When Trump fails it is because people get wind of what he is trying to do and put a lot of effort into stopping him, and not because they sit on their hands and say “Well, that can’t happen so there is nothing to worry about. Why should I get upset about it?”. To encourage the latter and not the former is utterly irresponsible.
This. Trump hasn’t gotten as far as he has or done as much damage as he has because he’s clever or skilled or determined; he’s gotten so far due to nearly everyone in his way just stepping aside or falling down in supplication before him. It’s no wonder he’s a narcissist when he’s been treated like a god his whole life.
This, basically.
Trump,wants to nationalize elections. Waiting for the brain trust to tell me this is no cause for concern.
Gift link to NYTimes article:
Well, that can’t happen so there is nothing to worry about. Why should I get upset about it?
I know, right? This guy tried to kill me, but his first shot missed, ipso facto: nothing to worry about.
“The law will constrain him! Elections are 100% under the control of the states so he can do nothing! The Supreme Court would slap him down! The Constitution will stop him!”
I suspect we can all write the ‘no cause for concern’ post in our sleep by this point.
There is a lot of resistance to Donald making himself the guy who oversees every aspect of elections (which indeed have historically been largely, though not fully, under the purview of the states). Of course this ignores the likelihood that Donald will use his thousands of lawless thugs to enforce his wishes. He may even resort to a Big Event that will justify the use of force.
But none of that can interfere with the eternal sunshine of our resident spotless minds.
It’s the same cast of idiots who have been wrong about everything for more than a decade.
Which is probably, at least in part, why they aggressively ignore history and seem – by implication – to entreat us to do the same.
I don’t think you are asking the right question.
I don’t think he’s any “better” but he (or his team) have learned from past mistakes and are closer to their goals, and have been more effective in achieving their goals, than last time. Unlike 6 years ago he has removed from office anyone who has any qualities other than blind loyalty to him and lack of concerns about the rule of law. There are no Pences any more. There are only Noems. He is bolder, and boldness is not competence but it can achieve results (in a crash or crash through manner). He’s working on building a loyalist military force (ICE). He’s taken effective steps to block and cower the fifth estate.
Yes. I think Trump last time greatly overestimated the Democrats and expected they’d fight back, so he was more careful. But this time he’s figured out that most of them would literally rather die than stand up to him so he’s just been crashing through anything in his way without care while the Democrats wring their hands and watch.
That’s not a matter of him being “better”; his success in life has never been about skill. It’s about how nearly everyone in his path has flung themselves down in submission to him his entire life. He’s never really needed skill, or even effort; just pick something he wants to do and watch as everyone rushes to enable him regardless of the cost to themselves. Trump is entirely an artifact of privilege.
That’s the biggest error of the OP. It’s not that no one can stop him. It’s that no one with the ability will even try.
When it comes to elections, at least, the perils (while real) are not that drastic. I posted this in another thread:
This whole conversation is very germane to this thread:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/opinion/trump-nationalize-elections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KVA.76ke.WYuwUiddRe1j&smid=url-share
(Gift link is to New York Times 31-minute conversation video, and transcript: “The Real Threat Isn’t Trump. It’s the MAGA Apparatus. The round table convenes to debate whether we need to worry about the midterms being free and fair.”)
Among other matters, they discuss how US elections are run at the local (precinct) level, so it’s impossible to “rig” them directly…but MAGA has spent several years inserting folks into positions like poll-watchers, county election officials, etc., so it will be easier for them to delegitimize the results (both before and after Election Day), which could have real consequences – amplified by the knowledge that the Jan 6 insurrectionists were pardoned.
Jamelle Bouie, in particular, is cautiously optimistic on this score, noting how Trump’s actionable “successes” have tended to be when legal and institutional structures aren’t in place to stop him, e.g. ICE thuggery via one agency where the president really does have power.