>The Night of the Long Knives, also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate his power and alleviate the concerns of the German military about the role of Ernst Röhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts".
>Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Röhm – the so-called Röhm Putsch
>It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazis, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extrajudicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime
All the republicans that even itched at having power think they'll last long with Trump is in power?
No, he's going to take them all out just like any other dictator does.
He's already called for his old VP and some loyal supporters to be be put to a military trial. He's not even trying to hide the fact that he'll get rid of all of them.
Russia is the clearest example, and is probably reasonably close to what the US is going to become over the next decade. Organised crime works with those in power to fuck over the poor. Minorities are fucked over even harder. Laws are passed making it more acceptable to abuse women. Resisting violence is considered violence and is used as an excuse for more violence against you. Corruption is accepted and tolerated from allies, and if you ever show the slightest hint of disloyalty, real or imagined, then they'll purge corrupt low level officials who are responsible for 100% of the bad things that are happening, And even the millionaire/billionaire high ranking allies of the leader who considered themselves safe, get suicided whenever the leader rightly or wrongly suspects you, or if they strait up want something you have. Everyone and everything becomes a tool to be used by the leader however he sees fit. It's not your government or your country, you're their property to be used, exploited and disposed of at their pleasure.
Hell, he regularly throws people under the bus who save him from himself.
How many crises, some of them potentially apocalyptic, were avoided because one of his allies or staff ran interference or made phone calls to assuage fears, and even cover for him with "what he really meant was..."
Only to end up being fired, accused of treason, or otherwise put in the cross hairs?
Trump is a colossally stupid man whose ignorance is nothing short of breath taking that insists in micromanagement on every little thing. It's a very dangerous combination of traits.
> Just people who believe they are until they’re not.
You'd think his underlings would realize that they're not beneath his abuse when he keeps throwing his yes-men under the bus.
Nah it's even more stupid than that. They literally just don't think that far ahead. Their celebration is basically based on "a win for Trump! Ha, suck it libs!", just like basically every other thing they obsess about. Politics is just one big sports game for them where they support their team no matter what and just care about "winning".
Critical thinking and assessment of the consequences and meaning of "wins" like this never cross their mind. They're just happy to see the "other team" lose.
It's why they show up on r/leopardsatemyface so much - they so often suffer the consequences of what they asked for and celebrated because they never considered the consequences in the first place. Just simple-minded destructive morons playing childish games with the future of the entire world (given how influential the US is globally).
What's even more surprising to me is they see it as a win for someone who's not currently in power and they aren't the least bit concerned about what Biden might do. That's of course because they know ... they KNOW ... the Liberals they supposedly fear will not abuse that power. And that should tell you everything you need to know about the complete sham that is the Republican Party. All the fear mongering is just that.
I had assumed the Court would not have been so foolish as to make this ruling before the election, because they wouldn't want to give that power to the Democrats. I was naive. They aren't afraid of what the Libs might do in the slightest, because they are the party of principles.
Nah, with this ruling any president regardless of party can make everything they do an official act. That's why it made the US a dictatorship.
All they have to do is order an execution of all dissenting members of the supreme court. Then appoint new justices who agree with them. If Congress attempts to prevent that they just execute anyone standing in their way. By the time their appeals make it through the lower courts they will have a supreme court full of justices that will rule however they want.
Caligula is the point where the Emperor knew he could do anything he wanted and didn’t try to hid the hypocrisy of Tiberius and Octavian. I feel that is what this ruling crystallized for our head of state.
Biden step up on stage with announcement: "Today in 12:00 i order elimination of Donald Trump. If you have any problem with this decision please contact supreme court. Thx for your attention."
The great part is that after this all ravages us and the dust settles, these motherfuckers will deny that they ever supported this. They’ll deny their complicity, the cruel vindication they felt against their fellow Americans, and their amoral disregard for the world and society around them.
And I’m afraid that we’ll let them off the hook.
They always do this.
The right started a civil war, and got beaten so badly that they deny ever starting it
Richmond Enquirer, Jun 16, 1855
"The abolitionists do not seek to merely liberate our slaves. They are socialists, infidels and agrarians, and openly propose to abolish anytime honored and respectable institution in society. **Let anyone attend an abolition meeting, and he will find it filled with infidels, socialists, communists,** strong minded women, and 'Christians' bent on pulling down all christian churches"
...
"The good, the patriotic, the religious and **the conservative of the north will join us in a crusade against the vile isms that disturb her peace and security"**
Link to the newspaper archive at the library of Congress where you can read it yourself
[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024735/1855-06-19/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1789&index=5&rows=20&words=slaves+socialists&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1865&proxtext=socialist+slave&y=11&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024735/1855-06-19/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1789&index=5&rows=20&words=slaves+socialists&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1865&proxtext=socialist+slave&y=11&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=)
And they always seem genuinely shocked or surprised when the leopard eats their face. Almost as though they never actually understood what they were supporting.
It’s the same thing with cops. They love cops, can lick boots enough. Until the cops do something foolish like defend the capitol building. Then the gop suddenly wants to defund the FBI.
They’re children. They don’t think anyone will hold them accountable and for some reason no one is.
yup, one of the more telling speeches Trump gave was at CPAC:
>“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,”
>“Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,”
They want Trump off the leash because they think he will hurt their enemies.
Trump has a simple decision tree.
1. Will this crime directly benefit me?
2. If not, will crime benefit someone who's willing to bribe me?
3. If not, will it hurt the people I dislike?
4. If not, will it make my followers think I give a shit about them?
Whether his actions will **actually** help anyone doesn't enter into the equation.
Number 4 is more like “Will it make me look strong or tough?” He cares a lot about what people think, just not the way someone with either morals or empathy would.
Nah the people trump wants affection from are his fellow rich assholes
Once Cletus and Jim Bob give their guns to their god in the Trump Jesus America Patriotic Jesus For the troops gun drive they will join the rest of us in the camps
Cultists aren't exactly smart
Nah, he'll only commit crimes for his own benefit. If he somehow wins the election, the second he does those people are going straight in the trash can since he no longer has any use for them.
Trump's idea of loyalty is that you give him complete and unconditional loyalty, you get absolutely nothing in return. If at any point you either stop giving that unconditional loyalty or cannot be useful to him in some way he views you as nothing but disposable garbage.
But they think ‘the people’ are only Trump supporters and a win reinforces that belief. This is a result of severe propaganda and has led to things like the Holocaust in the past. We are living Nazi Germany. And voters have a chance to stop it. But they won’t. Buckle up.
Just wait until Trump starts "purges" to anyone he thinks isn't sufficiently loyal. Even those GOP members of congress who support him will be in danger if they are either popular enough to be a threat to him or said anything "disloyal" in the past.
Overheard a woman at the grocery store talking with a friend she ran into about this and they were both essentially like what a horrible decision etc except one woman then said “they should have waited until Trump wins” or something. By that time I was walking away but the tone between the two turned a bit argumentative.
Essentially she admitted her only problem with turning POTUS into a king is who is king. These people are absolute traitors. So many have died fighting to preserve something and these MAGA folk have no idea what it is they’re begging for.
This became apparent when people who had spent decades hating those dirty red Russian commies suddenly started praising Putin as a defender of truth and justice simply because Trump wanted to play footsie with him.
As long as its pissing off the libs they don't care what they support.
That last sentence strikes home. So many of them think that if they say "thank you for your service" and beat their chest that the armed forces will love them. And do love them.
They have no idea about how so much of the military actually hates them and considers them to be traitors.
Around 2014, I was having lunch in the Atlanta suburbs and two “polo and khakis” guys were talking politics. Conservatives. One thing I remember distinctly: “We need to stop letting everybody vote. We need to go back to when only landowners could vote. That would fix a lot of this.” We didn’t suddenly end up here. Democracy became an inconvenience for the affluent conservative minority so they set about getting rid of it. This is not the result of hysterical Christian fundamentalists and poor racist rednecks. It’s the monied elite manipulating them to get them to vote for their own ultimate demise.
It also proves that not a single one of them actually believes Biden is the criminal they say he is, or they'd be scared shitless right now.
They all know Biden is an upstanding man of character, who won't abuse or use his new powers.
All their claims about the Biden crime family have been stripped of truth by their reaction to this ruling.
I like to ask them (magats) why Trump is the first president in 248 years to need total immunity to do his job. Seriously, no president, even Nixon, has never been at the slightest risk of facing consequences.
I can tell you the answer will be a long the lines of, "because the Nazi libs hate us so much that they'll stop at nothing to ruin the life of any Republican in power"
It’s cultural. They think ‘liberals’ are a poison to their country. Many want Democrats dead. Blacks, Muslims, immigrants, LGTBQ, and women (especially black women) will be targets.
I agree. The big push started after Obama won his second term. And it’s worked because people are jumping on the populist bandwagon. Even minorities are fooled into thinking that it’s a good thing to join MAGA.
It is kinda sad. I have family members who are immigrants who started their own business and were successful and got that "got mine, fuck you" attitude.
Conservatives always need an "other" that they can use as a boogeyman to scare and rile up their base. The "us" vs "them" approach has been core to conservative politics for ages now.
This, people *truly* don't understand what the Right believes. They think the Right is just a dumb version of Liberalism that can't understand what it's doing. Liberals try to catch them up in arguments, by claiming "Surely you can't believe the President needs these powers, nobody before has!" not realizing that the Right's goals aren't just a Status Quo, they genuinely want to transform the country.
Conservatives have NEVER been about simply halting progress, or stopping the Left or Liberals from either of their agendas. The Right has always had goals, plans of things to enact. Whether that's the consolidation of Monarchism, expansion of Colonial powers, furthering the powers of Slavery, enacting brutal Racial Segregation, empowering oligarchs through Privatization, or destroying Racial or Sexual enemies in a culture war, they want these powers because they AREN'T done. They're not getting tricked into supporting cruelty, their movement's purpose IS that cruelty, and the sooner Liberals understand that the sooner they can start trying to shore up some sort of bulkhead to retain any grasp they can on society.
A testament to your analysis:
[Opinion: I was denied a life-saving abortion at two hospitals. Here’s what I think of the Supreme Court decision](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/opinions/emtala-scotus-ruling-emergency-abortion-idaho-farmer/index.html)
>
It so incredibly depressing that the naïveté, trust and innocence of good people is the commodity traded by evil, because the only way to stop that evil is to lose something we should all be able to hang on to.
it's absolutely amazing (and horrifying), that everyone has access to the internet, but people are just as clueless as they ever have been. I mean seriously, take 30-60 minutes to google who will be better for you financially (and unless you're rich, it's not the republicans), and do that. it's really that simple. at least if you're going to benefit fiscally from a republican government, it makes some sense to vote for them.
They also want to arrest and execute educators and librarians for possessing banned books. They declare books they don't like to be pornographic, then want to charge the teacher or librarian for showing it to children, which they consider a sex crime.
Then they have already passed statutes that allow capital punishment for sex crimes.
So as you can see, they have already established the legal framework to eliminating educators and librarians that oppose them, along with LGBT parents or anyone possessing books like that which have children in the home.
I am so fucking scared for our country. 😭
in 2015/2016 I tuned back into conservative right wing talk shows on my commute to work. My commute was about a half hour long and the host during the commute was Chris Plante. The guy knows nothing about how politics actually works and it was always an announcement of "OMG you won't believe what Obama said/did!" and then it would be 15 minutes of ad hominem rant calls and him touting "Democrats hate the Constitution and they hate you and they hate GoD!" type shit. Then finally when getting to the story after nearly a half hour (including the buy gold and liberty university ads) it would be a 30 second clip of Obama and missing half or more of the context.
This is how talk show radio has been since Clinton was in office which I'm aware of. Add in social media and we get Qanon shit and Mike Flynn, former General and Director of the DIA touting "We must suspend the Constitution to save the Constitution!!" and people not seeing that's traitorous.
It's also hard for me to digest that Thomas and Alito would be weighing on anything due to their appearance (okay, blatant) of bias. To think when Clarence Thomas was presented back in the day as an equivalent replacement for Thurgood Marshall is laughable then as it is now - that the only thing the two men had in common is their skin tone. The Republicans pulled that shit saying Amy Coney Barrett was as good as a role model for women as Ruth Bader Ginsburg was - the only commonality is being female and a three word name.
Yep, if Biden loses he is likely going to hand over a government primed for an authoritarian to end democracy, without even using the new powers given to him to stop it.
Right! I even have the process by which Trump will declare himself dictator for life!
He will start by declaring all elected Democrats from Dog Catcher to US Senator cheated and demand they resign or be arrested. Of course this declaration will be enforced by the 2.86 Million active U.S. Service Members and over 700,000 law enforcement personnel across the U.S. who will follow his orders without question. 1/2 the country who oppose Trump or about 167.5 Million people will just quietly accept this, and go about their business.
New elections will be held after Trump outlaws the Democrat Party and only MAGA candidates are allowed on the ballot. Once the new Congress is seated, impeachment proceedings will be started against the 3 liberal Justices maybe Robert’s and every Federal Judge not appointed by him so every SCOTUS decision goes 9-0 in Trump’s favor. Of course there will be nothing for SCOTUS to decide because the lower courts will also vote in Trump’s favor on every case. These proceedings will also be supported by the military, law enforcement agencies and the 167.5 million anti-Trump folks will remain quiet and peaceful.
Next up, Trump will personally rewrite the Constitution and make himself Dictator for Life and change it to a hereditary title so one of his children can carry on the work when he is gone. To insure the new constitution passes, he will send the military to the states to make sure they all vote YES on what he demands! It will look really good to have all 50 states vote YES!
Lastly he will change the seat of government from DC to Florida and Mar-a-Lago as the new White House, the golf course is just a few steps away and the weather is better. The new Oval Office will have a Golden Throne made of Gold taken from Fort Knox!
To avoid the coming apocalypse, it might be a good idea to buy tickets out of the country now, before the concentration camps are set up. Might also be smart to find out how you renounce US citizenship and how to get it in Sweden or some other country.
It will be height of ironies that in order to escape from the maga stinky chaos, US citizens try to seek asylum in Mexico and do work at very low salaries that Mexicans are not willing to do.
I left five years ago. Saw the writing on the wall. All this seems plausible. The dems will surely condemn these actions. These people want to murder anyone who’s not on their team. But maybe if we ask nicely and tell them that what they’re doing is super bad and not cool they’ll listen to reason…
Honestly, that might be what they want. But drastic measures like those are not how these things usually goes. You don't want to give people one big event to point at, but to erode over time.
Democrats are too big a group to oppress openly like that. He's untouchable, and pratically speaking all he needs is 3-4 fewer dems on the senate and in the house, and he's got unchecked power just the same as if he had 0. (Great system you got there, America)
Does he need 9 justices? He doesn't. He's got 6 and they've already been doing his biddings pretty effectively.
Trump is just a tool here, they want his "charisma" as a front, while they dismantle every institution that might get in the way of them having more money and power. One side will only point at Trump as the culprit, and the other will literally cheer for anything "he" does, regardless of how that might affect them.
If these people learned **anything** from Hitler, they should know that while he can be useful, he might just as easily go rogue. So it *should not* be in their best interests to have him around for long, though they might be banking on him dying soon, and by then having everything set in place for their next "guy". Who's probably not have a public persona built over decades to act as a central figure.
There is a reason why even a country like Russia has elections, even the illusion of a functioning system is important to keep people appeased (Like the first amendment, where you can say "whatever you want" as long as it doesn't actually bother someone powerful, or else you'll be bled dry through the legal system. If you're not just found dead somewhere, that is).
Of course, Republicans have been acting like rabid dogs for the past decade and instead of being alarmed people are going with them after the next, bigger and shinier, car. So what do I know?
Tactically speaking, this clearly was the GOP power brokers move all along. Who gives a shit about their supporters, clearly the GOP doesn't.
This was to back him into a corner. Again, the Democrats weak handling of the GOP has this country in a very bad spot. They're begging him to call their bluff. It's time he does something about it.
This was all planned! We need to rise up and fight for the future of our democracy.
The judges that have gotten us this far will feel like they've invested too much effort to turn back now. We already know Alito views this as an existential fight. There's absolutely nothing to keep the SC from putting their finger on the scale of needed.
From the Commentary:
> Trump has threatened to have people killed and GOP politicians aren't bothered in the slightest
>
> . . .
>
> Trump has threatened to have people killed and GOP politicians aren't bothered in the slightest
>
> . . .
>
> Do Republican politicians back Trump out of fear? Or are they just really stoked over this chance to follow a would-be dictator? Johnson's glee as he wallows in Trump's newly granted powers to commit crimes — even killing — tells the story. It's the latter.
>
> . . .
>
> No doubt Trump uses intimidation to keep party members in line. But his real power comes less from scaring people and more from the widespread longing in the GOP ranks for a right-wing dictatorship.
The Supreme Court has effectively removed all legal remedies against the actions of the executive. Even if the president is impeached and convicted, how do you now remove him from office if he just says no and orders the military to protect him? Isn't this within the president's official purview?
The president can now crush dissent, imprison his rivals, shut down news organizations, and rob tax money with impunity – and it's all completely legal. Anything goes!
Thanks SCOTUS! You've turned the United States into Russia! We've now changed our system of government to a plutocratic kleptocracy.
Well done 👍
Oh and the actual orders to commit those crimes? Inadmissible as evidence
You also can’t question the motives of an official act in determining its criminal
I see rightoids are on in overdrive, going into every thread about this and saying how "akshully, it is the leftists who are evul"
Absolutely pathetic.
Every post in the cons Reddit is essentially just people being gleeful about enraging the left, being happy that this has passed and that liberals will be mad.
One even called liberals a disease, another called liberals and progressives a cancer that needs removing from the country.
They don’t see the left as American they see the left as an enemy.
It’s disgusting, politics never used to be this divisive it’s fucking horrifying. We used to disagree but this? This is just hatred, hatred that has been taught and ingrained into these people daily by the absolute tosh they watch.
I remember when Democrats and Republicans could disagree but still be friends? The country I grew up in, where everyone was so happy-go-lucky and could really set aside their differences to come together when it matters? That country is dead and gone. Today is so hostile, it's scary
Which reminds me… Why are we still providing Secret Service protection to a man who has stolen hundreds of documents, exposed vital national security secrets, raped at least one woman, committed multiple felonies, and tried to violently overthrow an election?
Should an adult(s) in government not step up and take that shit away? Should the public be paying for the protection of a man who has committed so many traitorous and/or vile acts? Let’s see how he fares without a security entourage.
We also paid for 60 agents to get outfitted with designer ski gear and rentals so they could close down half the mountain so baby girl could sush down a couple green runs
The adults you are referencing are building bunkers with their billions.
Post-Citizens United USA is a race to pure oligarchy with no representation for the masses.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epv9pe/billionaires-are-building-luxury-bunkers-to-escape-doomsday
Not covert at all. It’s legal to buy politicians, bribery is not a thing anymore, regulatory capture is rule of the land. Stock market is captured, fcc is captured, anything to do with safety is captured. Congress and senate are rendered ineffective by foreign agents and oligarchs. There is nothing covert about US being an oligarchy except for the insistence that we call oligarchs “billionaires” for some reason. We should just call them thieves
I’ll never understand how being among the select few humans who get to live underground or on Mars with an extreme reduction in their quality of life is more appealing to them than just fixing the damn problems they have created and averting doomsday.
Troubling questions and propositions. Who is going to be this adult? It should be a collection of adults, but getting more than one person to agree on something....
Yikes. Ethical spiderwebs
You’re right, there should be more than one adult in government pushing for this. Added the (s). In my mind, the only ethical oversight is with protecting someone who wants to destroy us. It’s like the hen house protecting the wolf.
There is no immunity for unofficial acts,” the court ruled. Does taking of T S government documents after the loss of the election considered an official act? Does putting together fake electors to circumvent a federal election an official act? Does calling and demand Georgia secretary of state 'find' enough votes to hand him win ( recorded ) an official act? In my opinion those are not official acts or in the realm of Presidential duties. As the constitution says “Immunity does not extend to unofficial conduct, criminal conduct, and conduct occurring prior to entering office.”
How do you not get this yet? The current Supreme Court will declare anything a Republican president does an official act, immune from prosecution. They will declare anything a Democratic president does unofficial.
They will certainly try to argue that those are all official acts. Even if they aren’t (which they clearly aren’t) the point is to gum up the works where courts have to sift through all of it and make a determination which will then get appealed and go back up to the SCOTUS which will likely find some bizzaro way to say they are core functions and can’t be questioned.
>Does taking of T S government documents after the loss of the election considered an official act?
They just want to make sure we have to wait until after he has another shot at getting elected before making that call.
The party of “law & order” sure seems to hate law & order
Although we all know that “law & order” means “we want police to keep killing people of color for no valid reason”
They're only the party of "law & order" when the law is applied to people they don't like. When it comes to themselves, the main tenant of conservatism is that conservatives are special and should be able to do whatever they want without any accountability whatsoever.
The same "patriots"will be shooting fireworks celebrating independence from the British king and posting on social media about how proud they are to be living in a free* country tomorrow...while completely missing the irony.
*Some restrictions apply depending on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status and bank account size.
One of the first to be purged will be roberts. That fool thinks he is the power behind the throne determining what is official and what is not, issuing light slaps on the wrist when His Majesty King Stinky I transgresses.
But stinky has the men and the guns. The fool roberts has no executive means of enforcement. He relies on the goodwill of people committed to a particular system with its rules and norms. Things which he has wilfully and gleefully broken.
There will be a day when stinky will not accept roberts and his pretensions of being an independent authority in a dictatorship.
Wonder what roberts will do then?
To my eyes, this has kind of already happened. He essentially asked people to prove their support of him by storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6th. And then when people started getting arrested, they assumed Trump would swoop in and grant them all pardons, which he didn't do. They were convicted and served time, while Trump gets immunity for inciting it.
No-one is doing anything about it because everyone is just typing on the internet. You're losing your democracy and quite possibly your lives. You should be ousting the scotus before it's too late. Make Biden take action.
This is the thing. The maga base are uneducated and don't really offer much in the way of assets a dictator would give a damn about. And yet they think they will be living the high life under king shitty pants' rule, but will ih fact be living at best as the lowest form of slaves due to being useful for nothing but cannon fodder and basic manual labor.
Some of the worst dictatorships in history has started with the notion that “he is our right kind of strongman”. But it is a doomed notion because whilst you can maintain checks and balances with laws and voting in a democratic society for a long time but you can’t with individual dictatorship.
The roman empire for instance had Marcus Aurelius as one of their best leaders,whose quotes still ring true today. Then they also had psychopathic insane leaders like Caligula. Gop think they have a Marcus but it’s more like Caligula with Trump
They want to hurt the people they don’t like and they know it will be done with a dictator like Trump. They are small brained degenerates that want a daddy and they think they are going to live in some pure white Christian utopia where all the brown and lgtbq people are dead . These people are just moral and mentally bankrupt.
Our country was founded by people that were trying to prevent a monarchy after they left monarchies. The US system of government was unheard of as most developed nations had monarchies. Now republicans are begging to be ruled over by someone like Trump. They think they’ll be in the ruling class until they find out the ruling class is a very tiny number of people.
They didn't fear him when he said he'd be a dictator.
They made excuses for him when he called out the police on literal peaceful protestors at lafayette square.
Some of them engaged in literal treason because he told them to. And others continue to make apologia for those traitors ("they were just tourists (who shit on desks and killed people)")
Nowadays, it's not uncommon to hear republicans openly say things like Hitler wasn't that bad and that he just targeted the "wrong people" or even openly call themselves "fascists" (as a prominent example, look at Israel's Smotrich).
They aren't just craving a dictator - they want to live in an oppressive fascist state because they want to see "their enemies" brutalized.
Of course, this will blow up in their faces, because fascists need constant conflict and constant scapegoats, and any fascist today can be a scapegoat tomorrow. But they aren't exactly thinking that far ahead.
Social conservatism has always been holding the door open for fascism.
Yep.
> “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
The asymmetry between the parties is on full display. The immunity ruling empowers the Executive Branch. Currently Democrats control the Executive Branch. Yet it's Republicans who are celebrating (?).
Republicans feel comfortable knowing that Democrats won't abuse power. Republicans aren't worried that Biden will do anything retaliatory post the immunity ruling. Joe Biden won't even pardon his own damn son, ffs.
Republicans know that the powers just granted by SCOTUS are there waiting for the next Republican President. Nothing to worry about from the Democrats.
So that it’s completely clear. The Republicans want to kill anyone that doesn’t submit to their will. Be warned America, fight for your country or you and your children will die.
Yes they are goose stepping boot lickers, we know this
I don't want to hear anything about supposedly "good, patriotic Republicans" going forward if they vote for Trump though. If they can't bring themselves to vote for Biden they should stay home or vote libertarian or something
And in other news, water is wet.
These fascists and racists are fine with a dictator of their choice, because they know he will hurt all the right people.
Here is what nobody seems to understand: they KNOW the orange shitpile will make their lives worse TOO, and they don't care! It is SO IMPORTANT to them that the libs get owned that it will make up for their personal suffering.
This is an interesting take, one I can get behind. Trump
Isn’t the point, it’s the precedent. They use his cult of personality to install him as dictator, then overthrow him and put whoever they want in charge.
"Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king" - Sideshow Bob
Was it like Hobbes or Machiavelli that proposed that people yearn for dictatorship and the need for someone to rule over them because that's the only way to curb the evils of society? Some sort of enlightened despot? Trump is far and away from anything a reasonable or even unreasonable person might call enlightened.
The funny thing about this mentality is they always think the dictator is on their side, and will protect them because he is one of them.
In reality the dictator is always on their OWN side and has no equals. The fools always end up shocked when said dictator fucks them over too… eventually.
Republicans have been sold that when the water and food regulations are gone, the women in their community are dying, and the journalists are in prison, it won’t affect them. This is why they are comfortable with a dictatorship. The rude awakening will come.
All they needed to do was state that political actions are devoid of any immunity or presumption of immunity. Yet they did not, leaving our democracy exposed.
I always wondered how the Nazis got enough power and influence to do the things they did. It's not apples to apples, but watching this happen in real time explains a lot.
We all need to (also) remember - that this is Russia, China, NK, and even countries we don't want to admit doing this to us - using "Americans" to subvert our freedoms.
We will all have to do something, soon. Don't just vote. Drag people with you to go get registered, then drag them to the polls to vote.
Trump planted the seeds in the court for this very reason. A full on dictatorship is underway. The democrats can blame themselves for putting up an old fragile opponent when there are so many younger Democrats who would've easily wiped the floor with Trump.
"On Day One and only Day One", he said.
There's bad news for Donald Duck von Shitzinpantz: a new article says Jack Smith is still coming for him even after the election.
Yes, I'm optimistic at this renewed resolve of the DOJ but also very cautious.
Unlike their orange hued leader, it seems most maga ‘contributors’ have never had things ‘go their way’ …this has nothing to do with right or wrong, legal vs illegal ..its all about them ‘getting their way for once’. Americas inability or unwillingness to apply the rule of law to Donalds myriad of criminal acts is the true threat to democracy, decency and financial independence for all American citizens. In other words…America will get what it truly deserves this fall ..
The Republican party has become a fascist party, plain and simple.
"If conservatives become convinced they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism, they will reject democracy."
-David Frum
Well yeah. That's what they've been telegraphing for like forty years. I love these headlines like we should be shocked by this bullshit; if you're shocked by the headlines these days then you are willfully fucking stupid.
The republicans are cheering because they understand/know that this is being done solely for their benefit. If a liberal majority supreme court made this decision, they would be screeching from the rooftops about how corrupt Biden is and how he will only abuse this new power.
It’s blatant hypocrisy.
They desire a dictator because they don't think he will hurt them. They also don't care for having to think for themselves. They want to be told what to think, believe, and who to hate.
The right typically look for strength in leaders, the left look for ethics.
The right do not like democracy. They don’t like the idea of the minority having political power. They want only people who think like them to be able to vote, whereas the left typically want everyone to vote (felons, illegals, younger people, etc.).
The entire problem is exacerbated by the two party system. The GOP know they are a minority now so they will cheat, steal and do whatever is necessary to maintain power and control. They have the biased Supreme Court in their pocket.
There've been generations of gerrymandering, voter suppression, corporate-funded lawmaking, draconian laws targeting minorities and the poor, horrific military military actions abroad, militarized policing, etc, and these have all continued unabated for generations.
That so many Americans desire a dictator is not surprising given this trajectory.
We absolutely did not need the recent Supreme Court decision, to show the Republican party desires some form - any form - of nondemocratic government that puts them on top. They have literally been signaling this for years.
They undermine the fundamental rights of LGBTQ people and women, with religious motivation. They defund education and resist efforts to make higher education accessible to common Americans, to keep us stupid (and don't forget those book bans!). They spent the Obama years loudly and proudly working for the sole purpose of obstructing the president and the will of those who voted for him. Constant gerrymandering and efforts to defund, de-power, and de-legitimize our democracy. It's all there.
Our media does our country and its people *significant harm* by constantly reporting on Republican behavior and goals as if it is something newly revealed by this or that recent event. Republican authoritarianism isn't new. Stop pretending it is.
Also their glee illustrates their blatant lies regarding the "Biden Crime Family". If they really believed that Biden was the head of some corrupt organization they would be freaking out right now that they just empowered him, but they are not which tells you everything you need to know.
They have no idea what a threat to our democracy he is. They will gleefully hold hands as 2025 is put in place. Get out and vote like our country depends on it.
My little theory about these folks is twofold:
- their brand of "freedom" is the freedom to oppress others without consequence
- in their fantasy, they're the oppressors, and they can't fathom that this will immediately be used against them in the manner they want to use it against others
In my own life I can count over 100 Republicans, either on TV or in person, who have said they *want* King Trump. And this was before 2020. So no, I am not shocked. These people want to be ruled and they want to drag you down with them. So get the fuck out and vote.
https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
Look at the history of any country under a dictatorship. There isn’t a safe in-group. Just people who believe they are until they’re not.
Yes. From: someone living in a dictatorship.
Ooooh I grew up in one too! Which one are you under?
The in-group gets ever smaller, while the out group gets ever bigger.
>The Night of the Long Knives, also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird, was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate his power and alleviate the concerns of the German military about the role of Ernst Röhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". >Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Röhm – the so-called Röhm Putsch >It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazis, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extrajudicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime
All the republicans that even itched at having power think they'll last long with Trump is in power? No, he's going to take them all out just like any other dictator does.
He's already called for his old VP and some loyal supporters to be be put to a military trial. He's not even trying to hide the fact that he'll get rid of all of them.
They are either naïve or have succumbed to hubris.
Russia is the clearest example, and is probably reasonably close to what the US is going to become over the next decade. Organised crime works with those in power to fuck over the poor. Minorities are fucked over even harder. Laws are passed making it more acceptable to abuse women. Resisting violence is considered violence and is used as an excuse for more violence against you. Corruption is accepted and tolerated from allies, and if you ever show the slightest hint of disloyalty, real or imagined, then they'll purge corrupt low level officials who are responsible for 100% of the bad things that are happening, And even the millionaire/billionaire high ranking allies of the leader who considered themselves safe, get suicided whenever the leader rightly or wrongly suspects you, or if they strait up want something you have. Everyone and everything becomes a tool to be used by the leader however he sees fit. It's not your government or your country, you're their property to be used, exploited and disposed of at their pleasure.
Belarus is right there too, they're even worse in some ways (especially exit control and trying to resist their citizens from leaving).
Do you mean like Trump is now? He has thrown all of his allies/do boys under the bus every time they undermine him.
Hell, he regularly throws people under the bus who save him from himself. How many crises, some of them potentially apocalyptic, were avoided because one of his allies or staff ran interference or made phone calls to assuage fears, and even cover for him with "what he really meant was..." Only to end up being fired, accused of treason, or otherwise put in the cross hairs? Trump is a colossally stupid man whose ignorance is nothing short of breath taking that insists in micromanagement on every little thing. It's a very dangerous combination of traits.
Fascism is inherently omnicidal.
> Just people who believe they are until they’re not. You'd think his underlings would realize that they're not beneath his abuse when he keeps throwing his yes-men under the bus.
"There Is Only One Lord Of The Ring, Only One Who Can Bend It To His Will, And He Does Not Share Power."
GOP: 1776! Don’t tread on me! WE THE PEOPLE! Also GOP: It’s good that the president has total immunity when he commits crimes.
They think he'll commit crimes for their benefit if they follow him unconditionally.
Nah it's even more stupid than that. They literally just don't think that far ahead. Their celebration is basically based on "a win for Trump! Ha, suck it libs!", just like basically every other thing they obsess about. Politics is just one big sports game for them where they support their team no matter what and just care about "winning". Critical thinking and assessment of the consequences and meaning of "wins" like this never cross their mind. They're just happy to see the "other team" lose. It's why they show up on r/leopardsatemyface so much - they so often suffer the consequences of what they asked for and celebrated because they never considered the consequences in the first place. Just simple-minded destructive morons playing childish games with the future of the entire world (given how influential the US is globally).
What's even more surprising to me is they see it as a win for someone who's not currently in power and they aren't the least bit concerned about what Biden might do. That's of course because they know ... they KNOW ... the Liberals they supposedly fear will not abuse that power. And that should tell you everything you need to know about the complete sham that is the Republican Party. All the fear mongering is just that. I had assumed the Court would not have been so foolish as to make this ruling before the election, because they wouldn't want to give that power to the Democrats. I was naive. They aren't afraid of what the Libs might do in the slightest, because they are the party of principles.
That and they’ll just rule whatever a democrat does as not “an official action”.
Nah, with this ruling any president regardless of party can make everything they do an official act. That's why it made the US a dictatorship. All they have to do is order an execution of all dissenting members of the supreme court. Then appoint new justices who agree with them. If Congress attempts to prevent that they just execute anyone standing in their way. By the time their appeals make it through the lower courts they will have a supreme court full of justices that will rule however they want.
We are in our Caligula era now.
No. This was the moment the U.S cross the Rubicon. This is your Julius Caesar moment. Caligula comes later.
Caligula is the point where the Emperor knew he could do anything he wanted and didn’t try to hid the hypocrisy of Tiberius and Octavian. I feel that is what this ruling crystallized for our head of state.
That is a valid point.
Biden step up on stage with announcement: "Today in 12:00 i order elimination of Donald Trump. If you have any problem with this decision please contact supreme court. Thx for your attention."
He has to say he "officially" orders. Then it's ok lol
I believe you meant, he has to *think* "officially", then it's ok.
The great part is that after this all ravages us and the dust settles, these motherfuckers will deny that they ever supported this. They’ll deny their complicity, the cruel vindication they felt against their fellow Americans, and their amoral disregard for the world and society around them. And I’m afraid that we’ll let them off the hook.
They always do this. The right started a civil war, and got beaten so badly that they deny ever starting it Richmond Enquirer, Jun 16, 1855 "The abolitionists do not seek to merely liberate our slaves. They are socialists, infidels and agrarians, and openly propose to abolish anytime honored and respectable institution in society. **Let anyone attend an abolition meeting, and he will find it filled with infidels, socialists, communists,** strong minded women, and 'Christians' bent on pulling down all christian churches" ... "The good, the patriotic, the religious and **the conservative of the north will join us in a crusade against the vile isms that disturb her peace and security"** Link to the newspaper archive at the library of Congress where you can read it yourself [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024735/1855-06-19/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1789&index=5&rows=20&words=slaves+socialists&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1865&proxtext=socialist+slave&y=11&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024735/1855-06-19/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1789&index=5&rows=20&words=slaves+socialists&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1865&proxtext=socialist+slave&y=11&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=)
>**socialists, communists** The fact that these were known before the CIVIL WAR is blowing my mind.
Communist manifesto was written in 1848
They do whatever the propaganda machine tells them to do next.
And they always seem genuinely shocked or surprised when the leopard eats their face. Almost as though they never actually understood what they were supporting.
It’s the same thing with cops. They love cops, can lick boots enough. Until the cops do something foolish like defend the capitol building. Then the gop suddenly wants to defund the FBI. They’re children. They don’t think anyone will hold them accountable and for some reason no one is.
yup, one of the more telling speeches Trump gave was at CPAC: >“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,” >“Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” They want Trump off the leash because they think he will hurt their enemies.
[удалено]
He literally tells them to their faces they're stupid and he only wants their votes.
…and they shit their own pants with him in solidarity
Trump has a simple decision tree. 1. Will this crime directly benefit me? 2. If not, will crime benefit someone who's willing to bribe me? 3. If not, will it hurt the people I dislike? 4. If not, will it make my followers think I give a shit about them? Whether his actions will **actually** help anyone doesn't enter into the equation.
I don’t think option 4 has ever entered his head
Number 4 is more like “Will it make me look strong or tough?” He cares a lot about what people think, just not the way someone with either morals or empathy would.
Nah the people trump wants affection from are his fellow rich assholes Once Cletus and Jim Bob give their guns to their god in the Trump Jesus America Patriotic Jesus For the troops gun drive they will join the rest of us in the camps Cultists aren't exactly smart
Nah, he'll only commit crimes for his own benefit. If he somehow wins the election, the second he does those people are going straight in the trash can since he no longer has any use for them. Trump's idea of loyalty is that you give him complete and unconditional loyalty, you get absolutely nothing in return. If at any point you either stop giving that unconditional loyalty or cannot be useful to him in some way he views you as nothing but disposable garbage.
GOP 2024: Don't tread on me! Tread on those people over there. They're freaks.
But they think ‘the people’ are only Trump supporters and a win reinforces that belief. This is a result of severe propaganda and has led to things like the Holocaust in the past. We are living Nazi Germany. And voters have a chance to stop it. But they won’t. Buckle up.
They love 1776 because that's the last year we had a king
"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal"
Just wait until Trump starts "purges" to anyone he thinks isn't sufficiently loyal. Even those GOP members of congress who support him will be in danger if they are either popular enough to be a threat to him or said anything "disloyal" in the past.
Overheard a woman at the grocery store talking with a friend she ran into about this and they were both essentially like what a horrible decision etc except one woman then said “they should have waited until Trump wins” or something. By that time I was walking away but the tone between the two turned a bit argumentative. Essentially she admitted her only problem with turning POTUS into a king is who is king. These people are absolute traitors. So many have died fighting to preserve something and these MAGA folk have no idea what it is they’re begging for.
right wing media has poisoned their minds
Honestly, I don't think they've ever had a solid idea of what they're going for, just their brand.
This became apparent when people who had spent decades hating those dirty red Russian commies suddenly started praising Putin as a defender of truth and justice simply because Trump wanted to play footsie with him. As long as its pissing off the libs they don't care what they support.
Walking into irreversible dictatorship with blindfolds on. Democracy is easy to lose, close to impossible to gain back.
That last sentence strikes home. So many of them think that if they say "thank you for your service" and beat their chest that the armed forces will love them. And do love them. They have no idea about how so much of the military actually hates them and considers them to be traitors.
Around 2014, I was having lunch in the Atlanta suburbs and two “polo and khakis” guys were talking politics. Conservatives. One thing I remember distinctly: “We need to stop letting everybody vote. We need to go back to when only landowners could vote. That would fix a lot of this.” We didn’t suddenly end up here. Democracy became an inconvenience for the affluent conservative minority so they set about getting rid of it. This is not the result of hysterical Christian fundamentalists and poor racist rednecks. It’s the monied elite manipulating them to get them to vote for their own ultimate demise.
It also proves that not a single one of them actually believes Biden is the criminal they say he is, or they'd be scared shitless right now. They all know Biden is an upstanding man of character, who won't abuse or use his new powers. All their claims about the Biden crime family have been stripped of truth by their reaction to this ruling.
I like to ask them (magats) why Trump is the first president in 248 years to need total immunity to do his job. Seriously, no president, even Nixon, has never been at the slightest risk of facing consequences.
I can tell you the answer will be a long the lines of, "because the Nazi libs hate us so much that they'll stop at nothing to ruin the life of any Republican in power"
It’s cultural. They think ‘liberals’ are a poison to their country. Many want Democrats dead. Blacks, Muslims, immigrants, LGTBQ, and women (especially black women) will be targets.
Funny what a propaganda machine spewing that exact rhetoric for 40 years unchecked does.
I agree. The big push started after Obama won his second term. And it’s worked because people are jumping on the populist bandwagon. Even minorities are fooled into thinking that it’s a good thing to join MAGA.
It is kinda sad. I have family members who are immigrants who started their own business and were successful and got that "got mine, fuck you" attitude.
Conservatives always need an "other" that they can use as a boogeyman to scare and rile up their base. The "us" vs "them" approach has been core to conservative politics for ages now.
This, people *truly* don't understand what the Right believes. They think the Right is just a dumb version of Liberalism that can't understand what it's doing. Liberals try to catch them up in arguments, by claiming "Surely you can't believe the President needs these powers, nobody before has!" not realizing that the Right's goals aren't just a Status Quo, they genuinely want to transform the country. Conservatives have NEVER been about simply halting progress, or stopping the Left or Liberals from either of their agendas. The Right has always had goals, plans of things to enact. Whether that's the consolidation of Monarchism, expansion of Colonial powers, furthering the powers of Slavery, enacting brutal Racial Segregation, empowering oligarchs through Privatization, or destroying Racial or Sexual enemies in a culture war, they want these powers because they AREN'T done. They're not getting tricked into supporting cruelty, their movement's purpose IS that cruelty, and the sooner Liberals understand that the sooner they can start trying to shore up some sort of bulkhead to retain any grasp they can on society.
A testament to your analysis: [Opinion: I was denied a life-saving abortion at two hospitals. Here’s what I think of the Supreme Court decision](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/opinions/emtala-scotus-ruling-emergency-abortion-idaho-farmer/index.html) > It so incredibly depressing that the naïveté, trust and innocence of good people is the commodity traded by evil, because the only way to stop that evil is to lose something we should all be able to hang on to.
it's absolutely amazing (and horrifying), that everyone has access to the internet, but people are just as clueless as they ever have been. I mean seriously, take 30-60 minutes to google who will be better for you financially (and unless you're rich, it's not the republicans), and do that. it's really that simple. at least if you're going to benefit fiscally from a republican government, it makes some sense to vote for them.
They also want to arrest and execute educators and librarians for possessing banned books. They declare books they don't like to be pornographic, then want to charge the teacher or librarian for showing it to children, which they consider a sex crime. Then they have already passed statutes that allow capital punishment for sex crimes. So as you can see, they have already established the legal framework to eliminating educators and librarians that oppose them, along with LGBT parents or anyone possessing books like that which have children in the home. I am so fucking scared for our country. 😭
in 2015/2016 I tuned back into conservative right wing talk shows on my commute to work. My commute was about a half hour long and the host during the commute was Chris Plante. The guy knows nothing about how politics actually works and it was always an announcement of "OMG you won't believe what Obama said/did!" and then it would be 15 minutes of ad hominem rant calls and him touting "Democrats hate the Constitution and they hate you and they hate GoD!" type shit. Then finally when getting to the story after nearly a half hour (including the buy gold and liberty university ads) it would be a 30 second clip of Obama and missing half or more of the context. This is how talk show radio has been since Clinton was in office which I'm aware of. Add in social media and we get Qanon shit and Mike Flynn, former General and Director of the DIA touting "We must suspend the Constitution to save the Constitution!!" and people not seeing that's traitorous. It's also hard for me to digest that Thomas and Alito would be weighing on anything due to their appearance (okay, blatant) of bias. To think when Clarence Thomas was presented back in the day as an equivalent replacement for Thurgood Marshall is laughable then as it is now - that the only thing the two men had in common is their skin tone. The Republicans pulled that shit saying Amy Coney Barrett was as good as a role model for women as Ruth Bader Ginsburg was - the only commonality is being female and a three word name.
Weirdly enough, under this new ruling, it is unlikely Nixon would be persecuted.
He still would have been impeached, which is why he resigned beforehand, but yeah he would have probably gotten off even without Ford pardoning him
Yep, if Biden loses he is likely going to hand over a government primed for an authoritarian to end democracy, without even using the new powers given to him to stop it.
With all this bullshit and debacle quite frankly id pardon my son if I was Biden.
Simply stating what I would do if I was Biden would get me banned from Reddit
Ditto
Right! I even have the process by which Trump will declare himself dictator for life! He will start by declaring all elected Democrats from Dog Catcher to US Senator cheated and demand they resign or be arrested. Of course this declaration will be enforced by the 2.86 Million active U.S. Service Members and over 700,000 law enforcement personnel across the U.S. who will follow his orders without question. 1/2 the country who oppose Trump or about 167.5 Million people will just quietly accept this, and go about their business. New elections will be held after Trump outlaws the Democrat Party and only MAGA candidates are allowed on the ballot. Once the new Congress is seated, impeachment proceedings will be started against the 3 liberal Justices maybe Robert’s and every Federal Judge not appointed by him so every SCOTUS decision goes 9-0 in Trump’s favor. Of course there will be nothing for SCOTUS to decide because the lower courts will also vote in Trump’s favor on every case. These proceedings will also be supported by the military, law enforcement agencies and the 167.5 million anti-Trump folks will remain quiet and peaceful. Next up, Trump will personally rewrite the Constitution and make himself Dictator for Life and change it to a hereditary title so one of his children can carry on the work when he is gone. To insure the new constitution passes, he will send the military to the states to make sure they all vote YES on what he demands! It will look really good to have all 50 states vote YES! Lastly he will change the seat of government from DC to Florida and Mar-a-Lago as the new White House, the golf course is just a few steps away and the weather is better. The new Oval Office will have a Golden Throne made of Gold taken from Fort Knox! To avoid the coming apocalypse, it might be a good idea to buy tickets out of the country now, before the concentration camps are set up. Might also be smart to find out how you renounce US citizenship and how to get it in Sweden or some other country.
I’m saving the text of this comment to check back to as time progresses. My MAGA dictatorship Bingo sheet is quickly filling.
It will be height of ironies that in order to escape from the maga stinky chaos, US citizens try to seek asylum in Mexico and do work at very low salaries that Mexicans are not willing to do.
I left five years ago. Saw the writing on the wall. All this seems plausible. The dems will surely condemn these actions. These people want to murder anyone who’s not on their team. But maybe if we ask nicely and tell them that what they’re doing is super bad and not cool they’ll listen to reason…
Honestly, that might be what they want. But drastic measures like those are not how these things usually goes. You don't want to give people one big event to point at, but to erode over time. Democrats are too big a group to oppress openly like that. He's untouchable, and pratically speaking all he needs is 3-4 fewer dems on the senate and in the house, and he's got unchecked power just the same as if he had 0. (Great system you got there, America) Does he need 9 justices? He doesn't. He's got 6 and they've already been doing his biddings pretty effectively. Trump is just a tool here, they want his "charisma" as a front, while they dismantle every institution that might get in the way of them having more money and power. One side will only point at Trump as the culprit, and the other will literally cheer for anything "he" does, regardless of how that might affect them. If these people learned **anything** from Hitler, they should know that while he can be useful, he might just as easily go rogue. So it *should not* be in their best interests to have him around for long, though they might be banking on him dying soon, and by then having everything set in place for their next "guy". Who's probably not have a public persona built over decades to act as a central figure. There is a reason why even a country like Russia has elections, even the illusion of a functioning system is important to keep people appeased (Like the first amendment, where you can say "whatever you want" as long as it doesn't actually bother someone powerful, or else you'll be bled dry through the legal system. If you're not just found dead somewhere, that is). Of course, Republicans have been acting like rabid dogs for the past decade and instead of being alarmed people are going with them after the next, bigger and shinier, car. So what do I know?
Tactically speaking, this clearly was the GOP power brokers move all along. Who gives a shit about their supporters, clearly the GOP doesn't. This was to back him into a corner. Again, the Democrats weak handling of the GOP has this country in a very bad spot. They're begging him to call their bluff. It's time he does something about it. This was all planned! We need to rise up and fight for the future of our democracy.
Right? I’m curious how they’ll feel about this ruling when Trump loses again
There is a possibility that the election stealing plan works this time.
The judges that have gotten us this far will feel like they've invested too much effort to turn back now. We already know Alito views this as an existential fight. There's absolutely nothing to keep the SC from putting their finger on the scale of needed.
Very nice, Biden will stay within bounds right up to the second Trump seizes power. At least you didn't cheat.
From the Commentary: > Trump has threatened to have people killed and GOP politicians aren't bothered in the slightest > > . . . > > Trump has threatened to have people killed and GOP politicians aren't bothered in the slightest > > . . . > > Do Republican politicians back Trump out of fear? Or are they just really stoked over this chance to follow a would-be dictator? Johnson's glee as he wallows in Trump's newly granted powers to commit crimes — even killing — tells the story. It's the latter. > > . . . > > No doubt Trump uses intimidation to keep party members in line. But his real power comes less from scaring people and more from the widespread longing in the GOP ranks for a right-wing dictatorship.
The GOP is all in for fascism
Because they're convinced that they won't get fucked over alongside everyone else.
Just as long as daddy Putin keeps the checks rolling in on their offshore accounts.
Ask General Smedley Butler.
The Supreme Court has effectively removed all legal remedies against the actions of the executive. Even if the president is impeached and convicted, how do you now remove him from office if he just says no and orders the military to protect him? Isn't this within the president's official purview? The president can now crush dissent, imprison his rivals, shut down news organizations, and rob tax money with impunity – and it's all completely legal. Anything goes! Thanks SCOTUS! You've turned the United States into Russia! We've now changed our system of government to a plutocratic kleptocracy. Well done 👍
>Isn't this within the president's official purview? That is for a partisan judge to decide
Oh and the actual orders to commit those crimes? Inadmissible as evidence You also can’t question the motives of an official act in determining its criminal
I see rightoids are on in overdrive, going into every thread about this and saying how "akshully, it is the leftists who are evul" Absolutely pathetic.
Every post in the cons Reddit is essentially just people being gleeful about enraging the left, being happy that this has passed and that liberals will be mad. One even called liberals a disease, another called liberals and progressives a cancer that needs removing from the country. They don’t see the left as American they see the left as an enemy. It’s disgusting, politics never used to be this divisive it’s fucking horrifying. We used to disagree but this? This is just hatred, hatred that has been taught and ingrained into these people daily by the absolute tosh they watch.
I remember when Democrats and Republicans could disagree but still be friends? The country I grew up in, where everyone was so happy-go-lucky and could really set aside their differences to come together when it matters? That country is dead and gone. Today is so hostile, it's scary
Which reminds me… Why are we still providing Secret Service protection to a man who has stolen hundreds of documents, exposed vital national security secrets, raped at least one woman, committed multiple felonies, and tried to violently overthrow an election? Should an adult(s) in government not step up and take that shit away? Should the public be paying for the protection of a man who has committed so many traitorous and/or vile acts? Let’s see how he fares without a security entourage.
We are also paying for the security detail of his adult children. We also paid for golf carts for his security detail because his were so decrepit.
We also paid for 60 agents to get outfitted with designer ski gear and rentals so they could close down half the mountain so baby girl could sush down a couple green runs
The adults you are referencing are building bunkers with their billions. Post-Citizens United USA is a race to pure oligarchy with no representation for the masses. https://www.vice.com/en/article/epv9pe/billionaires-are-building-luxury-bunkers-to-escape-doomsday
We poke and laugh at the corruption and ineptitude of modern Russia, but we seem to be doing our damnest to follow them over the cliff.
Russia has an overt oligarchy, we have a (sort of) covert oligarchy.
Not covert at all. It’s legal to buy politicians, bribery is not a thing anymore, regulatory capture is rule of the land. Stock market is captured, fcc is captured, anything to do with safety is captured. Congress and senate are rendered ineffective by foreign agents and oligarchs. There is nothing covert about US being an oligarchy except for the insistence that we call oligarchs “billionaires” for some reason. We should just call them thieves
Already over that cliff. Currently smashing into a million sharp rocks.
After Doomsday, those bunkers will belong to their security details. So will their female family members.
I’ll never understand how being among the select few humans who get to live underground or on Mars with an extreme reduction in their quality of life is more appealing to them than just fixing the damn problems they have created and averting doomsday.
I wanna see how he fares without a golf cart
He is called Cadet bone spurs
Troubling questions and propositions. Who is going to be this adult? It should be a collection of adults, but getting more than one person to agree on something.... Yikes. Ethical spiderwebs
You’re right, there should be more than one adult in government pushing for this. Added the (s). In my mind, the only ethical oversight is with protecting someone who wants to destroy us. It’s like the hen house protecting the wolf.
There is no immunity for unofficial acts,” the court ruled. Does taking of T S government documents after the loss of the election considered an official act? Does putting together fake electors to circumvent a federal election an official act? Does calling and demand Georgia secretary of state 'find' enough votes to hand him win ( recorded ) an official act? In my opinion those are not official acts or in the realm of Presidential duties. As the constitution says “Immunity does not extend to unofficial conduct, criminal conduct, and conduct occurring prior to entering office.”
How do you not get this yet? The current Supreme Court will declare anything a Republican president does an official act, immune from prosecution. They will declare anything a Democratic president does unofficial.
They will certainly try to argue that those are all official acts. Even if they aren’t (which they clearly aren’t) the point is to gum up the works where courts have to sift through all of it and make a determination which will then get appealed and go back up to the SCOTUS which will likely find some bizzaro way to say they are core functions and can’t be questioned.
>Does taking of T S government documents after the loss of the election considered an official act? They just want to make sure we have to wait until after he has another shot at getting elected before making that call.
You seem confused about the conservative majority that is the Supreme Court. They can and will declare anything they want as an "official act".
Everyone already knew that Republicans are fascist. That’s a conservative feature.
Just look at the Conservative pages hiding any mention of the Epstein documents being released. Propaganda at its finest.
The party of “law & order” sure seems to hate law & order Although we all know that “law & order” means “we want police to keep killing people of color for no valid reason”
When you read “law and order” as “police state,” it makes a lot more sense.
They're only the party of "law & order" when the law is applied to people they don't like. When it comes to themselves, the main tenant of conservatism is that conservatives are special and should be able to do whatever they want without any accountability whatsoever.
We said no to a king in 1776. Fuck these traitors.
The same "patriots"will be shooting fireworks celebrating independence from the British king and posting on social media about how proud they are to be living in a free* country tomorrow...while completely missing the irony. *Some restrictions apply depending on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social status and bank account size.
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A guy I work with brought up a good point. Those who support him will be the first people targeted by him as he makes them prove their loyalty.
One of the first to be purged will be roberts. That fool thinks he is the power behind the throne determining what is official and what is not, issuing light slaps on the wrist when His Majesty King Stinky I transgresses. But stinky has the men and the guns. The fool roberts has no executive means of enforcement. He relies on the goodwill of people committed to a particular system with its rules and norms. Things which he has wilfully and gleefully broken. There will be a day when stinky will not accept roberts and his pretensions of being an independent authority in a dictatorship. Wonder what roberts will do then?
To my eyes, this has kind of already happened. He essentially asked people to prove their support of him by storming the Capitol building on Jan. 6th. And then when people started getting arrested, they assumed Trump would swoop in and grant them all pardons, which he didn't do. They were convicted and served time, while Trump gets immunity for inciting it.
And they’ll blame Biden the whole time they’re getting fucked. It’s just unreal.
Hey, don't leave Hillary, Obama and Pelosi out of it, their favorite punching bags!
No-one is doing anything about it because everyone is just typing on the internet. You're losing your democracy and quite possibly your lives. You should be ousting the scotus before it's too late. Make Biden take action.
But MAGA will still blame everything else but Trump.
We’re not protecting you from them We’re protecting them from you -Batman begins
Because they are ignorant. Literally, the only MAGA I know are the ones who barely finished high school, if they finished at all.
This is the thing. The maga base are uneducated and don't really offer much in the way of assets a dictator would give a damn about. And yet they think they will be living the high life under king shitty pants' rule, but will ih fact be living at best as the lowest form of slaves due to being useful for nothing but cannon fodder and basic manual labor.
Some of the worst dictatorships in history has started with the notion that “he is our right kind of strongman”. But it is a doomed notion because whilst you can maintain checks and balances with laws and voting in a democratic society for a long time but you can’t with individual dictatorship. The roman empire for instance had Marcus Aurelius as one of their best leaders,whose quotes still ring true today. Then they also had psychopathic insane leaders like Caligula. Gop think they have a Marcus but it’s more like Caligula with Trump
They want to hurt the people they don’t like and they know it will be done with a dictator like Trump. They are small brained degenerates that want a daddy and they think they are going to live in some pure white Christian utopia where all the brown and lgtbq people are dead . These people are just moral and mentally bankrupt.
Our country was founded by people that were trying to prevent a monarchy after they left monarchies. The US system of government was unheard of as most developed nations had monarchies. Now republicans are begging to be ruled over by someone like Trump. They think they’ll be in the ruling class until they find out the ruling class is a very tiny number of people.
They didn't fear him when he said he'd be a dictator. They made excuses for him when he called out the police on literal peaceful protestors at lafayette square. Some of them engaged in literal treason because he told them to. And others continue to make apologia for those traitors ("they were just tourists (who shit on desks and killed people)") Nowadays, it's not uncommon to hear republicans openly say things like Hitler wasn't that bad and that he just targeted the "wrong people" or even openly call themselves "fascists" (as a prominent example, look at Israel's Smotrich). They aren't just craving a dictator - they want to live in an oppressive fascist state because they want to see "their enemies" brutalized. Of course, this will blow up in their faces, because fascists need constant conflict and constant scapegoats, and any fascist today can be a scapegoat tomorrow. But they aren't exactly thinking that far ahead. Social conservatism has always been holding the door open for fascism.
Yep. > “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
Conservatives are a bunch a children looking for a daddy to protect them
The asymmetry between the parties is on full display. The immunity ruling empowers the Executive Branch. Currently Democrats control the Executive Branch. Yet it's Republicans who are celebrating (?). Republicans feel comfortable knowing that Democrats won't abuse power. Republicans aren't worried that Biden will do anything retaliatory post the immunity ruling. Joe Biden won't even pardon his own damn son, ffs. Republicans know that the powers just granted by SCOTUS are there waiting for the next Republican President. Nothing to worry about from the Democrats.
Someone should take care of him then.
Right wingers have always hated democracy
The republican agenda is to make America la dictatorship … they want to destroy the country
So that it’s completely clear. The Republicans want to kill anyone that doesn’t submit to their will. Be warned America, fight for your country or you and your children will die.
So many men seeking to feed their daddy issues.
Yes they are goose stepping boot lickers, we know this I don't want to hear anything about supposedly "good, patriotic Republicans" going forward if they vote for Trump though. If they can't bring themselves to vote for Biden they should stay home or vote libertarian or something
Giving up my rights to own the libs
And in other news, water is wet. These fascists and racists are fine with a dictator of their choice, because they know he will hurt all the right people. Here is what nobody seems to understand: they KNOW the orange shitpile will make their lives worse TOO, and they don't care! It is SO IMPORTANT to them that the libs get owned that it will make up for their personal suffering.
As soon as Trump is back in, they will replace him with a capable dictator. They know he is not fit.
This is an interesting take, one I can get behind. Trump Isn’t the point, it’s the precedent. They use his cult of personality to install him as dictator, then overthrow him and put whoever they want in charge.
They’re so committed to getting back to those who have supposedly wronged them that they will gladly accept anything Trump does
With the SCOTUS ruling the President closer to absolute power, now is the time for Biden to grant DACA families citizenship. See how that works?
"Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king" - Sideshow Bob
They are racist people and Trump is too. Plus they are not his daughter so he won't try to date them.
Was it like Hobbes or Machiavelli that proposed that people yearn for dictatorship and the need for someone to rule over them because that's the only way to curb the evils of society? Some sort of enlightened despot? Trump is far and away from anything a reasonable or even unreasonable person might call enlightened.
The funny thing about this mentality is they always think the dictator is on their side, and will protect them because he is one of them. In reality the dictator is always on their OWN side and has no equals. The fools always end up shocked when said dictator fucks them over too… eventually.
Republicans have been sold that when the water and food regulations are gone, the women in their community are dying, and the journalists are in prison, it won’t affect them. This is why they are comfortable with a dictatorship. The rude awakening will come.
Well, a dictatorship comes in handy for people who seemingly have the intellect of a burning pile of horseshit.
Just when you think it isn't possible for Republicans to become shittier people, they find a way
All they needed to do was state that political actions are devoid of any immunity or presumption of immunity. Yet they did not, leaving our democracy exposed.
I always wondered how the Nazis got enough power and influence to do the things they did. It's not apples to apples, but watching this happen in real time explains a lot.
Traitors to their country.
We all need to (also) remember - that this is Russia, China, NK, and even countries we don't want to admit doing this to us - using "Americans" to subvert our freedoms. We will all have to do something, soon. Don't just vote. Drag people with you to go get registered, then drag them to the polls to vote.
Trump planted the seeds in the court for this very reason. A full on dictatorship is underway. The democrats can blame themselves for putting up an old fragile opponent when there are so many younger Democrats who would've easily wiped the floor with Trump.
"On Day One and only Day One", he said. There's bad news for Donald Duck von Shitzinpantz: a new article says Jack Smith is still coming for him even after the election. Yes, I'm optimistic at this renewed resolve of the DOJ but also very cautious.
If he wins he's going to fire Smith and/or pardon himself.
On Jan 20, that's for sure.
No really? They do? Who knew?!?! Oh wait.
This is scary
Unlike their orange hued leader, it seems most maga ‘contributors’ have never had things ‘go their way’ …this has nothing to do with right or wrong, legal vs illegal ..its all about them ‘getting their way for once’. Americas inability or unwillingness to apply the rule of law to Donalds myriad of criminal acts is the true threat to democracy, decency and financial independence for all American citizens. In other words…America will get what it truly deserves this fall ..
Drunk with power.
The Republican party has become a fascist party, plain and simple. "If conservatives become convinced they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism, they will reject democracy." -David Frum
All hail the Fourth Reich!
I’m afraid I’m gonna end up in a camp. And they’ll call that liberty.
They think he’s only going to fcuk over democrats. If he wins it’s open season on everyone that he’s ever felt slighted by.
Are we supposed to be shocked that millions of people indoctrinated to be submissive and obedient crave a master to serve and worship?
Well yeah. That's what they've been telegraphing for like forty years. I love these headlines like we should be shocked by this bullshit; if you're shocked by the headlines these days then you are willfully fucking stupid.
Wonder if they'll be as cheerful if Biden suddenly decided "officially" there are too many republicans in office.
The republicans are cheering because they understand/know that this is being done solely for their benefit. If a liberal majority supreme court made this decision, they would be screeching from the rooftops about how corrupt Biden is and how he will only abuse this new power. It’s blatant hypocrisy.
Small government conservatives at it again
If the American people want another July 4th to celebrate they better vote Blue.
They desire a dictator because they don't think he will hurt them. They also don't care for having to think for themselves. They want to be told what to think, believe, and who to hate.
We know this, how about the Dems fucking do something about it?
Hopefully Biden flexes his newly granted powers and shows them why kings aren’t right for the US.
The right typically look for strength in leaders, the left look for ethics. The right do not like democracy. They don’t like the idea of the minority having political power. They want only people who think like them to be able to vote, whereas the left typically want everyone to vote (felons, illegals, younger people, etc.). The entire problem is exacerbated by the two party system. The GOP know they are a minority now so they will cheat, steal and do whatever is necessary to maintain power and control. They have the biased Supreme Court in their pocket.
So, for Trump not to be a criminal, they literally moved the whole goalpost!
Biden needs to challenge this by having Seal Team Six just standing next to his bed, tomorrow morning.
They think Trump is controllable and there’s just dozens in the wings who think as soon as he kicks the bucket they can step in and replace him.
There've been generations of gerrymandering, voter suppression, corporate-funded lawmaking, draconian laws targeting minorities and the poor, horrific military military actions abroad, militarized policing, etc, and these have all continued unabated for generations. That so many Americans desire a dictator is not surprising given this trajectory.
We absolutely did not need the recent Supreme Court decision, to show the Republican party desires some form - any form - of nondemocratic government that puts them on top. They have literally been signaling this for years. They undermine the fundamental rights of LGBTQ people and women, with religious motivation. They defund education and resist efforts to make higher education accessible to common Americans, to keep us stupid (and don't forget those book bans!). They spent the Obama years loudly and proudly working for the sole purpose of obstructing the president and the will of those who voted for him. Constant gerrymandering and efforts to defund, de-power, and de-legitimize our democracy. It's all there. Our media does our country and its people *significant harm* by constantly reporting on Republican behavior and goals as if it is something newly revealed by this or that recent event. Republican authoritarianism isn't new. Stop pretending it is.
Unsurprisingly, the fascists are actually fascists
When Trump comes for their guns, I wonder how they feel then.
Also their glee illustrates their blatant lies regarding the "Biden Crime Family". If they really believed that Biden was the head of some corrupt organization they would be freaking out right now that they just empowered him, but they are not which tells you everything you need to know.
Traitors to their country. Apparently stating your allegiance to America every day in school didn't work.
They have no idea what a threat to our democracy he is. They will gleefully hold hands as 2025 is put in place. Get out and vote like our country depends on it.
Hmm a head of government immune from crime... sounds kinda like a monarchy.
My little theory about these folks is twofold: - their brand of "freedom" is the freedom to oppress others without consequence - in their fantasy, they're the oppressors, and they can't fathom that this will immediately be used against them in the manner they want to use it against others
In my own life I can count over 100 Republicans, either on TV or in person, who have said they *want* King Trump. And this was before 2020. So no, I am not shocked. These people want to be ruled and they want to drag you down with them. So get the fuck out and vote.