The Donald J. Trump Presidency

WP64 wrote:This is absolutely the funniest of all possible outcomes. I know that the Democratic Party is still going to use the narrowness of their legislative majority as an excuse that prevents them from even attempting to pass any major legislation over the next two years. I am not at all excited about what these two victories actually mean for any of us as citizens of the United States. But I hope we all get to really enjoy the next couple of weeks because this is really going to be a funny ass spectacle.

I know that's an "in character" WP post but for real, did someone steal his account

The amazing thing about this country is that it continues to exceed even the lowest of my expectations for it. This is all very bad and my previous post is mostly in jest. At the same time, I think it is pretty funny that all of a sudden my liberal friends on social media are calling for martial law. That isn't a very good look, imo, but obviously I understand that the sentiment is rooted in legitimate concerns about the institutional credibility of our democratic institutions.

I am still really shocked that a relatively small group of protesters were able to storm the Capitol Building. This was a planned demonstration that was actually addressed by the President of the United States. How does our massively over-funded national security apparatus allow this disorganized group of insurrectionary dumbfucks to storm the nation's legislative body?

I want to find out who's in charge of the security, I mean look what they got for this

https://twitter.com/RepKevinBoyle/status/1346929106806595588

But complaining about who dropped the ball is kind of missing the point imhfo

There are videos of the security and police literally just acquiescing to the protestors and removing the barriers. It isn't an exaggeration to say that they were basically invited into the Capitol Building today. There are also the videos circulating around of the people who entered the Capitol taking selfies with police officers inside the building. I am not just complaining about who dropped the ball but just pointing out that there are really concerning ideological overlaps between these right-wing insurrectionary forces and the supposed guardians of our civic institutions.

It strikes me that other countries with a more complicated history of democratic backsliding and authoritarian experiments are much more aware of this problem. After a recent spate of white supremacist terror attacks, Germany has been proactively trying to weed out these right-wing sympathizers from the security forces because they correctly identify their presence within these institutions as a potential future threat to the democratic republic. There is some awareness of this even in Italy.

Basically, I just find it incredibly alarming that we don't really take the potential threat posed by the rank-and-file members of the country's imperial project, many of whom have deep political grievances with the country's democratically elected representatives, more seriously.

https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/riot-on-the-hill

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/ashli-babbitt-woman-shot-and-killed-in-storming-of-us-capitol-named
Wow, I am shocked!

undo wrote:

WP64 wrote:This is absolutely the funniest of all possible outcomes. I know that the Democratic Party is still going to use the narrowness of their legislative majority as an excuse that prevents them from even attempting to pass any major legislation over the next two years. I am not at all excited about what these two victories actually mean for any of us as citizens of the United States. But I hope we all get to really enjoy the next couple of weeks because this is really going to be a funny ass spectacle.

He's right. Yesterday will bring about zero change, so all we can do is sit back and laugh while the oligarchs get pretend mad for 12 hours.

This country is on an inevitable 50 year downswing.

Pelosi had these fuckheads in her office and she’s like “Well, not going to let this little thing stop us from taking a break.”

They’re honestly hoping either the country moves on or Trump does something even crazier before they return so they don’t have to do anything. Dems are a fucking joke.

chrondog wrote:This country is on an inevitable 50 year downswing.

I'd argue that the country has been a downswing for almost the entirety of our lives, which is why our perception of the country is so fundamentally different than most of our parent's generation. Nothing about the next fifty years will be inevitable. There are a lot of really deep structural reasons why it is hard to imagine anything like a democratic renewal of our political institutions occurring anytime soon. In a sensible world, liberal democratic 'elites' would have woken up today realizing that without more ambitious attempts at fundamental constitutional reform that enables popular resentment at the current status quo to actually have some voice within the official halls of power, the institutional trappings that currently protect their economic wealth and privilege are eventually going to start falling in on themselves. And really, I don't think that Elon Musk is going to be able to engineer enough space-aged lifeboats to save all of these people.

For the time being, I just think it is best to ignore these things as much as possible because it is counter-productive and also deeply unhealthy. I can only speak from my personal experience but if I spend more than like three hours in any given day actually engaged with the national corporate media news cycle, I almost lose my mind. Focusing our energies elsewhere is both healthier for ourselves and more productive to building the kind of people-powered political movement that might actually be able to effect real change in this country someday in the (probably very distant) future.

I mean, christ, dems got control of the senate by sweeping Georgia for fucksakes, with a couple of dudes who are by no means Joe Mancin types, demoting McConnell to minority leader and opening up at least the possibility to get a few non-psychos on the judiciary. Can we be happy about that for a few hours at least?

As for the unfortunate business of yesterday, articles of impeachment have been written while letters have been sent and phone calls have been made requesting the invocation of the 25th amendment.

I get being fatalistic about democrats but how about we allow for the possibility that things might be at least a little less terrible this time next month.

he's posting again

im so happy i posted that before they stormed the capital. i mean it. even relatives. if they supported trump they are out.

i, for one, am happy that trump crashed and burned so hard because if not we would have had him up our ass for the rest of our lives... trump news... trump network... trump 2024...

it was awesome to see that fucking tool torch himself and his whole movement in one fell swoop

like joe mccarthy before him, trump will sink into oblivion in an ostracized existence and all of his followers will be demonized and dismissed forever...

John Boy Walton wrote:i, for one, am happy that trump crashed and burned so hard because if not we would have had him up our ass for the rest of our lives... trump news... trump network... trump 2024...

I'm afraid to break it to you but if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it's the inevitability of his constant presence in our lives until he's dead and there's no reason the cult is going to dissolve after that.

undo wrote:

John Boy Walton wrote:i, for one, am happy that trump crashed and burned so hard because if not we would have had him up our ass for the rest of our lives... trump news... trump network... trump 2024...

I'm afraid to break it to you but if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it's the inevitability of his constant presence in our lives until he's dead and there's no reason the cult is going to dissolve after that.

I don't believe it. The backlash here will be more severe than McCarthy, this is much worse.

undo this will bring a smile to your face:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/dominion-sues-trump-lawyer-sidney-powell-defamation-seeks-1-3-n1253464

this is just the beginning. he and his followers will fall back into the shadows now. im reading people all across the land are being fired and ostracized for being involved.

John Boy Walton wrote:i, for one, am happy that trump crashed and burned so hard because if not we would have had him up our ass for the rest of our lives... trump news... trump network... trump 2024...

it was awesome to see that fucking tool torch himself and his whole movement in one fell swoop

like joe mccarthy before him, trump will sink into oblivion in an ostracized existence and all of his followers will be demonized and dismissed forever...

he did not crash and burn and will not fade away

there will very likely be more violence in his name in the coming days

he needs to die at this point

jesus jones wrote:

John Boy Walton wrote:i, for one, am happy that trump crashed and burned so hard because if not we would have had him up our ass for the rest of our lives... trump news... trump network... trump 2024...

it was awesome to see that fucking tool torch himself and his whole movement in one fell swoop

like joe mccarthy before him, trump will sink into oblivion in an ostracized existence and all of his followers will be demonized and dismissed forever...

he did not crash and burn and will not fade away

there will very likely be more violence in his name in the coming days

yeah but he was poised to take on Fox News. I've been saying that a lot in the last few weeks. Like: he'll just be the new Breitbart.

but I think that's all blown up now the only people left are the diehards who were just crap anyway.

and i personally dont see any more violence coming from them.

Duff... wrote:I get being fatalistic about democrats but how about we allow for the possibility that things might be at least a little less terrible this time next month.

Certainly you can be happy about whatever you'd like. I will also not insist there is no difference between Majority Leader McConnell and Majority Leader Schumer, but it's not a massive change. Democrats will almost assuredly lose the Senate again in the next election. I think pinning hope on massive change after tiny political shifts is absurdly naive.

Warnock and Ossoff are cool. Stacy Abrams is doing awesome work and grassroots organizing is hugely important. "Following the news" and "engaging with the debate on Twitter" are not.

WP64 wrote:

chrondog wrote:This country is on an inevitable 50 year downswing.

I'd argue that the country has been a downswing for almost the entirety of our lives, which is why our perception of the country is so fundamentally different than most of our parent's generation. Nothing about the next fifty years will be inevitable. There are a lot of really deep structural reasons why it is hard to imagine anything like a democratic renewal of our political institutions occurring anytime soon. In a sensible world, liberal democratic 'elites' would have woken up today realizing that without more ambitious attempts at fundamental constitutional reform that enables popular resentment at the current status quo to actually have some voice within the official halls of power, the institutional trappings that currently protect their economic wealth and privilege are eventually going to start falling in on themselves. And really, I don't think that Elon Musk is going to be able to engineer enough space-aged lifeboats to save all of these people.

For the time being, I just think it is best to ignore these things as much as possible because it is counter-productive and also deeply unhealthy. I can only speak from my personal experience but if I spend more than like three hours in any given day actually engaged with the national corporate media news cycle, I almost lose my mind. Focusing our energies elsewhere is both healthier for ourselves and more productive to building the kind of people-powered political movement that might actually be able to effect real change in this country someday in the (probably very distant) future.

The bold points are almost an exact summation of my political views in 2021.

John Boy Walton wrote:and i personally dont see any more violence coming from them.

They broke into what was supposed to be the most secure building in the country on national television and some of them are... due for a court hearing later this year.

They proved that police are on their side, that there is nothing to fear, that they can do this with impunity and it's a blast! Anyone who was on the fence about joining them just saw what they missed out on and there's really nothing else going on IRL that's going to feel like a remotely fun or meaningful alternative to them. Their numbers will swell much faster than any of them can be arrested and detained for any meaningful amount of time.

The only thing stopping this from becoming a regular event at state capitals all across the country is the cold weather. It's still going to happen but not on the same scale as it will this summer. If I turn out to be wrong about this, someone please point me back to this post and I will try to understand what I was clearly missing out on. I hope that happens! But it's naive to think that they're planning that far ahead. They have two weeks to save Trump and the country. Why would they sit around and wait? This means the world to them.

There will be terrorist attacks and assassinations by small groups and lone wolves, I think this is even more inevitable than more mob attacks of this scale. There has been no progress to even low the spread of this ideology and the disinformation that fuels it, much less actually stop it.

I wish I had your optimism but this event did not serve to let these groups blow off some steam and settle down. Across the country, it might have given a few Trump supporters that moment where they finally realize how evil and stupid and wrong he is (this is a statistically insignificant number of people, I'm only mentioning it to acknowledge that it is possible but not probable). But absolutely no less than a hundred times as many people will be ideologically activated and excited by this and are eager to get in on the next round.

chrondog wrote:I will also not insist there is no difference between Majority Leader McConnell and Majority Leader Schumer, but it's not a massive change. .

This is just ridiculous. If you think Schumer's not nearly good enough, fine. I agree. But come the fuck on.

We are like 3 years from a Mad Max society and it is because people like Schumer and Pelosi don’t care and know they’ll be safe. Probably laughing it up with McConnell while the rest of us eat each other!

They had every reason to think they were getting kidnapped or shot or blown up the other day, not sure how safe they feel at the moment.

As for Trumps continued relevance, while I certainly wouldn't assume he'll be written off completely, the possibility exists. Trumpism, on the other hand, is synonymous with the republican party at this point.

I just saw the video of that cop being crushed to death while the Trumpies do the HEAVE HO move on him in a mass of like 40 or 50 people and it's one of the most disturbing things I've ever watched in my life.