#Republican lust for power

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Traitor and domestic terrorist. Republicans and their rich benefactors hate you.

Republicans would crash the economy and impoverish millions just for a chance to regain power. Republicans and their oligarch billionaire masters are largely immune to economic downturns that could leave the rest of us homeless and hungry.

[snekdood]

sometimes y gotta sit someone down. look them in the eye and go “does attacking me really solve your shitty life problems?”

[davidluongart]

A current illustration that I had for an early celebration of Halloween: Ares dressed up as the famed Roman general, Marcus Antonius, while Aphrodite dressed up as Queen Cleopatra VII Thea Philopathor of Egypt…🎃🍬🍭

I was interested and inspired by the idea that mortals who often dressed as divinities back in ancient times to achieve power, wealth, opulence, and influence, while in this modern-day, divinities often participated in down-to-earth activities, have fun disguising and dressing up as historical mortals for holiday celebrations!!!

Aphrodite’s version of the Egyptian queen was mostly based on the depiction of historically accurate Cleopatra VII made by Joan Francesco Oliveras (@/jfoliveras on Twitter, and Instagram ), as well as statues and statuettes of Isis-Aphrodite that were carved from the Ptolemaic era till the late Roman period of Egypt, albeit taken with modern creative liberties. Isis, during this time, was a very weird figure to say the least, since while still keeping her Egyptian identity and attributes, she was further fused, syncretized, and absorbed the qualities of foreign Greek goddesses like Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, Tyche, etc.

With Aphrodite is the fertility goddess of war, love, lust, beauty, passion, and procreation, and later is associated with prosperity, victory, and the ancestral mother of Rome through syncretism with Venus Genetrix; while Isis is the goddess of magic, life, and wisdom, an epitome of eternal maternal devotion, protectress of all living things, from pharaohs to the vulnerable and all aspects of the kingdom, the iconography was adopted by many Ptolemaic queens, particularly Arisnoe II Philadelphos, Berenice II Euergetis and Cleopatra VII.

Ares’ version of Marcus Antonius was based on the historical statue of the Roman politician himself, with his embellishing muscle cuirass based on the Roman Republican statues of Julius Caesar, Augustus (Octavian) of Prima Porta, and Mars Ultor in the Forum of Nevra. With various mistresses (including famous courtesan Cythersis of that time) and marriages to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia, Octavia the Younger, and Cleopatra VII, their descendants later went to become famous Roman statesmen, or went on to rule the Roman Empire, as well as various clientele kingdoms of modern-day Cimmerian Bosporus, Middle East, North Africa as well. Historically, Marcus Antonius, during his trip to Egypt to visit Cleopatra VII, has always considered himself to be an embodiment of Zeus-Serapis-Dionysus, consort of Isis Aphrodite, but I just think the icon of armed muscular Ares/Mars always suited him more, and look the best.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Chauncey Devega

As I have previously explored in a series of conversations with cult and mind control expert Steven Hassan, Donald Trump meets most if not all the characteristics of a cult leader. Trump holds extreme power over his followers, who subsume their own identities and will to him. He persuades them to reject their own perceptions of reality and to trust only him and his approved messengers. To a large degree, they have lost the ability to engage in what psychologists describe as "reality testing."

Trump's mug shot, taken at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta last Thursday, is as an image of murderous rage and a bottomless lust for revenge. Trump has already used it to raise yet more campaign cash. In all probability, Trump's upcoming criminal trials will only make him more popular and powerful among his core followers, not less.

Like other cult movements, the MAGA phenomenon is rooted in manipulation and psychological abuse. Trump effectively exploits the death anxieties and other existential fears of his followers, presenting himself as their only protector and savior. The MAGA cult is authoritarian, preying on lonely, socially isolated and otherwise vulnerable people and providing them with a sense of order, meaning, community and destiny.

A poll conducted from Aug. 16 to 18 by CBS News/YouGov demonstrates just how firm Trump's power over his followers continues to be. A large majority of Republican voters view Trump as "honest and trustworthy," which would be hilarious if it were not deeply alarming. Furthermore, "Trump's voters hold him as a source of true information, even more so than other sources, including conservative media figures, religious leaders, and even their own friends and family." When asked who they believe tells them the truth, 71% of Trump voters picked him, more than picked friends and family members (63%), right-wing media commentators (56%) and religious leaders (only 42%).

Beyond the numbers, mental health expert Dr. Justin Frank, author of the bestseller "Trump on the Couch," perceives a tragic and pathetic human dimension to the CBS News poll, as he told me by email:

“What this poll doesn't measure or explain is the cause and effect of the profound loyalty of Trump's core supporters. It's this factor that continues to baffle pundits and call into question everything we thought we knew about American politics and the future of democracy. How did these startling figures come to be?

Trump taps into specific needs certain people have to love and to feel loved in return. People who feel they have been lied to — whether as children or adults — yearn for a person or group to trust, in which to place unwavering faith. While I think this type of blind loyalty to Trump is a delusion, it's also a common human experience. In some people it overwhelms an otherwise healthy emotional state in which most of us simultaneously understand that authority figures can be both admirable and disappointing. Televangelists are able to captivate and exploit their vulnerable audiences for this reason. It's also why cash (from many who can ill afford it) pours into Trump's coffers each time he's indicted for a new crime.

As I wrote in 'Trump on the Couch,' Donald Trump himself felt lied to by his parents, which binds him and his fan base even closer. Trump provides the kind of love they crave because he instinctively meets those unconscious needs, in part because he shares them unconsciously himself.”

Frank further suggests that Trump "invites maternal love" from many of his followers, who "are touched at a deep level by their awareness of his neediness, which endears them to him":

“In his rallies he repeats 'believe me' the way a child does when telling a lie or feeling unloved. He is quick to ... paint himself as a maligned victim. He becomes someone they want to protect from assault ... [by] sharing his sense of betrayal with his audience and psychologically merging with their own histories of having been disappointed. What evolves is an inability to differentiate oneself from the idolized other that results in an emotional bond that is deep and thrilling to share. To those outside the mystical Trump romance, this unconditional love makes no sense. We call that kind of love a cult. How can such an overt liar and accused criminal can be so admired?”

What we don't remember when we see such a cult in operation, Frank says, is that all children seek to protect "the image of their loved parents from the inevitable disbeliefs and hurts that even the best parents create":

“They do this by splitting their early experiences into good and bad, black and white. What evolves is a yearning for comfort, aided by binary thinking, from a figure who is only good, despite any evidence to the contrary.

So, here we are as a nation, confused and divided in the darkness of our deepest fears and needs. Trump offers his devoted flock a shared sense of purpose and meaning. They've been groomed to look outside for someone to safeguard their best interests and provide shared faith and support. I think it may not be possible for those diehard Trump adherents to discover that this a dangerous illusion.”

I also asked Jen Senko, director of the documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad," about what insights she could share on the findings of the CBS News poll regarding Trump's hold over his followers. She said she found it "stupid, and maddening, that many on television 'news' seem shocked" by the poll's findings:

“Have they been living under a rock? More likely they've been living in denial because it's a lot easier than accepting the truth. ... Though many of us understand this now, too little emphasis has been put on how millions of Americans lost their minds and became right-wing zombies. It's the media, stupid! ... As someone who saw the writing on the wall decades ago and made a documentary about it in 2016, it's particularly frustrating. Too many people laughed at Rush Limbaugh. Too many people thought Fox News was a legitimate 'conservative' alternative to the 'liberal media.' Too many people didn't question the barrage of email propaganda (often put out by think tanks and disguised as homespun bits of wisdom) emphasizing over and over: Democrats bad, Democrats evil. Democrats not real Americans. Republicans are all that is good and holy.

Limbaugh was allowed to get on the Armed Forces Network. Fox News is still on it, and became the go-to news station for bus stations, airports, restaurants, bars, doctors' offices. When humans immerse themselves in false information that gets repeated, it stands to reason that millions of them become "cultified" right-wing zombies. What can be done about it, I leave to the experts. When will America acknowledge that we are in an information war? That's what worries me every day.”

Former right-wing pundit Rich Logis was immersed in TrumpWorld and the MAGA movement for years, but managed to escape. He said it was an "irrefutable fact" that MAGA had a cultlike ethos:

“I know this because I was once quite deep in the MAGA rabbit hole. Had Trump won in 2020, I probably would have gone deeper into it, with the odds of escaping close to zero.

There are two prevailing ties that bind the MAGA cult. The first is that Trump is an omniscient, omnipotent, martyred savior of America; some believe him to be sent by God. (Note that Ron DeSantis poached this heresy last year, in his re-election campaign.) Martyrdom is the final stage of cult leadership, and to those in a cult, it is the outside world who are deceived. Those in this first category are willing to see through the cult to its fiery end. The second is among those who are ... politically traumatized by their hyper-partisan, paralytic, paranoid worldview that Democrats, socialists, communists and Marxists have long conspired to tyrannically infringe upon their rights and freedoms. I knew some who fell into one, or both, categories.”

Logis suggests that Trump's voters should not be dehumanized "and had some valid motivations for supporting Trump, even though he exploited those concerns and fears":

“We must, as a nation, build a broad consensus that electing Trump was one of the most egregious mistakes in our history. Admitting when we're wrong is an unnatural act, but it is possible — and liberating. When I look back at my MAGA time, I remain stunned at the level of political trauma I put upon myself; my hope is that others will begin to recognize their own trauma, which has been, to some extent, self-inflicted.”

The only real hope for awakening or deprogramming MAGA cult members, Logis said, will come from "resounding losses of MAGA candidates next year, up and down the ballot. Though such losses will probably not 'save' most MAGA voters, it will, likely, save some — and 'some' equals millions of Americans."

Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, now a leading never-Trumper conservative and democracy advocate, described the CBS News polls findings as "the least surprising thing ever." I conclude here with his words of warning:

“Three and a half years ago, while campaigning in Des Moines against Trump, I asked 40 people in line to enter a Trump rally if Donald Trump had ever told a lie. All 40 Trump supporters said no, Donald Trump had never told a lie. I knew then and there that my primary challenge against Trump was hopeless, but I also knew then and there that my soon-to-be-former political party was hopelessly gone too. I knew then and there what I'd sensed for the past six years: The Republican Party is a cult, an authoritarian-embracing, truth-denying cult. So what do we do about it? Well, we all come together in 2024 to defeat this anti-democracy cult. Again. That's job No. 1. But my other job is to continue to try to rescue members of the Trump cult. That's not a job for everyone, but as someone who helped create the cult and then escaped from the cult, it's my job. It's my penance.”

[jewishbarbies]

Hi, I hope this isn't rude, but could you please breakdown your thoughts on the whole 'people saying celebrities are terrible because they are zionist, or similar things' thing? Because I've seen it a lot.

this is a little long just because I wanted to be thorough in explaining the reasoning and thought processes here so sorry if you weren’t up for that.

well, just based on historical fact, claiming jews are not indigenous to the levant is asinine and antisemitic. so when people are upset someone is a zionist, they’re upset they believe in jewish indigeneity. that, and they grossly misunderstand zionism and its many forms. they hear zionist and immediately jump to “this person hates palestinians, wants them all dead, and bootlicks for the Israeli government” and that’s where 99% of problems lie when discussing it. because that’s not what it means. the root belief of zionism is that jews have the right to self determination in the land they’re indigenous to, not that no one else can too. there’s no tenant of zionism that states you HAVE to wipe everyone else in the region out in order to self determine there.

now, there’s political and Christian zionism which are both corrupt and bigoted versions of zionism (most jews agree with this, from what I can tell). it’s christian and political zionism that’s used in the way leftists think ALL zionism is. christians use their zionism to be Islamophobic and continue voting for republicans because they fetishize jews and the modern state of Israel. politicians use their zionism to beguile american christian voters and further sow seeds of hate in their base. both these camps use jews as scapegoats for their hatred and lust for power, and progressives have fallen for it hook line and sinker because terrorist organizations like hamas know they can work both sides with this and some misinformation disguised as colorful infographics on social media.

just like the russian bots that have been spewing disinformation to rally support for putin and hate for ukraine, terrorists use leftists’ fundamental misunderstanding of zionism, judaism, and their internal bias toward jews to gain support for hamas, claiming hamas is simply fighting back against israel. but they use language leftists have become obsessed with to do it - like colonialism, for example. they know leftists give a strong response to that language and are prone to fall victim to propaganda, and they’ve used it to their advantage for decades. palestinians haven’t had an election since 2007. would freedom fighters do that? no. freedom fighters value - you guessed it - freedom.

my thoughts are that leftists fall victim to disinformation like “zionism = colonialism because jews are all white Europeans” because they refuse to vet their sources and responsibly engage with the things happening in the world. they would much rather scream at and boycott and ostracize a minority community than do the work because screaming is easier and more people hear it. being mad about zionism for these people has become a social competition to see who can seem the most progressive, and it’s only shown their bare asses. they’re refusing to listen to the 70% of palestinians who want a peaceful resolution with Israel, the people of gaza who marched during oppression chanting anti hamas chants, and refuse to acknowledge what happened on Oct 7th because all of it would make supporting hamas the wrong thing to do. they’re too deep in it now. they can’t admit they’ve been fucking up. they can’t admit that they wanted revolution in their own country so bad that they yelled over and trampled the people they claimed to be trying to help, and they can’t admit they’ve fallen for propaganda because they’ve convinced themselves they’re immune. they believe they’d punch nazis and hide jews and they’re soooo progressive there’s no way they’d fall for obvious lies. but they have. and they will continue to do so until it’s their lives being played with by privileged assholes in another country with racial biases.

unless someone who identifies as zionist is actually calling for the death and/or relocation of palestinians in the region, then no, they’re not terrible. it’s truly that simple.

[liberalsarecool]

Current Republicans sided with fascists and Russians in their fiendish lust for white male power and rule by homophobia/misogyny.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Noah Berlatsky at Public Notice:

During Donald Trump’s first term, Republicans dismissed well-founded concerns that he wouldn’t leave office willingly as “silly.” And then January 6 happened. Trump’s coup attempt wasn’t an aberration. If he returns to power, it’s likely he and his minions will push to abolish the 22nd Amendment and its maximum of two terms for presidents — in fact Project 2025 is already scheming to do just that. And you don’t have to take it from us. Just listen to the man himself. Last weekend, Trump gave a speech to the NRA where he openly mused about serving three or more terms. “FDR, 16 years … he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three terms or two terms, you tell me?” Trump here, as elsewhere, presents his assault on the Constitution and rule of law as a kind of semi-coherent joke. But looking at his history and plans for the future, his fantasies about making himself ruler for life don’t seem very funny.

Trump loves fantasizing about becoming America’s Putin

After much debate among the founders, presidential terms were originally fixed as four year terms with no limits on reelection. George Washington, the first president, resigned after his second term rather than seeking reelection. The presidents who followed Washington all followed his lead and did not seek a third term. Over the years there was considerable debate about whether to formalize the two-term norm. The question took on additional urgency when Franklin Roosevelt sought and won a third term in 1940 and then a fourth in 1944 before dying in office in 1945. Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats were determined that there should never be another FDR, and they managed to pass the 22nd Amendment, which formally imposed a two-term limit. Whether you think that’s good policy or not, Trump’s interest in serving three or more terms has nothing to do with the merits and everything to do with his desire to become America’s Putin.

Trump’s signaled for years that he likes the idea of holding onto the presidency for as long as he can. While he was in office, he floated the idea that he could serve more than two terms semi-regularly. During a July 2019 Turning Point USA conference in DC, for instance, someone yelled out from the crowd, “President for life!” Trump chuckled and replied, “That’s what they’re afraid of, you know.”

Trump kept dreaming of an eternal MAGA rein as the 2020 campaign heated up. In January of that year, during a CNBC interview, Trump mused, “President Xi — president for life, okay? It’s not bad.” In February, immediately after being acquitted in his first impeachment, Trump shared a video which showed campaign posters for a Trump 2044 run — essentially a fantasy of rule by Trump eternal. By August 2020, Trump came up with a reason he deserved three terms — the Russia investigation. He said during a rally in Wisconsin that he’d win a second term “and then after that, we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.”

[...]

Of course, no one spied on Trump’s campaign; he was complaining because the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election implicated his campaign. In any case, the Constitution doesn’t give presidents a “redo” term if they feel they’ve been treated unfairly. Trump was, as usual, just rummaging around in his backbrain for some garbled excuse to justify his limitless lust for power. Trump sycophants have picked up the hint and started to lay the “intellectual” groundwork for giving Trump the third (and fourth, and fifth) term he wants. In March, Peter Tonguette at the American Conservative argued that the 22nd Amendment is an “arbitrary restraint on presidents who serve nonconsecutive terms.”

[...]

Americans don’t like dictatorship. Remind them of that.

Trump running in 2028, and 2032, and on and on, MAGA without end, is a terrifying thought — and not just for Democratic partisans. Democratic and Republican strategists have both found that undecided voters are very concerned that Trump would not step down in 2028. It’s a fear that consistently pushes voters towards Biden. Democrats have so far not focused much attention on the possibility that Trump will never leave office. But maybe they should. Forcing Trump to talk more about his 2028 plans can only discredit him. Voters need to be reminded that the only way to ensure that Trump doesn’t rule for life is to vote him down now, before he gets into position to abolish the horserace, the Constitution, and any vestige of democracy we have left.

Noah Berlatsky wrote in Public Notice that Donald Trump’s plan to circumvent the 2-term limit for the Presidency isn’t a joke, but a serious authoritarian power grab to turn our nation into Russia.

[tomorrowusa]

Put Trump back in the White House and we'll see an all out war on the planet led by Republicans and the fossil fuel industry.

In the same interview with Sean Hannity when Trump said he'd be a dictator, he also promised that he would "drill, drill, drill".

His lust for fossil fuels only continues to grow.

Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, staffed his environmental agencies with fossil fuel lobbyists and claimed — against all scientific evidence — that the Earth’s rising temperatures will “ start getting cooler.” Expect a second Trump presidency to show less restraint. Trump’s campaign utterances, and the policy proposals being drafted by hundreds of his supporters, point to the likelihood that his return to the White House would bring an all-out war on climate science and policies — eclipsing even his first-term efforts that brought U.S. climate action to a virtual standstill. Those could include steps that aides shrank back from taking last time, such as meddling in the findings of federal climate reports. [ ... ] But as the GOP front-runner, he’s gone back to alleging that human-caused global warming is fake, is baselessly blaming whale deaths on wind turbines and said last month that if elected he would be a “ dictator for one day” — in part so he could “drill, drill, drill.” Meanwhile, many of his former staffers are building out a comprehensive plan to decimate both climate policy and regulations on fossil fuels. And Trump allies expect that the former president would fill his next administration with officials who are even more hostile to efforts to address global warming.

The people on the fringe who claim that both parties are alike seem like even bigger idiots with each passing day. Putzing around with third parties is like playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded revolver.

The only way to avert a disaster for democracy and a planetary catastrophe is to vote and Vote Democratic.

It's always easier to prevent a dictatorship than it is to end it once it's in power.

[mariacallous]

“They had not suffered or been ‘left behind’ in any way,” Applebaum says. Yet they happily worked for propaganda sites that targeted her family. Because she is married to a political opponent of Law and Justice, and because she writes critical pieces in the international press, Applebaum, who had faced no racism in Poland until Law and Justice came to power, was turned by the regime’s creatures into the clandestine Jewish coordinator of “anti-Polish activity”.

I once believed you should never let politics destroy a friendship. But that maxim depends on politics not turning into a danger to you and those you love. Applebaum could not stay friends with women who would not protest as the state they supported went for her and husband.

The Anglo-Saxon world is not so different from Poland and Hungary. Britain has handled Covid-19 so disastrously because only servile nobodies, willing to pretend that a no-deal Brexit would not harm the country, could gain admittance to Boris Johnson’s cabinet. As Johnson politicises the public sector, showing “fear of the liar” looks like becoming the best way to secure a job in the higher ranks of the civil service as well. American Republicans have had to go along with every lie Trump has told since his birther slur on Barack Obama. As for breaking friendships, British Jews broke theirs when they watched friends in Labour cheer on Jeremy Corbyn and thought: “If they ever came for me and my family, you would stand by, wouldn’t you?”

Careerism is too glib an explanation for selling out, and Applebaum is too good a historian to offer it. Likewise, bigotry and racial prejudice were never enough on their own to move her friends away from liberal democracy. Among Applebaum’s acquaintances is one of Orbán’s greatest cheerleaders. She has a gay son, but that has not stopped her espousing the cause of a homophobic regime. Laura Ingraham, a Fox News presenter, became one of the earliest supporters of Trump, despite the fact that she has adopted three immigrant children.

Rather than grab at standard explanations, Applebaum understands that a society based on merit may sound fine if you want to live in a country run by talented people. But what if you are not yourself talented? Since the 1950s, criticisms of meritocracy have become so commonplace they have passed into cliche. Not one I have read or indeed written stops to consider how one-party states represent the anti-meritocratic society in its purest form. Among her friends who became the servants of authoritarian movements, Applebaum sees the consequences of the lust for status among resentful men and women, who believe the old world never gave them their due.

How reputable Conservatives paved the way fo Trump and Brexit

[godhasheardtruthfully]

Dear trans people -

I want you to know you ain’t never asking for “too much” when you demand dignity, respect, and for the right to have your basic needs met.

We are living human beings.

You’re inherently worth

Forgiveness

A home

Love

A welcoming community

Whole wheat bread (meals)

Safety

Self determination

Freedom of (or from) religion

Health

And this list ain’t exhaustive!

Look, I know it feels like we’re going backward, but you aren’t a can of soup only worth buying on bargain.

You can not become, nor can ANYBODY make you what you already are: enough.

When republicans talk about us it’s slanderous and I’m ashamed to say it would appear that democrats seem to have fearfully responded to the backlash.

The people who appear to be powerful right now seem only to speak to us through euphemisms or epithets, never seeing us, yet always lusting after our bodies or support.

I’m here to tell you, trans people, YOU are powerful, WE have voices, and we ain’t never needed none of these mortals to acknowledge us in order for us to know ourselves.

Be gracious and forgiving with these cis folk,

Because what we have, and what we can cultivate for this world, may be worth so much more than all the gold ores.

I have love for you and you are my siblings,

Peace.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

New Apostolic Reformation.

Evangelical Christian supremacy movement. Authoritarianism based on Old Testament bullshit that is preached by non-affiliated local southern and rural churches (and Mega-Church televangelists) that is not connected to mainstream, establishment, hierarchical religions.

These for profit, start your own, local evangelicals are easy to manipulate as is any grouping without an established hierarchy and a code of rules. This is how dictators and terror movements have high jacked Islam. Find a cleric that is sympathetic, or can be bribed and then use them to rubber stamp your agenda.

Evangelicals truly are the Americans Taliban. Anyone who labels themselves as simply Christian is likely to be one of the most un-Christian people you could ever meet. Their goal is to stomp out all established religions and create a Taliban style authoritarian dictatorship. Republican politicians are riding their coattails. Both sides are playing a dangerous game. Republicans and their oligarch puppet masters think they can manipulate and control all these evangelical terrorists, Neo-Nazi, Neo-Confederate, armed militias, and other hate groups. But there is the chance that these Theocrats could seize control of those very un-Christian groups and eliminate them first. This is Dominionism on steroids.

Do you want to return to Puritan times with an un-healthy dose of racism/bigotry/misogyny/xenophobia/ and the Crusades tossed in for good measure? Republicans are always playing with fire and will risk any consequence in their insatiable lust for greed and political power.

The far-right Republicans have been highly organized with nearly unlimited dark money from Neo-Nazi oligarchs since the 1960’s. Their goal has been to restructure America into a conservative dystopia where commerce has no restraints and workers and citizens have no rights.a dystopia where everyone is of European ancestry and is kept in line by an Old Testament based form of evangelicalism run by the oligarchs/aristocracy a plutocracy with draconian authoritarian powers.

They now control so many states that it is unlikely we will be able to stop their restructuring of America in our lifetimes. Republicans control 60% of state legislatures. If they can get it to 75% they can change or even scrap the Constitution and write a new one. Republicans control just over half of the seats in the House of Reps and the Senate. If they can move that number up to 66% they could change or scrap the Constitution.

Remember that many Republican voters rejected Trump personally in 2020 but not MAGA Republicanism. They actually picked up a few seats which allowed them to seize the House. Meanwhile the Senate is tied with the Democratic VP necessary to pass most bills wanted by us on the Democratic side of the aisle.

The next time you’re dragging Biden remember you are giving the keys to the kingdom to a Theocratic totalitarian government owned by Neo-Nazi oligarchs. Trump next year followed by Dominionist bastards like Ted Cruz and MAGA Mike Johnson.

[mrmagicmollymoll]

*felt like writing a fake academic review of a fan theory for Ferris Bueller tonight, please note this miniature essay is entirely tongue-in-cheek*

The beloved “fight club” fan theory of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, while otherwise flawless from a psychoanalytical standpoint, can be disproven by the existence of Garth (played by a young, haggard-but-still-dashing Charlie Sheen) and by Garth’s use of class warfare seduction tactics. We see this, of course, in the police station scene — a scene in which the raccoon-eyed, low-income Garth seduces the overly hydrated, bourgeoisie Jeanie into a state of sexually charged class rebellion. A near stranger, no doubt reeking of marijuana and unwashed leather, Garth nonetheless liberates Jeanie in a matter of minutes using nothing more than Mondale vibes and stoned kisses, igniting within her a brave new worldview built not on Reaganite envy and revenge, but on forgiveness, ego-death, and blue collar lust. This scene, if the entire movie were truly a fantasy in Cameron’s head, would not be possible. It requires a working knowledge of class warfare-as-seduction, a mastery of Jeanie’s inner world, and a seemingly unnecessary departure from the psychic hell of Cameron’s own tortured, moneyed psychodrama. I say all this with something of a heavy heart, as I’ve loved Cameron Frye since I was 14 years old, and would leap like a Doberman pinscher on the chance to place the whole of this brilliant film inside his beautiful, bedridden skull.

I put it to you, dear reader, that the entire film takes place not in Cameron’s head — but in Jeanie’s, where the full power of her transformation, and of her salvation from a life in the Young Republicans club, rings most true.

[scottguy]

This is what has been terrifying me for the last year now.

I expect a small portion of the population to fall for a fascist leader like Trump. But major corporate media and the wealthy are supposed to be smart enough to know better because it will hurt them too, eventually.

Where are the alarm bells especially from major media?

Germans HAD an excuse. Hitler and fascism were new in modern times. But, we HAVE that historical precedent for Trump’s behavior. It did not end well for Europe much less Germany.

There's this ABSURD assumption that no matter how willing to do evil the person we elect to the presidency is... that everything will be fine just because... this is America.

Americans have some words written on parchment! Did those words prevent January 6th?

The words only worked up until now because ALL our leaders respected those words. Our entire system is based on trust and respect for the law. That's now missing from nearly half our country.

The Supreme Court doesn't respect our constitution anymore. The ENTIRE Republican party doesn't respect our constitution anymore.

Those are the *very safeguards* you're thinking of when you're saying "it can't happen here". Those groups are NOT upholding democracy because they WANT it to fall.

No one, not the courts, not the police, no one will ride in to rescue democracy if we choose Trump.

Trump has proven that it's much quicker to do crime than it is to stop it. If you do enough crimes, nobody can ever catch up with you legally. Especially if one of those crimes is to outlaw protest and to fire all the people whose job it is to stop presidential crime.

Democracy will be gone forever.

For God's sake, Trump has ALREADY identified who is going to round up for death camps, immigrants.

So, beyond the blood of ANY Latin neighbors on our hands, totalitarian leaders driven by insatiable greed and lust for power, often start wars.

Trump, the petulant child, the man who admires the most brutal of dictators, will have access to the most powerful military force on earth complete with nuclear weapons.

Death camps and the loss of every freedom we hold dear, not to mention the economic devastation of the entire working class, those might well be the LEAST of our problems if Trump or ANY Republican takes power when Trump starts invading countries.

The media and the wealthy underreacted in Germany. That is why so many people then, the very ones who could have made a difference, shrugged and thought, "Whatever. Hitler can't possibly be that bad, right?" 🙄

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Fuck this fucking timeline

Haha. Oh, the NYT was overreacting. Democrats don't need to nominate Mitt Romney to reach across the aisle and pick up more moderate fascist votes, Harris can do it. Look at her go.

Lincoln Project bullshit. Let me put it this way, were I to hear a knock at the door and find a Republican who will not vote in lockstep for more fascism standing out there, I would be walrus-level surprised. I think a fairy would have an easier time of it.

I'm also losing my faith in the existence of Democrats who will not vote in lockstep for fascism-in-a-blue-hat. There must be SOME, but the majority don't like them. Why oh why can't these morally-superior/bankrupt leftists understand that resistance is conditional? I dunno, folks. I had a hard time responding to being browbeaten into submission, even when my parents could deprive me of food, sleep and safety. I guess I'm just contrary.

The Republican establishment doesn't like Trump. We've known this. He's loyal to no one and he won't stop saying the quiet part loud. That doesn't mean they won't vote for everything he wants, because they want that shit too. The tiny spark of humanity that says they shouldn't is drowning in their lust for power, their ignorance, and their fear. Any support that Harris wrings out of them is gonna evaporate the instant she tries to do anything to make a positive difference - even if it's fucking Republican policy like Romneycare. They don't want Trump, but they have no interest in making Democrats look good. They want the next Republican to walk away with all the marbles. They're betting she'll help line them up, and they can block her from making a play to take any amount that matters in the meantime.

Quoth Timon of Lion King: ...And everybody's okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHIN HERE?

These guys can't be both a threat to democracy and your friends with different opinions who deserve a compromise. There can be no "unity" with the anti-democracy party if you want the democracy to continue. Of course, if you want something other than democracy, you can team up and go for it.

And, I say this knowing it would only scare moderates into wanting lockstep voters even more, if they saw it. Look! That one wants standards and accountability! Even when we need to win to save democracy!

*sighs, shakes head* What democracy, you guys? What democracy are you gonna save this way? For how long?

[maximilianarmada]

The Republicans and the Democrats are both obsessed with being ruthlessly corrupt. Both sides lust after power to the point that their sickening shit show creates instability in the country and inevitably leads to violence. Neither side truly wants peace. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4795219-trump-shooting-unity-dissipate/

[lunasong365]

Less central to the collective cultural memory of the United States than our history of inclusion — but no less central to American history as it actually unfolded — is a politics of expulsion, of the removal of people, groups and even ideas deemed incompatible with the national spirit.

“The suspicion of outsiders and quick resort to expulsion,” the historian Steven Hahn observes in “Illiberal America: A History,” is one of the defining features of the illiberal current in the American political tradition. If illiberalism — in stark contrast to the universalist claims of liberalism — ties rights and belonging to membership in specific communities of race, ethnicity, religion and gender; if it is “marked by social and cultural exclusions” and sees “violence as a legitimate and potentially necessary means” of wielding power, then it is only natural that illiberal movements or societies would wield expulsion as one method to discipline dissidents and outsiders.

Needless to say, the politics of expulsion are still with us. At the level of state politics, Republican-led legislatures and Republican executive officials are adopting a politics of expulsion that targets sexual minorities and gender nonconforming people. Policies that force women to leave their states to receive basic reproductive care are variations on a theme — as are the mounting efforts, by conservative and liberal politicians alike, to wield the punitive arm of the state against homeless people.

— Jamelle Bouie