Similar type of unrest, but most likely not to the same level. But Iraq is an example of people zealous to the cause acting as internal insurgents. I suppose I should have been more specific. But yes, we could have numbers that make look McVeigh look tame.
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It should have already happened. Leaving aside that he’s never been competent to act as president, his steroid mania of late was more than sufficient for evoking the 25th. The fact that didn’t happen, even temporarily, does not bode well.
Hell, earlier in his administration, his national security advisors believed that he’d provoked North Korea to the point where there was going to be a nuclear war.
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“Two houses, both alike in stupidity.”
~ The Bard, probably.
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Well, when your metric for “genius” is deceit in pursuit of a regressive agenda, they’re one and the same. But, like really good deceiting.
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Yes I have noticed this too and it fills me with great hope. The Philadelphia suburbs had a lot of Trump signs in 2016, but there are very few and far between now, but what surprised me more was when I took a trip up to north central Pa last week, and I could not believe how few Trump signs I saw. This was prime Trump area 4 years ago. I doubt they are voting Biden/Harris, but the enthusiasm was way down. Stopped twice at local restaurants, and there were no signs.
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This. And the people, I mean common people.
It is very possible that, weaponized racist shitheads aside, also common people relations may have been affected beyond the point of no return. Trump has been so divisive that many friendly neighbors with different views who didn’t talk about politics for mutual respect, now would happily take any chance to jump at each other’s neck with a knife.
I fear that could be something that can’t be undone even after Trump is kicked out from the WH; can any country function when so many people hate them each other?
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Relatedly… Kim Jong-un, an actual brutal dictator, can do what Trump can’t…
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Ross Douthat can suck my ass. At every stage he has played the “Trump’s not great but don’t worry, the institutions can keep him in check” card, which by this point I think we can all agree was a serious-conservative-windbag fantasy.
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I’m interested to see what happens in your state. My in-laws live in AZ and this is the first year I know of where they have actually voted (I know, that pains me as well) - and they were moved to action to vote out Trump as well as vote in Mark Kelly.
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I don’t know what worries me more- Trump, or people who are not afraid of Trump.
Hey NYT- be afraid of Trump. If you’re not, you are not paying attention. Also, paying attention is like… your only job.
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Ooh, keep talking!!
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Read Douthat’s piece on “cancel culture”. It’s interesting! And it doesn’t pretend to state facts, only his opinion, so the statement that “he lies” isn’t really on point.
Who is calling Trump an “evil genius”?
As far as I’ve been able to follow the Venn diagram between the people who consider Trump evil and the people who consider him a genius have virtually no overlap at all.
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Western culture has the bad habit of assigning white hats and black hats - and always looking for a singular Hero or Villain. Hitler didn’t do it all by himself, right? He had help. It’s Trump’s enablers (just as desperate to retain power & avoid prosecution) who will drive this over the edge. And any amongst them who think they can contain or control the madness & zealotry among their own numbers are tragically self-delusional. They already have their base of well-armed yahoos ready to take to the streets and cause unfettered mayhem - and they also have their own private army of mercenaries (both within and outside of law enforcement) who are prepared to wield force against their fellow citizens. Also - in addition to the Secret Service details, the Trump administration employs their own security teams.
It’s gonna be . . . interesting.
Stay safe.
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Douthat is an idiot and a blowhard, but he’s right about Trump, here. Even a broken clock, etc. (As long as it’s not a digital one, blinking 88:88 into the night…)
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Wow! Way to put words in my mouth… the comment you’re replying to doesn’t say shit about him lying, so you either meant to reply to someone else, or you’re implying things I did not say.
Also, no. I’m good, thanks. He can think whatever he wants about a thing that is mostly a made up conservative scare story. I have much more productive things to do with my free reading time.
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Trump may be too inept and unpopular, but the GOP are already controlling a lot of the wheels of government, including aspects of the election-- “coup” implies violently taking the government, the GOP has been waging a “polite coup” for a couple decades, using all the powers they can think of that are not expressly illegal to ensure they continue to wield power.
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Not always, though. It can just be a general subversion of democratic institutions in order to institute one party rule, which I think you’re correct about with regards to the GOP.
[ETA] Example of a non-violent coup:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-politics-idUSKCN1NB2PT
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Hitler and Mussolini each had the capacity to plan more than a couple of days out. The Orange Oaf has never carried a briefcase because he can’t write down in advance what he’s going to do that day, let alone in the next week or month. He’s entirely reactive instead of proactive.
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“Cancel culture” is a disinformation tactic the right promulgates to silence criticism while maintaining their right to criticize.
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