In my mind, the next shoe to drop is SCOTUS finding a way to wriggle MAGA out of the 14th Amendment. All the smart court watchers are dismissing that out of hand, but the Roberts wing seems perfectly at ease coming up with novel ways to undermine precedent.
Btw, on Secret Pod you said none of us foresaw that Trump would come back from Jan. 6 et alia not only stronger in the party but stronger with the public, and asked how that could happen. I think the answer is Joe Biden + lack of accountability. By 2024 opposition was weak and memories were fuzzy.
The camps haven't started in earnest yet JVL. The purges haven't yet gone to "We're locking you up based on lies". Despite all the MAGA LEOs, regime aligned militias haven't been granted authority in the streets.
We definitely have a lower rung to hit unfortunately.
I remember a lot of "Well, he probably isn't going to do all those things," even from the Bulwark. Now we see the difference between a lackadaisical pace in 2017-2020 and now, having the experience of the first term, a plan to immediately seize every lever of power, and a will to scorch the earth.
“She asked for kindness & mercy & the entire right experienced it as a grave insult. They're not faking it either -- the idea that they should be empathetic, care about other, lesser people, really does upset them, at a gut level.” @volts.wtf
“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now… some who fear for their lives… I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President*, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away.”
Bishop Mariann Budde
I think the bishop needs a security detail. She will probably refuse it, but I beg her to reconsider. Very happy to chip in for the cost. This is what we’re dealing with.
I mean, Trump can do a lot of bad things probably within the bounds of the law. But if The Law holds, the damage will mostly be limited and temporary (though that's less true with foreign policy, where an unreliable America will haunt us for decades).
The thing about Trump and the circus he's brought to Washington is it's only a matter of time until they start breaking things that affects evert day Americans including their base, i.e. the VA hiring debacle. The worse they are now the sooner we get there.
And 3 years from now, after the economy has cratered, with sky high unemployment - especially amongst minority groups, and tens of millions of American lives in hardship, foreign alliances dismantled, all plans for sustainable energy to protect the planet scrapped…who will voters blame? Democrats
Oh…and we will no longer be in NATO… during a time where Russia has won and taken hold of Ukraine territory and is preparing invasion of another Eastern European country. And elsewhere, Taiwan’s independence of China is over.
I would expect Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Poland and Germany to develop nukes fairly soon. It’s not a heavy technological lift for them. It’s always good to have a heavily armed Germany around too
Also, what’s the chance they respect midterm results? If they actually turn over the NC election, won’t they just do that too keep the house in 2 years?
Yeah. And too many people look at each outrage as a discrete independent event instead of stepping back & processing its totality - it’s far greater than the sum of its parts. It feeds on itself - a nihilist campaign of total destruction. Breaking things in a way that cannot be put back together.
Imagine it’s October and you tell Hugh Hewitt that in the first 48 hours Trump will free all 1,600 convicted insurrectionists and will strip Bolton and Pompeo of secret service protection.
The destructive potential will become fully transparent if/when this government faces a true crisis. Think Lehman or military escalation around North Korea.
What also is a surprise is the fact that the American people just let it happen. There is no raising up, no mass protests like you see in other countries. Maybe it is to early for this but I'm afraid it is not going to happen at all. It is as if people already have surrendered.
I’m ready to do stuff. Let’s pick a day where every woman, minority, disabled, and queer person (and any category I didn’t think of) doesn’t show up to work or class or shops or restaurants. Im thinking April 1st for these fools.
#fightback #deinoshow
Unfortunately, they say you're always right, JVL. But where is our leader? At least Mitch showed up as a decent human being by doing the right thing. Is there still hope for America?
The worst case scenario being something like... Stalin? Gaddafi? Modern North Korea?
Even Stalin claimed to be working for social benefit. All three prioritized protecting their regimes and priorities over People, leading to intense suffering.
Trump barely pretends to care about social benefit.
I don't know man, not convinced Hugh wouldn't have needed a few minutes to compose himself from the sheer excitement. He certainly seems like a full on sycophant without any concern for ideological priors.
Has Hugh Hewitt commented on any of these terrifying developments, or is he on board with these things too? I guess we know the answer. Imagining that the killings will start soon, it’s the best way to get everybody immune to them.
Also, it's dark but... I told my (37F) family at Thanksgiving and Christmas that I wasn't confident I'd live to my 40th birthday, because the chaos would snowball and end most of our lives one way or another. I was absolutely the nihilist outlier. I'm not anymore.
I think about that a lot. And then, because I don't cover politics for a living, I tune out and turn on some BBC 'Would I Lie to You?' on YouTube. Highly recommend that.
We are not prepared. Many folks are so done with election/politics, but the pain from the NIH/health, immigration, staffing, Greenland, and the rest of the parade of idiocy will hit and really piss them off. Trump’s approval in 20s by summer
The failure of imagination + the arguing over “is he at Hitler level or not quite” (doesn’t have to be following the script of 1930s Germany to be really, really bad and dangerous!) feels like a recipe for continuing to boil the frog. It can happen here, it is, and it’s bad.
The speed of the material changes they are making is shocking.
Good thing the media took Trump at his word that he knew nothing about Project 2025 and his claims that he thought parts of the thing he, again, knew nothing about, were ‘rough.’
The worst part is I’m not shocked at what he’s doing because I was convinced he was going to get retribution on everyone who doesn’t kiss up to him. The speed and extent are a slight surprise.
.... and what would be those preparations? It's a tsunami of idiocracy in the name of radical reforms with a group of self-interested malevolent billionaires out to rape and pillage the nation for more riches by pandering to the president. All no doubt jealous of their Russian counterparts.
The silver lining is every one of Trump's Eos will end up in court, with many in front of non-mega judges (such as in Washington state).
The sheer number of cases will swamp SCOTUS. They will not be able to hear every case in a short time frame.
So ithe Trump machine may lock up in short order.
I was saying this just this morning, that we were called insane for even thinking Trump would do what he has already done. The one silver lining is we know we weren't crazy.
I'm curious, though, what guys like Hewitt are saying now, apart from, "Oh, wow! It's even better than I expected!"
We just got to hope Father time does his job sooner than later. That's basically our only hope at this point. no institutional check is going to hold him back.
I do not want Americans to suffer through this hellscape. But I am starting to wonder if the hellscape is necessary, to wake people up. Somehow, we have to learn from this election. Don’t elect tyrants, and then deny there will be tyranny.
I think hellscape will be the only thing that wakes many people up. I may be gone from this earth by the time full realization has been reached, but I guess I can take solace in the possibility that my children may see a better day after the horrors.
Not sure some will learn , green candidate complained about the grabbing of American citizen and day later said both are same Dems approved spending bill that had border components
I think you’re correct. They won’t change course unless they reach a certain pain threshold. Democrats have kept the train on the tracks for a long time. I think a derailment is on the horizon and they need to let it happen.
Some malignant stuff comes from Trump personally.
Other malignant stuff comes from the kind of people who see him as a patriotic hero. They're all smarter than he is, and they find his amorality useful.
It’s definitely close to most aggressive/peak MAGA agenda. But that might not be worst case scenario. I think worse would be them not following through with their crazy schemes and then declaring victory. Better that they overreach and Americans see what they’ve bought, in full maga glory.
Agree. The established opposition, while well meaning in a quaint 1990's sort of way, is catastrophically unprepared for the asymmetrical warfare that the right is (and has been) waging, and we are going to pay the price. Not to give up hope, but a factory recall is in order.
So much more is happening so much more quickly than I had imagined, and we're not even a week in. A lot of people are going to suffer, maybe including me since my job relies on NIH funding 😅. But the silver lining is that we really are touching the stove and maybe that's what we need.
Do you have no immigrants or Black people or gay people in your circle? Because though I am not *directly* affected, I am in pain for their pain and fear.
Wasn’t my point. It was that all this shit will go unnoticed, or cause shoulder shrugs, from most Americans, who don’t pay much attention, or who just don’t give a shit because it ain’t happening to them. I wholly share the fear of the potential victims, as you do.
I’m sure, but Trump’s approval rating went up. My only point was that Trump cannot be defeated by waiting for the pain to turn people against him. It will take a great deal more active, aggressive action against him — and his many clever minions.
Yah, as a blue-state resident, my bet is for the nukes to fall literally and metaphoricaly on California and Washington state ASAP (WA state's AG & Governor have only begun with the restraining orders. They've been working on them for months.)
I do expect the metaphoric nukes to fall on blue states as soon as possible... they're already landing on California, and have already landed on WA state in 2020. 1/2
2/2 I don't really know when I expect literal nukes to fall on west coast blue states. I have, however, seriously considered the possiblity of west coast states joining Canada/BC or seceding and forming their own nation. That was when I realized nukes would literally come before that happened.
I can’t speak for you or Poetry, but as a GenXer it seems kinda on brand to me. I remember watching The Day After. I remember being scare a war-mongering dipstick like Reagan had his finger on the trigger. Trump is far more bellicose, stupider & more ignorant.
Well - c'mon, JVL, it can always be darker. Worst case? He declares martial law & sends Congress home, as well as SCOTUS, stations troops in every blue state.
See how you feel 90 days from now after he's removed all opposition from the Government departments - you know, the deep state - and is ordrting the compliant replacements to implement your Christian nationalist agenda nightmare.
Comments
We're so fucked.
I work “are you safe?” into a lot of conversations. Again.
So long as we can say 'This is the worst.'
We definitely have a lower rung to hit unfortunately.
It could happen.
Bishop Mariann Budde
https://bsky.app/profile/ifindkarma.bsky.social/post/3lgfdc3ckw22s
#KindnessMatters
But the thing that saves us was always going to be congress and the courts.
The courts already put the 14th amendment case on ice. And congress is paralyzed.
We need to see how this shakes out before knowing how bad things will be.
He’d have called you crazy. TDS. Inconceivable.
And that RFK will be nominated for HHS, Hegseth for Defense, and Tuli for DNI.
Again: This would have been called hysteria. Catastrophizing. Inconceivable.
We are on track for something close to worst case scenario.
Maybe the track will change.
But maybe not. We need to expand our idea of what is possible.
Bc as of now we are not prepared.
#fightback #deinoshow
No cohesive, focused messaging. (Project 2025 anyone?)
I get that the zone is tsunamied with shit right now, but can’t they coalesce around anything?
He is no young man either. Judgement comes to him sooner than later. God will be displeased.
Even Stalin claimed to be working for social benefit. All three prioritized protecting their regimes and priorities over People, leading to intense suffering.
Trump barely pretends to care about social benefit.
is there a response from right-adjacent elites? from the people?
we can't know until it happens but i'm concerned the response will be weak.
JVL: any word from your diocese on how they would handle ICE raids on parishes?
Good thing the media took Trump at his word that he knew nothing about Project 2025 and his claims that he thought parts of the thing he, again, knew nothing about, were ‘rough.’
Or the Panama Canal?
Or mass (as in tens of thousands) federal employee layoffs?
Or actual arrests of Jan 6 committee members?
Or Trump orders U.S. troops out of Germany or Korea?
Are those things still crazy this week? 🤔
The sheer number of cases will swamp SCOTUS. They will not be able to hear every case in a short time frame.
So ithe Trump machine may lock up in short order.
(But will the likes of Hewett acknowledge reality or....just comply.) No need to answer that.... 🙄
There are a lot of really stupid people in this country, but (most) members of Congress, military leaders, and the judiciary aren't among them.
It's time for people to stand up to tyranny at every level. Be forthright in your resistance.
I'm curious, though, what guys like Hewitt are saying now, apart from, "Oh, wow! It's even better than I expected!"
It's all the Project 2025 people putting papers in front of him telling him "Sign this one next, sir."
So even if Trump is gone, whoever takes his place is still going to have the same agenda.
Other malignant stuff comes from the kind of people who see him as a patriotic hero. They're all smarter than he is, and they find his amorality useful.
When we have slave labor camps, we'll be on our way to a Fourth Reich.
Hewitt is a total Trump zombie.
-0- respect for that idiot.
When they unanimously voted to put Rubio in that position without anybody voting no, proves the republic is on the edge of a knife.
If you vote with Trump, you’re complicit.
Buckle up. This just starting
There is still a lot people can do to derail Trump’s agenda. I’m just not convinced that people are committed to resisting.
Serious amounts of resources need to be dedicated to organising the armed resistance... Communication methods and leadership hierarchies.
Get guns...
Or never happened.