Four republican congresspeople can put an end to this.

Aside from a few judges, who has stopped him? So very thankful for these judges … but how long can this last? For decades, the GOP has been ramming thru partisan, unqualified judges. That, and decades of GOP gaslighting & propaganda (which many underestimate) has me quite scared.

"Losers" - I call them "losers" - they self-own. "Oh noes, there won't even be an election in 2026 - I am ever so smart and see the overlying structural conspiracy in a way mere mortals cannot!"

The problem is that many state and local officials who oversee voting will take his EO as their marching orders voluntarily.

“When you’re famous they let you do it” is his entire philosophy but we don’t have to

So far, it seems to be working. Sadly. With SCOTUS stacked in his favor, he can have a reasonable expectation of impunity.

Right, but it's all the more reason for ordinary citizens to push back. And people are. And certain states are. Our state-bases system turns out to be helpful.

I am more concerned with the people around him, billionaires and evil weirdos. His EOs are prepared in advance, he has no clue. He is spoon fed info, is allowed to spend money decorating and golfing to keep him busy.

He even said he has no idea how much the bedazzling of the Oval Office cost, but he doesn’t care because it’s so, so worth it. He had the same attitude about his crappy military parade, and now about these deployments.

Traitor Trump has the military And Supreme Court And both branches of Congress

He is untouchable. He will die never facing a single moment of consequence for a lifetime of crimes.

It would help if the media would stop framing it is as such? Throw us a bone here. There aren't so many Jamelles out there.

That’s why I’m very intent on bringing down this entire MAGA network.

The second he shows real weakness, mortality, the chickens will start pecking.

My counterpoint is that honestly recognizing the possibility of something is a better catalyst to fighting it than "only babies take this seriously."

That’s the sort of belief that happens when civics education gets defunded in most school districts.

I suspect that was on purpose... (I was lucky enough to grow up an Xer in a blue city, Civics was mandatory to graduate high school.)

"oh nothing matters because mr. trump won't let it matter" shut up

the “it’s over, he won, he’s the king now” doomer stuff is a *very* convenient excuse to not do anything to fight him

I usually respect your opinions, but this one is pretty short-sighted. It seems clear to me that this is a pretext for sending ICE to intimidate voters in blue precincts. There doesn’t have to be a legal mechanism when he has a devoted paramilitary agency.

ICE can barely handle the duties it has right now. oh no, he sends 2 guys to stand around near a polling place. okay?

They don’t have to be good at much besides being chodes with guns. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_...

okay, you can let them intimidate you if you want

I’d rather we all fight back with our eyes on their actual endgame (not legal distractions)

"Oh no, they have guns!!" So do we. There are more guns in this country than people.

Are you "intimidated" by people who can't withstand a salami sub??

Not nearly enough ICE agents for that to work.

They’re trying to hire 10000 more as we speak.

Still not nearly enough (and the way they’re lowering standards and dropping hiring gimmicks makes me wonder how successful they’ll be). Cook County alone has 2,500 voting locations!

There are like 175k precincts nationwide. If they focus on large precincts in swing states, it could affect things. It could also legitimize others menacing voters at polling places.

The best way I know to fight this is to sign up to be an election monitor. Those of us who care should be seeking out training and planning to take those days off work. And spreading that idea to others. (I’m also open to ideas from better-informed people.)

Yes! I’ve done Election Day voter protection for over a decade. It works!

If anyone is taking anything I’m saying to mean “Trump will automatically fail you don’t need to put your shoulder to the wheel” let me correct that now. Trump *can* succeed, but it’s not guaranteed, and if we do the work, we can meaningfully lower his odds of success.

You know who else had a devoted paramilitary organization? Mussolini. How’d that work out for him?

Yep. Instead of debating whether we’re doomed or not, let’s be those little fish.

I see it more and more every day. When we all coalesce around the concept, we shall overcome. We may not even need to make Maidan in Washington. Even the idea is enough to shake the foundations of Babylon and reverberate around the world. 📺✍️✊✨🤳📡🛰️👁️🌀

every day i see hundreds of comments of people spinning elaborate scenarios to explain how trump can control everything and all opposition is futile. a) i think a lot of you need to log off and stop following professional doomsayers. b) i think a lot of you are cowards

bsky.app/profile/tedg...

Opposition is never futile. Pretending things are better than they are is a sure fire way to fail nypost.com/2025/08/31/u...

The Allies didn't win WW2 by starting off in a winning position. In 41-42 the Axis had the upper hand. Good thing the Allies didn't just say "Oh. Well he is winning now, better just surrender and not resist."

Maybe and/or c) this shit wasn't covered on The West Wing.

A-FRIGGING-MEN!

I ran into this when I tried to explain that no, he cannot in fact run for a third term.

You’re the only reason I’m still subscribed to the NYT, Jamelle. Ok fine, you and The Athletic.

Don't discount the possibility that some of these are bots or operatives charged with spreading a sense of futility in pushing back against King Donald's edicts.

found one

This is a distinct possibility. They were used to convince a lot of people that Trump won the 2020 election, for example.

And I think the majority are bots. Block them and move on. Do not engage.

A lot are foreigners who don’t understand the US political system.

As a coward, I can confirm this

I say those things, not because opposition is futile, but because people need to realize the task in front of them and fight THAT fight. I'm happy to try and win the next election, I'm also not stupid or naive enough to think that these lying, cheating bastards are going to make sure voting is fair.

If you're fighting Tyson in his prime you wouldn't say "If we can just get him to agree to not wear his black trunks, I think we'll be ok!" You'd be saying "We HAVE to stop his uppercut or he's going to knock us the hell out." We HAVE to stop pretending these are normal times with normal remedies.

sorry but's not "spinning elaborate scenarios" when SCOTUS rubber stamps his power grabs in virtually every instance

you can live your life like a coward then

A lot of people who feel extremely discouraged share your values. It’s not your responsibility to encourage them, but it’s hard to see how dismissing them as cowards does anything good for the political coalition we need to build.

Sorry I read this in a recent dissent by Justice Jackson and believed her. I guess that's my bad: “This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist. Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this administration always wins.”

Absolutely this.

all I'm saying is that it's not crazy to think his obviously unconstitutional edicts are likely to become constitutional because of the Roberts court

I'm not saying resistance is futile, it's just harder when SCOTUS green lights his power grabs.

No, you’re just cynical. You can’t even formulate what SCOTUS would be greenlighting before declaring that it will be greenlighted.

Great point I'm not Nostradamus we have zero clue what SCOTUS will do they're generally very fair and impartial apologies for being a cowardly cynic oh wait

Again, you don’t even have a wisp of a concept of what the court would supposed to be ruling on, yet you already have the decision. That’s a you problem.

My guy, fear is contagious, but so is courage. It's your choice of which to project. Choose wisely.

The only elaborate scenario being spun up is about my cowardice. Trump says he's mandating voter ID. It's not wild to think this SCOTUS eventually rules this was the founders intent. That's the only argument I'm making.

Are you in imminent danger? If Trump is so powerful, why hasn't he just completely taken over yet? Why is he even fiddling around with voter ID nonsense? Who needs votes when they've got guns? The system is not completely broken, and what we say and do still matters. Keep calm and carry on.

Everyone on this website, either themselves or their parents/grandparents, lived in this country when it was a literal apartheid state. We are not that now (for now) and people need to buck up a bit to keep it that way

Most people who are descendants of immigrants have someone in their line who escaped or survived an actual dictatorship or failed state that wasn’t the rinky dinky shit we’re looking at. Don’t embarrass them

I love this comment so much. One of those descendants myself. I had a relative who didn't survive --sent to Stalin's gulag. I am so tired of today's shrill doomers.

I think most of them are paid trolls.

What they are doing? Is showing IN REAL TIME how authoritarians succeed. First step to defeating an authoritarian is realizing how weak they are, how tenuous their hold really is. That’s all we should be saying. Cause it’s true.

I don't think ALL opposition is futile. I believe PEACEFUL opposition within the normal bounds of the law and/or standard administrative procedure is futile. I believe the opposition brought a chess board to a knife fight. "Yes you stabbed me again, but my knight is still about to take your rook!"

✔️ They at least need to read the Constitution and understand it. And know the three branches of government and the purpose of the separation of powers. Bonus, understanding what the United States revolution was about.

I am in Oslo and just visited the Resistance Museum. Good reminder of how many people it took including printers, actors, teachers, the church, etc. Norwegians probably had no idea in 1939 what they would have to do.

I will note here; a lot of people here and out there ain't cowards. But a lot of democratic mayors and governors are. The mechanism you're looking for is an elected Dem walking out to a press conference to announce local police cooperation with ICE because they are cowards.

You are correct that any resistance would stop this shit in it's tracks. It's just frustrating that I haven't seen any actual damn residence from people like Mayor Bowser. Or fuckin Newsom. Or Mayor Bass. Just slogans. And until they are tested, I worry about Hochul and Pritzger and Walz.

And movements aren't really built off of of elected politicians and really never have. So why are we waiting for establishment Dems to lead for us when we can work on organizing ourselves. Find out what people are doing in your own community to organize and join them.

The coward part is they key. And they’re cowards because they are lazy.

It's not him, per se. It's the 77.3 million people who voted for him KNOWING that he was a convicted frauster who ripped people off with his bankrupt casino, his fake university and his fake charities that stole money from kids with cancer. ALL THIS INFO WAS PUBLIC. EVERYONE KNEW.

It's an entire political party that lies to give him what he wants, and the billions he's made from selling favors to Crypto. And the Supreme Court that has insulated him from criminality while in office. Yes, I feel very bad-- depressed, actually-- about this.

he'll send ICE to intimidate us. if i see an ICE agent at my polling place i'm going to walk right past him.

Great! But how many might actually be afraid? And will media talk about the varied & constant GOP methods of voter suppression & intimidation? Or will it always just be about how Democrats are “too extreme” & “need to learn how to talk to moderates”. What’s “moderate” about voter intimidation?

what if the ICE guy shoots the man in front of you, just to watch him die?

Unless he’s in Reno, it doesn’t count

lol you beat me to it

What?

@thelouvreof.bsky.social just to add to your queue

I think Johnny Cash references should be exempt

Depends if they're in Reno.

gotta admit, i didn't expect to see "Folsom Prison Blues" referenced in this thread.

at least someone appreciates my humor...

offer only valid in reno nevada

What

Personally, I think though that white people should use whatever privilege we have (personally, in addition to pale skin, I was born with killer Resting Bitch Face, and now have the shield of age) to loudly comment on how shameful it is when LEO officers work to undermine democracy.

yes! Old white female here too. I video every police interaction I see. Maybe we can’t record in polling places..dunno

Probably not inside, but if ICE is outside, I'm guessing that's probably OK, as long as you're far enough back. Probably worth checking local rules.

Same here! says this 58 year old white guy

Us white guys have nothing to fear. They won't be there for us.

just the "mexcans" and all those that look like them, like the native people who have been here for thousands of years

“Do not surrender in advance”. Also, once he’s gone I have serious doubts maga will hold: jd doesn’t have his clout, things (house/senate) will splinter because his actions are extremely unpopular.

My hope is that once he’s gone, the in-fighting to replace him as the next god-king will turn into a circular firing squad. Vance is terrifying in his evilness and because he has Thiel’s power behind him but he has the charisma of an overly full litter box. I’m not sure he’ll be as effective as DT.

Upvoted. Considering that one of the most popular pro Trump/Vance accounts on X was a guy named Catturd, Vance having the charisma of a full litter box checks out.

Yeah, I look Latine. What happens to me if I see ICE at my polling place?

I look it and I am Latino. I won't let Trump's Gestapo intimidate me into not voting or otherwise engaging in my constitutional rights.

As US Grant said about Robert E Lee, "Stop thinking about what he's going to do to you, and start thinking about what you're going to do to him."

Damn, I'm from Maryland and never learned any of this, but that photo was too compelling not to look up. Thanks for alt tagging it. washingtonareaspark.com/tag/gloria-r...

nah piss on his shoes and say you could not help yourself - at my age (86) I might get away with it😇

Im gonna shove em right out the door

Do you think SOME people would be scared off of voting? Things like voter ID, no mail in, long lines, etc aren't to prevent all voting, just put their thumbs on the scale just enough.

The problem with this argument is Trump saying there should be voter ID or mail in voting shouldn’t exist doesn’t make those things actually change.

Right, but the vast majority of this country is fairly low information on politics. He just signs something, declares it's real, the NYT doesn't push back... And now you have two different groups fighting about it. Now people are confused and a few of them decide the easiest path is to not try.

I live in a swing state so maybe it's different where you are but we get hounded with text messages and mailers and canvassers to make sure we're registered, how to request a mail-in ballot or vote in person, what ID to bring, etc. If someone doesn't know, it's because they live in a cave.

Maybe? But by definition anyone showing up is roeatively safe from ICE. They could hassle you, maybe even lock up a few thousand folks. But for a country that largely loves to be oppositional, ice patrolling polling places would send even more folks out to vote.

And with every ounce they put on the scale people keep showing up more and more.

Good idea -- wait until youre on your way out to tell them to get fucked.

(ms rachel voice) look baby lloyd! an ice officer! let’s take a picture! now let’s go vote!

🤣

You will. I will. But if you or I were Latino, we might just stay home.

Courage is the antidote

Indifference is the best criticism!

My worry is this: it's not just ICE that'll be there. There'll be vigilantes. Likely dressed like and supported by ICE. Intimidating, delaying, maybe even detaining anyone from a blue-leaning demographic, questioning IDs, disrupting, trying to incite and escalate as well as scare people away. 1/2

And if it kicks off, and/or they're outnumbered, the counter-movement will be called out as "attempted election interference" and cops/ICE/National Guard troops will swoop in and close the location. So where they have the advantage they police the count and where they don't they just stop it.

Me too, but the person who has to miss a shift at work to vote, fits their quota profile, has a friend lost in ice detention, might avoid the polling place. Voter intimidation & suppression is supposed to be illegal for a good reasons

How can someone who fits their deportation quotas also be a voter? Non-citizens (even legal immigrants) can’t vote in federal/state elections.

I spend a lot of time thinking about this because I run a polling place. Ultimately, like when I used to worry about armed yahoos *without* Fed authority, there are too many polling places for them all to be targets, and mine at ~5000 is going to be way down the list.

The goonier they get, the bigger the outcry / lawsuits, with enough interference nobody would accept the outcome. County commissioners won't just sit there and let Trump cost them their seats, they are totally petty enough to bring it all down.

Well, maybe, but where I live there’s no shortage of dumb assholes with camo, vests, guns, and balaclavas who have no problem pretending to be federal agents.

not enough to swing an election larger than a county

Other blue states need to cut the shit and start doing mail in voting only like my great state of Washington! I get a little text when my ballot is mailed, it comes two weeks before the election with a little booklet introducing the candidates etc and another text after it’s been received/counted.

I’m not really worried about what YOU will do. I’m worried that enough voters, even a fraction of a percent of the total, will be intimidated enough to not walk right past him, and will throw the election as a result. Early authoritarianism works on the margins until they can consolidate power.

Not so much concerned what NYT commentators individually are going to do.

I’ll probably flip him off on the way in though

These are dudes that can be stopped with a subway sandwich, what are we even doing being scared of them?

I'll be bringing a subway sandwich.

How's your throwing arm?

Maybe it's an ICE agent, maybe it's a random Proud Boys goon with Etsy tacticool swag and a meth-steroid problem. Who's to say?

This white man will say something to the fool's face as I walk by. Anything derogatory. Most likely pertaining to criminal fraud sTump or the useless coward repub leadership that sucks his dick.

If nothing else, remind them that what they are doing is patently illegal.

Vote, and then perform a citizens arrest. It’s illegal for those fuckers to be at the polls. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

I'll make sure to speak Spanish as I do.

So will I but lots of normies are going to be intimidated! All he needs is to scare enough people in enough places, and make a few people w/out ID confused enough to stay home, to be successful.

We need to have conversations with folks, identify who is nervous, and accompany them to the polls. Nobody votes alone unless they want to.

We have to define success

Quite a large gap between “successful at imposing de facto hereditary dictatorship” and “successful at re-imposing southern one-party systems in light red states” (picking two extremes)

I agree with this and I think about it all of the time...what will I do personally if/when I come face to face with ICE either trying to arrest my peaceful hard working neighbors down the street or as you say at a polling place...but truth is I need to know what I can and can't do...I am not sure

I'll insult him and ask him why he's being a thug

“Are you a resident of this townsite? No? You have no right to be at my polling place. Not your jurisdiction. Calling the state police.”

Sure and that assumes the state police will do anything about it instead of arresting you for interfering with a federal officer's work Will depend on who the governor is and also the personal loyalties and beliefs of the responding state police

I’m in PA. Shapiro stood up to Donold when he was AG and will as governor.

And I will flip him the bird as a I go by.

I might even wave at the ice guy

I would think of waving a middle finger at them.

An audible “get fucked Nazi” would be directed at him as I walked past.

I'm planning to shout, "sorry about your penis" but "get fucked Nazi" is good, too.

My personal favorite to say (if I see them which I have not, yet) is “Nuremberg” If they don’t get it, too bad for them.

Everyone needs to rewatch Judgement At Nuremberg. Even better on the stage if you can.

They'll get it sooner or later.

Might want to let them know that there there’s going to be no statute or limitations on how long it takes to track them down either…point to the elderly camp guards being tried

I'll remember that if I come across some of these thugs and tell them to think about the fact there is not statute of limitations on the crimes they are committing.

Offer him a sandwich, perhaps. Insist even.

I'd probably wave with a single digit extended....

that's on the way out

Good point - in case they decide to "detain" hostile looking voters until the polls close.

Both directions.

Oh I’ll wave all right

Maybe tell him I hope he doesn’t make it home.

And it will be only one because there are more voting precincts in the US than federal agents.

I will still go vote.

What if he stops you and demands ID?

First, ignore and keep walking. If he physically interferes, call the police and demand to speak to the Returning Officer responsible for the vote to report voting interference. While you wait, ask to see *his* ID. Confirm some kind of law enforcement officer. Note his name and badge number.

Make it clear that you consider this election interference, and make it as awkward as possible for them to continue.

Thanks-great!

If I see an ICE agent here in California I’m calling the sheriffs office because it’s illegal to be near a polling place with a weapon unless you’re in the process of voting.

This. If I see ICE or National Guard at a polling place, I’ll walk right past them without giving them the time of day and vote. All they can do is stand there and look scary, which is a stretch because the doughballs that currently make up ICE look like the Pillsbury Doughboy with a tac vest on.

I might even have a few choice words to share with them

"Go away."

mine might be more PG-13

you *are* allowed to say "fuck" once and still keep a PG-13 rating!

all hail the MPAA

Fair. I tried to make mine absolutely clear while giving them no excuse for action.

No more Mr. ICE guy

Heck yeah

Thank you Jamelle!! 👏🏼💙 This is the way citizens need to carry themselves! 😊

I'll call him a coward first. But then I look right.

I'll say hello even

#ICE #Texas #Houston #NationalGuard #USMilitary #ICEBarbie #Republicans #MAGA #GOP #Trump homeowner shoots and kills two men who claimed to be ICE agents www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Jamelle, my dad's a poll worker in Indiana. If an ICE agent showed up at his polling place, my dad would call the cops on him. And that ICE agent would be lucky, because Indiana is a "Constitutional Carry" state, and a lot of people have guns.

I think Trump doesn't realize that a lot of the poll workers who actually oversee the elections are in this for love of the game, and thus won't enable his shit.

who do you think the cops would support in this scenario

One thing people don’t get is that polling places all already busy places with a lot of people, even authority figures, walking in and out, milling about, etc. you’d probably need a presence of 5-10 ICE agents for someone to even notice.

Not in my polling place in suburbia! One looming giant doofus wearing a too-tight shirt, tactical gear, body armor, and a face gaiter will stand out like a sore thumb, and shock a lot white people.

The problem with deploying to suburbia is are you sure that only the right voters get intimidated and stay away?

If I see an ICE agent at my polling place, I’m going to stuff him in a locker. 🦁≠🐑

A nation’s sovereignty flows from our personal sovereignty, and takes root in our shared solidarity. 🫓 The USA is not sovereign without Arizona. The USA is only sovereign with the consent of the pueblo. 💪 We do not consent. 🚫 👑🌵🏜️

The thing everyone misses with the Weimar Republic comparisons is that every major political faction in Weimar Germany was comprised of former WW1 soldiers who’d gotten used to killing people. ICE can’t handle having a sandwich thrown at them

The Germans also still had a king who had had true authoritarian power up less than a decade ago, slipping back into that was not a hard sell for people.

*And* that the different political factions were frequently engaged in armed conflict in the streets on a regular basis. There was a level of violence there that just isn't currently present in the US, no matter how much Trump wishes there were

Ah - thanks for reminding me to bring plenty of sloppy sandwiches to the polls when I vote!

Sure me too but the median American voter is patently a coward

I'm thinking a selfie with them, AFTER I am done voting, of course.

Sadly, a lot of people will feel intimidated.

Ill flip the asshole off too!

I plan to confront them.

Preferably after you have voted

Great suggestion, yes, definitely.

Most states have early voting. We aren't talking about a single day here -- we're talking about a couple weeks of early voting (or mail-in voting). And while I will vote early, you can bet I'll take election day off to somewhere at risk to make sure things are ok for voters there.

theyre gonna harass people checking paperwork and scare hispanics

I’m an election judge in Minneapolis and I can guarantee that if ICE agents show up at my polling place, we will kick them out.

What options do you have to marshal some sort of force to implement this? I only ask because ICE has shown contempt for court orders and basically anything other than violence

We outnumber them. They back down when we show some spine. Plenty of examples of this all over the internet.

I am a chairperson for a precinct in Detroit. If ICE shows up I am prepared to waste an insane amount of their time with technicalities and procedure

ALL. OF. THIS. We are a *federation*. 50 states, 50 different elections. Very few countries do this & it’s a major bulwark against fuckery he & Bannon et al would or could do nationally

There is a c) trolls. And I’d argue it’s far more impactful than a) and b)… And bs doesn’t seem to be waking up to the fact it’s a coordinated campaign, not singular misanthropes. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok - not sure how many times we need to see the pattern..

I think people are more idiots than cowards.

Trumpism doesn't outlive Trump.

Trump won't come to Chicago because he knows Chicago is not afraid to fight back. Bullies always back off when you punch them in the mouth.

TBF, it may be worth imagining some scenarios, not to conclude that opposition is futile, but to thwart them or prepare to respond. It's also a corrective to some in the Democratic establishment who seem complacent about "guardrails" when those are collapsing or at least very rubbery all around us.

people and especially politicians need to expand their imaginations to include entirely feasible political solutions between the two extremes of “let him do everything, he’s unstoppable” and “do something to him so horrible we must not speak of it ever”—both cop-outs

Cowardice and profound apathy

Thank you. Someone needed to say it.

Masses of the poorest, most marginalized, directly threatened by racist violence people confronted evil during the civil rights movement. Now we have masses of privileged, insulated people who are cowering in fear, convinced they can't do anything except whimper and post on social media.

can I pin somebody else’s post to my profile just asking

make it a quote

Is there anything more ephemeral than Internet clout?

Like that grant quote about Lee pulling a double somersault and landing in their rear and both flanks. Vic Ketchum used to say “winning fixes everything” and this’ll go away when we win a few I think

Lincoln fired a bunch of generals along the way. Until Democrats start replacing the peacetime political leaders, don't expect many wins.

We're watching reams of primary challengers line up against dems, and I don't even think half of them have to win for the party to get the point

Are you saying people will need to take up arms? They now have the military might. How else do we fight his brown shirts?

I also think they underestimate the stupidity of fascists.

Harsh. Sorry I had a low moment

That part. People have already been tricked into believing in authoritarianism, which was by design. Snap out of it!

Call me a doomer if you have to. I just think there is a very real chance that we're going to be yelling, "Trump can't DO this!" from the gulags.

I agree & also as an Indigenous woman, I'm tired of hearing about how "this or that will NEVER happen, roe v. wade will NEVER be overturned, they'll NEVER sell off public lands, they'll NEVER defund this or that..." Like, heed a mf'ing warning once in a while chicken littles & the sky won't fall.

Join organizing groups, y’all. Don’t be defeatist. You’ll discover creativity and inspiration by coordinating with others too. There’s plenty of them out there. @indivisible.org @unitedwedream.org @moveon.org @workingfamilies.org @swingleft.bsky.social @sunrisemvmt.bsky.social …

Robbery is also unlawful but the mugger is still walking away with your watch, phone, and wallet. And if the highest court doesn’t hold him accountable, he’s keeping them

Yep, this is what all these internet badasses never want to answer. The one dude that was "I'll act like a free person" ... okay, all the people in El Salvador did that, too, until they ended up in a foreign prison. 🤷‍♂️

Bots sowing despair

One of your recent pieces in the NYT coalesced several things I've been thinking, & made me realize that this "presidency" is just ONE. BIG, REALITY SHOW.Think about it: -rick grenell saying Kennedy Center dance programmng should be more like "So You Think You Can Dance" (shitty reality show) 1)

While behind the cameras… a massive fleecing theft of US taxpayer’s financial and economic resources. The reality show is a distraction- robbery in broad daylight, not even armed-robbery, they’re just walking out the back door with all the goods -while we sit shocked by the next episode.

basically - they use his malignant narcissism, greed and stupidity

Yes. His chaos is being used not only by himself to grift, but also on a larger scale by nefarious players (like the proj 2025 creeps) to attain their agendas. Which he probably is too stupid to understand much of and anyhow doesn't care, so long as HE gets his billions.

- most of the cabinet comes from acutal reality show world (mcmahom) of reality show/news (fox) -trump only knows how to make things "look like" they work/ are happening. - Surface is all that matters. Reality/real numbers etc are not allowed. Choices of personnel made for cosmetic reasons 2)

All very good points!

- "you're fired' - fake EVERYTHING including documents that were "signed" by trump & leaders like Starmer, used for photo op -largely visible (to tv) "signature" on probably mostly blank pages or EO's he has never read and doesn't know content of - shitty spray tan vheap ass tv "makeup" jobs and 3)

REALLy bad cosmetic sugery/ fox-level hairstyling - cheap crappy merch on sale at "the show" All of the players are inexperienced and incompetent wannabes who want to play act at being "cabinet members" etc. The country is basically being run as "So You Think You Can Govern" 4 end)

The most basic fact is that Trump has surrounded himself with incompetent renfields who are at their hearts cowards. The slightest pushback and they immediately fold. The only path forward if for states to go “you can’t. Go away”.

Time and time again it shows they are ONLY going after the weakest, easiest targets. The folks that already folded. They are completely avoiding anyone who even lightly, quietly says “no”.

Yes. But what, specifically, is the plan?

what, specifically, is the plan *for what*? like, what problem are you asking for a plan to solve?

Bouie's post

the problem jamelle is talking about is the delusional belief that as soon as trump orders something it magically happens

Not magic. Just the other branches of govt

again, what, specifically, do you want a plan for? a plan is a set of steps to solve an actual real specific problem but you seem unable to elucidate what that problem is

If you can't see it, l can't explain it to you

lmao

OK, call your state's Secretary of State. *They* are the people ho have the plans. I have full confidence in Steve Simon. I have friends who've worked for decades in election integrity in MN and *they* have confidence in Simon. And Simon and other Dem S.O.S.s meet regularly to game out & plan.

the plan is to behave like you are a free citizen

This👆👆. Vote, sue, protest, organize!

The plan is four words: “Fuck you, make me.”

Which means?

Acting like you can't read and insisting people explain something to you, what are you stuck in 2012? Get a new bit bud

Wow Class

Are you incapable of thinking for yourself what that means?

I know what that means, obviously. Lots of complaining and whining accomplishes nothing

Some classic projection here lol

?

“I believe this thing he would absolutely love me to believe” - maybe … don’t?

So many losers and cowards.

This is an excellent take. I’m sick of these whiney fucking pissbabies. I guess I need to remember to come watch you play Chrono Trigger sometime.

True. Enough loser talk. Never give in, never give up

If your mantra is "The media needs to save us, but they're not" yeah log off

Reminds me of the classic Grant quote:

📌

As do I!

Professional cowards. The liberals need to wake up to a reality where we take back the America that was given to us either by ballot or by bullets. The left is ready. The center left is ready to capitulate.

Other way around, actually.

Decided to wake up and choose violence today I see

Isn’t this another action that would disenfranchise the very voters that he has relied on to win elections too? I don’t doubt that some Republican state legislators would comply to please him, but I’m not sure it would work out for them.

😆 Yep

People saying ‘oh nothing matters’ are simply doing so to justify their own inaction; to assuage their own guilt

They may have their reasons for introducing some scepticism. 1. If Congress choose to do nothing about it, and 2. If the supreme court choose to interpret it as such and grant him some new powers.

i don't think any of you actually knows anything about how the american system of government works

All governments are based on and regulated by institutions purposefully designed to ensure some form of social order and checks. When those institutions fail to do so, violence ensue. The people ruling/leading now, believe those who support them are more likely to use violence and succeed doing so.

"scepticism"

Every goddamn time

Beware everyone. Today's doomers are tomorrow's collaborators and snitches.

Easy to see SCOTUS letting Trump get away with this. Hard to see Dem state election officials carry out these orders, and they cover every swing state but GA.

what do you mean "get away with." there's no legal force here! the executive order does nothing! it's just words!

It’s just a tweet on a piece of paper.

I dunno, it’s the morning and I’m speaking off the cuff, lol. I think the second part of my statement is more important, tho. Even if SCOTUS somehow finds an actionable directive here, Dem SOS are gonna say “lol, nah.”

TBH I see this at least once a week. We see a conflict between a state law and a Trump EO and we universally follow the state law. We have to!

We like licking shit off his boots, actually. Thank you, daddy, for letting us lick your delicious boots! 🪱

the learned helplessness is so weird. There have been some significant victories so far this year from people fundamentally standing in place and telling Trump to go fuck himself. And people are desperate not to learn from them.

I think that "learned helplessness" is not so much learned as default obedience. Russia is a nation with a thousand year history of teaching the peasants they are worthless. The lesson has fully soaked in. The USA is not Russia. May not be quick to pushback,but we're used to having our say

Can you provide an example (genuine request). I need something to counteract the prevailing doomerism narrative

Maine governor is a good one!

Feel like most of my time online is fighting doomerism. Wondering how much are sockpuppet influencers

T rump A lways C hickens O ut en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_A...

TACO, when people stand their ground.

The reason the National Guard haven’t been in Chicago the past few weeks has been directly because JB Pritzker and Brandon Johnson have pushed back so aggressively. And CPD won’t be joining ICE in immigration raids

Oh yeah i remember that one now. I really like Pritzker and Johnson

Six months ago Trump was telling anybody who would listen that he was going to take back the Panama Canal, annex Canada, and invade (or buy) Greenland. All it took to stop that nonsense was some public ridicule.

Yes that As well as the fact that to start doing any of that would have required a degree of focused effort that he can't muster. Any more..

Here's another. www.bbc.com/news/article...

www.aclu.org/news/civil-l...

They backed down from Dodger Stadium and MacArthur park when the activists and mayor showed up. They are dangerous, but also a paper tiger trying to look bigger than it is through photo ops & displays of force. They turn away from organized scrutiny & resistance. When the whole country stands up,

Trump backs down from things very frequently. he's in the process of backing down from Pritzker in Chicago right now.

It's not every case but most times someone sticks to their guns over a position where Trump doesn't actually have the authority to do what he's trying to do, they win. Either through a court ruling against Trump or through him chickening out.

Tariffs every other week Cracking down on Putin haha as if

"Nothing matters" because the entire Republican party, Dem leadership, social media, and most traditional media, support or sanewash Trump. Sure get mad at people shouting at the void while you have the privilege of an audience within an institution which has gleefully run interference for him.

In many ways, our side is far more annoying about this than MAGA is

Ridiculous statement

How? The nonstop doomerism is de-motivating and does nothing productive. I’m sick of it.

Wish I could like this comment 100x more!

Except that Trump has innumerable enablers who insist he is an unstoppable god king who can do whatever he declares, and so permit him to proceed. It might be dumb as hell, but it's also strategic and dangerous as hell. We must disable the enablers.

In general I agree with this (he folds quite frequently on all kinds of things) and people may enjoy feeling helpless while doom posting. I do think lots of state/local R actors (who have authority) will try to follow his orders even if they disagree. GA and NC would be worth following.

NC Rs have been hot on voter ID for a long time and finally go it basically by winning partisan control of the supreme court and then getting them to reverse a previous decision when nothing material had changed.

See: SCOTUS.

Easy to see why people believe that when we get headlines like the one in your example.

Honestly, I think it's laziness. "No point in protesting or organizing 'cause Trump'll just cancel the elections anyway, so another day of gooning to NSFW AI chatbots for me!!!"

Giving up is easy! You don't have to do anything, just wallow in despair and doompost.

There's a lot of people having trouble discerning what MAGA wants to do vs what it can do Like, of course they *want* to overturn same sex marriage, they voted against it the first time too. But they lost! They are doing plenty of horrible things, but we don't have to make it easier for them

Ya but I heard that when he dies he becomes even more powerful

Trump was protested at about 1000 locations on his birthday as the military put on the saddest parade in American history

Hard not to see Trump’s govern-by-fiat style as the inevitable result of increasingly sclerotic government in other realms. Congress way less active than it used to be, major social issues (e.g. housing) seem completely intractable regardless of which party in power.

You read the Times from 50 years ago and there is a degree of celebrity afforded to prominent members of Congress that is simply not replicated today.

Part of that is gerontocracy. Part of it is media capture. But at the end of the day, governance is a rhetorical fantasy.

I think they’re just reeling from appearances.

Maybe if he started all EOs with “HEAR YE HEAR YE THE RAMBLINGS OF YOUR DERANGED TODDLER PRESIDENT” then maybe people would understand just how silly all of his posturing is.

THANK YOU FOR NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER

So who you riding with to stop him. Roberts' racist white supremacy court? Schumer? Hat in hands Dems? Corporate Dems? Who?

Yeah, no one can answer that.

There are millions of us out here who aren't looking to just lay down and die. Ride with all of us, Big G

Me? I’m putting my ballot in the mail, I don’t need any of them to do anything.

Rejecting nihilism at this precise moment is incredibly hard AND one of the things most worth doing.

Genuine question: is it nihilistic to think that Trump is a lawless goon and no matter how the courts, or congress or the electorate think or act, he will just defy them and do what he wants? (he's done the above his whole private and public life, and he seems to get better at is as time goes by)

Doing what you want and getting what you want are two entirely different things.

It is nihilistic to assume it will never catch up to him, yes. Definitely nihilistic to assume opposition is futule, since over and over again, when he is opposed, like so many bullies, he backs down. We have to walk a line between pretending things aren’t bad (they very much are!) & surrendering.

It will catch up with him. He is very much facing his mortality at this point and maybe for the first time-actually realizing his body is mortal and his bombast will not override his impending death. He can’t sue the grim reaper!

And he’s not smart enough not to believe in Hell, and he knows what he’s done. If nothing else, in that eternal penultimate moment, his brain flooded with DMT, he’s going to experience what feels like endless torment. Good.

He's not a fucking wizard. Him "doing what he wants" doesn't mean he waves a wand and says "make it so," it means people who are willing to do what he wants overcome the resistance of the people who don't want to do what he wants.

The former group has not shown it is able to overcome the latter on a regular basis when the latter shows up and the former does not have the law on its side.

Impeached 2x - nothing Convicted of felonies - nothing Fined $475K for fraud - reversed 4 Indictments - nothing (yet?) There is much much more. It's not wizardry, it's the virtual omnipotence of the Presidency coupled with a compliant congress, electorate and SCOTUS.

He was acquitted on both impeachments. Not that that isnt a "wrong" but impeachments arent a magical "youre impeached step down" thing either. These same systems that let him play above the standard rules are the same limits to his power. Laws and declarations arent magic

🔥💥

You are right and it's true that he can cause a lot of harm. Either way, he derives much of the power from the people. We have no choice but to resist. People can be frightened but if they are not actively doing what they can to push back, they are cowards. If he gets away with it many will die.

yeah, so often the actual implementation of their schemes is half-assed and incoherent and pretty much falls apart at any particular scrutiny. Still plenty of damage they can do but people need to stop assuming whatever he/they say just automatically happens as they say it

Many of us don’t believe that. Congress and SCOTUS, however, seem to. Which diminishes any loud words we type here, whether “dooming!” or optimistic. By the midterms, they’ll go further and start rolling troops into college towns. Understanding the moment we’re in isn’t dooming, it’s just knowledge

Yes. Please help: wh, house, senate, scotus, military, cops...

We think that because by the time the courts get around to stopping him, the damage is done and often can’t be undone-

Yep. It'll take decades to even try to undo what he has done already, given GOP court control and such. Any attempt to reverse his policies will be ruled unconstitutional by the Roberts Court.

I glom onto any whisper of hope, like that no one thought Assad would be overthrown in Syria, but he was. And I keep doing my citizen job, contacting elected officials, posting responsibly, protesting, keeping informed.

Hear hear

I don't want to piss people off, but there's gotta be something on the spectrum that isn't as far as "he's a god king and can do whatever he wants", but still acknowledges his lawlessness and how he's gotten away with it in myriad instances so far and there's concern it can continue to escalate.

"it's going to likely get worse, more stressful, and scary, with a decent chance of him flooding as much disinformation and terror as possible so we should consider methods to prepare for that while recognizing he folds under push back 9 times out of 10 and isn't in control of elections" is very 1/

different from the typical "ha you actually think there will be elections in 2026/2028?? or he already won" (Without even internalizing most true authoritarian countries still have elections, just incredibly corrupt ones, in a style that is almost impossible in a 50 state system) you often see here.

Edit: that's also without acknowledging that a certain section of the people on here post stuff like that because they want to encourage that doomerism from the weird mindset of revolution in America = our time finally. Which...is an infantile thinking to say it kindly. Not thinking anyone specific.

I have seen these a lot. I agree they seem to come from that mindset. SO annoying

Yeah the scary part of this isn’t that he’ll force it to happen. It’s that GOP governors and state legislators will comply willingly.

Oh no! It would absolutely break my heart if a bunch of red state governors made it impossible to vote. Listen to what you’re saying…

They’re going to strategically target their restrictions. ID laws suppress first time voter turnout.

Heavily restrictive ID laws would be a unbelievable gift to blue candidates across the board

Ralph Wiggum level thinking.

Interesting diss! I had to look it up, I confess

Learn some ball

Democrats need political leaders who, frankly, enjoy the prospect of fucking with Trump.

I’m beginning to believe that the upcoming primaries and elections will be quite shocking for repubs and Democrats who cowered and stayed silent against trump and his attempts to take over the country.

i think the cops will do anything he says and i think chicago is going to be the real line to see if thats true hell yes i think state troopers will show up to election centers to intimidate people. they beat tf out of kids in austin every time ABBOTT tells them to

Then those state troopers will lose their jobs and all authority and be replaced with ones that will actually listen to the orders of their bosses (ie state officials)

I think you're on for a hell of a shock. Did LAPD do what he wanted?