# What will be the "last straw" in the administration's assault on our country / democracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 4, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676 "2025-08-04T03:23:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/61 "2025-08-04T14:12:07Z")
Yup. People think that somehow the USA is special, but empires fall and democracies die. He’s doing everything he can to destroy our heritage, our international advantages in science, health, etc., our institutions, and the mainstream media is barely able to cover it. Normal media is just not equipped to deal with an administration that lies so much, because covering the truth seems like partisanship, so they will just let the country die instead of accurately reporting on all the lies and corruption. There is no last straw, there is no bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/62 "2025-08-04T14:15:00Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > As mentioned: a huge portion of the country _ **already** _ leads a life of “be thankful for and enjoy what you have” “be the gray man who’s not noticed” “I get screwed anyway by politics whoever’s in charge, why should I care”. There’s no “straw” for them. Very good point. Add them to MAGA, and the remainder is quite small and unempowered. I’ve mentioned before that one guy I golf with is a Trump supporter. Yesterday he was complaining that his daughter was moving to north-central Indiana with her 5 yr old twins. I asked if her politics were similar to his, because IME, that was an awfully red area. He said something about her knowing enough to know there isn’t much she can do about it, so she doesn’t pay much attention to such things. But - hey! Lookit how cheaply she was able to buy housing! Then, when he said something about, “at least there the politicians don’t steal from you”, and I stepped away. A whole lotta folk like is daughter, I believe. Makes it easier for those who ARE paying attention and actively working to push an agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/63 "2025-08-04T14:32:29Z")
No, they most certainly didn’t, aren’t and won’t. Yet another in a long line of “Surely others will do something, so I won’t have to” solutions. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/64 "2025-08-04T14:37:36Z")
We know they won’t because the arrest have already started, > **[At least 5 elected officials have been arrested or confronted by police while...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/18/us/elected-officials-confronted-immigration-enforcement-hnk)** > > New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at Manhattan’s immigration court Tuesday, becoming the latest elected official to be detained or forcibly removed from immigration-related proceedings amid the Trump... ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/65 "2025-08-04T14:44:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That was a long time ago; nobody cares if protesters die anymore. They could just drive tanks through the protest marches and turn them all into meat paste, and the public will just shrug and say at least that clears up traffic. I was expecting reactions like this, but I’m not sure how realistic they are. Sure, there are a lot of people who fantasize about killing “those people”, but right now, those are still fantasies. A lot of the time, people find out that getting what they think they want in reality ends up not being what they expected at all. How will these people really react to scenes where some trigger-happy ICE agents turned a Home Depot parking lot into a charnel house, because someone called them names? ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/66 "2025-08-04T14:45:18Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I’m going to vote against the crowd here and say that there will be a straw. But straws being straws, we can’t predict what it will be. It will be something small, something normally tolerable but it will happen in the right/wrong place on the right/wrong day and soon it will be on every news channel. Maybe it will be a traffic stop gone wrong. Maybe it will be some politician being disrespectful to a crowd at a town hall. Maybe it will be some obviously manipulated jobs numbers while people are suffering. Who knows? But there will be some bullshit that happens that will tip the scales. I am sure some people assumed the Berlin Wall was going to be standing forever until that one guy was asked about when it would be coming down and he said “umm, now I guess?” History is funny like that and soon it will be our time to laugh again. If anything does break the camel’s back, I believe it’ll be something completely stupid, like him pissing his pants on live TV, or him showing up pantsless (and perhaps even underwearless) to meet with a world leader, a gesture that will make his senility clear to all but the staunchest of MAGAs. Sort of like how it was something completely stupid, like a failed businessman and reality show host with a penchant for making offensive remarks garnering serious traction as a presidential candidate, being the straw that broke our political system. The other thing I can maybe see happening is an equally clownish figure popping on the right willing to call him out on his bullshit. But that person isn’t going to do so by issuing reasoned critiques of Trump’s policies and assaults on American democracy. They’ll do it by lobbing insults on Twitter, and making fun of his penis size. In other words, this will be another circus act that Americans will turn their eyes toward. Ultimately, though, American society isn’t really one geared toward making great sacrifices. So long as the majority of people are able to scroll on their phones, watch their Netflix, sleep in their air conditioned houses and eat their fast food, you’re not going to see a great uprising. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/67 "2025-08-04T14:51:56Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > For the life of me, I can’t imagine what the R majorities in Congress and the Supremes see as the desirability of the powerful unitary executive, such that they willingly relinquish their authority and eliminate the system of checks and balances. But they seem to be so willing. That part is easy. It’s cowardice. They’d rather cede their power than lose in a primary. Pathetic, but I’m sure that’s it. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the authoritarian take over of governments and institutions isn’t an American only thing. Its a global thing. All from the very same playbook. I’m just as fucked where I’m living as you are in America. Thank you for noting this. Too many people don’t realize it’s happening around half the globe. The US is the most prominent, the most impactful, and maybe even the farthest along (though, um, Hungary), but it’s not unique to us. > [@Velocity](#): > > The last straw will be when Trump goes after Congressmen themselves Agreed. I’m pretty sure if they actually used their impeachment power the various organs (SCOTUS, military, etc) would respect it. There is some hope. Not all the Republican voters are MAGA. Some of them are reachable. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/68 "2025-08-04T14:58:14Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > That part is easy. It’s cowardice. They’d rather cede their power than lose in a primary. Pathetic, but I’m sure that’s it. OK - but if they aren’t protecting their “power,” what are they protecting? Why do they care if they are re-elected? It isn’t as though the majority of them are young folk living paycheck to paycheck. Is it just the APPEARANCE of power? The trappings? Because so many of them seem to have been perfectly willing to become mere lackeys. I GUESS so long as they do his bidding, they have some reflected authority… ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/69 "2025-08-04T14:58:40Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > ’ve said it in other threads, but the main lesson I learned in the aftermath of January 6, 2021 was that I have no idea where the line is. On that day, I knew exactly where the line was. That line was the mob killing the Vice President Pence or any of the Republican representatives or senators. ---
**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 4, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/70 "2025-08-04T15:00:45Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > On a positive note, after the fall of western Rome, it was pretty awful for most in Rome, but in the former provinces, life often improved considerably. Our last best hope may be to help prepare for a very different society, or more likely societies, after the collapse of the American empire. This isn’t about any “collapse of the American Empire”, this is about America going fascist. Which means it’s going to be much _more_ imperialist. And when fascist America _does_ collapse, I expect its last act will be to try to destroy human civilization out of pure spite. And it has a large nuclear arsenal to do it with. There won’t be much left for rebuilding. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/71 "2025-08-04T15:01:37Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Thank you for noting this. Too many people don’t realize it’s happening around half the globe. The US is the most prominent, the most impactful, and maybe even the farthest along (though, um, Hungary), but it’s not unique to us. …this is what is happening here: > **[Changes to electoral law will disenfranchise thousands – and may not save any...](https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-07-2025/changes-to-electoral-law-will-disenfranchise-thousands-and-may-not-save-any-time)** > > The government does not want to spend the time and resources to fully modernise the law and processes surrounding our electoral rolls – so who are the real dropkicks in this story? Along with numerous “anti-woke” attacks, DOGE-like decimation of the public service, racist attacks on Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which is the equivalent of going after the Constitution. Its the same. Playbook. Everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/72 "2025-08-04T15:03:39Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > There is some hope. Not all the Republican voters are MAGA. Some of them are reachable. The ones you can reach don’t have the power to do anything. The fact that this convicted felon is President again instead of in jail should tell you all you need to know about Congress and supposed “last straws”. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/73 "2025-08-04T15:07:01Z")
The turn to fascism is precisely because of the collapse of the American empire. It is the last gasp of the rich and powerful to grab what they can in the face of imminent collapse. The attributes of fascism–naked authoritarianism, sexism, racism, militarism, and the like–are always with us, but come out from hiding when “the system” is crumbling and are encouraged, fostered, and funded by the right. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/74 "2025-08-04T15:07:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > OK - but if they aren’t protecting their “power,” what are they protecting? Why do they care if they are re-elected? Because they also have privileges. A good paying job that lets them hire staff to fawn over them at taxpayers’ expense, and opportunities for grift. Take a look at the arguments they had last week about banning stock trading for members of Congress. “But then, we wouldn’t be able to become rich!!!” That’s worth a lot to them, worth more than some theoretical “power” that they can’t actually use without coming under fire by Trump and the MAGAs. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/75 "2025-08-04T15:09:48Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > On a positive note, after the fall of western Rome, it was pretty awful for most in Rome, but in the former provinces, life often improved considerably. Our last best hope may be to help prepare for a very different society, or more likely societies, after the collapse of the American empire. From Poul Anderson’s _No Truce with Kings_ (1963, p. 221) > We’ve always built supercountries, here on Earth, and we’ve always knocked them apart again. I think maybe the whole idea is wrong. And maybe this time well try something better. Why not a world of little states, too well rooted to dissolve in a nation, too small to do much harm—slowly rising above petty jealousies and spite, but keeping their identities—a thousand separate approaches to our problem. Maybe then we can solve a few of them […]. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/76 "2025-08-04T15:13:23Z")
I think the general pessimism of this thread is “almost” warranted, but having experienced an economic meltdown that caused the fall of a (democratically elected, though) government I think you are all overrating the resilience of a regime in the face of self-inflicted economic disaster. If the economy _really_ goes into the shitter (think 2008 recession x 10) the regime will probably fall, it will take a couple hundred dead but it will become unsustainable. What will replace it is anybody’s guess, though, but there is a probability that something resembling the pre-Trumpian statu quo could be arranged, again; how close to it is to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/77 "2025-08-04T15:17:28Z")
Alternatively, a weak economy could weaken the Trumpists grip on the handles of power enough to allow for elections and an orderly transition of power, institutional intertia could still win the day. ---
**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 4, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/78 "2025-08-04T15:21:33Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > The turn to fascism is precisely because of the collapse of the American empire. No; it’s because right wing white men were finally beginning to lose control of the nation, and _that_ was unacceptable. So they are going to kill and enslave everyone but themselves, “correcting” their demographics issues in classic fascist style. The “rich and powerful” are almost bystanders, they couldn’t stop it if they wanted; that’s why they defer to Trump so slavishly. The mob is what rules, and the mob wants blood. An ocean of it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/79 "2025-08-04T15:37:23Z")
Couple things, a dictatorship is currently being imposed here and V for Vendetta was a movie based on a stupid comic book. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676/80 "2025-08-04T15:38:47Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > If the economy _really_ goes into the shitter > [@Frodo](#): > > Alternatively, a weak economy could weaken the Trumpists grip on the handles of power enough to allow for elections and an orderly transition of power, institutional intertia could still win the day. Yeah - but what if the economy stays relatively healthy - at least enough to continue to run on credit, such that enough of the wealthiest remain wealthy, and enough of the “right people” remain employed/covered by health care/etc? > [@Frodo](#): > > having experienced an economic meltdown that caused the fall of a (democratically elected, though) government I think you are all overrating the resilience of a regime in the face of self-inflicted economic disaster. (Apologies, but what country are you referring to?) Right. But what if that democratically elected government had weakened democratic principles and protections BEFORE the economic shit hit the fan? I think that might be the relevant equation here - how much can Trump/MAGA consolidate their power before things get bad enough for the sheep to notice/care? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-last-straw-in-the-administrations-assault-on-our-country-democracy/1021676.md?page=5)