What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Syt]

[Tamas]

"trying to use this issue to stay in power" lol at least we know what he is thinking of doing in four years.

[Syt]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/insurrection-act-president-trump-20201819.php

Is Trump preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act? Signs are pointing that way

A joint Department of Defense and Homeland Security report will soon recommend whether or not to invoke the Insurrection Act over illegal migration

The clock is ticking down on a crucial but little-noticed part of President Donald Trump's first round of executive orders — the one tasking the secretaries of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to submit a joint report, within 90 days, recommending "whether to invoke the Insurrection Act." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declaring-a-national-emergency-at-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states/)

Many of us are now holding our collective breath, knowing that the report and what it contains could put us on the slippery slope toward unchecked presidential power under a man with an affinity for ironfisted dictators.

Adding to the suspense was the recent "Friday Night Massacre" at the Pentagon — the firing of the nation's top uniformed officer and removing other perceived guardrails (i.e., the top uniformed lawyers at the Army, Navy and Air Force) standing between the president and his long-stated intention to declare martial law upon returning to power.

Coincidence?

As we wait to find out, this would be a good time to take a closer look.

Say, for example, that Trump were to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law. He wouldn't even be required, by the letter of the law, to allege an "insurrection." All that would be required is to assert that "unlawful obstruction" has made it "impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States" (as President Dwight D. Eisenhower did when he ordered the Arkansas National Guard to enforce the desegregation of Little Rock, Ark., schools).

This is where all the false claims and outright lies Trump and his political allies have been pushing will come into play: Trump falsely alleging, for example, that an entire city in Colorado has been taken over by Venezuelan street gangs, that a city in Ohio has been overrun by Haitian refugees who are eating all the cats and dogs, and other vague assertions that "millions and millions" of "illegals" are pouring into our country every week (or "day" depending on who's telling the lie at the moment).

Each of these false claims and outright lies could be distilled, to declare martial law, into catchy phrases (beginning with the legalese word "Whereas") to establish the legal premise for invoking the Insurrection Act, and to lay the predicate to begin going door-to-door, wherever they please, under the pretense of searching for undocumented immigrants who don't exist.

Despite the logistical complexity, not to mention the sheer size of U.S. territory and population, implementing martial law could move quickly. Take that city in Colorado, for example:

For months leading up to the election, Trump and his surrogates spread wild lies about Aurora, promising extensive immigration raids, if elected.

Aurora just happens to already have its own Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, plus a military base, which has just been tapped to serve as a "temporary" detention center.

Project 2025 further proposes to push past Trump's plan — already in progress (but reportedly being phased out), to house up to 30,000 detainees on a rolling basis at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — by bringing Guantanamo to a town near you: setting up additional Guantanamos scattered out all across the country.

One such potential Guantanamo I believe to be under consideration is the former Leavenworth Detention Center, a former outpost of our nation's for-profit "prison industrial complex" located near Kansas City, Mo. Nearby residents are up in arms, hoping to prevent the site, previously closed due to egregious human rights violations, from being reopened. I recently made a trip to see it and was horrified by the thought of hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented families being herded there like the cattle who graze across the street.

Of course, any of these Guantanamos could also potentially be used to detain U.S. citizens now that Trump is testing the waters on stripping U.S. citizens of citizenship. Vice President JD Vance has suggested that should the courts rule against the president on terminating birthright citizenship, Dear Leader could simply ignore the order.

"But what about civil disobedience?" you might ask. "You can't just turn America into North Korea overnight!"

The only thing that stopped Trump the last time he ordered the military to open fire on American protesters ("Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?") was the refusal by his then-defense secretary and top general to carry out his order.

Fast forward four years, and the venture capitalist slated to be our next top general is a Conservative Political Action Conference darling who Trump claims was wearing a MAGA hat when the two met previously in Iraq.

Other vacancies waiting to be filled are the top uniformed lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force — the three-star generals responsible for reviewing orders from the commander-in-chief and defense secretary, to decide whether they're legal. Seeking to remove any doubt as to why the previous officers were being removed, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently explained that the action was taken, preemptively, to prevent them from blocking "orders that are given by a commander in chief."

Thanks for saying the quiet part out loud. Sounds like Trump is well on his way to finding the right "yes men" this time around.

Meanwhile, don't take your eyes off Elon Musk.

[Tamas]

Trump posts fresh ultimatum to Hamas as US enters direct talks with group
US president tells group to 'release all of the Hostages now ... or it is OVER for you' as White House enters negotiations

I am not nearly as worried about this than Ukraine, obviously, but I think it is one more evidence that Trump is after a peace Nobel. It appears the same modus operandi - look at a conflict, choose the side that looks weaker and thus easier to bully (at least in Hamas' case it's a bunch of terrorists), and begin the New York real estate crook routine.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Trump needs to put that Nobel out of his mind as he'll never get it. The nordics don't like him

[Grey Fox]

Trump's going quite surprise when we have a new Prime Minister on Sunday.

[Threviel]

Where does the talk of Nobel come from? Has he said anything?

He'll never get it, if I know the Norwegians correct they'll give it to Zelensky to spite him.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Trump's going quite surprise when we have a new Prime Minister on Sunday.

He's still going to talk about "Governor Trudeau"

[crazy canuck]

Trump's going quite surprise when we have a new Prime Minister on Sunday.

He's still going to talk about "Governor Trudeau"

A new PM will take power in three days.  My guess is Trump will claim he forced Trudeau out.

[viper37]

Peter Navarro on Fox News claiming Canada is controlled by Mexican Cartels.




There goes my vacation plans for the next decade.

[mongers]

Back in... I think it was 2016 or 2018, I was following the political news in Venezuela. Maduro was President and dictatorial, but there were still elections and despite Maduro's shenanigans, the opposition managed to win control of the legislature. They might have even had a slim supermajority. There therefore seemed to be some room for optimism that democracy could prevail.

Unfortunately for them, Maduro had control of the courts and no respect for rule of law. Each action by the legislature was nullified by the courts and the President. In response, the opposition organized public protests. These were generally scheduled for a few hours during the day, and consisted of marchers banging pots and pans before going home at the scheduled time. In the end, the opposition failed to live up to the moment and Maduro still rules Venezuela as a dictator.

I see us going down the same road if the Democrats don't pull their heads out of their asses. Unfortunately, it is increasingly looking like this will not be the time to play nice or by the rules. Hopefully I'm wrong, and we basically wake up in 2029 as if from bad dream. But I'm not very optimistic.

This is worth repeating, the warning, not the events which the Trumpist are planning.

[Valmy]

Peter Navarro on Fox News claiming Canada is controlled by Mexican Cartels.




There goes my vacation plans for the next decade.

I mean...surely nobody is this stupid right? Are we doing South Park in real life now?

[HVC]

I mean...surely nobody is this stupid right? Are we doing South Park in real life now?

49% of Americans who voted.

[Valmy]

I mean...surely nobody is this stupid right? Are we doing South Park in real life now?

49% of Americans who voted.

He ran on "remember 2017-2019? Good times right? Since 2019 things have sucked and its all Biden's fault." Not "Canada is an evil dictatorship run by Mexican Cartels."

[HVC]

Werent you the one with the polls showing that enthusiasm for Trump hadn't waned?

The populace  is stupid and democracy only works when the elites play fair. Unfortunately it's still the best system we have. Hopefully our future AI overlords develope something better