just read Garrett Graff's thing on the use of the military against American cities and I think that one thing which everyone is having trouble getting across is (a) how little they are doing and (b) how small the deployments are relative to the numbers historically necessary to control a population.
Good point. "Appearance is reality" at work Told Zelenskyy to just *announce* an investigation. Told the states to just *announce* they had concerns about the 2020 election. All the lame photo ops at "the border" This is photo ops for intimidation and campaigning.
it's like they heard about the panopticon but forgot that it assumes everyone is already in a jail cell
people didn't internalize how the Wagner group seized Rostov and then bailed before they even hit the Moscow suburbs and it shows
Sure Moscow is big but the silly thing about Wagner was going all in and then chickening out
The issue with Wagner is that it’s not a good comparison because they would not likely face any popular resistance or support one way or another. Russian politics is too factionalized and demobilized. It would have been a military coup in an already consolidated security state.
it has been long estimated that the military does not EXIST that could fully occupy and control the US, let alone China or any other large landmass. it would literally bankrupt humanity.
They are setting the stage with small numbers to start with, so it will be easier for them to deploy tens of thousands more later.
Right. it’s not about crime control. I suggest Caligula Trump’s goal/hope is someone-anyone - will take a shot at one of our military members. At that point Trump will impose martial law nationally.
If they wanted a Nazi-style SA they'd need ~24 million deployable agents to control our 350M+ people ICE currently has less than 25,000 employees total DHS has 260,000 employees *total*
Do you understand that this is just a rehearsal?
it's hard to tell what the best response is here but I do sorta think it might be to point out how much of this is just an impotent waste of money and resources also could be wrong but the national guard is not ICE and we shouldn't be treating them as the gestapo just yet
the National Guard deployment is the same thing as the military parade is the same thing as the glowering paintings of Donald Trump staring down at you is the same thing as torturing a small number of South American immigrants: he loves the appearance of tyranny.
All of these spectacles are signs of elite collapse (they are unable to prevent these embarrassments at their expense) but mostly do not change the simple fact that They Do Not Have Enough Guys
Right it's almost a show of weakness (that can still lead to hundreds of thousands of dead...)
His self-worth is measured in ratings. Good TV. Bad TV. Doesn't matter.
If only someone could sum this up in a catchy short phrase. Hmmmm. Something like “Trump’s whole point is trying to be seen as cruel”. Nah. But I think that can be wordsmithed… #sarcasm #gallowshunor
Sometimes, one sentence says a lot about its author. "torturing a 'small number' of.." in a post meant to diminish concern would be an example.
Torturing South American immigrants is great, but I’m with you on the rest.
I just wish we could calibrate a response with this in mind. The Dem leaders calling this a "distraction" are fucking losers, but there's a correlated point that it's stupid to start dooming about no elections et al. The fact that Trump is already backing off from Chicago is a tell!
Trump loves the appearance of tyranny because it gaslights some into surrendering without actually doing the full-blown tyranically work. Too many are Complying in Advance. The best counter is to expose the appearance itself - that it's a chaotic and haphazard bluff relying on Shock and Awe.
Complying in Advance: is it because Americans are in fear of the consequences of protesting, is it because we are all too busy trying to pay our ever increasing bills, or just because we want "someone else" to do the hard work of stopping this Administration?
I think people that are paying attention are fighting back, it’s just 1/3 of the country love this and another 1/3 aren’t paying attention at all and have no idea what’s going on. Completely checked out
And those "completely checked out" people somehow made it to the polling places (not forgetting the millennials who refused to vote at all, because Trump has made them believe his bs that "every politician is corrupt", just because *he* is.)
What do you think “millennial” means? Because the *youngest* millennial was 28 in 2024 and most were over 30. Some were over 40!
Haha I just moved on from that comment. Millennials always catching strays!
It’s our lot in life!
Til the end of time, apparently
So sorry for identifying "millennials" failure to turn out as part of the problem--was shocked to see it in my extended family. if you think that's (your) lot in life, why not try something different? No one can afford to stand on the sidelines now. It is now at a tipping point.
So? Whatever their age (in my extended family, all over 30) they did not vote, yet constantly complain. Things might have been different if those people had voted, rather than sit it out.
The same can be said of every demographic. 80 million registered voters did not vote, spread across every generation.
Well I could agree with that just as a common sense statement. I tried to look it up, because 80 million seemed a lot given the numbers who did vote, but AI jumped up and gave me a bunch of gobbledegook.
Whatever might have happened in your family, 60%+ of millennials voted. We didn’t “sit it out.”
In my extended family, they, and their rather large group of friends, said they did not believe their votes mattered.
Did that 60% vote for Trump?
It's because most of us have been raised to reflexively worship and fear the systems of authority that keep is in line -- usually with the explicit threat of instant death -- while at the same time singing the praises of how "free" we are thanks to those same authorities. We are our own oppressors.
#Chicago is definitely not #DC The type of resistance here in our fair city is multilevel and #Illinois has a Governor who may not be as flamboyant as the good gentleman from #CA, but @govpritzker.illinois.gov is definitely not a man to be trifled with. #MakeAmericaSmartAgain 🇺🇸
SO, SO glad @govpritzker.illinois.gov is our governor right now.
It's also not DC in that Chicago has the ability to actually resist. Pritzker holds the reins in a way that the mayor of DC just can't. I think Trump (or someone close to Trump) realizes that Pritzker could conceivably turn this into a humiliating loss for Trump and his administration.
It's gonna get weirder... #SweetHomeChicago already has enough going on, thanks. 🙎
Pritzker did that. "I won't say it's the worst or that there's been worse. I'm saying if you make it worse, count your days"
it's telling that i see people from dc posting on here like "i heard there were 3 national guardsman at XYZ place" as if it was kind of rare to actually spot them
I think if we were *only* seeing the tiny NG deployments, this would be correct. But we're not. There's a buttload of masked-up pseudo-LEOs, along with the actual local LEOs, who--let's face it--have historically been pretty cool with beating the shit out of civilians.
I agree with this save for what I imagine are the obvious facts of A.) regarding the last part, ONE is still too many and B.) there's sometimes a point where power perceived becomes power achieved. I don't think it's anywhere near "there," but it's not impossible either.
He uses fascism the same way he uses gold leaf.
And the same way he plies a score card in golf.
Having the FBI and whatnot stop doing their job and harassing commuters instead is on the "actual tyranny, or at least, really obnoxious" side of the ledger. The natl guard stuff is still just ???. He wants them to go Kent State on the residents of DC but hasn't figured out how to order that yet
The *appearance* of tyranny is far superior to the real thing - because it's much cheaper - assuming that your opponents are completely prey to learned helplessness and see the appearance as proof that they've already lost. It fails only if people just say NO THAT'S NOT REAL and pop the illusion.
There's also the phenomenon I've identified on the radical Left - a kind of perverse "wishful thinking" where they are almost pleased to say "fascism has destroyed liberal democracy, now total revolution is the only solution", and they'll be REALLY pissed off if liberal democracy is restored
But there’s a difference between parades and portraits (appearance), and torturing immigrants (brutal action). As there is in fomenting and watching for hours (and not calling in the Nat’l Guard) as his violent mob attacks our Capitol on Jan. 6. I’d say he wants the real thing.
He is a sadistic narcissist with delusions of grandeur.
It is tyrannical. It’s slow steady ramping of autocratic, tyrannical rule. He tests every barrier and then pushes forward. If necessary, he will ignore court obstacles. It is tyranny regardless of the regime’s motives that started it…ie, stay out of prison.
Very typical of men whose parents dominated them and made them feel powerless and unloved. They can't get love, but they can become bullies to feel powerful. Trump cannot feel powerful without inflicting pain. He knows no other way bc he has no empathy. Love, kindness, giving--to him are "weak"
He loves the appearance of everything, and that's it. Trump might be the shallowest person I've personally been made aware of even existing. No adult planning, just childish vibes, and tantrums. Always the embarrassing tantrums.
Imagine the reaction if Obama said Houston had too much crime and he was sending in the military. Republicans in the house would have filed articles of impeachment the next day.
Everyone should notice that "the appearance of tyranny" is the opposite of a distraction. These things focus attention on his seizure of power beyond the law — more than offensive that are worse but less visible.
This is why, while this is in fact very bad, I still think the best move is basically "ignore the NG stuff / peacefully protest it" and campaign in 26 and 28 to end the madness
I think the more important thing to think about is the way we (all) generally allow the incremental changes in our lives. The moves are ‘inconsequential’ or ‘insufficient’ until they aren’t. Each step is still a step. This path doesn’t lead anywhere good.
And yet, the people seem mostly controlled.
Guess that depends on how compliant the populace is.
There are lines you don't cross regardless of how small your toe is
He doesn’t have to achieve a clear goal for the DC occupation to be successful. Trump is always testing weaknesses. Always. When he finds resistance (e.g., Chicago) he’ll move to another target. Along the way he weakens systemic foundations and purges individuals. And he returns to previous targets.
Not Trump - Miller, Thiel, the Kochs, Bondi, etc. Trump doesn't even know what's going on most of the time. But he built a whole mafia org, over the years, inc his family, & took bribes from billionaires who want to collapse or gut financially the US, as well as foreign actors like Putin & Saudis.
Trump doesn’t do strategy but pathological, and it’s effective. He’s an animal that seeks to corrupt and dominate, and he does that by endlessly, persistently finding and exploiting weaknesses, in people and institutions, and removing that which is incorruptible, leaving behind Miller/etc.
He did do that, but now his brain doesn't work. They indulge a few of his temper tantrums & grudges but he's not running anything, he doesn't know what's going on, he signs what they tell him & he says what they tell him in whatever form he can remember (babbling).
(Going to continue in a quote post to the above)
a related thing is that DC is very small and abnormal in terms of the level of control the federal government wields there. los angeles was a very different story and it’s one reason they mostly declared victory and went home, and i think pritzker is ready for a fight in ways newsom was not.
It’s literally all performance and show that has no real backing and no institutional infrastructure and will collapse the second it gets real pushback. My kingdom for 10 Democrats with spines.
There are at least 10 Democrats w/ spines but the media either ignores them or attacks them. It's all owned by corps who are joining in on the kleptocracy.
Oh I think we all understand that a couple thousand nat guard in a Metro like La isn't a huge deal numerically, but that's kind of besides the point. Like pointing out the reichstag Fire won't really hurt home affordability
See the pattern? The North Eastern States are primarily Democratic and they are all in close proximity to The Capital. The Russian Mole & his acolytes are sending them overseas, while calling up Guard units from Trumfucistan to D.C. www.fox61.com/article/news...
It doesn’t matter. I live in DC. The fact that we have thousands of soldiers on the streets now with fucking military weapons — is bad. That Congress doesn’t give a fuuuuuuck is the problem. That people call it a distraction is the problem.
Well the intent is to cause clashes that he will then use to justify later and larger military responses
It's still wrong.
They are bouncing a few units in and out of various cities they hate. It's a pain in the ass for everyone involved, very much including the troops. But it's also absolutely not a strong show of force.
It’s a reality TV show version of NS propaganda. They don’t have to physically control the population. They control by altering the greater population’s perception. Desensitizing everyone. So the numbers and what they are actually doing are somewhat immaterial. But yes, we need to crack the spell.
💯 This is important. ...how small the deployments are relative to the numbers necessary to control a population...
I don't think the size of the occupation matters. One soldier deployed against us is still unleashing military on our citizens.
kinda wondering if the top brass are intentionally feeding them ridiculously low estimates and requests
The top brass has been and is being purged of those that support the constitution, but, maybe.
it's a reflection of how deeply trump ii is influenced by breitbart's "politics is downstream of culture" they're not trying to do effective military control, they're trying to do the social media spectacle of military control
like performing a great working in which if you fake it hard enough for long enough it becomes real
Someone recently described it as cargo-culting fascism
Which makes it all the more infuriating that no-one with any power is just stepping up and proving by example that it's just bullshit and flim-flam. They're cowering as if there really were 2 million armed SA men on the streets
Pritzker has just stepped up. All hail the great Kahn of the Plains!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qliV...
The thing is, it’s not gonna work for what Trump thinks it works for but it might work for what Vance et al want it to work for
elaborate?
Unless vigorously opposed
I hope it stays that way. But I do not like this. I also wonder if they're posturing and provoking until someone throws something and then they can go Reichstag Fire.
1 soldier is 100 too many
It's all about habituation! Get people used to it. It's about crossing the line and getting away with it.
Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump! Fuck Trump!
Unfortunately, they are now armed and some are probably happy to look for (or create) trouble. One trigger happy Guardsman who ends up in a gun fight may trigger a worse response, and declaration of martial law.
The mission: Show up, look dangerous, intimidate when possible. We know, it has nothing to do with crime, if it did they would be in places where it’s rampant……?? This is an in your face of it’s me, definitely not you. Throughout my decades of studies I’ve run into this many, many times…..🤔🧐😢
People keep calling these deployments "test runs" and if that's the case I wonder what, specifically they think they're testing.
Because we live in a conspiracy-obsessed culture and so when you see power flailing about, you’re encouraged to think, “this must just be step one of the grand scheme.”
I think it's downstream of Bush era civil liberties discourse when a lot of us (I say us because I was big into "the government is taking away our rights" before it was cool) had trouble persuading anyone we couldn't trust the government to not only torture terrorists
like, we would say things like "this is a test run for doing it to Americans," and like, I'm gonna be honest, I said that but I didn't *really* really think I would be this correct about it I'm not cosigning the dooming/hysteria, just, I think that's the origin of the trope
it's a performance. they are looking for some excuse to declare martial law.
So the midterms don't happen. So far people are keeping appropriately cool when provoked. Hope that continues. All his craziness is unsustainable.
Photo-op show ponies. The administration wants to give the National Guard's name to a police state.
So it's ok if the military is deployed to an American City and pitted against American citizens on American soil if it's only "a small number." So how many soldiers would make it not ok. In the constitution does it say over "x" amount of soldiers are ok to deploy against citizens?
It's media force multiplier, but for military police state They've learned to promote what they want, ignoring real world prevalence, by finding a few anecdotes and then repeating them on the 24h cable news Tiny deployments generate a few anecdotes, and those can be broadcast out of proportion
bsky.app/profile/kthe...
I think it's performative tough-on-crime cosplay, and really hasn't even netted them an increase in bodies for their for-profit prisons. And, as someone commented, they hope for violence that would allow them to escalate.
They’re putting their tows in the water, this is a test.
What thing? Where can I read this?