Traitor Watch - The 45 & 47 Thread

NovaSaber

Well-known member
Citizen
910592ac0db62c70297b477976cb018f64c794f8.jpg
 

wonko the sane?

You may test that assumption at your convinience.
Citizen
Yet none of that has really stopped him, only inconvenienced.
Look, kid: we all want trump dropped hans gruber style. But that's not how reality works. Every time trump has to run to court is a win. Every time he has to find a new way to do the same horrible thing is win, every time he ignores a court order (as hard as it is to believe...) IS A WIN! Yes, he's doing horrible things in the mean time, but he was going to do them anyway.

Because it's all precedent for to be used in court against him when adults are in charge again. Court cases he'll lose because he's blatantly, obviously and deliberately breaking the law. More importantly; it's closing means and methods for the next cargo cult fascist that would try this.

There will be midterms, trump cannot stop them. He'll scream about them, lie about them, attempt to sabotage them; but he cannot stop them. And we know this because of how hard republicans are gerrymandering and voter roll purging. It also won't help: they are hated and the people are (finally.) motivated. Trump won last time because of apathy and nothing else.

The US is speedrunning the fascist dictator trope and has gone farther in one year than most dictatorships do in one generation. The good guys are winning, but the nature of the conflict will always make it look like a come from behind, unexpected victory. That's what happens when dictators control the media.
 

Ungnome

Grand Empress of the Empire of One Square Foot.
Citizen
Oh, he won't. There'll still be an "election"; I'm willing to just straight-up say that Facebook Guy is objectively wrong this time. De facto dictators love having "elections" that are hilariously rigged in their favor. Putin does it; Saddam Hussein did it... and an egotist like Donald Trump is absolutely that sort. Being able to say that a contest happened and he won it is even more important to him than the prize itself.

But in his case, I also suspect he'll work his way up to stealing it like he worked his way up to almost stealing it in 2020. He'll start by stealing the Republican nomination by demanding they let him run even though it's patently against the Constitution, and they'll let him do it because they're his party. As in he owns them, and they know it, and they'd rather trust his power to bulldoze every roadblock in his way than their ability to find someone else to run that people actually want to vote for. Then he'll threaten military action against any state that doesn't include him on the ballot. Then, when he just barely loses to whoever the Democrats are stupid enough to run against him, he'll resort to increasingly drastic action, and this time, he won't eventually give up.
Or he'll be dead. Still nearly 3 years until the 2028 elections and, well, he's 79 and not in the best of health despite what he pays his doctors to tell us. He's already starting to lose control of his cult and without him, the cult fractures.
 

Ungnome

Grand Empress of the Empire of One Square Foot.
Citizen
Court rules that ICE can't use tear gas on peaceful protesters. They also are barred from detaining peaceful protesters. It's a win, plain and simple. They will likely still try detaining people by making claims of interference, but that will require a bit more burden of proof and will open them up to more lawsuits and, well, with the court ruling in place might give people more weight to win civil cases against individual ICE agents.(You don't get immunity if you're knowingly violating the court's ruling)
 

abates

unfortunate shark issues
Citizen
Fifa officials now somewhat embarrassed about Trump getting the Fifa Peace Prize shortly before *waves hands* everything else:

There was unease within Fifa at the time of Trump receiving the award with the governing body not disclosing any details of the selection process. Now, though, that has shifted to “deep embarrassment”, according to one senior Fifa source. Multiple officials have expressed their unease about the way it was handled.
But not enough for a mass resignation in protest, I guess.
 

Pocket

jumbled pile of person
Citizen
The US is hosting the World Cup this year.

Sure would be a shame for both the country and FIFA if the entire world were to boycott it... or even just be too scared to come here because of the crazy brownshirts gunning down anyone who looks foreign.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
He's like a schoolyard bully who wants to pick a fight but tries to get the other side to throw the first punch so he can pretend it was self defense. Only instead of a playground brawl, it's either a total economic crash of the US, or straight up World War 3.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
If Europe is busy looking at Trump, they're not looking at Ukraine. Of course Putin is thrilled about his sockpuppet making noise.
 

abates

unfortunate shark issues
Citizen
Of course. Russia's aim is to destabilise Europe and remove the US's support for European security so Ukraine is less defended. Trump's plan to annex Greenland is perfect for their aims.

I dunno why Trump keeps insisting Greenland is under threat from China, a country that is nowhere near Greenland and which is focussed on forging ties with nations in the Pacific, but I guess it's so Russia and Trump's buddy Putin aren't taking all the heat.
 

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace" will be one of history's iconic quotes someday.
 

The Mighty Mollusk

Scream all you like, 'cause we're all mad here
Citizen
I dunno why Trump keeps insisting Greenland is under threat from China, a country that is nowhere near Greenland and which is focussed on forging ties with nations in the Pacific, but I guess it's so Russia and Trump's buddy Putin aren't taking all the heat.
China is the classic "big enemy nation" among old-school racists (or pretty much anywhere in the Middle East, but that would put more attention on Iran and Palestine instead of on himself). He's either appealing to his base, showing his age, or most likely both.
 

Pale Rider

...and Hell followed with him.
Citizen
FB friend:
Trump supporters are posting pictures of American military forces and bragging "no one can stop us" while Trump talks of invading Greenland.

Just so we're clear, boasting "no one can stop me" while threatening to attack someone is literally 1980s cartoon villain behaviour. You expect to hear that coming from Cobra Commander or Megatron.
 

Pocket

jumbled pile of person
Citizen
I don't even believe this is Trump's idea. Someone planted the idea of annexing Greenland into his head specifically because it's the dumbest thing they could think of that would also get all of Europe to oppose him militarily and/or lead to mass desertion or even a coup by his own military.

Which, without knowing more about this person's intentions or plans, so far strikes me as a morally neutral action.
 

Pale Rider

...and Hell followed with him.
Citizen
And just like Venezuela's oil, Greenland's minerals won't be easy to turn into value.

Venezuela has some of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, but decades of underinvestment, mismanagement, sanctions and degraded infrastructure have left its oil industry producing far below capacity. Bringing that output back even partway has taken billions of dollars and a lot of years of investment, and experts still say it won't happen quickly.

Similarly, Greenland's rare earths and other minerals are stuck in a harsh Arctic environment with almost no infrastructure, meaning building mines and processing facilities would take huge upfront costs and long lead times before anything tangible comes out of the ground.

Neither place is a shortcut to instant strategic wealth.
 


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