# The argument that Trump will do whatever he wants and no one can stop him is really fucking boring **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 12, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527 "2024-12-12T02:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 31
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/601 "2025-04-01T21:57:47Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The US president has already threatened > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Suggests violating the clear and plain text of the constitution > [@Mijin](#): > > the president has explicitly and unambiguously said Look, if you haven’t figured out by now that Trump is a pathological liar and you can’t believe anything just because he says it, I don’t know what to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/602 "2025-04-01T22:00:30Z")
**I don’t know what to tell you** because this is fucking stupid Firstly, he’s president now, so his words matter, _even if_ he’s lying. If the president declares war one day, we don’t get to play the “seriously, not literally” card – his words have consequences in themselves. But secondly, as we’ve all pointed out to you many times at this point, many of the crazy things Trump has said, _he’s then done_. Maybe we’re lucky and this won’t be one of those times. But that’s a crazy justification for handwaving it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/603 "2025-04-01T22:00:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Look, if you haven’t figured out by now that Trump is a pathological liar and you can’t believe anything just because he says it, I don’t know what to tell you. No doubt he is a liar but he can and is acting on these things as best he can. He’s doing the shit he talks about. Or trying to. As president, especially since the Supreme Court gave the president almost carte blanche to do anything and since he also has congress in his power, what is stopping him? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/604 "2025-04-01T22:02:42Z")
[Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole) managing to be more calm than me 😂 It’s the Pit, I was getting my mosh on ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/605 "2025-04-02T04:06:52Z")
This isn’t directed to anyone in particular. Can we, a group of folks that appear to be smarter than the average bear, take a beat and take stock of the things he’s _not accomplished_ ? The lawsuits he _hasn’t_ won? The EOs that are being challenged? donnie’s stupid shit is constantly thrown in our faces; I’m pretty sure everyone here has heard all the negative crap, we all know what’s at stake. _Neither_ side has any more idea what _will_ happen than anyone else. At this point, defeatism seems self-imposed. I understand fear and venting, but at some point it’s just a drag to read through the doom forecasting. I have to assume that folks that hold this view are probably not doing anything to turn the tide. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it follows that people already gearing up for defeat probably aren’t working on a solution. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/606 "2025-04-02T11:37:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > At this point, defeatism seems self-imposed. Continually calling it that will never _make_ it that. Just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/607 "2025-04-02T13:53:24Z")
One more point: Not everybody that complains about their marriage is headed inexorably toward divorce. Not everybody that complains about their job has checked out and is bound to quit. Why do _you_ need people who are in the midst of an ongoing hail of gunfire to actively celebrate each bullet that misses? Why is that a reasonable expectation? If you don’t like the threads that discuss the actions of the Trump administration, then – Doper to Doper (ie, I’m not a moderator) – wouldn’t it be easier and better for _you_ to avoid those threads entirely? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/608 "2025-04-02T14:09:59Z")
Right. When, for example, an innocent man and perfectly legal immigrant, is sent to an El Salvadorean prison and told he can probably never return, I’m not about to start celebrating that that hasn’t yet happened to _everyone_. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/609 "2025-04-03T22:33:01Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Innocent people being sent to an El Salvadorean supermax prison, or yanked off the streets and deported for disagreeing with Trump. > It’s not a matter any more of “will the worst thing happen” it’s “at what scale will the worst thing happen at before it can be stopped?” But somehow it’s better if we don’t ever mention this. Apparently. We are at the mercy of people who excuse their admitted mistake of disappearing an innocent man (Kilmar Abrego Garcia, deported to the El Salvador prison despite no convictions on any crime) by citing “traffic violations” as justification. > [@](#): > > Vance went on: “He had also committed some traffic violations, he had not shown up for some court dates. This is not exactly ‘father of the year’ here. This is a person that we don’t think should be in our country.” And Vance is perfectly comfortable stating that someone with “traffic violations” should be whisked out of the country and incarcerated for life in a brutal prison with no hope of ever getting out. This isn’t a hypothetical that people here are “hyperventilating” about. It’s reality. But somehow it’s better if we don’t mention it, because mentioning it is indulging in “outlandish doomsday scenarios.” > **[JD Vance Suggests Migrant Deported In Error Was A Bad Person Due To Traffic...](https://www.aol.com/jd-vance-suggests-migrant-deported-155812865.html)** > > The Trump administration admitted that the removal of a Maryland father had been done in error, but the vice president defended it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/610 "2025-04-04T02:23:12Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Continually calling it that will never _make_ it that. > > Just so you know. Just so you know, AI gives the following as the definition of ‘defeatism’. I don’t have to make it that; that’s what it is. _Defeatism is characterized by a pessimistic and resigned attitude, where individuals believe that success is unlikely or impossible, leading to a lack of motivation or resistance._ > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Not everybody that complains about their job has checked out and is bound to quit. Not everyone who tries to find the potential positive in this shite situation is denying any of the atrocities happing. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/611 "2025-04-04T03:59:01Z")
Still bored? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/612 "2025-04-04T04:53:19Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Just so you know, AI gives the following as the definition of ‘defeatism’. And? It’s “AI”. Anything it says is baseless. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/613 "2025-04-04T11:45:47Z")
But you and (primarily) **Smapti** are the ones doing the accusing, and – even under the dictionary definition that you provided: > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > characterized by a pessimistic and resigned attitude There’s an **and** in there, not an **or.** Many of us are concerned. I think we have abundant reason _to be_ concerned. Must you characterize that concern as either pessimism _or_ resignation. Can’t you accept what most of us _tell you_ is in our heads. Does it advantage you, somehow, to presume to know our thinking better than we do? And _what of_ the concept of just ignoring these conversations entirely if you either cannot grok, or don’t support, their existence? Why do you believe you know where those conversations will lead? On what basis do you think they’re far more likely to render most of us suicidal and comatose rather than clarify our understanding of the situation and possibly spur us into some sort of action? Do you think resisters and freedom fighters refrained from discussing what they saw happening in their countries and coming to them and their compatriots? I literally don’t get it, and your explanation … didn’t explain anything – at least, not to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/614 "2025-04-04T13:25:04Z")
There’s a term that got coined on LBC of _normalcy bias_. That, while it’s true that there’s a human tendency to alarmism and saying the sky is falling, there is also a tendency sometimes to not want to accept that things are really that bad. “You’re telling me this rapidly rising water is a tsunami? Get real!” Such that those of us just calling a spade a spade get accused of panicking. A lot of analysts recently, people I respect and normally have a good take, have done some version of the “Stop calling it fascism” article. Where they go through the elements that define fascism, and in every case have to concede trump has publicly said he wants to achieve it, and has succeeded to some extent, at breakneck speed. But, we can’t call it fascism because he hasn’t successfully implemented it 100% yet…it’s not yet wartime Germany. I think they are bright enough to know the flaw in this reasoning, I think they just can’t bring themselves to accept the situation we find ourselves in. And, because fascism has been used hyperbolically in the past, well, it must be hyperbolic now. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/615 "2025-04-04T13:26:29Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Why do _you_ need **people who are in the midst of an ongoing hail of gunfire to actively celebrate each bullet that misses?** Well said David. I am happy when I miss a close call, but more than anything, it worries me, and I reflect on how in the hell I let the close call happen in the first place. Those close calls generally make a person take more responsibility and be safer. That is not happening in the USA. Hold my beer, and watch this, does not often work out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/616 "2025-04-04T13:45:09Z")
One reasonable question is how much time we have to stop him. **Smapti** says we should primary ineffective Democrats and get better leaders. I agree, but I simply don’t think we can afford to wait until 2026, so how can we do this on a timescale that’s effective? Same issue with the courts. Nobody will stop him, or even slow him down much, until 2026. I’m reasonably confident that 2026 will see a blue wave, but governing the hollow shell of a once decent country. I don’t think it’s doom-posting to say that, because that’s where we are. April 2025 through January 2027, we only have the politicuans, judges, legislature, and courts that we now have. Voting doesn’t stop that until Nov. 2026; what does? Protesting? Non-compliance? Sober suited investment bankers with wealth and actual economic clue? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/617 "2025-04-08T20:02:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Just so you know, AI gives the following as the definition of ‘defeatism’. I don’t have to make it that; that’s what it is. > > _Defeatism is characterized by a pessimistic and resigned attitude, where individuals believe that success is unlikely or impossible, leading to a lack of motivation or resistance._ That’s not even actually a definition. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/618 "2025-04-11T15:02:18Z")
Supreme court rules, **in a 9-0 vote** , that Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned. This is of course, great news. And I think it does go into the column of support for the view that Trump is not Supreme Leader yet. OTOH, this had become a high profile, and clearly unjust, case…reversing it may just give rhetorical cover for the idea that _all the other_ deportations and imprisonments are not indiscriminate. I guess we’ll see whether this establishes a precedent or was just to quell some of the outcry. > **[Supreme Court instructs Trump to return man wrongly deported to El Salvador jail](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gnzzeg34o)** > > The government has said Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported because of an "administrative error", but has fought against his return to the US. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/619 "2025-04-11T22:23:46Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I guess we’ll see whether this establishes a precedent or was just to quell some of the outcry. Fair point. We’ll also see if he actually gets returned. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/620 "2025-04-12T05:28:48Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I guess we’ll see whether this establishes a precedent or was just to quell some of the outcry. I saw in another thread that Team Trump is pursing the idea of making part of that El Salvador jail into sovereign territory of the US. If that happens, they won’t need to return the guy because he’ll already be in the US. Creative incompetence and malicious compliance. Does SCOTUS have a mechanism for dealing with that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=32)