Autocracies usually go out of their way to take care of veterans, service members, police officers, and even most civil servants … because if you fuck those people over, they’re the ones who do coups. - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

craigipedia.bsky.social • 53 days ago

Autocracies usually go out of their way to take care of veterans, service members, police officers, and even most civil servants … because if you fuck those people over, they’re the ones who do coups.

Reposted from Aaron Rupar

KEILAR: Can you guarantee that veterans benefits and care will not be affected by these cuts?

REP. GREG MURPHY: No, I can't guarantee anything

Comments

kirkmurphy.bsky.social•53 days ago

When 107 million Americans own 500 million firearms, what could possibly go wrong?

https://www.legalreader.com/gun-facts-in-the-u-s-2024-the-reality-of-firearms-in-america/

watertigernyc.bsky.social•53 days ago

Reap the whirlwind.

devgruppo.bsky.social•53 days ago

discoveryattorney.net•53 days ago

I am happy we have the 2nd Amendment.

artemis165.bsky.social•53 days ago

You have no amendments, Trump shat on the Constitution.

doug64.bsky.social•53 days ago

When the Republicans tried to overthrow FDR, they tried to recruit Smedley Butler because he was so popular with the veterans. The current clowns can’t even remember that.

watertigernyc.bsky.social•53 days ago

They think Smedley Butler is a cartoon character.

doug64.bsky.social•53 days ago

😂

lfglatz.bsky.social•53 days ago

A few assassinations could happen suddenly and the explanation will be that saving the country is breaking no law …

artemis165.bsky.social•53 days ago

There is no law at present, so that's correct.

ak771.bsky.social•53 days ago

The GOP is a party of willing slaves. They will say all these things are good, and then blame the parts they don't like on the Dems.

leekvs.bsky.social•53 days ago

From your fingers to god's ears

woollahra.bsky.social•53 days ago

Do they want to find out what Jan 6th looks like when it's run by people whose careers gave them a set of skills to break strategies, crack skills, and foment massed anger? (Just look at what they do to lots of people at the DMV, tell me that's not massed anger)

woollahra.bsky.social•53 days ago

honestquestion.bsky.social•53 days ago

Krasnov has obligations that must be met. This is not in any way about governing.

krlelebr.bsky.social•53 days ago

Not this time

jasonemry.bsky.social•53 days ago

god bless us the stupid is beating out the evil

timsull.bsky.social•53 days ago

perhaps like democrats who think they have no leverage while they are in the minority, the gop overestimates the extent to which a put upon population will honor the authority vested in elected office

heybala.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah, but not the "retired" ones, so....

danandwhits.bsky.social•53 days ago

Who will be Murphy’s opponent? Let’s fund the hell out that person.

the-lydia.bsky.social•53 days ago

is it time? are we doing the coup now?

profic.bsky.social•53 days ago

And yet...

wabbisabbi.bsky.social•53 days ago

Ok ... interview over. End of story...no more Murphy on the television

carolmcorkran.bsky.social•53 days ago

Plus, it can be helpful when you are recruiting your next crop of cannon fodder

jaguiar239.bsky.social•53 days ago

I hope so.

helenaclaire.bsky.social•53 days ago

There are a lot of highly trained, battle-hardened people who were suddenly given a lot of free time, in the most disrespectful way possible.

And Trump is now so clearly in Putin’s pocket that it’s a wonder he can breathe in there.

edwardbodley.bsky.social•53 days ago

Excellent point. I think it’s a mistake to assign a strategy to what he’s doing—he’s going full-on Mad King. He likes being cruel; he likes Putin; he likes tariffs, which remind him of a mafia racket. He just wants to play Teflon Don on TV.

sixtiessurvivor.bsky.social•50 days ago

Trump is a man who enjoys fear. He is trying to make the world afraid of him.
Fear is not the same as respect. Respect breeds love, and loyalty.
Fear breeds anger. It may be suppressed but it never forgets or forgives and eventually he will be destroyed as will be the evil Putin he so admires.

timsull.bsky.social•53 days ago

I think they also sometimes have no idea what they're cutting. Like if they don't already know what it is it must be worthless. I also think Trump is largely getting his info on cuts from Musk or otherwise doesn't know how much force their hands are applying to the stove burner.

estherp.bsky.social•53 days ago

Exactly. It's all a TV show to him.

ellenenders.bsky.social•53 days ago

and being cruel
he associates being cruel w/ being powerful b/c the ppl he admired growing up were cruel

abinbaltimore.bsky.social•53 days ago

And ellon doesn’t have the wit or life experience to know that to be a dictator who keeps his head, you have to have a committed team, not gig workers.

ellenenders.bsky.social•53 days ago

he really doesn't know how to build & keep teams

estherp.bsky.social•53 days ago

You need people willing to do anything for you.

clodpool.bsky.social•53 days ago

He keeps his head because he wears a preschooler as a meat helmet whenever he goes out.

occamsrustyspoon.bsky.social•53 days ago

That’s unlikely to work forever.

ellenenders.bsky.social•53 days ago

it's an accessory, just like the crosses that the female propagandists wear

bboerner2332.bsky.social•53 days ago

I've been wondering recently if anyone else has noticed he's a sadist.

You wouldn't know it from consuming "elite" media.

https://bsky.app/profile/bboerner2332.bsky.social/post/3lh7qcqz2bk23

trishanderton.bsky.social•52 days ago

And he got famous from a TV show where his catchphrase was “you’re fired”

ellenenders.bsky.social•52 days ago

A tv show produced by someone who is Russian adjacent.
And trump’s character on that show was a creation.
The public’s mistake was believing he was that person.
Reality shows tap into the pleasure that some ppl get from seeing others being humiliated or people being mean to each other.
I think

ellenenders.bsky.social•52 days ago

These shows have normalized cheating and cruelty and make some see it as funny or entertaining rather than as unacceptable.

jacqueblue.bsky.social•52 days ago

There is 100% a strategy! trump isn't the mastermind. He's literally the puppet. Every single part of this is in Project 2025. The playbook they've been writing for decades. All they were waiting for was Hitler to come back from the dead.

pag58.bsky.social•53 days ago

another Evil asashole

sirtonk.bsky.social•53 days ago

yeah but these are just rich assholes, they don't care about that shit

signonleon.bsky.social•53 days ago

He had everything perfectly aligned for a lengthy reich, and thank god he’s squandering it.

citizenmike.bsky.social•53 days ago

Coup? Sooner the better.

jettblackheart66.bsky.social•53 days ago

kinda makes you wonder why they are doing the opposite ?

leetwitterrefugee.bsky.social•53 days ago

Unless you've got some private contractors already lined up.

Anyone heard from "that guy" recently?

craigipedia.bsky.social•53 days ago

He’s trying to land deportation contracts

superjaded8.bsky.social•53 days ago

For a guy who almost got his head blown off once, you'd think he'd be a bit more careful

whathavewecometo.bsky.social•53 days ago

Do you have any idea how many "police officers " in red states are slack jawed maga rednecks? Are you familiar with what happened to Scottie Sheffler at last year's PGA championship ?

mightymikedude.bsky.social•52 days ago

It’s not an Autocracy, it’s a Kakistocracy.

kingedawg.bsky.social•53 days ago

Trump's shallow, dated worldview that soldiers are "suckers and losers" and that wounded veterans are disgusting street trash may actually work against him

motomaerz.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yes please

rosecolordglasz.bsky.social•53 days ago

Seems important.

handleseverywhere.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yes. Usually the best jobs are government ones in authoritarian governments. They even do make work jobs just to keep people busy. Saudi comes to mind

baj.bsky.social•53 days ago

It's hard for me to shake the feeling that these guys were planning to boil the frog and are so damned impatient and inept that they're just dropping frogs into scalding water and are perplexed why they're suddnely surrounded by dozens of very angry frogs.

craigipedia.bsky.social•53 days ago

The funniest thing about that metaphor is that in reality the frogs always hop out of the pot (they’re frogs!) and the only way a scientist could get them to let themselves be boiled was to lobotomize them.

If you put a frog in a pot it will hop, if you put a frog in a boiling pot it will die.

ariake76.bsky.social•53 days ago

I guess that explains the role of Newsmax and OAN

craigipedia.bsky.social•52 days ago

100%

noteoff.bsky.social•52 days ago

This is the "shock and awe" and "flood the zone with shit" phase. Bannon was completely up front about do so much damage, so fast, that they could get their real goals accomplished before the courts could react.

proggrrl.bsky.social•53 days ago

if there’s any group of people we can trust to be too incompetent to even do fascism right, it’s these jokers

breeorwhatever.bsky.social•53 days ago

And in America’s case, they’re all armed to the teeth. Ol’ Big Brains in his K-Hole didn’t think this one all the way through.

notoriousbrt.bsky.social•53 days ago

The least Mussolini thing this fucking asshole has done...

carlagmail.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

walterdragon.bsky.social•53 days ago

He’s determined to keep the active military paid so he can order them to brutally kill any protesters or opposition in the streets.

virginiafrog.bsky.social•52 days ago

That’s a great point - this article argues that Trump is operating in a ‘patrimonial’ system instead of an autocracy…it’s an interesting point and fits your observation about not taking care of the groups that would normally be helping the autocrat keep power…

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/corruption-trump-administration/681794/

chadcanplan.bsky.social•53 days ago

Truly Brezhnev levels of government incompetence.

lauracovington.bsky.social•53 days ago

This is true. Even in Russia, people are getting their pensions.

n83z01qbui.bsky.social•53 days ago

#DopeyFascist

goosemarx.bsky.social•53 days ago

This is wild. This is what people voted for?

wayno62.bsky.social•53 days ago

Hmm not taking care of vets or anyone not rich… rise up

jamesonfrenchie.bsky.social•53 days ago

See, 25 de Abril in Portugal

jlopez10111.bsky.social•53 days ago

From your skeet to God’s eyes.

tammaye.com•53 days ago

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

gildedtofu.bsky.social•53 days ago

Setting up a coup to counter the coup.

Poetic.

woollahra.bsky.social•53 days ago

Imagine a watching a former Marine calmly explain to the gate guard why he has no obligation to continue standing at the gatehouse of the Whitehouse, like James Spader from The Blacklist.

bboerner2332.bsky.social•53 days ago

I'm watching that series and the last episode I had to jot this down,

"Honestly, is it just me, or is the human race, armed with religion, poisoned by prejudice, and absolutely frantic with hatred and fear, galloping pell-mell back to the Dark Ages?"

This episode aired Oct 22, 2015.

woollahra.bsky.social•53 days ago

it's kind of sad really. great show, it had to end at some point though.

rumpolebayou.bsky.social•53 days ago

It’s coup coup

rudymadrox.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yes but what if the tyrant and his goons are actually not very smart

jacqueblue.bsky.social•52 days ago

What is a coup on a coup called?

donotcomply123.bsky.social•53 days ago

They will turn on the leader when they believe he will not support or protect them.

alphiesnowbear.bsky.social•53 days ago

Nobody ever said these guys were smart.

mulcs85.bsky.social•53 days ago

Trump has zero respect for vets

bigbearchasemee.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yesss!! Are they that greedy/stupid?!

alexanotherone.bsky.social•53 days ago

Little bit of column A, little bit of column B

lori1959.bsky.social•53 days ago

Pissing off a whole bunch of Vets, many with PTSD, is a sure fire way to get removed from office the 'hard way' 💥

americanidealist.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah, but our authoritarian coup is by the stupid people in the stupidest imaginable timeline.

muddles1968.bsky.social•53 days ago

That’s why I haven’t given up on our country yet. I just cannot fathom we could lose our form of government and our country to the likes of Stephen Miller and Kash Patel and Bongino. But then I listen to RW radio and I start to think we def can bc of the propaganda they sell so effectively

betweenworldss.bsky.social•53 days ago

is there anything we can realistically do to counteract all the propaganda?

muddles1968.bsky.social•53 days ago

I have no idea. I just see it go straight from Donald or MAGA to Hannity to RW radio. They just adjust the narratives slightly until the listeners get a bit confused and then sell them on complete lies or half-truths. You can track it. It’s so pervasive

muddles1968.bsky.social•53 days ago

And that doesn’t even count Elon and his mess

americanidealist.bsky.social•52 days ago

Yes, we keep trying, everyone of us with every person in our lives who has been taken in by this cult of lies.

You don't have to deprogram them, you just have to break through with one thing, one fact, one frame of reality. Just one. Find one thing they care about enough to refute the lies.

carlagmail.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

americanidealist.bsky.social•52 days ago

If you can break the cult mindset on a single issue, you open the door for that person to question everything else. It won't be enough for some, but it can for others and we need to break every person free that we can.

muddles1968.bsky.social•52 days ago

Donald killed 1 million ppl w his handling of the pandemic, tried to overthrow our gov on live tv, was convicted of SA and 34 felonies & they still decided he wouldn’t lie about lowering prices of groceries. I know it is a cult to most, but racism and othering is more than the cult part.

ajboyack.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah … let’s pull the rug out from under people who we have trained to fight and leave them without a job, money, or needed services.

How could it possibly be destabilizing to fire thousands of veterans and leave them with nothing to do but ruminate on how to respond to their mistreatment? 🙄

deserthemi.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah, I know a few old but can move a bit, war dogs, like myself are starting to get annoyed. What is happening to Veterans (young/old/injured) is not right.

amdjerz.bsky.social•53 days ago

Here’s hoping!