Well, a difficult take on a difficult subject. The Smog of Trump may make us gasp for air, but there is air somewhere. I suppose today is my Debby Downer day
The demoralization is based on Trump's seeming invulnerability to consequence. But its only seeming. Trump's invulnerability is explained by the total support of the Republican party. Absent that President Trump is private citizen Trump in prison or exile. So the real mystery is why the Republican party has put all their chips on the 00 that is Trump on the roulette wheel of politics.
There is no future beyond Trump. Trump is Trumpism and vice versa. His magical power of motivating marginal voters to tip his election does not extend beyond him and will not live beyond him. The Republican party has doubled down on short-term gain for decades and it has been a positive bet with no (again that word) consequences. Like Democratic party leadership, the Republican party thinks they can ride this out and then go back to normal until the next short-term bet comes up. And this is why the priority of the Democratic party needs to be not to "fix" things, but to punish the Republican party hard enough so it thinks twice before making its next short-term bet, because that bet is gonna be on a competent fascist.
Maybe the smartest thing he ever said was, "If you're a star they let you do it." Whether it's poking women in the genitals or making fertilizer unaffordable for farmers. He doesn't know why he's a star (maybe Mark Burnett does but I would't count on that either) but he knows he is as well as Gloria Swanson did, and that's what brought in the voters of 2016 and 2024. But that's all he knows. His stupidity and ignorance give him a weird kind of advantage iin the sense that any *understanding* at all would inhibit him as it did, say, Reagan (dumb af but he knew about the Constitution and knew there were limits on what he could get away with). I don't think it's likely there will be another one of these. Republicans realize they have no future without him.
If I'm right the voters will punish GOP plenty in November and the long-term constitutional fix will be more important than the punishment.
That's a question that would make no sense to him. He embodies Stardom, it is his birthright. His essense in the Gen. Jack Ripper sense is what his base, the world, all respond to. A narcissist can believe nothing else.
Being "punished" by losing power is not punishment. The Republicans have lost majorities, lost power before and have only come back more determined and powerful. The Crash of 1929, the crisis of 2007, the pandemic of 2019, the insurrection of 2021, none of it mattered. They were "punished" for all of them.
As long as they are treated as a loyal opposition party they will remain dedicated to the dismantling of the federal state and establishing a voting system that guarantees permanent minority rule by any means necessary. The war on non-white Americans and establishment of a Christian Nationalist state religion are merely means to that end. Republican politicians and factorums need to go to prison, and even that won't be enough.
I will always make the argument that Biden's debate was not as bad as Bush's first debate against Kerry and essentially equal to Trump's debate against Harris. I am also not convinced that the entire red card controversy was not orchestrated from the beginning between FIFA and the administration.
Well, a difficult take on a difficult subject. The Smog of Trump may make us gasp for air, but there is air somewhere. I suppose today is my Debby Downer day
Well done! Thank you.🙏
The demoralization is based on Trump's seeming invulnerability to consequence. But its only seeming. Trump's invulnerability is explained by the total support of the Republican party. Absent that President Trump is private citizen Trump in prison or exile. So the real mystery is why the Republican party has put all their chips on the 00 that is Trump on the roulette wheel of politics.
There is no future beyond Trump. Trump is Trumpism and vice versa. His magical power of motivating marginal voters to tip his election does not extend beyond him and will not live beyond him. The Republican party has doubled down on short-term gain for decades and it has been a positive bet with no (again that word) consequences. Like Democratic party leadership, the Republican party thinks they can ride this out and then go back to normal until the next short-term bet comes up. And this is why the priority of the Democratic party needs to be not to "fix" things, but to punish the Republican party hard enough so it thinks twice before making its next short-term bet, because that bet is gonna be on a competent fascist.
Maybe the smartest thing he ever said was, "If you're a star they let you do it." Whether it's poking women in the genitals or making fertilizer unaffordable for farmers. He doesn't know why he's a star (maybe Mark Burnett does but I would't count on that either) but he knows he is as well as Gloria Swanson did, and that's what brought in the voters of 2016 and 2024. But that's all he knows. His stupidity and ignorance give him a weird kind of advantage iin the sense that any *understanding* at all would inhibit him as it did, say, Reagan (dumb af but he knew about the Constitution and knew there were limits on what he could get away with). I don't think it's likely there will be another one of these. Republicans realize they have no future without him.
If I'm right the voters will punish GOP plenty in November and the long-term constitutional fix will be more important than the punishment.
"He doesn't know why he is a star"
That's a question that would make no sense to him. He embodies Stardom, it is his birthright. His essense in the Gen. Jack Ripper sense is what his base, the world, all respond to. A narcissist can believe nothing else.
Being "punished" by losing power is not punishment. The Republicans have lost majorities, lost power before and have only come back more determined and powerful. The Crash of 1929, the crisis of 2007, the pandemic of 2019, the insurrection of 2021, none of it mattered. They were "punished" for all of them.
As long as they are treated as a loyal opposition party they will remain dedicated to the dismantling of the federal state and establishing a voting system that guarantees permanent minority rule by any means necessary. The war on non-white Americans and establishment of a Christian Nationalist state religion are merely means to that end. Republican politicians and factorums need to go to prison, and even that won't be enough.
Inspired me to look it up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyal_opposition and it's a concept we could use
Thank Yaz ! This genuinely inspirational.
Thank Yaz ! This genuinely inspirational.
I will always make the argument that Biden's debate was not as bad as Bush's first debate against Kerry and essentially equal to Trump's debate against Harris. I am also not convinced that the entire red card controversy was not orchestrated from the beginning between FIFA and the administration.