What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[viper37]

I'm still not onboard team AOC (speaking to people like a kindergarden teacher grates me.  A lot), but I'll give her this, she's 100% right that Democrat Senators need to get their game straight and vote unanimously to block all confirmation for the Trump administration.

No matter if they ain't so bad is beyond the point, they have to do obstruction, just like the GOP did.

Can't find the link anymore, but a few Democrat Senators voted to confirm the last Trump nominee.  38 against, that means 6 Dem Senators and on Independent from Maine voted in favor.  And they didn't try any kind of obstruction to slow down the process.

Some Senators are vocal about their party not doing enough, but they seem powerless at making a coherent move like the GOP was.

I know there's not a strong party line in the US like in British parliamentary system, but the GOP has proven that they don't give a flying fuck about that.  And it's about time the Dems react coherently to the GOP agenda of dismantling the US government, if they truly disagree with Musk's takeover.



Meanwhile, one of AOC ally is trying a power play to oust Pelosi from her leadership position.

Agree of disagree with the positions of the party, if they want to still be in a democracy by the end of the summer, it's high time they try something else than the regular game. Their adversary isn't playing by the rules, hasn't been for a while.

Top AOC ally launches campaign to take out 'paralyzed' Nancy Pelosi

[Valmy]

Pelosi stepped down after the Dems lost in 2022, she was replaced by Hakeem Jeffries.

This ally is running for Congress in Pelosi's district in 2026. Pelosi should retire, but unless she has a stroke or something she will be tough to beat even as a octogenarian. I guess if Pelosi was to be removed from office her unofficial influence would be gone. That might make a difference, but probably not a huge one.

[Grey Fox]

I have no idea what you just said, but the overall vibe tells me you need to get off the internet a little.

As for Raz and Valmy, if this is the general mood of your compatriots (and yourselves) "we can't do anything", then you've truly turned into apathetic russians.

Georgians have been protesting for months. Euromaidan suffered outside for months in freezing temperatures, not to mention getting shot at and killed. Where the fuck is the youth of america?

The Revolution will not be televised.

[viper37]

Mitch McConnell Calls Trump 'Unfit for Office,' Describes Him as 'Not Very Smart, Irascible, and Nasty,' While Blasting the MAGA Movement as 'Completely Wrong

Just the hero America needs...
err, needed. 

[viper37]

Pelosi stepped down after the Dems lost in 2022, she was replaced by Hakeem Jeffries.

You'd swear she's still running the show, you almost never hear of Jeffries, only Pelosi.

Could be media bias.

[mongers]

Mitch McConnell Calls Trump 'Unfit for Office,' Describes Him as 'Not Very Smart, Irascible, and Nasty,' While Blasting the MAGA Movement as 'Completely Wrong

Just the hero America needs...
err, needed. 

[]Insert that French Epression Here [/]

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

[Admiral Yi]

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

I'll take that bet.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Pelosi stepped down after the Dems lost in 2022, she was replaced by Hakeem Jeffries.

You'd swear she's still running the show, you almost never hear of Jeffries, only Pelosi.

Could be media bias.

She does seem to have a lot of pull in the party still. Not really surprising given her tenure.

[Jacob]

I think the moment will come around the next congressional elections.

By then the impact of Trump's policies will have been felt on the economy. If the mood is actually against Trump at that time and he clearly undermines democracy, then maybe folks will take action.

I don't expect any real action out of Americans until then (and maybe not then either, we will see).

But basically Trump and oligarchs will have to visibly break some stuff in a way that is widely felt, and that hasbt happened yet.

Maybe if Elon's sabotage triggers stagflation and missed social security payments it might trigger something.

[garbon]

As for Raz and Valmy, if this is the general mood of your compatriots (and yourselves) "we can't do anything", then you've truly turned into apathetic russians.

I mean it isn't that I am not willing to do something. It is that there is not anything obvious to do. Protesting just seems to make them more popular. Most of the people are either with Trump or at least not strongly against him.

Georgians have been protesting for months. Euromaidan suffered outside for months in freezing temperatures, not to mention getting shot at and killed. Where the fuck is the youth of america?

We are not yet willing to be shot and killed while the rest of the country cheers, and maybe joins in the killing and gets hailed as heroes. Or protests while some rogue element decides to take advantage to loot and burn shit.

Public opinion has to turn against Trump and the government, beyond just the normal partisan stuff, for going out into the streets to have any impact. Protesting doesn't seem to change anybody's opinion, in fact sometimes it seems to turn public opinion against us.

So I don't know what there is to be done right now. Wait and see if Trump and Elon fuck it up so bad that public opinions turns against them? Well ok the public seems to love the assassination of CEOs so maybe if I went up to Elon and killed them they might love that. But don't have the opportunity to do that and even if I did...fuck man I got kids and stuff.

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

https://news.gallup.com/poll/655955/trump-inaugural-approval-rating-historically-low-again.aspx

Trump's Inaugural Approval Rating Is Historically Low Again
Americans divided over whether Trump's pace in addressing major U.S. problems is about right or too fast

At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings, and his latest disapproval rating (48%) is three percentage points higher than in 2017, marking a new high for inaugural ratings.

Trump's current job approval rating, from Gallup's Jan. 21-27 poll, is not significantly different from the 51% readings earned by George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in the early days of their presidencies. However, initial evaluations of Trump differ in that Americans are much more likely to disapprove of his performance rather than have no opinion, as was the case for the elder Bush and Reagan.

John Kennedy had the highest inaugural approval rating, at 72%, followed closely by Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama, who both had strong starts with 68% readings. Jimmy Carter received a 66% approval rating, while Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and George W. Bush had ratings between 57% and 59%.

Although Trump's latest rating is weak compared with past presidents' initial readings, it is among the best he has received as president. His personal high point during his first term was 49%, which he earned on several occasions in 2020.

Trump averaged 41% approval in his first term and is the only president not to receive a job rating of 50% or higher at any point in his presidency. He left office in January 2021 with the lowest rating of his presidency, 34%, after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

As was the case during his first term, Trump's current job rating is sharply polarized, with 91% of Republicans approving, compared with just 6% of Democrats and 46% of independents. This 85-point gap between Republicans and Democrats is similar to the average 81-point gap throughout his first term. It is also close to Biden's 87-point gap at the beginning of his term in 2021.

...

So Republicans are full on nuts as we've surmised.

But also it is distressing that his starting approval rating isn't even lower.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/02/07/trumps-second-term-early-ratings-and-expectations/

Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump's plans and the way he is handling his job in the early weeks of his return to the presidency.

Overall, 47% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 51% say they disapprove. And most of these views are strongly held: 37% strongly approve of his performance, while 40% strongly disapprove.

...

Trump's current 47% approval rating is higher today than it was at the beginning of his first term in office.

His rating is also higher than at any other point in his first four-year term, and far higher than when he left office in early 2021 (Trump's approval fell to 29% in the wake of the 2020 presidential election and his rejection of its results).

[Iormlund]

I think the moment will come around the next congressional elections.

By then the impact of Trump's policies will have been felt on the economy. If the mood is actually against Trump at that time and he clearly undermines democracy, then maybe folks will take action.

I don't expect any real action out of Americans until then (and maybe not then either, we will see).

But basically Trump and oligarchs will have to visibly break some stuff in a way that is widely felt, and that hasbt happened yet.

Maybe if Elon's sabotage triggers stagflation and missed social security payments it might trigger something.

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

[Tamas]

Won't be fair in the sense that all the actual influential media (the social ones) will be at bast letting chaos reign in political news and discourse, but it won't go past that. Not this early in the whole putinisation process.

[viper37]

You might have missed this, but the CIA sent the list of all its agents, including all its assets in a plain email to the White House last weel.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/us/politics/cia-names-list.html

[Oexmelin]

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.

[The Minsky Moment]

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