I saw a comment from a conservative recently who was hoping that Trump would create term limits for congress. Like, how delusional can you be?
If only there were just one example instead likely over 10
That was a reference to Armageddon.
Evangelicals want him to make it happen.
**Downvote all you want. It's a fact.
Paula white, member of NAR, and trumps white house spiritual advisor said trump, and I fucking quote:
'will play a critical role in Armageddon as the United States stands alongside Israel in the battle against Islam."
B-b-b-but Genocide Joe?
That's not exactly better...
in the 10 minutes of the Rogan interview I could stomach he talked about how surreal it all was, how it was a joke, he didn't want to be a politician, and he didn't expect to win.
He was expecting it this time and he knows what he can get away with.
It could be that simple. He didn't realize the potential the first time around and so many things got in the way, including a disaster that tried to force a leadership role on him. This time enough was changed and built up to prevent the obstacles, and he not only can avoid justice for his past, but he can, in his own words, "do anything and they'll let you."
When you're a demagogue, they let you do it. I just grab the country by the pussy, I don't wait.
I don't know how anyone could be impressed by that interview. It was 3 hours of a narcissist saying how great he is.
While Joe was interrupting him he almost sounded coherent. as soon as he let him go I honestly thought I'd had a stroke.
If you made it through 3 hours of that you might want to get yourself checked out.
This time America voted for the felon to become a dictator
No, they just voted for the term that runs 2025-1-20 to 2029-1-20. The dictator thing might end up happening, but it's not what was voted on.
Fuck that, he said multiple times that he'd be a dictator (on day one). He's talked about terminating the Constitution. He tried to overthrow the 2020 election. He's the only person who has ever argued that Presidents should have immunity, and then his hand-picked Supreme Court gave it to him. He said multiple times that this is the last time you'll have to vote.
There is no gray area. He wants to be a dictator and will do EVERYTHING to make it happen. And his fucking supporters want it, too. Don't give them any leeway and don't give him any leeway. Call his and their bullshit out every fucking chance you get.
There is exactly one argument that fascists understand.
People aren't paying attention. This is the last legitimate election the US will have. They control all three branches of government. The words in the constitution are meaningless if no one is there to uphold them.
We are experiencing history.
Sept 9, 1776 - Jan 20th, 2025.
I load the gun, put it on my head, pull the trigger but i don’t want to die!
HE LITERALLY TOLD US, USING THE VERY WORD, THAT HE WILL BE A DICTATOR HOLY SHIT I'M LOSING MY MIND
It is exactly what was voted on
Luckily, the process of repealing or changing an amendment likely won’t change anytime soon, even with a Republican trifecta at the federal level, as it requires overwhelming public support. As outlined in Article 5 of the Constitution, any such change requires at least two-thirds of the Senate and the House to agree on the modification, with that change then requiring ratification by a minimum of three-quarters of states in the nation.
I wouldn't be so confident. If the majority decides to ignore it, then a constitution suddenly holds very little weight. Remember how the Roman Empire was once a Republic, until someone decided it wasn't anymore? Remember how 1930s Germany was a democracy, until someone decided that had to end?
Trump might argue some weird logic regarding the 22nd and 12th amendment. Or he might just declare a state of national emergency because of a new migrant caravan or some such shit, and postpone elections indefinitely. If he tries anything of the sort, it will all come down to whose side the military is on.
What happens if they declare all democrats are enemies of the state and remove them from office and put their people in?
Project 2025
Project Gilead.
You’ll probably get to find out in January 😊 that’s kind of the whole plan
You mean the thing that they literally told us they were going to do?
Burn the senate building, arrest some democrat kid and say there is a deep state satanic conspiracy with the democrats to destroy the God Appointed Trump Presidency, throw fake news all over the place and call for another election and/or emergency bill that gives him unlimited power.
What is that thing about story not repeating itself but rhyming?
Yeah, and that fuckwits name was Paul von Hindenburg in Germany.
The fall of the Roman Republic was way more complex though wasn't it? Like the Senate killed Ceaser and then voted to give his son unlimited tenure as Commander In Chief? There's a lot to unpack there
I didn't mean "someone" this literally. In both cases, many people were directly involved or allowed things to happen by not intervening.
My point was the more general one that a system of government only remains in place for as long as those who have the power want it to. (Whoever that may be: an elite, the people, the military, the clergy, some combination...) The US seems to be entering a phase where a big part of those in power wants to move from liberal democracy towards authoritarianism. If they turn out to have a stable majority and follow through with their plans, then the US Constitution won't be worth more than the paper it was written on.
Can he just run as someone else's VP and then the someone else abdicates or whatever? No messing with constitution required. Obviously requires a lot of trust though.
No, the VP has to be eligible for the presidency. If for some reason they are not, then the presidency would roll to the speaker of the house.
Rules no longer apply
Rules still apply until they are selectively removed or ignored or re-interperted by the Supreme Court of Sycophants later. But as it stands right now, those are the rules.
You would think they would figure it out right? It's not a joke.
You'd think, but then 75 or so million people either didn't, or wanted this.
He is 78, in awful health, and has no interest in a legacy or supporting a successor. He keeps everyone around him at odds and maintains enough infighting that no clear heir apparent could really show up.
So like, he really only will hold power long enough to make everything terrible. So we got that goin for us.
You know how long Caesar was dictator for life before he was assassinated? Less than a year.
But the damage was done, and Rome had a civil war over whether it would go back to being a Republic like it had been or if it would have an autocratic ruler. Obviously, the latter won out.
A lesson from history.
Let's not lump Trump in with Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar was a war hero and a capable leader who's final crimes were giving out citizenship and housing.
Trump's final crimes will be giving all our state secrets to every other government in the world and obliterating our infrastructure.
Yet nobody chose Caesar, yet millions chose for Trump
He was elected as Dictator many times on a yearly basis and sometimes multiple times a year. He was so vastly popular the citizenry they killed the assassin's, hunted down an heir and put him in power.
Julius Ceasar and his follow on Agustus were insanely capable leaders that did great things for their country. The empire was so great and lasted twice the time America has, it's fall caused the Dark Ages.
Rome is a bad example here because technically the Dictatorship was good for them. Rome fell due to corruption that came in via enabling the Christian church to operate freely. Now that is a much better analog here that we enabled religious organizations to become tax free political action committees and uncapped their ability to influence government. This meant the evangelical grifters became the most powerful political entities in America.
We have so many lessons from history to pull from right now that you would need multiple professors to explain them all and yet they were all ignored.
Professors? You must mean those librul elites. I do my own research!
You know how long Caesar was dictator for life before he was assassinated? Less than a year.
So you're saying he was dictator for life? 😂
Yep, when trump dies his "movement" explodes. They won't consolidate around one, and trump would never have a clear successor because then he risks everyone siding with them.
MAGA ain't a movement it's a person.
When he's gone the knives come out and the party will balkanize itself
I wish I had your optimism
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
The only right way to be an optimist about the big picture is to make sure you're ready for when shit goes sideways on the day to day stuff.
For instance a big silver lining about four years of trump, this is one of the few scenarios people stay politically engaged after the election, thru the midterms, and onto 2028.
Republicans have the Oval, the House, and the Senate. There is not much they can do that people will blame on Dems.
Historically he'll lose House or Senate in two years. Hopefully both, but ideally the Senate. There's benefits to the other way around too tho.
Adjust your timescale you're looking at this with. 4 years ain't long, two years ain't shit. Think of all the fucked up horrible shit we've done as a country. Realize that even if things get worse then they ever been in America (incredibly unlikely) we've bounced back before and we'll bounce back eventually again.
This is going to suck.
But 20 years from now we might look back on this as the last speed bump before we finally fixed our political system. Empires burn down all the time, but ash makes fertile soil.
There is a possibility that in their haste to suck him off, the Republicans either all but eliminate or completely nuke the filibuster. If this happens and we have another election, there is no way it isn't a positive development IMO. The filibuster absolutely sucks and is a clear obstacle to majoritarian rule in the country.
If they pull this to do wildly unpopular things on a short time scale, it will suck, no doubt, but they will likely pay a huge price for doing unpopular things in the next cycle.
Ideally, we would have avoided all this risk, but we didn't, and for the time being, the best self-care for most of us is to keep in mind scenarios that may play out to reduce harm. Infighting has long been a normal to happen when the GOP asserts itself, so it's not crazy to imagine it being ultimately the block for attempts to dismantle some of the political structure (the powerful players know how to play this game, and are hopefully worried enough about losing that power in any big change that they will work to protect the mechanisms currently in play).
I find it equally likely he tries to be in power until his last breath as it is for him to set the White House ablaze just before handing the keys to it's next owner.
It will definitely be interesting to see at which stage each "well, maybe it won't be that bad" people realize that, yes. It will.
Remember, the Constitution is just a really old piece of paper if the people entrusted to enforce it choose to ignore it.
There is a non-zero chance that Trump could move to suspend the Constitution entirely, backed by a complicit Cabinet, Congress, Supreme Court and several state governments. And at that point, we would literally have to hope and pray that the rank-and-file military is on the side of the people, which is far, far from guaranteed. Because if they're not, you can claim your Constitutional rights all you want, but you'll be doing it with the other prisoners inside of whatever re-education camp you're assigned to.
Heck, there's a non-zero chance that the American voter just gives off a collective "meh" and just apathetically lets Trump seize total power. We just saw a few million people do just that.
Wow, already in the first week. Expect to hear this joke periodically over the course of his term, each time getting slightly more seriously stated. By the third year, everyone will have heard it so much it'll be accepted as a perfectly reasonable idea. And the media will help that along in how they report on it. This is the tried and true playbook and it will work, not only for this plan but for their other plans.
Take for example the planned mass deportations. They'll start out with finding some people who have committed crimes (or they claim have), deport them and no one will object to that, it's already how it's done. As they move on to those whose crimes are not very consequential, like traffic tickets or whatever, if libs say anything against it, they'll pounce on it and amplify stories how the libs are overreacting and want criminals to be left free and have open borders. Harping on any criticism in cases that are technically justified is key to getting the public used to pooh-poohing any dissent as they start escalating and going after the law-abiding (other than being here illegally ofc) immigrants, families with mixed status members, DACA/Dreamers, parents of children born here and thus citizens and deporting the children with them, etc.
Ha such fun joke
Edit: also just boys being boys
some people dont like it when boys are just boys.
my boys are the best boys.
my boys boy better than any other boys who would otherwise be boys.
It’s not a joke! For heaven’s sake, media, it’s not a joke!
Exactly. And this isn't even the first time he's said it!
Let me get this right. So, you know exactly who this man is and what he stands for. Yet, you elect him anyway. You know he's been "joking" about this before. Yet, you elect him anyway. He's a convicted felon. Yet, you elect him anyway.
I've lost every smidgen of respect I had for Americans. You went into this with eyes wide open. You deserve what's coming.
I voted for Kamala, and got a handful of others to as well, don't include me with the rest of them. I don't deserve this.
Same. I voted on the first day of early voting, and convinced my nephew and his two best friends to cast their first (and likely last) votes. My niece is 15; I'm sure she'll be glad to hear she "deserves" what's coming.
Yeah, not only did I vote against this, my demographic hit 94% for Harris.
Sorry, you're part of the problem
By what logic? Unless you think that participating in the electoral process at all makes you complicit in the outcome whatever it is this doesn't really tally.
It's the sarcasm they reacted to.
Explain.
Explain what?
Obviously explain your garbage response that a Harris voter who got others to vote for Harris is part of the problem.
No thanks
You're a waste.
Ah, you hit the nose, do you want me to kill myself?
I mean, being better is an option
I must admit I am not much for hate myself so I actually have no idea what you are saying. Do you mean I should do what you say or else kill myself is that kind of the jist here?
You deserve what’s coming.
You're talking to the people who tried to stop him, so fuck off.
He's talking broadly, to Americans. Which you and I are. And he's right, we deserve this. As a country.
As an individual, neither of us do, since we fought and voted against him. But that's not what OP was saying. He wasn't addressing you specifically, but our nation in the second person.
nope, it's the usual European smug superiority complex I see all over Lemmy, as if they don't have the same problems there (not to mention have had in the past). They can enjoy gloating until the same thing happens in their country, which won't be long.
You could be correct.
However, Europe's "right" is America's "left".
The political situation might be semantically similar, but the political policymaking is a vastly different situation between the two.
Europe, universally, believes in healthcare as a right, for example.
It struck me reading your comment that there is literally nothing that all Americans believe in "universally" and that makes me super sad.
Canadian here and continue to be marvelled by an Americans inability to crawl out of their own ass regardless of if they're Democrat or Republican lol
Let me get this right. So, you know exactly who this man is and what he stands for. Yet, you elect him anyway. You know he's been "joking" about this before. Yet, you elect him anyway. He's a convicted felon. Yet, you elect him anyway.
I've lost every smidgen of respect I had for Americans. You went into this with eyes wide open. You deserve what's coming.
60% of eligible voters didn't vote. It can be debated if they are complacent or if party leadership didn't Sufficiently motivate them to vote
Of the 40% eligible voters that did vote, 50% voted for trump and 48% voted for Harris.
So depending on how you look at it, 19% of eligible voters actively didn't vote for Trump, or 20% of eligible voters actively voted for Trump.
We could also go on to say that, of those who voted for trump, there was a portion that was not informed which could partially be blamed on the media as well as party leaderships. Some of them are just in a cult mentality and while that doesn't excuse their behavior, they are actively being manipulated. And then there are a bunch of voters who genuinely just want to watch the world burn.
I'm sure we could dissect this many ways, but i can can't see how everyone deserves what's coming. For example , I didn't ask for this. I actively volunteered my time to try to prevent it. Yeah, a good chunk of Americans are idiots. But not all of us deserve what's coming. Fuck that.
I’ve lost every smidgen of respect I had for Americans.
Says the guy who is happy to damn tens of millions of people who didn't vote for this (not to mention all the kids and such) right along with those who did.
Hey, I'm in the US, I voted against Trump, I'm likely going to suffer if he is able to accomplish a smidgen of what he has talked about, and I think we got what we deserved. I know a lot of innocent people are going to suffer, but this is a country of very selfish people. Even some of the most liberal people I have met in this country still have a very selfish mindset and reason for the liberal bent. As soon as they attain a position where they have an advantage they basically pull up the ladder. I'm personally tired of it.
People are going to die, ecosystems are going to burn, countries may very well fall. My only hope is that things only get bad enough that the masses learn an important lesson that at least lasts for their generation and that recovery is possible in that time frame.
It's not that I don't care. It's not even that I don't have the fight left in me. I just don't see any kind of path to a better place without substantial harm occurring first. I will not be happy to be right. I want to be wrong.
George W. Bush made a joke about being a dictator, but never tried to actually be one. Trump has been trying to be a dictator from the moment he was born...
Ben Shapiro is a hypocritical piece of shit. Sorry that might not be relevant.
Nah, that's always relevant
Ben Shapiro is a <del>hypocritical</del> piece of shit.
Ftfy.
Cheeto ain't joking about power.
Good thing he's old AF and overweight. Maybe that will impact him even before this term is done...
Yeah, President Vance? Every option has us screwed no matter how long Trump lasts
The one benefit of Vance replacing Trump is that he doesn't have a cult like Trump does.
I suspect (naively hope?) Vance would be less inclined to just hand over national security information to Putin, so .. maybe two benefits?
What about his behavior to date makes you think that? I feel like that sounds snarky but I don't intend it that way.
For all his faults and evils, Vance is not a narcissist who pathologically seeks the approval of those he sees as high status, which is what has compelled Trump to try so hard to be buddies with dictators. Vance is more cunning than Trump and would need to have a profit motive beyond just an ego stroking before putting his position at risk (even if the risk is evidently slight, but his relatively low popularity / lack of cult following makes me think/hope he'd have a harder time getting away with stuff than Trump). I suspect most dictators don't have much to offer Vance in the way of profit that he couldn't just as easily secure for himself as president without the personal risks of selling out the country to foreign adversaries, and the most salacious scandal we've heard about him has to do with a couch rather than Epstein so the kompromat is probably minimal or nil.
Don't get me wrong, a President Vance would be awful in a lot of ways, and arguably worse than Trump in some ways. It's just that I don't imagine him as being quite as much of a national security risk. But, again, maybe it's just naive hope. 🤷
That's just naieve hope. He would sell out his country for a bean.
I'd put down $50 on his administration taking measures to get Trump out of the way to install Vance.
Remember that he went off the rails on Truth Social about the 25th amendment basically ranting about the chain of command when the president is incapacitated. It seemed like a weird one but I remember reading it and my first thought was "He found out his people are gonna throw him out with a dementia diagnosis."
I don't see him lasting his full term. Dude's old, is incredibly unhealthy, and has enough power-mad people around him that the first sign of weakness will probably be enough for medical intervention and Vance becoming president. Becoming president AGAIN at his age is possibly the dumbest thing he can do for his health.
Sadly his Klan loving father lived to 93, and being POTUS is like having a dedicated one person ER following you around.
Also, the office only ages you if you're committed to performing the job, Trump uses the office to troll the people he can troll and, more urgently, personally profit for anyone that offers him or his businesses a bribe in exchange for a Presidential act. He doesn't work even in business, he issues broad, pie in the sky dictates and encourages his own employees infighting about the details. He's bragged about this.
Trump was the first President in my lifetime to accelerate the aging of those he governed rather than himself. Like so many other things people seem to forget, he spent a lot of his first term golfing.
Not that I'm complaining on that point, golf motherfucker! Do less!
This is something I don't think they even acknowledge or think about. Some of their shit in comparing him to Hitler (and they do that in a positive manner) is when they claim that some of the shit that is happening to him is like him being imprisoned after the Beer Hall Putsch (referring to Jan 6th). This is stupid. Hitler was barely in his early 30s at the time and he was actually at the START of his political career. Trump was never imprisoned and when he did his shit he already had very real political power that Hitler never had in 1923.
Trump the oldest presidential nominee ever and I hope that he will stay the oldest. We don't need that kind of geriatic shit in any political office anywhere.
We all know assholes live forever
In b4
He won't stay in power. His appointment of incompetent sycophants will dismantle 250 years of American prosperity (maliciously or negligently, it doesn't matter) and it will be sold for parts to billionaires and foreign states.
Yeah; he’ll stay in power long enough for that.
But he’s 78 years old. When he’s supposed to step down in 2029, he’ll be almost 83.
The average life expectancy of men in the US is currently 73.
Based on historical data for people Trump’s age and health in the US, he’s likely to die of natural causes before he’s 86.
So the longest he could likely hang on for is one more term than he’s supposed to.
I bet he wants nepotism to for succession, but that's not what his benifactors want, hence JD Vance
will dismantle 250 years of American prosperity
cough 1961 to 2008
It wasn't a joke.
Brave of him to assume he'll still be alive by year four
It's not a joke, you fucking idiot.
Yeah, a "joke".
ITS NOT A "JOKE" AND NEVER FUCKING HAS BEEN
Jk, jk...unless...
He’ll do what Putin did. Have Vance run as President, and run as his Vice-President. He’ll maintain control like Dick Cheney with Bush.
That’s explicitly not allowed by the constitution. 12th amendment
They. Do. Not. Care.
You still don't get this?
The point is if they do not care, they wouldn't even bother to pretend. He'd just stay in office or run again.
The dance of running as VP doesn't make any sense as either they don't care and it's not necessary, or they do care and that's not a loophole that exists.
Besides, IIRC Kanye and Trump had a falling out over a suggestion that Trump would take a backseat to Kanye in a campaign. Trump won't settle for even the appearance of 'second place'.
Trump's malignant narcissism won't let him be subordinate to someone else. So that idea is out.
dictators dont steal or take control. its handed to them.
Long as his "forever" ends at or before 2027
Forever could be thankfully short thanks to his awful health and lifestyle.
But then these damn Skeksis stay on the throne a lot longer than should be possible.
If I were him, I'd be more concerned with making it through this one.
All it takes is one fair election to be won decisively by an autocrat. The democratic party handed it to this shit head. Worst yet, he doesn't even have to rig the election system because the democrat party is fucking incapable of attracting voters and it doesn't look like they are going to fix what is broken about the party.
Ahh, the fuhrer
The god king...
I would not worry that this guy stays around too long,he might croak.
Then fucking Elon is going to take over
I would not worry
People keep saying that, yet here we are.
It's just a joke 🤣... he's got like 5 years of good cognitive abilities tops. Then after he'll be like all the other old farts. Barely makes any sense and is just totally old and dilapidated. No way they're gonna keep him in power then. He might just croak.
I'm betting we get 2 years of Vance. Trump is circling the drain.
And yet, like a bloated piece of shit, he just won't go down.
Again, you mean.
Not really.. This time America voted for the felon to become a dictator
And the felon will do whatever he can to make it happen.
Last time it was still a misguided presidency.
I hear ya, but I mean he 'joked' about it before this election too.
Yup, specifically "You won't have to vote anymore."
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-tells-christians-they-wont-have-vote-after-this-election-2024-07-27/
Don't forget when he praised Xi Jinping for removing term limits and suggested he might do the same https://www.reuters.com/article/world/trump-praises-chinese-president-extending-tenure-for-life-idUSKCN1GG03P/
He's also just explicitly said that he wants to be a dictator, but that apparently isn't a turn-off for much of his base, and in fact many of them see it as a positive: https://apnews.com/article/trump-hannity-dictator-authoritarian-presidential-election-f27e7e9d7c13fabbe3ae7dd7f1235c72
I saw a comment from a conservative recently who was hoping that Trump would create term limits for congress. Like, how delusional can you be?
If only there were just one example instead likely over 10
That was a reference to Armageddon.
Evangelicals want him to make it happen.
**Downvote all you want. It's a fact.
Paula white, member of NAR, and trumps white house spiritual advisor said trump, and I fucking quote:
B-b-b-but Genocide Joe?
That's not exactly better...
in the 10 minutes of the Rogan interview I could stomach he talked about how surreal it all was, how it was a joke, he didn't want to be a politician, and he didn't expect to win.
He was expecting it this time and he knows what he can get away with.
It could be that simple. He didn't realize the potential the first time around and so many things got in the way, including a disaster that tried to force a leadership role on him. This time enough was changed and built up to prevent the obstacles, and he not only can avoid justice for his past, but he can, in his own words, "do anything and they'll let you."
When you're a demagogue, they let you do it. I just grab the country by the pussy, I don't wait.
I don't know how anyone could be impressed by that interview. It was 3 hours of a narcissist saying how great he is.
While Joe was interrupting him he almost sounded coherent. as soon as he let him go I honestly thought I'd had a stroke.
If you made it through 3 hours of that you might want to get yourself checked out.
No, they just voted for the term that runs 2025-1-20 to 2029-1-20. The dictator thing might end up happening, but it's not what was voted on.
Fuck that, he said multiple times that he'd be a dictator (on day one). He's talked about terminating the Constitution. He tried to overthrow the 2020 election. He's the only person who has ever argued that Presidents should have immunity, and then his hand-picked Supreme Court gave it to him. He said multiple times that this is the last time you'll have to vote.
There is no gray area. He wants to be a dictator and will do EVERYTHING to make it happen. And his fucking supporters want it, too. Don't give them any leeway and don't give him any leeway. Call his and their bullshit out every fucking chance you get.
There is exactly one argument that fascists understand.
People aren't paying attention. This is the last legitimate election the US will have. They control all three branches of government. The words in the constitution are meaningless if no one is there to uphold them.
We are experiencing history.
Sept 9, 1776 - Jan 20th, 2025.
I load the gun, put it on my head, pull the trigger but i don’t want to die!
HE LITERALLY TOLD US, USING THE VERY WORD, THAT HE WILL BE A DICTATOR HOLY SHIT I'M LOSING MY MIND
It is exactly what was voted on
I wouldn't be so confident. If the majority decides to ignore it, then a constitution suddenly holds very little weight. Remember how the Roman Empire was once a Republic, until someone decided it wasn't anymore? Remember how 1930s Germany was a democracy, until someone decided that had to end?
Trump might argue some weird logic regarding the 22nd and 12th amendment. Or he might just declare a state of national emergency because of a new migrant caravan or some such shit, and postpone elections indefinitely. If he tries anything of the sort, it will all come down to whose side the military is on.
What happens if they declare all democrats are enemies of the state and remove them from office and put their people in?
Project 2025
Project Gilead.
You’ll probably get to find out in January 😊 that’s kind of the whole plan
You mean the thing that they literally told us they were going to do?
They didn't actually mean that...
Burn the senate building, arrest some democrat kid and say there is a deep state satanic conspiracy with the democrats to destroy the God Appointed Trump Presidency, throw fake news all over the place and call for another election and/or emergency bill that gives him unlimited power.
What is that thing about story not repeating itself but rhyming?
Yeah, and that fuckwits name was Paul von Hindenburg in Germany.
The fall of the Roman Republic was way more complex though wasn't it? Like the Senate killed Ceaser and then voted to give his son unlimited tenure as Commander In Chief? There's a lot to unpack there
I didn't mean "someone" this literally. In both cases, many people were directly involved or allowed things to happen by not intervening.
My point was the more general one that a system of government only remains in place for as long as those who have the power want it to. (Whoever that may be: an elite, the people, the military, the clergy, some combination...) The US seems to be entering a phase where a big part of those in power wants to move from liberal democracy towards authoritarianism. If they turn out to have a stable majority and follow through with their plans, then the US Constitution won't be worth more than the paper it was written on.
Can he just run as someone else's VP and then the someone else abdicates or whatever? No messing with constitution required. Obviously requires a lot of trust though.
No, the VP has to be eligible for the presidency. If for some reason they are not, then the presidency would roll to the speaker of the house.
Rules no longer apply
Rules still apply until they are selectively removed or ignored or re-interperted by the Supreme Court of Sycophants later. But as it stands right now, those are the rules.
Not a joke.
You would think they would figure it out right? It's not a joke.
You'd think, but then 75 or so million people either didn't, or wanted this.
He is 78, in awful health, and has no interest in a legacy or supporting a successor. He keeps everyone around him at odds and maintains enough infighting that no clear heir apparent could really show up.
So like, he really only will hold power long enough to make everything terrible. So we got that goin for us.
You know how long Caesar was dictator for life before he was assassinated? Less than a year.
But the damage was done, and Rome had a civil war over whether it would go back to being a Republic like it had been or if it would have an autocratic ruler. Obviously, the latter won out.
A lesson from history.
Let's not lump Trump in with Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar was a war hero and a capable leader who's final crimes were giving out citizenship and housing.
Trump's final crimes will be giving all our state secrets to every other government in the world and obliterating our infrastructure.
Yet nobody chose Caesar, yet millions chose for Trump
He was elected as Dictator many times on a yearly basis and sometimes multiple times a year. He was so vastly popular the citizenry they killed the assassin's, hunted down an heir and put him in power.
Julius Ceasar and his follow on Agustus were insanely capable leaders that did great things for their country. The empire was so great and lasted twice the time America has, it's fall caused the Dark Ages.
Rome is a bad example here because technically the Dictatorship was good for them. Rome fell due to corruption that came in via enabling the Christian church to operate freely. Now that is a much better analog here that we enabled religious organizations to become tax free political action committees and uncapped their ability to influence government. This meant the evangelical grifters became the most powerful political entities in America.
We have so many lessons from history to pull from right now that you would need multiple professors to explain them all and yet they were all ignored.
Professors? You must mean those librul elites. I do my own research!
So you're saying he was dictator for life? 😂
Yep, when trump dies his "movement" explodes. They won't consolidate around one, and trump would never have a clear successor because then he risks everyone siding with them.
MAGA ain't a movement it's a person.
When he's gone the knives come out and the party will balkanize itself
I wish I had your optimism
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
The only right way to be an optimist about the big picture is to make sure you're ready for when shit goes sideways on the day to day stuff.
For instance a big silver lining about four years of trump, this is one of the few scenarios people stay politically engaged after the election, thru the midterms, and onto 2028.
Republicans have the Oval, the House, and the Senate. There is not much they can do that people will blame on Dems.
Historically he'll lose House or Senate in two years. Hopefully both, but ideally the Senate. There's benefits to the other way around too tho.
Adjust your timescale you're looking at this with. 4 years ain't long, two years ain't shit. Think of all the fucked up horrible shit we've done as a country. Realize that even if things get worse then they ever been in America (incredibly unlikely) we've bounced back before and we'll bounce back eventually again.
This is going to suck.
But 20 years from now we might look back on this as the last speed bump before we finally fixed our political system. Empires burn down all the time, but ash makes fertile soil.
There is a possibility that in their haste to suck him off, the Republicans either all but eliminate or completely nuke the filibuster. If this happens and we have another election, there is no way it isn't a positive development IMO. The filibuster absolutely sucks and is a clear obstacle to majoritarian rule in the country.
If they pull this to do wildly unpopular things on a short time scale, it will suck, no doubt, but they will likely pay a huge price for doing unpopular things in the next cycle.
Ideally, we would have avoided all this risk, but we didn't, and for the time being, the best self-care for most of us is to keep in mind scenarios that may play out to reduce harm. Infighting has long been a normal to happen when the GOP asserts itself, so it's not crazy to imagine it being ultimately the block for attempts to dismantle some of the political structure (the powerful players know how to play this game, and are hopefully worried enough about losing that power in any big change that they will work to protect the mechanisms currently in play).
I find it equally likely he tries to be in power until his last breath as it is for him to set the White House ablaze just before handing the keys to it's next owner.
It will definitely be interesting to see at which stage each "well, maybe it won't be that bad" people realize that, yes. It will.
Remember, the Constitution is just a really old piece of paper if the people entrusted to enforce it choose to ignore it.
There is a non-zero chance that Trump could move to suspend the Constitution entirely, backed by a complicit Cabinet, Congress, Supreme Court and several state governments. And at that point, we would literally have to hope and pray that the rank-and-file military is on the side of the people, which is far, far from guaranteed. Because if they're not, you can claim your Constitutional rights all you want, but you'll be doing it with the other prisoners inside of whatever re-education camp you're assigned to.
Heck, there's a non-zero chance that the American voter just gives off a collective "meh" and just apathetically lets Trump seize total power. We just saw a few million people do just that.
Wow, already in the first week. Expect to hear this joke periodically over the course of his term, each time getting slightly more seriously stated. By the third year, everyone will have heard it so much it'll be accepted as a perfectly reasonable idea. And the media will help that along in how they report on it. This is the tried and true playbook and it will work, not only for this plan but for their other plans.
Take for example the planned mass deportations. They'll start out with finding some people who have committed crimes (or they claim have), deport them and no one will object to that, it's already how it's done. As they move on to those whose crimes are not very consequential, like traffic tickets or whatever, if libs say anything against it, they'll pounce on it and amplify stories how the libs are overreacting and want criminals to be left free and have open borders. Harping on any criticism in cases that are technically justified is key to getting the public used to pooh-poohing any dissent as they start escalating and going after the law-abiding (other than being here illegally ofc) immigrants, families with mixed status members, DACA/Dreamers, parents of children born here and thus citizens and deporting the children with them, etc.
Ha such fun joke
Edit: also just boys being boys
some people dont like it when boys are just boys.
my boys are the best boys.
my boys boy better than any other boys who would otherwise be boys.
It’s not a joke! For heaven’s sake, media, it’s not a joke!
Exactly. And this isn't even the first time he's said it!
Let me get this right. So, you know exactly who this man is and what he stands for. Yet, you elect him anyway. You know he's been "joking" about this before. Yet, you elect him anyway. He's a convicted felon. Yet, you elect him anyway.
I've lost every smidgen of respect I had for Americans. You went into this with eyes wide open. You deserve what's coming.
I voted for Kamala, and got a handful of others to as well, don't include me with the rest of them. I don't deserve this.
Same. I voted on the first day of early voting, and convinced my nephew and his two best friends to cast their first (and likely last) votes. My niece is 15; I'm sure she'll be glad to hear she "deserves" what's coming.
Yeah, not only did I vote against this, my demographic hit 94% for Harris.
Sorry, you're part of the problem
By what logic? Unless you think that participating in the electoral process at all makes you complicit in the outcome whatever it is this doesn't really tally.
It's the sarcasm they reacted to.
Explain.
Explain what?
Obviously explain your garbage response that a Harris voter who got others to vote for Harris is part of the problem.
No thanks
You're a waste.
Ah, you hit the nose, do you want me to kill myself?
I mean, being better is an option
I must admit I am not much for hate myself so I actually have no idea what you are saying. Do you mean I should do what you say or else kill myself is that kind of the jist here?
You're talking to the people who tried to stop him, so fuck off.
He's talking broadly, to Americans. Which you and I are. And he's right, we deserve this. As a country.
As an individual, neither of us do, since we fought and voted against him. But that's not what OP was saying. He wasn't addressing you specifically, but our nation in the second person.
nope, it's the usual European smug superiority complex I see all over Lemmy, as if they don't have the same problems there (not to mention have had in the past). They can enjoy gloating until the same thing happens in their country, which won't be long.
You could be correct.
However, Europe's "right" is America's "left".
The political situation might be semantically similar, but the political policymaking is a vastly different situation between the two.
Europe, universally, believes in healthcare as a right, for example.
It struck me reading your comment that there is literally nothing that all Americans believe in "universally" and that makes me super sad.
Canadian here and continue to be marvelled by an Americans inability to crawl out of their own ass regardless of if they're Democrat or Republican lol
60% of eligible voters didn't vote. It can be debated if they are complacent or if party leadership didn't Sufficiently motivate them to vote
Of the 40% eligible voters that did vote, 50% voted for trump and 48% voted for Harris.
So depending on how you look at it, 19% of eligible voters actively didn't vote for Trump, or 20% of eligible voters actively voted for Trump.
We could also go on to say that, of those who voted for trump, there was a portion that was not informed which could partially be blamed on the media as well as party leaderships. Some of them are just in a cult mentality and while that doesn't excuse their behavior, they are actively being manipulated. And then there are a bunch of voters who genuinely just want to watch the world burn.
I'm sure we could dissect this many ways, but i can can't see how everyone deserves what's coming. For example , I didn't ask for this. I actively volunteered my time to try to prevent it. Yeah, a good chunk of Americans are idiots. But not all of us deserve what's coming. Fuck that.
Says the guy who is happy to damn tens of millions of people who didn't vote for this (not to mention all the kids and such) right along with those who did.
Hey, I'm in the US, I voted against Trump, I'm likely going to suffer if he is able to accomplish a smidgen of what he has talked about, and I think we got what we deserved. I know a lot of innocent people are going to suffer, but this is a country of very selfish people. Even some of the most liberal people I have met in this country still have a very selfish mindset and reason for the liberal bent. As soon as they attain a position where they have an advantage they basically pull up the ladder. I'm personally tired of it.
People are going to die, ecosystems are going to burn, countries may very well fall. My only hope is that things only get bad enough that the masses learn an important lesson that at least lasts for their generation and that recovery is possible in that time frame.
It's not that I don't care. It's not even that I don't have the fight left in me. I just don't see any kind of path to a better place without substantial harm occurring first. I will not be happy to be right. I want to be wrong.
George W. Bush made a joke about being a dictator, but never tried to actually be one. Trump has been trying to be a dictator from the moment he was born...
Ben Shapiro is a hypocritical piece of shit. Sorry that might not be relevant.
Nah, that's always relevant
Ftfy.
Cheeto ain't joking about power.
Good thing he's old AF and overweight. Maybe that will impact him even before this term is done...
Yeah, President Vance? Every option has us screwed no matter how long Trump lasts
The one benefit of Vance replacing Trump is that he doesn't have a cult like Trump does.
I suspect (naively hope?) Vance would be less inclined to just hand over national security information to Putin, so .. maybe two benefits?
What about his behavior to date makes you think that? I feel like that sounds snarky but I don't intend it that way.
For all his faults and evils, Vance is not a narcissist who pathologically seeks the approval of those he sees as high status, which is what has compelled Trump to try so hard to be buddies with dictators. Vance is more cunning than Trump and would need to have a profit motive beyond just an ego stroking before putting his position at risk (even if the risk is evidently slight, but his relatively low popularity / lack of cult following makes me think/hope he'd have a harder time getting away with stuff than Trump). I suspect most dictators don't have much to offer Vance in the way of profit that he couldn't just as easily secure for himself as president without the personal risks of selling out the country to foreign adversaries, and the most salacious scandal we've heard about him has to do with a couch rather than Epstein so the kompromat is probably minimal or nil.
Don't get me wrong, a President Vance would be awful in a lot of ways, and arguably worse than Trump in some ways. It's just that I don't imagine him as being quite as much of a national security risk. But, again, maybe it's just naive hope. 🤷
That's just naieve hope. He would sell out his country for a bean.
I'd put down $50 on his administration taking measures to get Trump out of the way to install Vance.
Remember that he went off the rails on Truth Social about the 25th amendment basically ranting about the chain of command when the president is incapacitated. It seemed like a weird one but I remember reading it and my first thought was "He found out his people are gonna throw him out with a dementia diagnosis."
I don't see him lasting his full term. Dude's old, is incredibly unhealthy, and has enough power-mad people around him that the first sign of weakness will probably be enough for medical intervention and Vance becoming president. Becoming president AGAIN at his age is possibly the dumbest thing he can do for his health.
Sadly his Klan loving father lived to 93, and being POTUS is like having a dedicated one person ER following you around.
Also, the office only ages you if you're committed to performing the job, Trump uses the office to troll the people he can troll and, more urgently, personally profit for anyone that offers him or his businesses a bribe in exchange for a Presidential act. He doesn't work even in business, he issues broad, pie in the sky dictates and encourages his own employees infighting about the details. He's bragged about this.
Trump was the first President in my lifetime to accelerate the aging of those he governed rather than himself. Like so many other things people seem to forget, he spent a lot of his first term golfing.
Not that I'm complaining on that point, golf motherfucker! Do less!
This is something I don't think they even acknowledge or think about. Some of their shit in comparing him to Hitler (and they do that in a positive manner) is when they claim that some of the shit that is happening to him is like him being imprisoned after the Beer Hall Putsch (referring to Jan 6th). This is stupid. Hitler was barely in his early 30s at the time and he was actually at the START of his political career. Trump was never imprisoned and when he did his shit he already had very real political power that Hitler never had in 1923.
Trump the oldest presidential nominee ever and I hope that he will stay the oldest. We don't need that kind of geriatic shit in any political office anywhere.
We all know assholes live forever
In b4
He won't stay in power. His appointment of incompetent sycophants will dismantle 250 years of American prosperity (maliciously or negligently, it doesn't matter) and it will be sold for parts to billionaires and foreign states.
Yeah; he’ll stay in power long enough for that.
But he’s 78 years old. When he’s supposed to step down in 2029, he’ll be almost 83.
The average life expectancy of men in the US is currently 73.
Based on historical data for people Trump’s age and health in the US, he’s likely to die of natural causes before he’s 86.
So the longest he could likely hang on for is one more term than he’s supposed to.
I bet he wants nepotism to for succession, but that's not what his benifactors want, hence JD Vance
cough 1961 to 2008
It wasn't a joke.
Brave of him to assume he'll still be alive by year four
It's not a joke, you fucking idiot.
Yeah, a "joke".
ITS NOT A "JOKE" AND NEVER FUCKING HAS BEEN
Jk, jk...unless...
He’ll do what Putin did. Have Vance run as President, and run as his Vice-President. He’ll maintain control like Dick Cheney with Bush.
That’s explicitly not allowed by the constitution. 12th amendment
They. Do. Not. Care.
You still don't get this?
The point is if they do not care, they wouldn't even bother to pretend. He'd just stay in office or run again.
The dance of running as VP doesn't make any sense as either they don't care and it's not necessary, or they do care and that's not a loophole that exists.
Besides, IIRC Kanye and Trump had a falling out over a suggestion that Trump would take a backseat to Kanye in a campaign. Trump won't settle for even the appearance of 'second place'.
Trump's malignant narcissism won't let him be subordinate to someone else. So that idea is out.
dictators dont steal or take control. its handed to them.
Long as his "forever" ends at or before 2027
Forever could be thankfully short thanks to his awful health and lifestyle.
But then these damn Skeksis stay on the throne a lot longer than should be possible.
If I were him, I'd be more concerned with making it through this one.
All it takes is one fair election to be won decisively by an autocrat. The democratic party handed it to this shit head. Worst yet, he doesn't even have to rig the election system because the democrat party is fucking incapable of attracting voters and it doesn't look like they are going to fix what is broken about the party.
Ahh, the fuhrer
The god king...
I would not worry that this guy stays around too long,he might croak.
Then fucking Elon is going to take over
People keep saying that, yet here we are.
It's just a joke 🤣... he's got like 5 years of good cognitive abilities tops. Then after he'll be like all the other old farts. Barely makes any sense and is just totally old and dilapidated. No way they're gonna keep him in power then. He might just croak.
I'm betting we get 2 years of Vance. Trump is circling the drain.
And yet, like a bloated piece of shit, he just won't go down.
Might have to do the waffle stomp on him.
Yup. I bet that's gonna happen.
Link would be nice
Zelda would be better
Alright Ganon, let's chill with the rhetoric.
he just wanted to make hyrule great again
Build a wall and make the Goron pay for it!
Hyaaaaa