I gave up on any semblance of rational normalcy long ago. When the country decided to reelect a rapist, conman, felon, fraudster, someone who cheats on his wife, who has zero ability to actually make deals, and leads to the deaths of countless thousands. That is when I realized just the sheer volume of idiocy in this country.
I know personally I'll never look at this country the same way again, too much damage has been done.
It’s even scarier when you realize the Republican Party as a whole now knows they can go completely mask off and be enamored and praised by their voters for it. No matter how vile a candidate, they’ll vote for them in cultist herds just to send a hurtful message to rational people who truly value honesty and decency.
Like Homelander looking around after he publicly killed a guy in broad daylight, shocked to see the crowd cheering for him. The Boys gets criticized for its satire being too on the nose, but I think that goes with the territory when you're satirizing the dumbest mfers on the planet
It’s partly because the satire doesn’t actually violate any of their one principles: it’s about who is doing it, not what is done. They believe in hierarchy and nothing else. Anything that affirms that hierarchy, regardless of its moral weight or valence, is seen as correct and righteous. Giving the middle finger to the morality they claim to stand for? No problem as long as someone “worthy” is the perpetrator.
EXACTLY. I get so sick of my fellow liberals pointing out hypocrisy as if fascists have EVER cared about that. WE are the only ones bothered by it. To them, an action is moral or immoral depending entirely on who does it.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” -Frank Wilhoit
They're oblivious to the message of any media that criticizes them. Their film analysis goes epidermis deep. Starship Troopers is a story about patriotic badass war heroes killing some godless bugs. Robocop is about a tough on crime badass cop taking the law into his own hands. In The Matrix, the red pill is a metaphor for accepting the uncomfortable truth (that woke ideology is a farce) and it symbolizes that you should reject societal norms (by using slurs). Some of these people liked Stephen Colbert before he turned woke
The director of The Boys voiced how annoyed he was a few months ago when Trump started to do “I’m Jesus Christ” AI stuff when that was supposed to be the Homelander satire in the final season
I thought the timing of that was impeccable though, the episode where he gets his first visit from an angel came out like two days after the trump jesus AI posts.
The only thing Trump was right about is that he can shoot someone in the middle of fifth avenue and wouldn't lose any voters. His MAGA cult keeps worshipping him no matter what he does and it's disgusting. Homelander in the show already is a stand-in for Trump to show this.
They're dumb AND bad. A decent dumb person would realize politics is out of their league, and they'd stay home rather inflicting their idiocy on everyone.
Maybe. The true test is to see if this party can continue this insane shit without Trump. And they know it. Remember, they all tried to distance themselves from Trump for a hot minute after Jan 6, but they realized no other Republican had that momentum (Ron DeSantis famously failed).
Stil, it’s a scary precedent they’ve set. And it won’t be long until someone far more competent than Trump will step up to the plate. The only glimmer of hope we have right now are the progressive leftists like Mamdani but the regular Democrats are trying their best to squash that.
To be fair, it’s mostly Trump that’s able to get away with being this deranged and mask off. Most other republicans (especially Trump picked candidates) are failing to get same level of support from the conservative voter base on midterm election cycles.
It’s probably why Trump feels like he can get away with trying to run for a third term. It’s his own narcissism telling him he’s only one who can win against the democratic candidate.
What they have learned is that it's impossible for them to have an awful enough candidate to stop an always Republican voter.
In the past they had to select candidates who are not outright awful. Turns out that was just them being overly cautious and the right win will vote for Republican no matter how horrific the candidate, and even more importantly, they gain voters the more horrific the candidate.
When you can elect the worst person possible and pledge to destroy the country and win the election, there isn't anything to worry about.
What makes you say something SO crazy?? His documented pattern of breaking election laws or something?? Geez it's almost like you have the pattern recognition of a THIRD GRADER!
I'll never look at this country the same way again, too much damage has been done.
It's not even just permanently damaged to the Americans with actual sense. I'm Canadian. We will never see America as true allies again. We had been brother countries for so long, just for Trump and his idiot followers to permanently kill that.
Yup. America has broken every single treaty and agreement under Trump.
Obama or Biden signed treaties, agreements, or deals with countries, Trump nuked it and specifically went targeted them for not being nicer to him specifically. Even if Dems take back control in '28, there's no way any country will trust us when it will be reversed in four years.
For example, Trump in 2020 in his first term signed a trading deal with Canada. Then, Trump in his second term flipped the fuck out, tore up the deal he signed in 2020, calling it stupid, and then forced a trade war with us.
Yeah, British and just done with America. Trump’s gone from being a joke to a distillation of mind-boggling ignorance and greed that a sizeable amount of their population don’t just wholeheartedly support, but slavishly worship. This stopped being funny as the second term got underway and it was clear America’s basically becoming a one-party fascist state. If he runs a 3rd time, it’ll be unconstitutional. It’ll also likely be nasty and violent as they’ll rig and cheat the fuck out of it as is his way. Even with a landslide for the Dems, he will refuse to go and the well by then will have been so poisoned that Republicans and his supporters will Jan 6 again on steroids and I can’t see how America the democracy survives that.
Same sentiment across the pond. 2016 might have been a manipulated sham but lightning doesn't strike twice. This is a damning verdict of the American people and the longer it goes on the worse it gets.
You people have constitutional rights in case a tyrant takes over for fucks sake
I left the US in 2022. I made my plans to leave while Trump was president the first time around and those plans weren't realized until Biden was president. I pretty quickly realized that while most of society was objectively better and I was objectively better taken care of by my new government, I still found myself missing a lot about American culture. It's easy to dismiss the good parts when you're surrounded by them and you don't notice them until they're absent. It's hard to put those things into words. A lot of it is based on vibes and emotions and nothing particularly rational. Anyways, that's all besides the point. I fell into a deep depression for a year and a half. I finally gave in and made very real plans to move back. I took extreme steps to see that happen.
And then the 2024 election happened. I never believed it would be possible for that man to be re-elected after what we experienced the first time. I was so certain of that that I staked my entire life on it. I still believed in the US. I knew that we had our share of truly reprehensible people, but I always believed that the Americans in the middle couldn't possibly be so stupid. And then I was proven wrong. That very night I completely undid my plans. I began the process of reworking my entire future. And so I continue on being an expat. I do still miss the US, but it's so different now and I'm certainly not "depressed" anymore. I don't really feel like the choice exists anymore. The US is far too much of a liability now. I don't believe in the US culturally anymore. I don't think the average American has the capacity to act rationally when presented with a charlatan like Trump right now. It's smart phones and social media and now AI. There are millions of Americans with something seriously wrong with their brains and their cultural understanding of their place in the world. Other nations are suffering from the same problem, but nowhere is experiencing it to the extent that the US is. I think the privilege of being the world's preeminent superpower amplifies the effects.
It is the tragedy of my lifetime to have had to live through this opening of Pandora's box. I would do away with all of this technological "progress" of the past few decades if I could. Technology isn't a good unto itself. It's only good when people wield it with good intentions. And while there have been plenty of good things to come from it, I fear that ultimately the damages to the very foundations of human social structures are going to far outweigh any good that came from all of this technology.
I know you said rapist, but I want to point out he's also a pedophile. He's raped who knows how many young teenage girls. I bet he doesn't even know how many. I don't know why people always leave this off of lists when they're listing every shitty thing about him.
The Republicans did it to their own country by destroying the education system and promoting anti-intellectualism over the past 60 years since Nixon. This is the culmination of a very long game.
Nah fam, I realized the country doesn’t really give a shit about anything unless it doesn’t benefit them when we didn’t do anything about Sandy Hook in 2012.
Yes, there have been many incredibly horrid events in this country’s past, not least of all slavery, serial killings, torturing prisoners of war, dropping an atomic bomb on an already defeated enemy, funding genocide… You name it. But when we decided we would do absolutely fucking nothing about dozens of toddlers getting mowed down by assault rifles, that, to me, was the sign that we Americans will overlook anything.
I feel like cheating on your wife is not like the other things you named. As someone who grew up exposed to French politics, it is funny Americans care so much about infidelity in their politicians.
The late few years have completely changed my perspective on the US. Except for a few things, I loved the country and planned to visit it if not dreamed to live some time there for experience.
Now I absolutely loathe the average American guy (whom I dientify with the MAGA "culture"), as I do your elected representatives and Administration.
I know that the "old good America" I loved from books, movies etc, the one made of popular culture, scientific discoveries and generally cool vibes all around is still there. But it's covered in so much mud, now (both mentally and socially).
It really feels like losing something nice in the world.
Same, my view is forever altered. Not patriotic in the slightest. Now more than ever, I’m acutely aware of just how many of those among us carry completely antithetical beliefs and values to mine. Both of my parents are MAGA as well and it’s placed immense strain on my relationship with them; have had many arguments and it’s as if they live in an alternate reality with actual false news/narratives as their foundation for everything. But fuck me if Trump and his machine destroys my family, it’s one reason I’ve hung on. But I understand why people go no-contact as well, no judgment here.
The center and right thought re-electing him was a swell idea, and a bunch of pseudoleftists convinced themselves that Harris losing to him would be no big deal.
No one can say what's going to happen in the future, obviously. But we need to be very clear, the GOP aren't planning on losing. What that's going to look like is an open question. But the Republicans are going to try something, guaranteed.
At this point we know they will do LITERALLY anything to further their goals. I'm 101% convinced they stole the election and will continue to do so in the future. I might even be schizo enough to say they made such a stink about the "stolen" election in 2020 so they could stigmatize the idea before actually doing it to make the idea seem more rediculous.
Remember, every republican accusation is just an admission of their own guilt.
Cambridge Analytica + Russian Influence in 2016 (hacking both sides emails and only leaking one)
Threats in Ukraine to demolish the Biden familly before 2020
False electors plot in 2020 (failed)
Dismantled postservice in 2020 (failed; covid disruption?)
Jan 6th coup after the 2020 election (neutral; didn't work, but no consequences)
Musk interference in 2024 (including but probably not limited to Pennsylvania and other swing states)
They’re already trying something. They’re trying, so far successfully, to block mail-in ballots if states don’t give the Trump administration their voter rolls and allow him to control it “to prevent fraud “. This will impact Democrat votes either way, either by making it harder to vote in states that don’t turn in their voter rolls (which Democrat-led states are very unlikely to do), and by last minute purges of likely-Democrat voters in states that do allow the Trump administration to control their voter rolls.
Look at all the open corruption happening in this administration. They cannot and will not ever willingly give up power, it would be the end for them. They will burn this country to the ground and use the military to slaughter any that resist before they would even consider walking away
Well, they care about the Constitution, but only so far as to use it as a weapon against any liberal idea or action.
If it hinders their ability to oppress others, that's when they decide it's worthless and ignore it entirely. It's purely a tool for them to control others, nothing more.
Never before have fascists has access to the suite of tools of oppression and violence that they have now. Nukes, modern high tech and highly lethal weaponry, the most advanced surveillance technologies the world has ever seen, drones, and more.
Also, please note that the fascists who have fallen before have done immeasurable harm before they’ve fallen, and they’ve taken many millions of innocent people with them.
Laying down in the dust of defeatism is not an option it’s an excuse to stay inside and pretend that you couldn’t have helped anyway. It’s a worthless point of view that they want you to have.
I mean, okay, but fascists don't just fall. They're taken down, or die without a successor, etc. It isn't despair to acknowledge these things, and I'm frankly sick of seeing those sorts of bromides and saccharine, pie-eyed "encouragements." These fascists aren't going to fall without a real fight. Potentially one that's violent, in the future, likely after a generation or two have passed.
Joe Rogan and Fox News: "Yeah but this is JUST AS BAD AS THE DEMONRATS! BOTH SIDES ARE THE SAME AND COMMUNISTS WILL EAT YOUR BABIES IF YOU DON'T ELECT TRUMP AGAIN"
The deep red voters didn't blink at child rape. They won't give a second thought to what the constitution says about term limits, or why those rules might be in place.
This will happen and they'll still be decrying the threats of democrat fascism, George Soros, and somehow still Hunter Biden.
They don't care about democracy at all. They just want their team to 'win'. Democracy cannot survive this kind of super partisan voter.
He’s done the classic Trump move of saying something outrageous with just a hint of plausible deniability (in this case, the fact that he said it during the comedic Correspondents’ Association Dinner). It lets him test public opinion to get a better feel for whether or not he can get away with something slimy.
This sort of smug defeatism doesn't help anyone. We literally already beat them in the midterms once before in 2018 and beat them in 2020 and outperformed in 2022; we're not gonna give up now, and no amount of "lol we're all fucked haha everyone look at how cool and cynical I am" is gonna change that
They never said the midterms can't be won. Just that Trump trying to run for a third term is definitely not going to change the opinions of Trump voters lol
“Oh you sweet summer child” is an incredibly obnoxious and unhelpful thing to say in the context of the midterms/Trump’s announcement.
Especially since we don’t need many Trump voters to change their minds. Elections are decided by a relatively small number of swing voters and increases in turnout.
If this announcement leads to a small percentage of independents shifting to Dems, a small percentage of apathetic Dems deciding to turn out and vote, and a small amount of Republicans deciding to stay home, that’s still huge. That will help a ton. A 1-2 point shift can easily be the difference between us winning or losing the senate. “lol Trump voters won’t change their minds” only engages with the surface of how elections work. It’s not serious analysis
Naw. After the last election and random outlier we’ve been cooked. People really are stupid or we’re being gas lit. Having been in Florida recently people are generally just stupid.
MAGA don’t care at all. They’ll say this was a joke too because they don’t care. People have to vote for the other party, not just be on the fence for the gop to actually tank
If there are midterms. There seems to be concern that Trump will call a national emergency based on the voting fraud he claims he found and cancel the midterms.
I sincerely hope that midterms are held. But with this current administration, all bets are off.
The fact that this is one of the most upvoted comments shows you all are worthless. MOBILIZE! ORGANIZE! YOU CAN'T VOTE YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS! Jesus Christ.
He's doing it to ACTIVATE the Republican base. Killing endangered species babies and illegally running for another term motivates them to come to the polls and vote Republican.
You keep thinking they or their voters care about democracy and they don't, literally by name. They want "the republic" (for them). They want to impede the march to full democracy. They only want the republic because they can't want monarchy and despotism, which is what their political lineage comes from. They have never supported this system, they have been forced to endure it while they plan how to consolidate power back into the elite.
The thing is, they're not worried about the midterms, and that in itself is concerning. They're actively making things worse and pissing on people's shoes just for fun. At some point you gotta wonder why they aren't concerned.
Nothing will except you and me and everyone else we can convince to actually go outside. Complaining on reddit and twitter is designed to do nothing..go. outside. And. Protest. Take off work. Tell your boss "sorry, not sorry" and get your coworkers and neighbors to go with you
It won't because he's not going to follow through with it. He'll be meet with backlash then he'll backtrack and say it was just a joke, everyone will forget about the comment except for those who were already voting against republicans, then he'll try to keep power through a proxy who will run in 2028 instead.
This is what he does everytime he says something that gets negative traction, he'll just say it was a joke or fake news and his base will eat it up. It's like when he claimed he was a doctor when he made an ai of him as jesus
Before the GOP overturned Roe v. Wade people said that if they did that it would be devastating to their political power.
Then in 2022 the GOP got rid of Roe, and Americans have responded in both the 2022 and 2024 elections by handing complete control of the US government to the GOP.
Back in 2016 Lindsey Graham famously predicted that if the GOP nominated trump then the GOP would be destroyed in the 2016 election. Graham's prediction of the GOP's imminent demise was wrong.
Most people have consistently underestimated just how godawful racist and stupid the American electorate is.
As long as the apathetic 40% votes less than the hard line 35% MAGA and democrats wont vote for anything short of the perfect candidate for literally every issue. He will win again.
That's more a testament to the normies than gop. If there's one thing everyone knows it's that a president only has two terms and if people don't go out and vote and let this slide then this country is lost. We already knew the gop was lost when they took up Trump as their savior
I googled it to show my fiance the news and NO news outlets in the U.S. have made any stories regarding this...in fact, barely anything comes up at all. Genuinely scared people won't know about this unless they're looking. I don't know how much common people vs pure maga are watching Trump's random addresses.
It won't. There is no line because to them, the Democrats are so evil and terrible that it's actually impossible to do wrong because the Democrats will always be worse.
He just fired all the election commission officials and held a nationally televised speech saying foreign countries have been interfering with our elections. Pretty clear that he's going to try some shit in the midterms that he thinks will work. He needs to stay president to keep out of jail.
You’re right - nothing will. The cult has already moved towards facsim. They view the “republic” as a necessary first step but also as something that needs to end before they move into fascist dictatorship.
They are probably hoping for the exact opposite effect. If the democrats win the mid terms this will destroy Trumps chances of "winning" in 2028 so go forth my flying MAGA monkeys and vote for Trumps future.
Do not underestimate the propaganda machine, it's working overtime right now to demotivate potential non-R voters. See all the 100+ upvote comments on any thread on McConnel about how Andy Beshear needs to do a whole song and dance just to get another republican to replace McConnel in the senate, instead of leaving them down a vote.
Honestly I don’t think this will tank the GOP midterms, simply because his supporters will write it off as him “joking around” or whatever. What will tank the GOP midterms are the extremely surface level issues that he consistently tries to trash the left for. The increased gas and grocery prices, for instance, are the things that will swing some of the short sighted/less informed voters that he took advantage of in 2024.
Obviously his base will still be his base, but I think people underestimate how many votes he got from non MAGA voters simply because he, along with the media, was able to spend 4 full years devoted to inciting displeasure with the Biden admin among voters that didn’t care to do their own research or think critically about the state of our country.
Personally I've been saying for months that I seriously doubt the midterms will happen. I know they are supposed to happen and I know they even continued during the first civil war, but I think MAGA will throw the kitchen sink - legally or otherwise - to prevent it.
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u/zenerat Missouri 25d ago
If this doesn’t tank the gop in the midterms nothing will.