The Donald J. Trump Presidency

I'm gonna lay it all out for everyone here, buckle up for this one.

Outside of their alliance with the US, getting gassed to death by Saddam (with US-supplied helicopters originally gifted in the name of fighting Iran) and being labeled as "terrorists" by Turkey, I don't really know who they are either!

Pretty confident in saying we did them dirty and they don't deserve to be massacred.

To be clear, yes, Americans are largely isolated from the world they hold dominion of. I just don't think this is new or particularly more striking at this present moment.

Remember back in the day when Ilhan Omar was attacked for calling Stephen Miller a white nationalist? Remember when that made her anti-Semitic somehow?

Oh cool look at these leaked Stephen Miller emails...

sondland going full tekashi 69

I honestly have no idea if the average American, Joe the Plumber 2019, suburban dance moms, are following any of this.

I can assure you that they are absolutely, and almost zealously, not.

Also.

zappo wrote:I can assure you that they are absolutely, and almost zealously, not.

It is getting remarkably little coverage here as well. Aside from domestic political and economic issues, the majority of international attention is being directed at the Hong Kong protests, the coup in Chile, and more recently the protests in Iran caused by the end of fuel subsidies and the violent crackdown of the Iranian state.

How can the President of the USA have a "personal lawyer"?

Like, what does that even mean

I mean he does have all sorts of crimes and lawsuits to sort out from before he was president.

But why would this person be conducting foreign policy?

Anyway, this fucker's getting impeached so.

back to feeling like this isn’t gonna stick and he’ll be re-elected

I don't believe that.

I also Believe that Americans are the dumbest people in human history (with knowledge and opportunities to change that constantly within their reach, a caveat most other civilizations in the running for that title never had) so yeah idk

Is my personal disdain for every Trump voter the desired product of Russian propaganda? Like, have I just played right in Putin's hands as much as everyone who bought a MAGA hat did?

Or is giving them credit for sowing that much division just giving them way too much credit?

After having to endure three years of this Administration and two full years of watching Nancy Pelosi and her band of idiots fecklessly doing YAASS KWEEN handclaps in the background without actually proposing any real legislative alternative, especially in economic policy and social welfare, I am going to feel very upset if I don't get the opportunity as an American citizen to help defeat Donald Trump and the Republican Party at the ballot box in 2020.

At this point, he has already tarnished the Office of the Presidency and has eroded so many norms and political customs that impeachment would be almost meaningless. If it happens, I will obviously accept it as somehow good news. But it will be really bittersweet. I want to defeat this fucker through popular will and not with legal procedure.

I don't know what I want anymore or if I believe that this form of Democracy can really work anymore.  Again, I realize that was part of the plan all along.

WP64 wrote:At this point, he has already tarnished the Office of the Presidency and has eroded so many norms and political customs that impeachment would be almost meaningless. If it happens, I will obviously accept it as somehow good news. But it will be really bittersweet.

If he is not impeached, his example is a blueprint for any future president to just break the law with total impunity. Like, going forward, why would any Republican president (we will have more of these, sorry) be accountable to any laws or norms? If Trump is not impeached, then what incentive exists for Republicans to not pursue pure dictatorship-style leadership from now until the end of this country?

We reform our institutions and re-impose the idea of Congress as a co-equal branch of government.

I think you are right to be worried about all of those things, but I think we are already through the looking glass unfortunately. He has already been able to do a hell of a lot without any legal action being taken simply because he is the President and is somehow above the law. The fact that our Constitutional and legal system enables Presidential immunity should force us to re-consider the very basis of our representative system and how power is vested and distribute throughout the various branches of government (the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was subject to the law as any other subject of the Empire would be, that's the unelected Sultan of a religiously defined Empire, what the fuck are we doing??) Anyways, I know it is hard for Democrats to propose those kinds of sweeping and necessary reforms without being painted as "sore losers" and the right-wing media is going to interpret it as a liberal coup, etc.

But at some point, Democrats are going to have to start putting these things on the table and testing the waters of public opinion. Otherwise, we are going to always be at the mercy of Fox News and conservative talk radio and then, to quote Jesus Jones, we really are fucked!

I think listening to only 2 minutes of total Republican gaslighting in yesterday's impeachment proceedings just straight up ruined my day. I left work feeling fine and by the time I got home I was super irritable and pissy.

Straight up "I know you are but what am I" paid for by you and me, repetitious "the American people know that this impeachment is a sham and they've had enough!"/"the Democrats have not found one shred of evidence in this witch hunt!", etc.

Go ahead and shrug and say you expected all of this, the scale and 100% all-in participation of this reality denial is really fucking me up, had to knock myself out with Advil PM last night just to get away from it

I can’t believe we did it. We removed Donald Trump from office and Bernie takes over tomorrow. Democracy works!

Honestly, while I know this doesn't go anywhere and is as likely to help the president's reelection chances as to hurt, it still feels pretty good that this happened.

can’t wait to vote for a new president during WWIII

When he reinstates the draft a few months from now I’ll have LOPP inspired Support Our Boarders shirts created for all our boys being sent off to war.