What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[PJL]

Next week he'll be prostrating himself before the Trump throne.

I'll take that bet.

Yeah Mitch won't back down, the man doesn't have much left in the tank


This is a cri de coeur from a man who finally achieved his life's work only to realize that it all led to shit

Good, I hope he feels deeply ashamed in his role in getting the USA to where it is now.

[Razgovory]

There is no « public opinion » change to wait for. It will not change magically. Especially not as dissent is quashed, and contradicting voices are silenced. You can't wait for people to get their comeuppance and magically rise up. Or vote the Dems in. This has been so much the strategy of the Democrats, you'd think they'd learn by now it doesn't work. The window of what is acceptable will have moved. The battleground will have been seized, waiting endlessly for the « right pitch » that will turn into a home run. By that point the game will have changed.

People  will simply rationalize and breathe a sigh of relief that they are not the ones having it tough, and hope for the best. You  You know, like all the clichéd we parroted about the rise of authoritarianism. But for some reason, we just simply think it doesn't apply to us. Only to them.

You can't wait. You don't have the luxury to wait it out. What you specifically can do, I can't tell you, because a lot of it depends on your local circumstances. But you should start building coalitions locally. The US has at least many jurisdictions that can serve as points of friction, and make things difficult. You can show up to town halls. You can call, relentlessly, your local political representatives, yes, but also institutions like hospitals, universities, chamber of commerce that are going to have their budget cuts, their directions silenced, their professed believes trampled. Show up. In person. Meet others who think like you, and start pooling ideas, coordinating efforts. It's not going to go through social media, which promote apathy, and may very well be unsafe at some point.

There are many people who disagree with what is happening. There were many people who disagree with all authoritarianism wherever it's being implemented. Disagreeing on its own, and on your own, doesn't do shit. It simply reminds you that no one deserve what is coming, even those morons who voted for Trump.

If you want a comprehensive five step plan, backed with evidence and best-practice assessment, there will not be one. This is a political crisis: it's dealt with principles, conviction, and action, not carefully crafted letters. Its going to be hard. If you are looking for comfortable ways of acting, and thus, reasons not to act in more involved ways, I fear you may not find many of the former  and quite a lot of the latter.

It may not work. I may be wrong, and I hope I am wrong. But doing nothing is death.

I will get to throwing soup at paintings forthwith.

[mongers]

There is no « public opinion » change to wait for. It will not change magically. ---snip----

It may not work. I may be wrong, and I hope I am wrong. But doing nothing is death.

I will get to throwing soup at paintings forthwith.

Contemptible.

[Jacob]

At this rate I wouldn't count on being (fair) elections two years from now.

Yeah I expect there's a real risk of that - and if that is immediately obvious, combined with widespread dissatisfaction with Trump based on him crashing the economy, then that might trigger the kind of mass response that was mentioned earlier in the thread.

EDIT: though to be clear, I endorse Oex' analysis. I'm just not optimistic that that's what we'll see.

[mongers]

At this rate I wouldn't count on being (fair) elections two years from now.

Yeah I expect there's a real risk of that - and if that is immediately obvious, combined with widespread dissatisfaction with Trump based on him crashing the economy, then that might trigger the kind of mass response that was mentioned earlier in the thread.

EDIT: though to be clear, I endorse Oex' analysis. I'm just not optimistic that that's what we'll see.

Yes and Oex' viewpoint shouldn't be rejected out of hand, at least someone is thinking about active 'resistance' rather than passive posting.

[Valmy]

You can't wait. You don't have the luxury to wait it out. What you specifically can do, I can't tell you, because a lot of it depends on your local circumstances. But you should start building coalitions locally. The US has at least many jurisdictions that can serve as points of friction, and make things difficult. You can show up to town halls. You can call, relentlessly, your local political representatives, yes, but also institutions like hospitals, universities, chamber of commerce that are going to have their budget cuts, their directions silenced, their professed believes trampled. Show up. In person. Meet others who think like you, and start pooling ideas, coordinating efforts. It's not going to go through social media, which promote apathy, and may very well be unsafe at some point.

Oh well. I am already doing that. I show up and take local politics very seriously. My wife, for example, is the head of our Home Owners Association.

Of course the state government has been working to remove the authority of local government just for this reason. And the Feds are starting to crack down on states with dissenting policies.

I don't know. The ability of our city government, school board, and other local institutions to protect our local community from the madness is significant...but its ability to do so is being chipped away at. Even Republicans who defend local governments are slowly being purged. There is only so much you can do without support at the State and Federal level. Look at the panic mongering over "sanctuary cities", this kind of propaganda will destroy local government with time.

[Valmy]

I will get to throwing soup at paintings forthwith.

Obviously they do local politics different in the foul world of Missouri. But that is to be expected from that barbarous place 

[Valmy]

I think it is important to remember that the majority of Americans do not back Trump.

Right. They majority either back him or do not oppose him to any significant degree.

[Maladict]

I think it is important to remember that the majority of Americans do not back Trump.

Right. They majority either back him or do not oppose him to any significant degree.

The majority of voters back him. The only thing we know about the others (adults) is that they are not willing to do the bare minimum for their democracy.

[Valmy]

I think it is important to remember that the majority of Americans do not back Trump.

Right. They majority either back him or do not oppose him to any significant degree.

The majority of voters back him. The only thing we know about the others (adults) is that they are not willing to do the bare minimum for their democracy.

Well he got 49.8% of the voters.

But the non-voters did not oppose him enough to vote against him and that's all I need to know.

[The Minsky Moment]

I retain some optimism.  It's still true that Trump's core of support is little under 40%, which is horrific, but has been consistently the case since around 2017.  It's also still true that a majority still oppose him.  Some of the remaining 10% that broke for Trump are going to be feeling the pain as program that matter for them vanish (e.g. farm products purchases by AID) or when the inevitable consequences of corporate abuse of regulatory neglect materialize. It's only been a couple of weeks and there is a lot of rage and energy building, people are getting out and demonstrating and expressing themselves.  We are already seeing some new voices emerge among Democratic officeholders, like Murphy, who willing to be more confrontational.  It's been a bad showing for the legacy leadership, but that may be a positive if it catalyzes the clearance of the deadwood and the rise of newer and younger players. 

So I do think the calls and communications to elected reps matter, even if it seems like it can't change things now.  The Dem officeholders need to get the message that THEIR base is energized and pissed and act accordingly. They need to know both that we have their backs but also that they will be held to account if they don't act to hold Trump to account.

[Jacob]

I choose to be encouraged by your optimism Minsky. Thank you

[viper37]

Got what I was looking for:
Stop playing nice (AOC)

[Tamas]

Got what I was looking for:
Stop playing nice (AOC)

Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats must make the Trump administration and the GOP "fight for every single step. The slower they go, the less they can break."

This should be self-evident.

Perhaps right now even more important than protesting Trump is protesting the Democrats becoming His Majesty's Opposition. With the super-rich openly flooding politics it must be very tempting and perhaps lucrative to play nice and accept you are playing a supporting role for the next 4 years. They cannot be allowed to.

[The Brain]

With the super-rich openly flooding politics it must be very tempting and perhaps lucrative to play nice and accept you are playing a supporting role for the next 4 years. They cannot be allowed to.

Why, what happens in 4 years?