What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[crazy canuck]

So I guess the only answer to all upcoming fascist shit simply needs to be: Americans were warned that would happen if Trump got reelected?

Nobody said that was the only answer, but some schadenfreude is in order.  Maybe some of these students can go to Canada, and you can teach them useful skills like not to fuck a light socket and don't view an election the same way you view a Tel Aviv city bus.

I assume foreign students on a student visa don't get to vote in your elections.  If my assumption is correct, why do you have a sense of satisfaction over the deportations?

[Razgovory]

Those protests really hurt us in this election.

[Syt]

I dread waking up now. It seems that the awfulness will just never slow down and that every day some fresh hell awaits trans folks (amongst so many others). 

[Admiral Yi]

So I guess the only answer to all upcoming fascist shit simply needs to be: Americans were warned that would happen if Trump got reelected?

Yes.  The only way the US gets better is if Trump voters learn an object lesson from the consequences of their choices.

[mongers]

Breaking News:

An American Airlines Jet has crashing into the river in Washington DC.   

WTF


Did someone hijack it and try to crash it into the White House?

edit:
Nope apparently it collided with an army or service helicopter of some form, as it made it's approach to the airport.

[DGuller]

It collided with the military helicopter.

[Oexmelin]

My guess is you will not like the lesson, and it's doubtful they will learn what you'd rather like from it. You and I, for instance, in all probability disagree strongly about "the lesson".

Quite apart from the unsavory nature of people getting their kicks from other people woes and misfortune, that sort of thinking, to me, is another way of justifying apathy - or some twisted version of religious fervor. Waiting patiently until the "object lesson" is learned, and somehow thinking that people must collectively pay or atone for their sins through suffering.

There's no object lesson. Theres no comeuppance. There's politics, and you either get involved or withdraw. If you want to craft a lesson out of it, you *make it*, you sell it, you build around it. You don't wait until people learn their lesson That sort of magic thinking has been the Democrat's undoing. And, quite frankly, one of the reason why I find the political discourse in US academia so wrongheaded. 

[mongers]

It collided with the military helicopter.

Well that's a sickening end to the evening and to a lot of people's lives.


Have there been survivors from this, as all I'm getting is the pedestrian bbc coverage.

[Syt]

[Admiral Yi]

My guess is you will not like the lesson, and it's doubtful they will learn what you'd rather like from it. You and I, for instance, in all probability disagree strongly about "the lesson".

Quite apart from the unsavory nature of people getting their kicks from other people woes and misfortune, that sort of thinking, to me, is another way of justifying apathy - or some twisted version of religious fervor. Waiting patiently until the "object lesson" is learned, and somehow thinking that people must collectively pay or atone for their sins through suffering.

There's no object lesson. Theres no comeuppance. There's politics, and you either get involved or withdraw. If you want to craft a lesson out of it, you *make it*, you sell it, you build around it. You don't wait until people learn their lesson That sort of magic thinking has been the Democrat's undoing. And, quite frankly, one of the reason why I find the political discourse in US academia so wrongheaded. 

I haven't mentioned comeuppance.  There are plenty of object lessons.  UK fishermen learned that leaving the EU negatively impacted their livelihoods.  Trump voters will hopefully learn that mass deportations and mass tariffs affect them negatively through higher prices for goods and services.  Arab voters will hopefully learn that voting for Trump does not create a beneficial outcome for Gazans.

Democrats have not been sitting around patiently waiting for Trumpists to learn object lessons.  They have been talking nonstop about all the ways that Trumpists are wrong.  All that talking led to an *increase* in Trump's vote.  That has led me to the conclusion that the only people capable of changing their minds are themselves.

I don't care if you take a jab at my "apathy."  I'm confident that I care about preserving democracy in America and you questioning my motives doesn't bother me.  Just like I'm sure my belief that protest culture is motivated by narcissistic self validation doesn't impact your system of beliefs.

[Syt]

I'm confident that I care about preserving democracy in America

What are actions you're taking towards that end?

[Admiral Yi]

What are actions you're taking towards that end?

Trying to get Democrats to shut up.

[Oexmelin]

I couldn't know what you do or do not do, and I do not doubt your commitment to American democracy, even if I know you dislike mass demonstrations. My comment about apathy wasn't directed at you specifically. It stems from my experience in the US, and my impression that  general shrugging of shoulders, a belief about "pendulum" or "arc of justice", or rationalizing, or waiting for something to happen, or the illusion of activism that stems from engaging in fights on social media, is somehow going to change things.

Maybe I am wrong, and mass demonstrations won't change a thing. Maybe phone calls is still the way to do. Maybe it's TikTok. Or teach-ins at tailgate parties. Maybe it's suing in court, and waiting for it to effect change. Maybe it's still giving billions to the Democrats. Whatever it is, it's not being done with nearly the sense of urgency, dedication, and seriousness, that I think is warranted. And I think part of the answer is that the Democrats' leadership, and a bunch of their confortable, professional supporters, are, on some level, convinced that they, at least, will be alright and get through this unscathed. As of now, my despair stems from the sentiment that Democrats have tried nothing and are all out of options; and that very little pressure is applied to institutions, representatives, and Senators to trace lines in the sand.

I see messages from former colleagues writing stuff like "joy is an act of resistance" or that scholarship is the true form of resistance and I want to tear my eyeballs out at the sheer naïveté, or political stupidity of some many. As if another article about Puritan's stance on mariage or the nature of a media franchise is the perfect response to the time we live in. They spend hours agonizing over the sort of message of grief they should craft to their students but can't seem to fathom how to use tenure to put collective pressure on their own instituons that are right now giving every sign of rushing to comply even as all government funding is about to be politicized and weaponized.

Anger is a very strong political motivation. So far, the only angry people are those who have elected those self satisfied ghouls and parasites who are now running the show. I wouldn't want to wait patiently for the lesson to kick in if I were you.

[crazy canuck]

What are actions you're taking towards that end?

Trying to get Democrats to shut up.

And there it is, the way to a better democracy is no democracy.

[Grey Fox]

What are actions you're taking towards that end?

Trying to get Democrats to shut up.

Why do you want that, Yi?