presidential election since 2000 that was widely perceived as heavily tainted. When the Supreme Court voted last week not to hear cases challenging arbitrary changes in state election procedures, Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, “The decision to leave election law hidden beneath a shroud of doubt is baffling. By doing nothing, we invite further confusion and erosion of voter confidence.” Unfortunately, almost no one is talking of the peril of the “Afghanization” of American democracy.

Except Jim Bovard. Good piece.