You don’t think Trump would sell arms to Putin? Were you living in a cave from 2016-2020?
A big part of POTUS appeal to Trump is the opportunity to sell influence and/or stuff that he controls even if he doesn’t personally own it.
Yes, I was in a cave from 2016-2020. My one-bedroom apartment was so cluttered that, well…
But if Trump wanted to sell arms to Russia: 1) it would be political suicide, 2) he had four years to do so and didn’t, and 3) Congress has the authority to block foreign arms sales.
I didn’t just ask about “the worst possible outcome”, I asked about “the worst possible outcome, realistically”.
Yes, totalitarianism is the worst possible outcome, but how likely is it?
My guess: project 2025 + Trump will try to use legal means and loopholes to change as many things as possible about government in the direction Conservatives and Trump prefer. I don’t think they will resort to currently-illegal things like declaring Trump president for life.
However
- We have seen in the past few years that US democracy functions not just by what’s written in law, but also by convention and common decency and there are huge gaps in the law that can be exploited if someone doesn’t have common decency and respect for democracy. So, even via legal means, they can do a lot of damage.
- Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, even if Trump did an illegal thing like declare himself president for life, a decent chunk of MAGA would be fine with that. (there’s even a video of some conservative lady saying as much)
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No, the MAGA’s would celebrate it, and the tame media outlets like Fox News would helpfully explain why it was a masterfully good idea.
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He didn’t because he lacked the team to help him. This time, the team is ready and willing to jump on board.
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Ronald Reagan called. He’s laughing at your comment pretty hard.
- This man cannot commit political suicide. It’s impossible. Whatever he does is right and good and just. His cult is firmly under his spell and will easily handwave away anything and everything that they see. 5D chess! Owning the libs! The coming storm! Whatever.
- There were some controls and guardrails still working during his presidency, thank Og.
- The current, and likely upcoming, congress will do whatever he wants or he’ll sic his supporters on them, call them a RINO, make sure they’re run out of town on a rail, and that they’ll never eat lunch in this town again. There are no principled Republicans left. They’ve either flipped or been run off.
That didn’t work. Next time he’ll use the military.
Sure. The ex wife who probably released one of his tax returns fell down the stairs.
From Wikipedia:
On July 14, 2022, aged 73, Ivana, who was reportedly frail in her last months, died of blunt impact injuries to the torso after falling down stairs at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.[80][81]
It’s common for the elderly to die after falling, but it usually takes days or weeks. Somehow, she managed to die so quickly that she couldn’t tell anyone what happened. Yes, i think trump arranged that.
I mean, we might survive a trump election without descending into fascism. But i think the odds of Biden winning are a lot higher than the odds of Trump winning and us remaining a nation of laws.
Yeah, how does a lame duck commit political suicide?
There will be no personal political ramifications to him for any actions he might take. Why not grab for it all and forever stop all those courts and nasty judges from being mean to him?
He could never burn the Capitol, err Reichstag. Surely, that would be political suicide.
Indeed. Naivete may be the death of our democracy.
No, try fatalism.
Look, anyone can have any grand scheme and plot anything and sometimes succeed. 9-11, Pearl Harbor, Fort Sumter, whatever. And maybe a lot of fighting and a lot of death follows. I’m not really worried about the naive there, I think they’ll come around. I just have no use for this fatalistic crap. Fight.
I don’t consider it fatalistic to acknowledge that many Americans take for granted certain legal protections and rights and fail to understand that elections have consequences that potentially include legislation that would undermine those protections and rights.
He would not sell arms to Putin. He would give arms to Putin in exchange for building a hotel in Moscow.
Didn’t he already share information with Russian officials in the White House? Aren’t there still missing files of information?
Who’s saying we shouldn’t fight? People don’t fight if they think everything is fine or gonna be fine. There’s nothing wrong with imagining what could happen, even if it sounds bonkers or fatalistic.
I even pondered upthread at what point do people in totalitarian regimes know it’s time to start shooting. That is fighting back.
I belive there is a 1st amendment argument against the 22nd. I think Trump and his advisors would be the only ones willing to try it. But, this a discussion for another thread.
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Nothing Trump does is “Political suicide”, that’s the whole problem.
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Russia wasn’t at war then, nor was it an international pariah due to said war. So no need to sell them weapons then.
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If Trump wins, I’d bet good money on the GOP winning Congress, and they will not block him. These are the people who let him avoid being impeached and convicted twice already. Why would they start holding him to account after winning the biggest victory he’s ever had?
The fact that Trump’s followers treat him like a God doesn’t mean he gets a third term.
I know this won’t effect everyone, but my step- daughter is trans. Her mom and I will do anything to protect her. Thankfully, my wife has Canadian citizenship, so we may end up having to move.
I agree. But I wouldn’t put it past him to try and litigate the issue.
Speaking as a Canadian, if you have the means, move even farther away. All the shit Trump is spewing is leaking across the border, and it will only get worse if he wins this time.