# Things that "can't happen" that are poised to happen soon **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640 "2018-08-15T06:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/61 "2018-08-16T20:40:03Z")
The Straight Dope Message Board will enable avatars. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/62 "2018-08-16T21:01:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Go big or go home. I’m predicting a repeat of the 1929-1932 financial crisis. Well, with the way the climate change thing is going, we’re gonna have another Dust Bowl again too. So it will the 1930’s ALL OVER AGAIN!!! Yay!!! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/63 "2018-08-17T02:19:10Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’m afraid to predict how America’s lurch toward tyranny will play out, but this complacency is misplaced. An optimist like **Wesley Clark** must be unfamiliar with how swiftly catastrophe can arrive. > > The Nazis got barely 37% of the vote in the 1932 German elections, but through stubbornness and trickery\* were soon ruling the country. (\* - was the Reichstag fire a “false flag” operation?) Sound familiar? Anyone doubt that Bolton will happily stage a false-flag attack, perhaps with Russian assistance, if the GOP is in danger of losing the 2020 election? > > Some of the people who should be leading the resistance seemed more concerned about whether Trevor Noah had apologized enough. Things may work out . But I think there’s a pretty fair chance that, before long, 2018 will be viewed as “the good old days.” AIUI, getting 37% in a parliamentary system with as many parties as Germany had back then was/is different than getting it in a first-past-the-post system like the United States’. It translates to a powerful and widespread following, maybe the equivalent of 60% of the vote in today’s America? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/64 "2018-08-17T02:22:21Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Some jurisdiction (city, county, whatever) will institute an ethnic requirement for voting, claiming first amendment rights or something. > > I’m not saying it will stick, but the way the country is going, I can abolutely see this “never again” scenario happening. Again. I doubt it will be that blatant, but I could see something akin to literacy/academic-attainment tests coming back, with both sides claiming that the other side’s voters are so ignorant as to be a danger to American democracy - and the voter tests being willfully skewed to disqualify the other side’s voters. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/65 "2018-08-17T08:32:50Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I witnessed the Cubs win a World Series, so I no longer believe \*anything \*is impossible. Red Sox too. So maybe the Mariners will get to the playoffs soon… Nah, some things are just inconceivable… ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/66 "2018-08-17T09:01:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I could see something akin to literacy/academic-attainment tests coming back, with both sides claiming that the other side’s voters are so ignorant as to be a danger to American democracy - and the voter tests being willfully skewed to disqualify the other side’s voters. This is what scares me. Trump will be gone soon, but the backlash will last for decades. A new politically-correct McCarthyism,proudly sponsored by the left. Instead of accusations of "coddling Communists"and “have you ever associated with a sympathizer”, we will hear accusations of coddling Trumpists and association with right-wing sympathizers. Obviously, the First Amendment will still exist,so the new McCarthyism won’t be imposed by law. It will be imposed by lower-level bureaucrats who write regulations and set budgets. **Velocity’s** suggestion of Literacy tests are a great example. The minor issues currently happening on college campuses,which Fox News loves to exaggerate, about conservative speakers being silenced or attacked, will become the norm. “You admit to watching FoxNews?–you’re fired.” "You want to speak on campus?–First, submit your text for approval by the House Committee on unAmerican Thought. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/67 "2018-08-17T13:16:21Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > The minor issues currently happening on college campuses,which Fox News loves to exaggerate, about conservative speakers being silenced or attacked, will become the norm. > “You admit to watching FoxNews?–you’re fired.” > "You want to speak on campus?–First, submit your text for approval by the House Committee on unAmerican Thought. Are there any actual examples of this happening, or is it all just right-wing lunacy? Note that ‘we’re not going to let an actual Nazi preach genocide on campus’ does not qualify. It’s also pretty hypocritical; it’s only recently that the right-wing firings of people who dared to say “I’m gay” have stopped, and it wasn’t that long before that “I might just marry a black guy” was a firing offense. But somehow we’re poised for an unprecedented “you watch Fox News, you’re fired!” era on the basis of… Fox News making stuff up? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/68 "2018-08-17T14:21:53Z")
A Secret Service agent cracks under the strain and takes out the first three in line of succession in an Oval Office meeting massacre. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/69 "2018-08-18T18:17:35Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > This is what scares me. > Trump will be gone soon, but the backlash will last for decades. > A new politically-correct McCarthyism,proudly sponsored by the left. > > Instead of accusations of "coddling Communists"and “have you ever associated with a sympathizer”, we will hear accusations of coddling Trumpists and association with right-wing sympathizers. > > Obviously, the First Amendment will still exist,so the new McCarthyism won’t be imposed by law. It will be imposed by lower-level bureaucrats who write regulations and set budgets. > > **Velocity’s** suggestion of Literacy tests are a great example. > The minor issues currently happening on college campuses,which Fox News loves to exaggerate, about conservative speakers being silenced or attacked, will become the norm. > “You admit to watching FoxNews?–you’re fired.” > "You want to speak on campus?–First, submit your text for approval by the House Committee on unAmerican Thought. Not a chance. The left barely exists in the US; it is nowhere near powerful enough to do that and never will be. Nor will it matter when Trump goes, the Republicans will still have control. And if anything left wingers are more likely to be silenced on campuses than right wingers; Fox should never be believed in anything it says. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/70 "2018-08-18T23:08:43Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > With Trump getting elected, Brexit, Leicester City winning the Premier League in spite of 5000-to-1 odds, Germany finishing last in its group, etc. there have been plenty of surprises or “things that can’t happen” happening in the past few years. What is another “Can’t happen” thing that may very well happen soon? > > I think the Cleveland Browns may very well be legit Super Bowl contenders in the near future, for one. > > And America is heading for a tyrannical dystopia very soon. > > I also suspect some LGBT advocates may one day take things to the point where heterosexuals will be required to participate in gay activities as part of LGBT education. Do you actually know any gays? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/71 "2018-08-18T23:48:47Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Exactly what LGBT activities do you envision people being forced to participate in? > > (This has to be one of the silliest conjectures I’ve ever heard of, but maybe I’m misunderstanding? ) > > So please, to what _activities_ are you referring? Already many politicians are required to be in Pride parades and many companies are forced to cough up donations. Also look at companies like say Chick falet who get boycotted. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/72 "2018-08-19T00:07:36Z")
Everything will be fine. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/73 "2018-08-19T00:10:52Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Already many politicians are required to be in Pride parades and many companies are forced to cough up donations. > > Also look at companies like say Chick falet who get boycotted. Who is required to be in any parade or cough up donations? And what do boycotts have to do with this? There have been boycotts for decades or more. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/74 "2018-08-19T00:56:37Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Already many politicians are required to be in Pride parades and many companies are forced to cough up donations. > > Also look at companies like say Chick falet who get boycotted. Who’s forcing the donations? Are the Sicilian Mob all gay and we never knew it? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/75 "2018-08-19T03:11:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not a chance. The left barely exists in the US; it is nowhere near powerful enough to do that and never will be. We keep hearing on the one hand that Hillary won the popular vote and that Trump only won because millions of blue voters stayed home and also that demographics will rise a Democratic tide to dominance in the decades ahead, and then also now that the left will always be weak and not able to overcome the GOP. Something’s got to give. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/76 "2018-08-19T03:16:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > We keep hearing on the one hand that Hillary won the popular vote and that Trump only won because millions of blue voters stayed home and also that demographics will rise a Democratic tide to dominance in the decades ahead, and then also now that the left will always be weak and not able to overcome the GOP. Something’s got to give. Hillary Clinton and the Democrats aren’t “the left”. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/77 "2018-08-19T14:42:49Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Also look at companies like say Chick falet who get boycotted. If you’re going to misspell it, at least make it something more appropriate, like “Chick Fell-Ate.” ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/78 "2018-08-19T14:50:42Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Already many politicians are required to be in Pride parades and many companies are forced to cough up donations. > > Also look at companies like say Chick falet who get boycotted. Cite for politicians that are required to be in pride parades and companies forced to donate? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/79 "2018-08-19T14:52:23Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Already many politicians are required to be in Pride parades and many companies are forced to cough up donations. You appear to be confused. The Taxpayer Protection Pledge and the National Rifle Association have nothing to do with gay rights. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640/80 "2018-08-19T15:37:13Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Hillary Clinton and the Democrats aren’t “the left”. According to the political standards of many American conservatives anyone who isn’t pro life and supports any sort of gun control is automatically a hard-core leftist. (Which I know must drive a lot of people on the Left crazy.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-cant-happen-that-are-poised-to-happen-soon/819640.md?page=5)