I think you’re onto something here!
I would suspect that the only reason Gaetz got the appointment in the first place was so he had an excuse to resign from Congress and hopefully bury the Ethics Committee report (which wound up getting released anyway).
But that would require Trump to do someone a favor without getting something better in return, and that’s just anathema to his way of thinking.
It may be that what Trump got out of it was a test case, as to just how far he could push Senate Republicans, and just how compliant they were going to be to him, at that moment in time.
Hey, it’s happened before.
You have far more faith in their inability to continue to delude themselves than I do. The marionettist currently providing the performance are damn close to Trump = John Gill.
I agree we need to work on the disaster in front of us. We also need to protect against the insane disasters the republicans, especially maga, want to inflict upon us. Also, see the John Gill reference above.
That’s the way it’s been done in our past 200+ years of normalcy. We’re no longer dealing with normal. As I mentioned above, I do not believe the suggested plan of fronting Vance so VP Trump can become America’s first phoenix is anywhere close to legal or constitutional. The point is a segment of maga believe it is and we have already seen how maga, and their leader Trump, view the laws and the constitution.
Another thing is those other dictators spent years, decades, inculcating their vision of governance in their designated heirs. Trump has not done that nor will he ever. It’s too close to admitting he does not deserve to be president forever. Do you remember how he treated Pence when the vice president did not do his bidding to overthrow the election? That’s not someone who believes he’s training a successor.
One of the many books I’ve read on North Korea discussed the idea of a woman in charge of North Korea. The author roundly dismissed it as impossible in that society. It does appear, though, he’s begun grooming his elder daughter (skipping over his son) for the role. Here is an NPR report on the issue.. The current leader hand-picking his child, even a daughter, will override the daughter of a deceased leader vying for the role, IMHO.
Yep. He’s a coward. And he has an outsized ego, but not one as bad his master’s. He’ll accept the plan so he’ll go down in history books as the 48th president and then sod off to oblivion once he has performed his part.
That’s exactly like the discussion in Fahrenheit 451 about an upcoming election.
Oh, you! I only say that because I’m jealous I didn’t come up wit hit. Good job!
He gets shot. The Secret Service cannot protect him from the number of Trump faithful.
Now that would be poetic justice.
The world’s coolest dictator knows that locking a foreign former president in CECOT would set a bad precedent for himself. So Bukele would weasle out of accepting Trump.
For the same reason, if Bidens are jailed (2027?), they need not fear El Salvador either.
Yes it has, and it could happen again, but it doesn’t seem very likely to me. Past attempts have been by lone nuts, not the politically motivated.
I do not think you are wrong. However we are already seeing that when there’s real money at stake, things change. I can see it going 2 ways, one is that it really does get so bad that it can’t be ignored and they find a more or less gentle way to put Trump out to pasture. In which case Vance takes over.
The other way is that Trump is coddled along by his advisors and cabinet for the next 3 and change years. In which case we see increasing instability as his handlers fight among themselves for access and power. To build on your John Gill reference, in Trump’s case there’s no one Melakon (I almost mis-typed Melania there - but she’s not up to the job) controlling him. It’s his whole staff and cabinet, all with varying agendas
I think this scenario will be become so obviously counter productive that there’s no chance that Trump or his handlers will be able to mount any kind of credible attempt at staying in power.
Every time I think like, there’s no way anybody could enthusiastically support a sleazy, lying opportunist like V.D., I remember the inexplicable love so many have for trump, a creature with no redeeming qualities.
Even serial killers get marriage proposals in prison.
What Love_Rhombus said.
Dictatorships are common. Having a presidential system go on for centuries without a successful coup and/or devolution into dictatorship is unusual. If Huey Long had lived, democracy here might already be long gone.
One reason Trump’s threats against Greenland concern me is that the conquest of that island could go so well as to fuel a wave of Pro-Trump jingoism, pushing him way up in the polls.
Getting back to the cabinet toadies (as I should have in my last post), this, from CNN this morning, seems to me to make sense re Hegseth:
While I don’t buy that Trump is a fascist, there are points of comparison. And Hitler sometimes kept on incompetents, including morphine addict Hermann Göring.
There’s a danger that rather than firing Hegseth, Trump will give him some easy military mission, like invading Greenland or the Canal Zone, to show success with.
Most dictatorships are run by a strong man (Or Strongman if you will) and Trump is not one. In addition to being rather weak minded, his time is very definitely limited, and everyone in his orbit knows it. The smart ones are preparing for the end game, though some seem to be in deep denial. This can work out for a dictatorship if there is a solid transition plan in place, but I don’t see one here.
Traditionally such a circumstance results in a civil war. I hope that doesn’t happen here.