First of all: I'm serious here.
Second...no, I'm not kidding or minimalizing. Please allow me to explain myself.
So...those not living under a rock know that Trump has never admitted defeat in 2020, despite multiple recounts, defamation cases and straight up insubordination(1) from local republicans. Oh, and a complete and total lack of any evidence whatsoever. Couple that with the direct aftermath of 1/6 and nobody would give a rat's ass about Trump's opinion. Initially.
But I can't say that the republican party hasn't learned anything since then. Rather the contrary: while the zeitgeist was coming up to terms with the end of the pandemic, the Ukraine war and then the surprise Roe vs Wade termination, republicans have passed laws that ensure that whoever wanted to vote in 2024 could do so in an easier, more secure and more democratic way.
BWAHAHAHA!!! Of course not. Because why make yourself popular when you can just pass laws making it harder to register, close voting stations in areas that don't favor you and generally obfuscate as much as possible? Their end goal is something like "only those from the republican party can cast a valid vote".
Trump made a comeback I initially couldn't fathom. 1/6 had silenced the "MAGA" faction of republicans, McConnell wouldn't speak with Trump in years and Trump himself got buried in legal cases(1).
Something turned, and I'm not sure what caused it. The first real mess was the infight after republicans retook the house of representatives in 2022. Kevin McCarthey got thanked by getting the boot, and Mike Johnson pretty much had to suck up to the MAGA faction that was (still is?
) a minority, but it sure as hell is a loud minority.
It got worse with early republican candidates. Trump had his twitter replacement ready, and flat out ignored all debates until he won (gotta hand it to him: he has loyal fans). The "Nikky Haley" effect was kind of strange, though: with every drop of his adversaries, the remaining got a higher percentage. In other words: there's a significant amount of republicans who hate Trump(3).
For me, following Trump is like picking at a healing wound: it hurts and you shouldn't be doing it, but you do it anyway. Trump's always been wild, but when his prosecutions began is also the moment he really started to slip mentally. Of course he attacked everyone that came after him, and of course it was chaotic and exactly what you'd expect from a criminal with only a short term plan (who the fuck hides boxes of top secret papers in his own house? Just have everything scanned and catalogued, then burn the evidence, you fucking discount Blofelt).
...but these cases really started to weigh him down, and they do to this very day.
News media corporations are still on his hand, or at best want a close race because of eyeballs, so when Trump started projecting his own mental decline on Biden, it should have been fully visible that Trump had it at least as much, and arguably more. But Trump knows the general public cares more about dramatics than politics, so he writes headlines by creating controversies rather than the fact that every econome trashes his policies and republicans have no idea on his plan (my bet is they were just hoping to shove project 2025 on others while they were busy being outraged elsewhere).
One failed assasination attempt and one good debate performance. Fucker had it in the bag. No, not the popular vote (he'd lose that against a Christmas tree running for democratic nominee). But the battleground states is all you really need. Heck...he even picked the least VP pick in history, and he didn't even bother to hide the fact that VP's don't matter.
...and then Biden stepped down, and Trump lost the election.
Yeah, I know: it's a pretty dramatic shift. But if you've paid attention you know I'm right. All the undecided voters suddenly went to Harris. Money contributions? Jackpot for Harris. Endorsements from popular people? Harris(4) The so called "keys to the presidency"? Harris.
And republicans just stood there, their main talking point ("that guy is too old and insane!!!") exploded in their faces as their nominee rambled on magnets that won't work underwater and Hannibal Lectre being a real person.
Democrats now consistently outperform republicans in just about any metric (heck...even rightwing metrics). As I'm writing this, the early votes start to cement the polls.
Trump of course is going to declare victory and calling it a steal. That's not what concerns me. No...what concerns me (and what I'm, in a very long winded way, am getting to) is that this time the republican party is with him. They hold majority in areas. They control the supreme court. And in no small thanks to McConnel's fillibustering ten years ago, Trump colored the judges conservative as well. And where they lack the "ground game" (that is: people in swing states attempting to inform the population of how great Trump really is), they instead have a bunch of lawyers present to contest the election...months in advance. It's also not "just" Trump. Vance and McCarthey flat out deny saying that Trump lost the 2020 election. And while that sounds petty (are they really that afraid of Trump's mood?), it's actually kind of grim. Heck, Vance said "I'd rather look to the future". Da fuk does that even mean?
More specifically: we all know how that "stand back and stand by" message from Trump to the proud boys ended up being interpreted(5). So I'm calling it now: the current republican party is already planning to stage a coup. Trump still isn't fact checked to the degree that he should, and frankly: neither's the rest of the circus.
Ever seen fragments of Trump's current rallies? He just rambles a bit about his latest conspiracy theories while nonverbally shouting that he doesn't want to be there. He knows his precious rallies won't convince anyone undecided anymore and he's not going to beat Harris, but he can't cancel them because then fox has nothing to show on their channel (6).
The main concern was, still is, and I'm afraid is still going to be: the followers. The white supremacy group, the super rich influencers and the extreme pro life faction. Dogmaticly instilled sheep, continuously brainwashed into thinking that Trump still has a shot (or even a sure shot) because the outlets skew poll results. Musk is going to allow anyone on his X-twitter thing call out bullshit. Corporate media is going to pick up on it before facts can be checked and bring out stories that beam with the word "allegedly", if at all.
...but, dear readers, I don't know what's next. Those MAGA's aren't half the country and probably not even half the rest of the republicans. But they're generally pro weapons, and I'm not sure they've smartened up after how 1/6 played out. If they'll riot, republicans will use Trump's playbook to punish BOTH sides, thus removing potential districts from the map. Potential PRESIDENT DECIDING districts, most likely. Those disputes...can be heated.
I just don't know to what degree yet. I can only hope republicans lift the veil from their eyes and realise that antagonising everyone isn't a winning strategy, and that they'll learn how NOT to be evil for a change.
(1): I'm not sure if that's the correct term here. Trump spared no efforts to get others to break the law for him, but a sufficient number (Pence being the most known case) defied these orders. I'm not sure if it's called insubordination (that is: denial to do your superior's bidding) if the order is illegal to begin with. But that's semantics, and I'm not a lawyer.
(2): fox news as well. Dominion already got a massive defamation payout and IIRC the smartmatic case is still ongoing.
(3): morbid but it has to be said: both his attempted assassins were from this camp. It's almost as if democrats don't want weapons for everyone
(4): you know it's bad when your own minion mentions you shouldn't take advice from a celebrity billionaire.
(5): by the proud boys. Trump himself isn't responsible for anything or anyone ever.
(6): what do you mean "cover Harris"? Like that'll ever happen
Second...no, I'm not kidding or minimalizing. Please allow me to explain myself.
So...those not living under a rock know that Trump has never admitted defeat in 2020, despite multiple recounts, defamation cases and straight up insubordination(1) from local republicans. Oh, and a complete and total lack of any evidence whatsoever. Couple that with the direct aftermath of 1/6 and nobody would give a rat's ass about Trump's opinion. Initially.
But I can't say that the republican party hasn't learned anything since then. Rather the contrary: while the zeitgeist was coming up to terms with the end of the pandemic, the Ukraine war and then the surprise Roe vs Wade termination, republicans have passed laws that ensure that whoever wanted to vote in 2024 could do so in an easier, more secure and more democratic way.
BWAHAHAHA!!! Of course not. Because why make yourself popular when you can just pass laws making it harder to register, close voting stations in areas that don't favor you and generally obfuscate as much as possible? Their end goal is something like "only those from the republican party can cast a valid vote".
Trump made a comeback I initially couldn't fathom. 1/6 had silenced the "MAGA" faction of republicans, McConnell wouldn't speak with Trump in years and Trump himself got buried in legal cases(1).
Something turned, and I'm not sure what caused it. The first real mess was the infight after republicans retook the house of representatives in 2022. Kevin McCarthey got thanked by getting the boot, and Mike Johnson pretty much had to suck up to the MAGA faction that was (still is?
) a minority, but it sure as hell is a loud minority.It got worse with early republican candidates. Trump had his twitter replacement ready, and flat out ignored all debates until he won (gotta hand it to him: he has loyal fans). The "Nikky Haley" effect was kind of strange, though: with every drop of his adversaries, the remaining got a higher percentage. In other words: there's a significant amount of republicans who hate Trump(3).
For me, following Trump is like picking at a healing wound: it hurts and you shouldn't be doing it, but you do it anyway. Trump's always been wild, but when his prosecutions began is also the moment he really started to slip mentally. Of course he attacked everyone that came after him, and of course it was chaotic and exactly what you'd expect from a criminal with only a short term plan (who the fuck hides boxes of top secret papers in his own house? Just have everything scanned and catalogued, then burn the evidence, you fucking discount Blofelt).
...but these cases really started to weigh him down, and they do to this very day.
News media corporations are still on his hand, or at best want a close race because of eyeballs, so when Trump started projecting his own mental decline on Biden, it should have been fully visible that Trump had it at least as much, and arguably more. But Trump knows the general public cares more about dramatics than politics, so he writes headlines by creating controversies rather than the fact that every econome trashes his policies and republicans have no idea on his plan (my bet is they were just hoping to shove project 2025 on others while they were busy being outraged elsewhere).
One failed assasination attempt and one good debate performance. Fucker had it in the bag. No, not the popular vote (he'd lose that against a Christmas tree running for democratic nominee). But the battleground states is all you really need. Heck...he even picked the least VP pick in history, and he didn't even bother to hide the fact that VP's don't matter.
...and then Biden stepped down, and Trump lost the election.
Yeah, I know: it's a pretty dramatic shift. But if you've paid attention you know I'm right. All the undecided voters suddenly went to Harris. Money contributions? Jackpot for Harris. Endorsements from popular people? Harris(4) The so called "keys to the presidency"? Harris.
And republicans just stood there, their main talking point ("that guy is too old and insane!!!") exploded in their faces as their nominee rambled on magnets that won't work underwater and Hannibal Lectre being a real person.
Democrats now consistently outperform republicans in just about any metric (heck...even rightwing metrics). As I'm writing this, the early votes start to cement the polls.
Trump of course is going to declare victory and calling it a steal. That's not what concerns me. No...what concerns me (and what I'm, in a very long winded way, am getting to) is that this time the republican party is with him. They hold majority in areas. They control the supreme court. And in no small thanks to McConnel's fillibustering ten years ago, Trump colored the judges conservative as well. And where they lack the "ground game" (that is: people in swing states attempting to inform the population of how great Trump really is), they instead have a bunch of lawyers present to contest the election...months in advance. It's also not "just" Trump. Vance and McCarthey flat out deny saying that Trump lost the 2020 election. And while that sounds petty (are they really that afraid of Trump's mood?), it's actually kind of grim. Heck, Vance said "I'd rather look to the future". Da fuk does that even mean?
More specifically: we all know how that "stand back and stand by" message from Trump to the proud boys ended up being interpreted(5). So I'm calling it now: the current republican party is already planning to stage a coup. Trump still isn't fact checked to the degree that he should, and frankly: neither's the rest of the circus.
Ever seen fragments of Trump's current rallies? He just rambles a bit about his latest conspiracy theories while nonverbally shouting that he doesn't want to be there. He knows his precious rallies won't convince anyone undecided anymore and he's not going to beat Harris, but he can't cancel them because then fox has nothing to show on their channel (6).
The main concern was, still is, and I'm afraid is still going to be: the followers. The white supremacy group, the super rich influencers and the extreme pro life faction. Dogmaticly instilled sheep, continuously brainwashed into thinking that Trump still has a shot (or even a sure shot) because the outlets skew poll results. Musk is going to allow anyone on his X-twitter thing call out bullshit. Corporate media is going to pick up on it before facts can be checked and bring out stories that beam with the word "allegedly", if at all.
...but, dear readers, I don't know what's next. Those MAGA's aren't half the country and probably not even half the rest of the republicans. But they're generally pro weapons, and I'm not sure they've smartened up after how 1/6 played out. If they'll riot, republicans will use Trump's playbook to punish BOTH sides, thus removing potential districts from the map. Potential PRESIDENT DECIDING districts, most likely. Those disputes...can be heated.
I just don't know to what degree yet. I can only hope republicans lift the veil from their eyes and realise that antagonising everyone isn't a winning strategy, and that they'll learn how NOT to be evil for a change.
(1): I'm not sure if that's the correct term here. Trump spared no efforts to get others to break the law for him, but a sufficient number (Pence being the most known case) defied these orders. I'm not sure if it's called insubordination (that is: denial to do your superior's bidding) if the order is illegal to begin with. But that's semantics, and I'm not a lawyer.
(2): fox news as well. Dominion already got a massive defamation payout and IIRC the smartmatic case is still ongoing.
(3): morbid but it has to be said: both his attempted assassins were from this camp. It's almost as if democrats don't want weapons for everyone
(4): you know it's bad when your own minion mentions you shouldn't take advice from a celebrity billionaire.
(5): by the proud boys. Trump himself isn't responsible for anything or anyone ever.
(6): what do you mean "cover Harris"? Like that'll ever happen
