Anyone who thinks Trump is the sole problem and that him being out of the news will solve all the problems is clueless.
I know what you’re saying. That the environment that gave us Trump would still exist. Sure. All the issues, both illegitimate (white resentment, racism, propaganda) and legitimate (wealth disparity, disillusioning political figures, late stage capitalistic despair), would still remain.
But that also gives too little importance to Trump’s unique place in this. He is a uniquely cynical, sociopathic trigger that is exploiting this populist anger, while being so incompetent that he fails to solve any of those issues underlying it.
He thus is simultaneously perpetuating those issues, while feeding off of them - both creating and burning the fuel of populist anger. DeSantis, Vance, Hawley, all the other toe-headed power-simps who would step in to take his place would fail to hold that paradoxical balance for long - they think they can learn it, but Trump is built for it. That is Trump’s unique skill, his singularly destructive, delusional, sociopathic egomania.
Like a wildfire - yes, when there are dry hot conditions, many things could start one. But it’s also true that you may have been almost through the dry, hot season when a wildfire hits. And if you could have prevented that first fateful spark a week - maybe a day - longer, you could have avoided catastrophe and tragedy.
I think that’s where we were in 2016, and we failed to contain it. It spread so far, that we were barely able to contain it in 2020. But if we can avoid it in 2024, if we can prevent Trump from sparking another wildfire, maybe the season could change.
But that also gives too little importance to Trump’s unique place in this. He is a uniquely cynical, sociopathic trigger that is exploiting this populist anger, while being so incompetent that he fails to solve any of those issues underlying it.
Nah he’s just a dude. Maybe you should quit swallowing his mystique as well, it empowers the guy.
You are detached from reality if you are unable to see what the OP describes.
It’s not even hard to see at this point, the image has long been set in stark, giant, letters, imprinted on history.
But given his popularity, you are not alone in being detached from reality.
Yeah, of course he’s just a dude. He’s one of the least worthy dudes out there, for all the attention he’s getting. He didn’t justifiably earn any of that.
But nonetheless, he is a key that happens to be shaped perfectly to unlock, exploit and exacerbate populist anger. It could have been anyone else if the conditions were different, but it is uniquely him in this history. That’s all I’m saying, but it a very important detail.
Also, if they think he’ll just fuck off if he loses, they’ve not been paying any fucking attention…
I can’t wait to see what he does when he loses.
That was not the claim. Just that Trump news are nasty and Trump is one of the few Republicans who has enough charisma to end up in the news. If he gets voted out, there is a good chance of him never running again and fading away into the background. It means the Republicans need a new leader and whoever that is, is probably going to fail.
If he gets voted out, there is a good chance of him never running again and fading away into the background.
By no means. That’s what people thought in 2020, and look what happened.
Anyone who thought Trump wouldn’t run again completely misunderstands what motivates him. And anyone who thinks Trump will run again also misunderstands what motivates him. Trump’s whole schtick is that he was cheated out of the election, but losing twice in a row sends a pretty clear message, and he’ll lose the support of the party. Also, he’ll be 82, and likely won’t have the same fire he has today.
He’s a complete narcissist, and I don’t think he’ll risk losing three times in a row. The next election, if it happens, would likely be a landslide (who wants to vote for a loser three times in a row?) and a massive hit to his ego. A close election gives him the opportunity to claim the election was rigged, and being able to pull that off twice is probably enough for him to save face.
Trump is one problem in a world full of problems, but goddamn will it feel good to be rid of him all the same.
I almost can’t remember what the internet was like without seeing his name or face every day. I miss it.
The internet you remember before he came around is dead, never to return. It’s not his doing, it’s the complete and utter corporate takeover of the internet, and the funneling of 95% of the traffic to 4 sites. It’s the algorithmic content presentation, and the curtaining of real friendship content. It’s these platforms refusing to show you what you want, and only showing ads and boosted content, which is essentially an ad. The Internet is dead. Long live the Internet!
Just post more cats. We’ll get it back.
Trump isn’t going away, even if he doesn’t win. That’s what people thought in 2020. Now that Biden’s president, Trump will just disappear, right? Wrong.
And yes, I know he said that he won’t run again in 2028, but I don’t believe it. His cult would beg him to run again, and he’d do it.
I think he’ll be either dead or not lucid enough to run personally
We can all hope, and this time we’re probably gonna be right.
But the Republicans aren’t running out of people.
There’s no reason to think Trump’s end will make the bad half of America stop this push. There’s a relatively good chance they’ll find a sufficiently appealing new leader or puppet. If that falls, maybe you can rest and go back to casually provoking the religious right, playing catch with your rights, and still stay safe for a while. Members of the LGBT community dropping “Live and let live.” in favor of “Use the right pronouns!” was a potentially fatal mistake.
While you’re definitely correct that Trump isn’t the last bigot who will run for president, none of them will have rhe same level of influence he did.
Trump is a literal cult leader. You have pastors like Shane Vaughn who literally call him “a messiah.” He is literally worshipped. That’s why he could get away with Jan 6th, that’s why he’ll have so many voters no matter what, it’s a cult.
With the above said, the his defeat will dishearten his mkst fervent followers. I believe many of them will never be able to bring themselves to vote for another candidate, ever. Not all, but many. Republican voter enthusiasm will be at an all time low.
Following this, the infighting we already see will only get worse as would-be successors fight for the scraps that their titan left behind while others fight to leave Trumpism in the dust. Even if they manage to get a majority, they’d accomplish nothing meaningful.
Their entire plan hinges on Donald Trump’s cult influence. The depend on his rabid base of supporters. If he loses this election, that goes away. The remnants will be fought over, but none of them will be able to touch the level of influence Trump himself had. His legacy will leave the Republican party fractured for decades.
The cult leaders are evangelical pastors. They’ll find a new guy because it’s profitable. They will herd their sheep to a new wolf.
The exploitative business types will follow for the same reasons. They only worship profit and trump literally gives them your tax money, cuts their taxes, and curates the courts to their interests.
No, it’s Trump. They, Robin Bullock, Kat Kurr, all of them make prophecies about Trump. The whole fucking theology centers on Trump. He’s become the lynch pin to their everything. One pastor in particular, Shane Vaugn, claims that “Trump is a messiah.”
They have hitched it all to Trump. Without him, it all falls apart. They will try to pivot because they won’t just give up their influence, but his second defeated will hurt their credibility. It will sow doubt. And when he eventually kicks the bucket, will, I wager most Christians only have it in themselves to wait on just one messiah to come back.
Or in prison.
- He did go away for a while, but not by choice. He was banned from Twitter, his reddit group quarantined, and news stations fucking finally decided to stop reporting on his every stupid statement
- Of course he won’t run again in 2028, he’ll be dead. The dude looks like he’s knocking on
heaven’shell’s door right now.
Yeah, he’s 78, and I doubt he’ll hold up at 82.
I hope he dies soon.
I hope he lives for 40 more years to watch himself become less and less relevant, with nazi republican losers continuing to pin their hopes on him that he is increasingly unable to deliver.
I fear what they’re going to come up to replace him with.
Neoconservatism is dying out. Right wing anti-liberalism is on the rise. Vance is the marshmallow tip of the spear.
He might be gone, but his cult isn’t.
Cults require a charismatic figurehead. Vance doesn’t have that. Without a leader, they’ll fall into infighting and purity tests.
Who said anything about Vance? Ron DeSantis is right there waiting to take the reins.
Ron DeSantis has the charisma of a wet blanket. He doesn’t stand a chance.
The nazis pinned so much of their cult on his engorged, dying pus sac of a body that they may lose a substantial amount of steam if he loses.
A loss of steam that needs to be aggressively and ruthlessly leveraged to undo and bolster against as much of their nazi bullshit as humanly possible.
bold of you to assume they wouldn’t just instantly pivot to the next fascist in line like Ron DeSantis if he went completely out of commission.
even bolder of you to assume they would care if he lost the election. after all, they didn’t the first time
If he doesn’t end up in prison or the psych ward he’ll be too old to “run” again.
Yeah we thought that about Biden and the fascist xunt still ran again, destroying the primary, and eventually appointed one of the least popular politicians in US history in his stead.
Lol what?
Is biden the fascist now to whitewash trump?
Both are fascist. The guy commiting genocide will never not be a fascist, sorry.
Oh no a pro trumper. Goodbye!
they said both candidates are facist, that doesnt mean they are pro-trump?
Both-siders are usually Trumpers or Russian Trolls trying to stir up shit.
Removed by mod
I hope you cultists get what you vote for others.
I’m Canadian and can’t vote in any American election.
I hear more about Trump than I hear about all of our politicians combined.
I just don’t understand how people can get so excited all the time about this stuff. Like, being so invested in some rich assholes life that you’ll commit treason and break into Congress to wander around aimlessly?
Why are you like this? Make politics boring again.
Please execute him for treason like they would have any person of color in his place.
Four options:
- He’s finally prosecuted for his countless crimes and lands in jail for life
- Natural death/diagnosis of dementia
- He’s voted out
- He’s elected and someone with better aim tries their luck
I don’t expect him to live a full term even if he’s not assassinated, and Vance is a fascist without dementia.
Arsearseinated.
He’s finally prosecuted for his countless crimes and lands in jail for life
Fucking ROTFLcopter. Yeah right.
We’re trying! Sadly we are wedged between two factions that are hell-bent on getting him elected.
One, purposefully- the other, ignorantly.
Maybe if you guys didnt put yeltsin in place you wouldnt have russian interference now. Just saying
lmao
To the people complaining about US politics overshadowing all other discussions. I too wish US politics were unremarkable.
Even if he loses again, I’m sure we’ll be dealing with this piece of shit until the fucker dies. Then we’ll have to deal with a new piece of shit. 😮💨
And every election, it’ll be saving the world from fascism so we have to vote for Democrats, no matter how far to the right they sprint.
Agree with the sentiment for sure, but would also add that a lot of Americans like him, they LIKE what he said, he was heavily supported at last count. Even now he is supported substantially.
That is something many people need to think about. What happens next election? He won’t be the last.
Others don’t seem to have the hold over those clowns as he does. Meatball Ron fell flat. Vance wouldn’t maintain this level of support for 5 minutes. Hawley can’t. Horse face green is just a clown and not a serious candidate.
I think his losing again would snap some people out of it.
I think the party would bail on him. Especially if he causes losses down the ballot. They won’t back him for another election.
I hope you’re right.
Voting him out will not remove him from your feed. You will hear about how the election was stolen again. About how his disciples tried to destroy the capitol or the white house or whatever, again. You will hear about how he was out on trial again. You will hear about whatever new crap he comes up with.
I’d rather watch him flail about after losing again than watch him execute his
mass deportationgenocide plans.Agreed.
Yeah that will only be popcorn time.
i’m doing my part!
As if Trump is a source of all problems in the world
Getting rid of Trump doesn’t have to solve anything. I’ll still feel good to know he didn’t get something he wants. That’s petty, and that’s fine. So is he.
Getting rid of Trump is a chore, not a victory!
And yet, when it happens, I still plan to celebrate.
If I learned something from psychotherapy, it’s that I should congratulate myself on doing chores
Peak liberalism.
Imagine thinking that once the loudest symptom of fascism is no longer visible, the decades long multibillion dollar Republican project to undemocratically seize power just goes away. That all the structural issues with America go away.
Big “We want to go back to brunch” energy.
Imagine thinking that once the loudest symptom of fascism is no longer visible, the decades long multibillion dollar Republican project to undemocratically seize power just goes away.
What? You’re telling me that what happened in 1933 with the business plot to overthrow the government and no one of importantance being held accountable allowed fascism to continue to grow. That is… That actually tracks with America. We have a terrible short term memory.
Tbh, my wife and I used to have a monthly brunch with a gay couple-friends once a month and we haven’t done that since like 2019.
I do want to go back to brunch. But that’s besides the point.
