Surely folks aren't generally so unimaginative they think the only two options are "shitty" and "shittier".

Anyway, given our massive encarceration rate and our love of solitary confinement, being "disappeared" is not out of the question. Hell, Georgia is trying to prosecute protestors with RICO charges. The federal government itself makes no effort to hide the fact that it salivates over punishing Snowden for publicly embarrassing them. The idea that we have some sort of special immunity to politically-oriented violence from the state is fairly naïve. (Not to mention the fact that the rest of American society will absolutely punish you for your political views if you're outspoken in the wrong context or have the wrong opinion—god forbid you point out how useless voting is, even if it has non-zero value.)