It’s very important to make the distinction between Congress failing to hold him accountable and declining to. In the first case Congress is ineffective. In the second, and current situation, it is willfully inept. Big difference.
I’m getting tired of all these assholes calling Americans cowards for not rioting in the streets every day and erecting a guillotine on the ellipse! They tried that during the George Floyd fallout, and the right was quite successful in vilifying them. It was only the glaring racism of Trump’s first term that revitalized BLM. His second term has effectively quashed that as well, somehow.
The US population is effectively a hostage, and this started long before Trump. Their livlihoods are financially bound to their employment, which is precarious at best. I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll say it many more times: US citizens, particularly the ones in the upper-middle class are going to have to be willing to die. It’s that simple. If the population “rises up” like all the internet idiots want them to, Trump will implement the Insurrection Act ASAP. The aforementioned willfully inept Congress is highly unlikely to stop him. That’s going to result in one or both of a lot of dead citizens or a civil war.
All of this brings me to the midterm elections. Americans are facing the shit sandwich of the current criminal and his willing accomplices in Congress, and the Democrats who:
Aside from 2 weak funding fights, have refused to act as an opposition party in anywhere near the same manner as the GOP when they’re in the minority.
Are largely funded by the same authoritarians friendly billionaires and tech bros.
Are unlikely to behave like an opposition party even if the manage to win back both houses of Congress, which is not super likely.
I think a lot of Americans are hoping things improve after the midterms, and I hope they’re right. I don’t think its going to happen, but I think plenty of people are looking for a reason to not risk their livelihoods, or lives. And that’s what its going to be. This criminal has no care for anyone but himself. He has no compassion or empathy. He sees US citizens the same way the worst Kings and Emperors of old did: as expendable. If they get “uppity,” he will not lose a wink of sleep ordering the military, National Guard, ICE, police forces, or any armed body he can control to open fire on them. Whether they will or not is a massive question most rational people don’t want to see asked.
The US is effectively being run by a mad king, and whatever safeguards used to be in place for such a situation are either complicit, or ineffectual (ie, the courts). People are really hoping that a Dem “wave” in the midterms will somehow fix something. Like I said, I hope they’re right.
We are effectively a dictatorship right now and the only thing that can reverse that is if Trump fails to act fast enough or acts so fast he gets heavy pushback. This far they have been effective at letting the most right-wing elements dominate the media so by the time they do crazy shit the people have already sort of absorbed the idea and it doesn’t seem outlandish.
He can ignore the courts in the event that they act fast enough to matter. He controls the military and can simply blockade polling locations, cut off power, etc. He can at least fuck with an election to the point where the ordinary safeguards against vote fraud can’t be ensured. He has all the tools needed to end democracy here.
The question is whether enough people will be complicit. Speaker Johnson will just declare he hasn’t read the news until the coup is complete. But will none of the freedom-loving conservatives think twice about throwing away freedom? Epstein is creating cracks. It would be easy for Trump to fuck up and overplay his hand, but unfortunately he will win unless he makes an error.
But he also needs to move fairly fast. There is a lot of inertia in the way the system is built and if he moves too slowly, it’s game over for him (well it’s two years of playing defense). It takes time to replace everyone with sycophants.
I’m optimistic. I’m also 70 miles from Canada, if worse comes to worst.
US citizens, particularly the ones in the upper-middle class are going to have to be willing to die
I’m not some kind of super-patriot, but I’m a former soldier. I swore an oath to protect my country from enemies foreign and domestic, and that… weighs on me, despite how easy it would be to just enjoy old white guy status. I’m also old and out of shape and I have no illusions how it will end if it comes to that. But I’ve also lived a good life. If that’s the end to which I’m fated… we can only do what we can in the situation we find ourselves in. Sometimes there is no winning scenario, you just do what you must.
Are there more like me? I don’t know. My wife would let the country burn if it kept her family safe. I don’t know anyone else thinking about things (aloud) the way I do and maybe they will let the world burn, too. But I won’t. In 40 years I’ll be dead one way or another, and 40 years later my life won’t even be a memory. And the only thing that will exist of me is whatever has rippled out into the world from my actions. I won’t have the failure of America be my only enduring legacy. That said, there is time and runway before that becomes inevitable, and I have hope.
It’s very important to make the distinction between Congress failing to hold him accountable and declining to. In the first case Congress is ineffective. In the second, and current situation, it is willfully inept. Big difference.
I’m getting tired of all these assholes calling Americans cowards for not rioting in the streets every day and erecting a guillotine on the ellipse! They tried that during the George Floyd fallout, and the right was quite successful in vilifying them. It was only the glaring racism of Trump’s first term that revitalized BLM. His second term has effectively quashed that as well, somehow.
The US population is effectively a hostage, and this started long before Trump. Their livlihoods are financially bound to their employment, which is precarious at best. I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll say it many more times: US citizens, particularly the ones in the upper-middle class are going to have to be willing to die. It’s that simple. If the population “rises up” like all the internet idiots want them to, Trump will implement the Insurrection Act ASAP. The aforementioned willfully inept Congress is highly unlikely to stop him. That’s going to result in one or both of a lot of dead citizens or a civil war.
All of this brings me to the midterm elections. Americans are facing the shit sandwich of the current criminal and his willing accomplices in Congress, and the Democrats who:
I think a lot of Americans are hoping things improve after the midterms, and I hope they’re right. I don’t think its going to happen, but I think plenty of people are looking for a reason to not risk their livelihoods, or lives. And that’s what its going to be. This criminal has no care for anyone but himself. He has no compassion or empathy. He sees US citizens the same way the worst Kings and Emperors of old did: as expendable. If they get “uppity,” he will not lose a wink of sleep ordering the military, National Guard, ICE, police forces, or any armed body he can control to open fire on them. Whether they will or not is a massive question most rational people don’t want to see asked.
The US is effectively being run by a mad king, and whatever safeguards used to be in place for such a situation are either complicit, or ineffectual (ie, the courts). People are really hoping that a Dem “wave” in the midterms will somehow fix something. Like I said, I hope they’re right.
We are effectively a dictatorship right now and the only thing that can reverse that is if Trump fails to act fast enough or acts so fast he gets heavy pushback. This far they have been effective at letting the most right-wing elements dominate the media so by the time they do crazy shit the people have already sort of absorbed the idea and it doesn’t seem outlandish.
He can ignore the courts in the event that they act fast enough to matter. He controls the military and can simply blockade polling locations, cut off power, etc. He can at least fuck with an election to the point where the ordinary safeguards against vote fraud can’t be ensured. He has all the tools needed to end democracy here.
The question is whether enough people will be complicit. Speaker Johnson will just declare he hasn’t read the news until the coup is complete. But will none of the freedom-loving conservatives think twice about throwing away freedom? Epstein is creating cracks. It would be easy for Trump to fuck up and overplay his hand, but unfortunately he will win unless he makes an error.
But he also needs to move fairly fast. There is a lot of inertia in the way the system is built and if he moves too slowly, it’s game over for him (well it’s two years of playing defense). It takes time to replace everyone with sycophants.
I’m optimistic. I’m also 70 miles from Canada, if worse comes to worst.
I’m not some kind of super-patriot, but I’m a former soldier. I swore an oath to protect my country from enemies foreign and domestic, and that… weighs on me, despite how easy it would be to just enjoy old white guy status. I’m also old and out of shape and I have no illusions how it will end if it comes to that. But I’ve also lived a good life. If that’s the end to which I’m fated… we can only do what we can in the situation we find ourselves in. Sometimes there is no winning scenario, you just do what you must.
Are there more like me? I don’t know. My wife would let the country burn if it kept her family safe. I don’t know anyone else thinking about things (aloud) the way I do and maybe they will let the world burn, too. But I won’t. In 40 years I’ll be dead one way or another, and 40 years later my life won’t even be a memory. And the only thing that will exist of me is whatever has rippled out into the world from my actions. I won’t have the failure of America be my only enduring legacy. That said, there is time and runway before that becomes inevitable, and I have hope.
So all that to say don’t fight it and let them do it ?