The GQP: Trumpist Death Cult

[DDD Dad 14,650]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

1914-1918 - World War 1

1923 - failed Beer Hall Putsch

1929 - Stock Market crash and a global depression

1933 - Hitler named Chancellor of the German Reich

 

2009-2017 - Culture Wars

2021 - failed insurrection

2027 - ???

2031 - ????

One might argue that we've set ourselves up for a spectacular stock market crash after injecting $ into an already-hot market.  

[Captainant 28,539]

2 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

One might argue that we've set ourselves up for a spectacular stock market crash after injecting $ into an already-hot market.  

One might argue that we are currently in a cycle of stagflation even. We've fought off the slow economic growth (muh 401k!) so far, but we have very high inflation considering our near-zero interest rate, and unemployment continues to be very high. Not to mention the worsening of wage stagnation as well

[Chad Fuck 18,135]

44 minutes ago, Captainant said:

You should read up on how fascist insurrections actually happen. It's a common pattern that the first attempt is a clown show that's laughably inept, followed by insufficient punishment/sanction for the insurrection attempt, followed by a second and successful attempt. The beer hall putsch isn't that far off from what happened on Jan 6th - both had active duty and police military helping and hindering the insurrection, both featured a concerted disinformation campaign to rile up the brownshirts and the redhats into eventual action, and both failed to sufficiently punish the instigator of the insurrection.

History rarely repeats itself, but it usually rhymes. We're in a dangerous period, and historically speaking, on the clock for an authoritarian/autocrat to rise to power from the far right.

This right here.  Listen to this man.

[Captainant 28,539]

Since we're on the topic... Obligatory plug for Behind the Bastards' miniseries "Behind the Insurrections". They unpack the major players, contributing conditions, evolutions, and outcomes of the fascist insurrections that swept through Europe in the interwar period. The hosts do a good job of sticking to history when covering the past, and have interesting discussion around how it relates to what happened in Jan 6.

[Pato del Muerto 53,505]

58 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Spanish fascism

It’s been a while since I’ve seen or heard an update on the whereabouts of Franco. 

[Brisketexan 106,899]

4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

It’s been a while since I’ve seen or heard an update on the whereabouts of Franco. 

We should probably consult a respected source in journalism for such information......

 

 

 

 

[Sawbonz 28,222]

So all of you predicting the apocalypse have divested from the stock market, bought gold coins and bars and buried them in your bunkers correct?

[Brisketexan 106,899]

4 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

So all of you predicting the apocalypse have divested from the stock market, bought gold coins and bars and buried them in your bunkers correct?

We've got some time.  As we get closer to the 2022 election.....yes, I've certainly contemplated putting as much as I can into dirt (real estate).  

[wildcat09 29,579]

6 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

So all of you predicting the apocalypse have divested from the stock market, bought gold coins and bars and buried them in your bunkers correct?

Gold would be pointless. I've got food, water, and a shitload of 9mm and 5.56. Probably could afford to restock on the TP, though.

Edited May 6, 2021 by wildcat09

[Sawbonz 28,222]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

We've got some time.  As we get closer to the 2022 election.....yes, I've certainly contemplated putting as much as I can into dirt (real estate).  

You should already be doing that

 

But in your dystopian future land you won’t be allowed to own real estate. Your wealth needs to be portable

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

4 hours ago, Ojo Rojo said:

Not sure if this is the right thread, but this legislation in Texas making it easier to open carry without a license?  I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.  The solution to gun violence is to make it easier for everyone to carry guns?

This legislation would be reversed if a shitload of black and brown people start open carrying without a license.  

Anybody you see bragging about this legislation, point out to them that it means poor people, including a lot of minorities, will now be able to open carry.  See what their reaction is.  If they are enthusiastic, then they are true 2A fans.  If they start backing off, then they are possibly racist.

[Sawbonz 28,222]

2 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Gold would be pointless. I've got food, water, and a shitload of 9mm and 5.56. Probably could afford to restock on the TP, though.

lulz

[Brisketexan 106,899]

Just now, Sawbonz said:

You should already be doing that

 

But in your dystopian future land you won’t be allowed to own real estate. Your wealth needs to be portable

Huh.  You seem to think that in fascist countries, money had no value?

It had great value.  You just had to be invested in the things supported by the state.  No reason not to follow that pattern.

Of course, my backup plan of selling MS-13 insurance to gullible olds remains in place.

[Sawbonz 28,222]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Huh.  You seem to think that in fascist countries, money had no value?

It had great value.  You just had to be invested in the things supported by the state.  No reason not to follow that pattern.

Of course, my backup plan of selling MS-13 insurance to gullible olds remains in place.

Only certain people were allowed to have/spend money. In your scenario you would not be one of those people 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

7 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I live at the corner of hippie-dippy-land and Trump central, so I get to witness on a daily basis the relative energy of the two camps. And Trumpland is pretty lethargic at the moment. None of last Fall's and the first week of January's energy. None at all. It is a reason for cautious optimism. I would emphasize the caution, though, as there is nothing scientific about it, and one should never turn one's back on an armed fascist.

I look around Facebook at various relatives/acquaintances, and the pro-Trump energy dropped drastically after the 6th. 

Trump needed to be doing rallies 2-3 times a month after January, and active on a daily basis on some kind of social media platform, to keep them revved up. 

Trump's proxies are just not getting it done, and/or they are more concerned about their own grift (or legal woes).  Since McCarthy has apparently decided to carry Trump's water in Congress, well he's not exactly getting Trump fans excited.  He's way too fucking bland.

I wonder how much of an impact Trump himself had on taking the wind out of their sails - him slinking off to Mar-a-Lago and moping around while counting their donations, instead of being out there on the campaign trail like he promised did him no favors. It made him look like a loser.

10 months until the first primaries. Trump will be 75, tanned, and full of Big Macs and Diet Coke.

[Pato del Muerto 53,505]

9 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

This legislation would be reversed if a shitload of black and brown people start open carrying without a license.  

Anybody you see bragging about this legislation, point out to them that it means poor people, including a lot of minorities, will now be able to open carry.  See what their reaction is.  If they are enthusiastic, then they are true 2A fans.  If they start backing off, then they are possibly racist.

So having lived in a constitutional carry state for the past 6 years, let me say this about open carry. 
 

it’s fucking stupid and the people that carry for the right reasons don’t want others to know that they carry. 
 

I open carried in certain camping and hiking situations, but the bears and mountain lions don’t care or change their behavior. 
 

I rarely saw open carry when out and about, and when I did it was usually bikers on their way through on a road trip doing it because they can. 
 

most people that carry don’t want to be identified as carrying by the hypothetical threat that is the reason they are carrying.  They worry about printing from their concealed carry. 
 

open carry is a novelty for unserious people when it’s done in city/town areas. 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

The prevailing attitude here is that January 6 was a big nothing, and that we're paranoid for suggesting that worse is yet to come.  Yet every historical example tells us 1) Jan 6 was a watershed moment, and 2) worse is yet to come.

If Trump hadn't used up so much of his finite energy on the links, if he was 20 years younger, if he was actually competent, if he was surrounded by competent people, if he wasn't more interested in money than power, if his followers had decided to follow up January 6th with something bigger for the inauguration, if a bunch of his followers weren't being led like sheep by the pranksters/grifters behind Q and then had the floor yanked out from under them, it would be a lot more worrisome.

 

[Biff Tannen 46,168]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

open carry is a novelty for unserious people

AKA the Texas Legislature.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

I do "kind of" agree with you and atomheartbevo.  Germany had a lot of circumstances prior to 1923/1933 that led to Hitler/fascism - World War I -> the rest of the free world going NLAA on Germany afterwards and cratering their economy + Spanish Flu pandemic -> Great Depression

Nothing like that has happened yet to us.  But it only takes one little thing to set it off.  In the modern age, it likely wouldn't be a world war.  Hopefully it's not something we haven't though of yet. 

The circumstances are way different.  In the 1920s, olds in Germany still remembered when Germany the country didn't exist.  In the span of 50 years, Germany went from becoming an country to thinking they deserved to rule Europe, to getting their asses kicked (and that was with the US barely in the war).  That was a helluva hit on the national identity.  Follow that up with a bunch of those Germans losing everything.

None of the Trump supporters I've seen, know, etc. had hit anything even close to rock bottom. Sure they were angry, but olds on guaranteed pensions, bored real estate agents, CTOs, lawyers, inbred idiots and mentally ill Qanon followers are simply not going to make up a movement to rival that of the fascists in Germany in the 1920s and 30s.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

21 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

open carry is a novelty for unserious people when it’s done in city/town areas. 

Yep, and we are about to see it get taken to an 11 in Texas. I have absolutely no doubt that the clowns are going to be coming to town and showing those librools.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Here's the problem with the optimistic approach of atomheart -- it doesn't matter how things actually ARE.  All that matters is how people BELIEVE they are, because belief is what motivates their behavior.  And the American fascist movement actually believes that we are teetering on the edge of going full-on communist, and they are absolutely willing to kill the Republic in order to save it.  Sure, they're delusional, wrong, and stupid....but none of that matters.  All that matters is the endpoint -- are they willing to support and/or take part in a fascist takeover, a violent one if it has to be?  Yep.  They are.

 

We live in a country where even many who fit the fiscal definition of poor have luxuries unimagined to the angsty/angry Germans of the 1920s and 1930s, and Italians before that, the Russians of the 1900s, etc.  Big-screen HDTVs, internet access, cheap food, water, and electricity, safety, stability, and security that is unimagined to people from a century ago.

Do many believe things are teetering on the edge?  Sure, they watch Tucker Carlson, they read and post on Facebook and twitter about it.

Hell, our recent winter storm scared the absolute shit out of millions of people, to the point where the politicians had to act to try and make sure it didn't happen again.  And we had other states who were going to help us out, who were helping us out.  We are such a huge fucking country that we have that buffer.

But that's just it.  They are posting on FB and twitter and watching Tucker, and are comfortable in ways that people in the 1900s through the 1930s weren't.

Trump and those around him were ultimately not competent enough to take advantage of the situations that were handed to them.  I don't remember now who was saying it, but when the pandemic started, quite a few Surly posters, including liberals, were talking about how a pandemic could easily hand him a second term.

But Trump and the people around him were too fucking incompetent, and they absolutely blew the golden egg(s) that was handed to them.  Trump just had to rein in his baser social media instincts, competently handle the pandemic and wear a fucking mask, stop going after anybody he didn't like, start trying to competently untangle us from the Middle East, and unify the country.

None of those things were hard to do, but instead, Trump acted like a complete asshole, let his staff act like assholes, acted completely fucking stupid and blew the biggest opportunity he had in his arsenal, the pandemic.

And on top of that, the actual people that Trump would have needed for some kind of Beer Hall Putsch or other similar events that people toss around when talking about this stuff, the millions/tens of millions in the qanon crowd, got the rug yanked out from under them by way of Q basically saying "welp, it was a fun ride LOL, enjoy the friends we made, appreciate the journey, cya!"

And then they watched as their brethren, and there were a shitload of Qanons there on January 6th, get arrested, lose businesses, jobs, friends, and family, and all the while Trump is racking up hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, and he doesn't do shit for ANY of their legal costs.  

A competent fascist leader would have sent a sign to the qanon crowd by tossing a few tens of millions of dollars to those people and their legal defense, but instead, Trump did the proverbial "NEW PHONE, WHO DIS?"

When you talk about Germany, Italy, etc. those leaders were surrounded by staff who were committed to the cause.  Trump is surrounded by people who care about their own bank accounts or trying to get out of their own legal hot water. The Stephen Millers are the exceptions, not the rule.

Edited May 6, 2021 by atomheartbevo

[Beau Vine 55,867]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

It’s been a while since I’ve seen or heard an update on the whereabouts of Franco. 

He's the hitting coach for one of the Korean teams:

[Brisketexan 106,899]

Counterpoint: all it takes is sustained mass delusion, reaching critical mass.  

The GQP thought it could create an insane delusional class, and control them for political power.  As they've found out, once that group reached critical mass, it now controls the GQP for political power.

The mob is more powerful than the institutions the moment it chooses to be.  It got a taste of that on January 6th.  Had they planned AT ALL, and executed with ANY real strategy and tactics, members of Congress would be dead, the election would not have been certified, and they would have created sufficient chaos and uncertainty to potentially cost us the Republic.

Any country's survival as a functioning republic teeters on a knife edge far more precariously than any of us want to realize or acknowledge.  We can turn into an autocratic shitshow in nearly an instant.  Any country can.

[Sawbonz 28,222]

2 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Counterpoint: all it takes is sustained mass delusion, reaching critical mass.  

So give me a number for critical mass

[MC Fresh Breath 4,075]

On 5/3/2021 at 9:36 AM, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Huh, I worked with Gregg Henton in a previous life.  He was an absolute raging moron and I was glad when I rolled off the project that required me to work with him.

Oh man, you are not kidding.

Spoiler

 

Lots more here, if you are so inclined:

https://imgur.com/a/rriEPuF#BmAFu9h

 

Doesn't seem to like Trump, either, but not for the reasons one would expect.

 

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

8 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

This is where I’m at.   The January 6th insurrection was awful, but even then most of those people were deluded LARPers taking selfies who acted like their worlds were shattered when they got pepper sprayed.  They are committed to the cause as long as it’s safe and easy and fun make believe time. 

They haven’t done anything since and have pretty much settled into the usual bitching routine like they did when Clinton and Obama won elections.  Nobody has even said Joe Biden murdered Vince Foster or was born in Kenya.

They have too much to lose to do anything real en masse.  And if they did try it, they’d be pretty easy to put down.   They’re not REALLY hungry and desperate.   For most of them, this is their version of virtue signaling.  That part won’t stop.  They’ll bitch and rant and rave until the cows come home, but they don’t have the balls or ultimately even the sincere desire to see a real revolution through.

This is a better way to put it than my manifesto.

Most of them were fucking LARPers, and they are saying as much in court.  The die-hards, those have always existed, and they are a problem (as the Governor of Michigan would be quick to tell us), but they are a minority.  Trump implored these people to "DO SOMETHING" at one point, and nobody did anything.

These people could not keep Barrack Hussein Obama out of office.  Twice.  A Black Muslim, Atheist, Communist, Marxist, Socialist, Democrat community organizer born in Kenya, raised in Indonesia, planted in Hawaii, lived in Chicago, won against an actual Vietnam hero, and then a very successful businessman.  And there were more Boomers and WWII generation still alive 13 years ago.

I suspect that most of the people who marched on January 6th honestly did not expect to get anywhere close to the Capitol, and the fact that they so freely posted about it on social media was, I think, a part of the disbelief, since it led to so many of them being arrested.   They thought it was funny and didn't realize they were documenting their crimes, because they were LARPing.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

10 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

If they had killed members of Congress, the election still would have been certified and a bunch of them would be going to supermax prisons.   Nobody except zip tie guy, Q Shaman guy, and you actually thinks killing Mike Pence would have worked and made Trump President.

And a bunch of them would have been killed, and no Republicans in Congress would be defending them.

[Sawbonz 28,222]

 

If Trump were 20 years younger I might be out on the ledge with y’all, but he’s old and fat and was just told no for the first time in his life. He won’t risk losing again. But he also won’t give up the crown, so he will undermine whoever wants to be the 2024 Republican nominee. 
 

He’ll be 77 when the Republican National Convention is held. If he does run it will likely kill him

[Fudge Nuggets 19,455]

23 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

I understand your feelings on this and why you hold the views that you do Brisket. I do not fault you for your view or feelings because there is validity in what you are saying. I treat everyone as an individual human being though. The day I look at them the way they look at me is the day I will have joined them as a wandering soul in the desert of life. You will lose your own humanity and become what you don't like when you give up on them. I refuse to submit to that view of human beings. I do not condone or like any of what I see from the death cult, but my job is not to condemn them or classify them as hopeless. I hold that view both religiously by virtue of being a Christian, but also even if I didn't have any religious moorings (I have no issue with any faith and like speaking to those who are in different religions) I would feel that way just as a human being that has empathy. 

All this is bullshit.  I gave up on them years ago and have no qualms about it.  None.

[Willfully Horn 8,264]

One man gathers what another man spills.

[UpperWestside 6,278]

18 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

All this is bullshit.  I gave up on them years ago and have no qualms about it.  None.

That’s okay. You’re entitled to feel however you want about the people in the death cult. As repugnant and toxic as their views and actions are to me and everyone else not caught up in the cult, I won’t let the hate inside that they already have in spades. Just have to do what you are able to do and help people who need it whether they are aware of that or not.

[UpperWestside 6,278]

45 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

 

If Trump were 20 years younger I might be out on the ledge with y’all, but he’s old and fat and was just told no for the first time in his life. He won’t risk losing again. But he also won’t give up the crown, so he will undermine whoever wants to be the 2024 Republican nominee. 
 

He’ll be 77 when the Republican National Convention is held. If he does run it will likely kill him

He does have bills to pay and he has no money to pay them with. I believe he keeps up the charade until the primaries start. 

[Biff Tannen 46,168]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Hell, our recent winter storm scared the absolute shit out of millions of people, to the point where the politicians had to act to try and make sure it didn't happen again.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

SB 3/ HB 11 are slowly moving through the system.

[Beau Vine 55,867]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

And a bunch of them would have been killed, and no Republicans in Congress would be defending them.

lolwut?

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

19 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Counterpoint: all it takes is sustained mass delusion, reaching critical mass.  

The GQP thought it could create an insane delusional class, and control them for political power.  As they've found out, once that group reached critical mass, it now controls the GQP for political power.

This is the point where we have to step back, and break last November's GOP voting block out into its constituent parts.  

1. The core/loyal GOP. These are the people who have been Republicans for decades, and they vote every major election.  They are not large enough to have kept Barrack Hussein Obama out of office twice, barely kept W in office in 2004, and they couldn't stop the Dems in 2018 in the House.
2. The Trump fans that normally don't vote, or have even voted (D) in the past. They are mercurial at best, and the GOP cannot rely on them.  Arguably, some of these were the folks that voted against Hillary in 2016, and not necessarily for Trump.
3. The Qanon crowd.  They weren't around in 2016, and they aren't controlled by the GOP at all, and are unreliable.

You know some of the folks in groups #2 and #3 and you can go and look up their voting records and get a feel for how they voted, if they voted.  I know plenty in #2 and #3 and they were not (or normally aren't) politically engaged prior to Trump.  The Qanons didn't even exist prior to late 2017/early 2018.

A pretty good chunk of #2 and #3 help make up the 12 million votes that differentiated Trump's numbers in 2016 and 2020, and the GOP cannot rely on them at all if Trump is not on the ballot.   

And now Qanon is basically out of the picture, and Trump is not doing much better - like I said, he's more intent on wrecking Republicans he doesn't like, than actually taking on the Democrats. 

But then again, Trump benefits financially from fucking up the GOP.   

Trump would rather be Carl Icahn than Benito Mussolini.  He doesn't want the GOP to be powerful, he wants his PACs to be powerful, because he controls that money.  He wants to strip the GOP of its financial assets, and leave it as an empty husk in his wake as he moves on to the next con.  

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

The mob is more powerful than the institutions the moment it chooses to be.  It got a taste of that on January 6th.  Had they planned AT ALL, and executed with ANY real strategy and tactics, members of Congress would be dead, the election would not have been certified, and they would have created sufficient chaos and uncertainty to potentially cost us the Republic.

Is that what they taught you in law school?

[Brisketexan 106,899]

23 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Is that what they taught you in law school?

In part, yes.

I learned that in no uncertain terms, the Rule of Law is fragile.  It can be dissolved by the actions of just a violent few in the right places at the right time.  That's why it has to be defended vigorously at every turn -- to give those who would usurp it no foothold.

So, yeah, it's actually one of the key things taught to us in law school and more importantly, as practitioners who are officers of the courts going forward.

"The law" is just a collective agreement.  It can be dissolved by a later agreement.....or it can be obviated by enough people at the right pressure points going around it.   This is our concern, dude.  It has been our concern from the beginning of the rise of this regime, that had no regard for the Rule of Law at all, that spoke of the Rule of Law as an enemy of the people.  This is our entire fucking point.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Brisketexan

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

13 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

"The law" is just a collective agreement.  It can be dissolved by a later agreement.....or it can be obviated by enough people at the right pressure points going around it.   This is our concern, dude.  It has been our concern from the beginning of the rise of this regime, that had no regard for the Rule of Law at all, that spoke of the Rule of Law as an enemy of the people.  This is our entire fucking point.

The millions of armed Republicans everybody was afraid would rise up and start shit turned out to be a few hundred LARPers at the Capitol, with a small group driving the break-ins and the assaults.  Oh, and a handful of incompetent incels in Michigan.  And they tucked their tails between their legs when Joe Biden was sworn in.

They blew their wad on January 6th, and have nothing to show but lost jobs, lost businesses, fines, and jail time, and the knowledge that there are a lot of government informants out there.

And Donnie has left them hanging, pretending not to know who they were when they asked for help with their legal fees, even though they have wrecked their lives for him and donated money to him..

Donnie doesn't care about the power Brisket, it's all about the grift.  Effectively wielding actual political power is hard work. Grifting is easy. 

And just in the three weeks or so after the election, Donnie raised $200 million+.  Donnie has now realized that he doesn't have to even be running to rake the money in.  He doesn't even have to control the GOP to get his hands on their money, he just has to intercept the money with his PACs before it ever becomes their money.

 

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

1 hour ago, Sawbonz said:

If Trump were 20 years younger I might be out on the ledge with y’all, but he’s old and fat and was just told no for the first time in his life. He won’t risk losing again. But he also won’t give up the crown, so he will undermine whoever wants to be the 2024 Republican nominee. 

46 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:

He does have bills to pay and he has no money to pay them with. I believe he keeps up the charade until the primaries start. 

Given the hundreds of millions raised after November, Trump discovered that he does not have to be running to milk these fuckers dry.

I think he will try and drive everything through his PACs, because those PACs are one helluva drug for him.  My guess is that whoever truly wants the nomination will have to feed those PACs in some way.

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13,050]

52 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

"The law" is just a collective agreement.  It can be dissolved by a later agreement.....or it can be obviated by enough people at the right pressure points going around it.   This is our concern, dude.  It has been our concern from the beginning of the rise of this regime, that had no regard for the Rule of Law at all, that spoke of the Rule of Law as an enemy of the people.  This is our entire fucking point.

In the almost two hundred years since it was written, among the greatest opening paragraphs:

Quote

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” A Tale of Two Cities--Charles Dickens

And to reference the law, specifically, a great opening line:

Quote

"Justice? You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law." A Frolic of His Own--William Gaddis

Moscow Mules on the ledge tonight, perfect for the warm weather.

[Mdhorn 6,166]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

In part, yes.

I learned that in no uncertain terms, the Rule of Law is fragile.  It can be dissolved by the actions of just a violent few in the right places at the right time.  That's why it has to be defended vigorously at every turn -- to give those who would usurp it no foothold.

So, yeah, it's actually one of the key things taught to us in law school and more importantly, as practitioners who are officers of the courts going forward.

"The law" is just a collective agreement.  It can be dissolved by a later agreement.....or it can be obviated by enough people at the right pressure points going around it.   This is our concern, dude.  It has been our concern from the beginning of the rise of this regime, that had no regard for the Rule of Law at all, that spoke of the Rule of Law as an enemy of the people.  This is our entire fucking point.

The entire history of the US is broken treaties.  First we broke it off with England (rightfully), then every treaty with Native Americans, Black Americans, Chinese Americans, Mexicans, each other in the Civil War which we're still fighting, and Trump openly broke treaties with Iran, told former allied powers and our border countries to fuck right off, and withdrew from the nuclear arms treaty with Russia and Paris agreement.  Why would anyone think the US was good with treaties?  

The US is good with War, we have war in our streets even though we're a prosperous nation (the 2nd Amendment allows Americans to arm themselves and we fight for the right to do so unchecked) and would kill each other over opposing views.  Trump and the Republicans openly stoked and continue to stoke a Civil War, entirely to the benefit of their shareholders.  They're corrupting laws now, that's why they installed as many judges as possible and are changing their states voting acts.  Why aren't Democrats doing all these things currently?  What's the holdup?  Oh yeah, the return to law and order every time a Democrat is in power because that's the time to act responsibly.   Democrats have to hold up principles or they'll become that which they're currently losing to, all the while Democracy trickles away.  Texas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and other states are changing their laws to benefit the Republicans and it's unchecked because SCOTUS ruled prior that it's up to the states. They know they're losing the numbers game so they are changing the game while Dems argue the rules.  If Dems don't find a way to benefit, they'll lose.  

Edited May 7, 2021 by Mdhorn

[Mdhorn 6,166]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

The millions of armed Republicans everybody was afraid would rise up and start shit turned out to be a few hundred LARPers at the Capitol, with a small group driving the break-ins and the assaults.  Oh, and a handful of incompetent incels in Michigan.  And they tucked their tails between their legs when Joe Biden was sworn in.

They blew their wad on January 6th, and have nothing to show but lost jobs, lost businesses, fines, and jail time, and the knowledge that there are a lot of government informants out there.

And Donnie has left them hanging, pretending not to know who they were when they asked for help with their legal fees, even though they have wrecked their lives for him and donated money to him..

Donnie doesn't care about the power Brisket, it's all about the grift.  Effectively wielding actual political power is hard work. Grifting is easy. 

And just in the three weeks or so after the election, Donnie raised $200 million+.  Donnie has now realized that he doesn't have to even be running to rake the money in.  He doesn't even have to control the GOP to get his hands on their money, he just has to intercept the money with his PACs before it ever becomes their money.

 

That wasn't the end all--that was a trial run and it was pretty successful. They could have flown their own flags over the nation's capitol that day. And if they don't arrest some bigger names that stoked this attempted coupe then it will repeat itself more efficiently.  

[Beau Vine 55,867]

 

[Brisketexan 106,899]

 

It’s hard to decide who the biggest piece of shit in all of this....but Lindsay fights so hard to stay in the running.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

12 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

That wasn't the end all--that was a trial run and it was pretty successful. They could have flown their own flags over the nation's capitol that day. And if they don't arrest some bigger names that stoked this attempted coupe then it will repeat itself more efficiently.  

Trump isn't doing anything to continue that movement, other than grifting, and without Trump actively pushing them, and I don't mean this bullshit little 100-word memos issued through some staffer's twitter feed, but actively out there in the public eye, they will not do jack shit.

He's not running for office.  He's not out holding rallies across the US.  He's sitting at Mar-a-Lago, having the Secret Service hit up McDonalds, or golfing with buddies at his golf course.

These people needed him to push them to do this shit back in January, and then he up and bailed on them, and won't even pay their legal defenses. Now their defense attorneys are bitching that he, Fox News, etc. radicalized them and that they really aren't those people that we see in the videos and selfies.

[atomheartbevo 90,650]

3 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

 

 

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

It’s hard to decide who the biggest piece of shit in all of this....but Lindsay fights so hard to stay in the running.

When it comes to Lindsey,  I just assume there is blackmale involved.

[Mdhorn 6,166]

39 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Trump isn't doing anything to continue that movement, other than grifting, and without Trump actively pushing them, and I don't mean this bullshit little 100-word memos issued through some staffer's twitter feed, but actively out there in the public eye, they will not do jack shit.

He's not running for office.  He's not out holding rallies across the US.  He's sitting at Mar-a-Lago, having the Secret Service hit up McDonalds, or golfing with buddies at his golf course.

These people needed him to push them to do this shit back in January, and then he up and bailed on them, and won't even pay their legal defenses. Now their defense attorneys are bitching that he, Fox News, etc. radicalized them and that they really aren't those people that we see in the videos and selfies.

I dunno, I couldn't image the scenario that played out earlier this year and it sounds like we still can't imagine another one.  I understand what you're saying but nobody ever saw Obama winning two terms, including the Democrat establishment,  and nobody saw Trump winning one term.  There's a lot we don't know.  

Edited May 7, 2021 by Mdhorn

[Underdog 29,190]

43 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

 

Looks like somebody is grifting hard for some Trump dildos. 

[Guest Lobo]

Oh Lindsey can certainly only ‘grow’ with Trump.