Please Read: We are about to lose our Democracy: We Don’t Know How to Warn You Any Harder. America is Dying.

If you don’t believe me, ask a friend. I invite everyone who’s lived under authoritarianism to comment. Those of us how have? We survivors of authoritarianism have a terrible, terrible foreboding, because we are experiencing something we should never do: deja vu. Our parents fled from collapsing societies to America. And here, now, in a grim and eerie repeat of history, we see the scenes of our childhoods played out all over again. Only now, in the land that we came to. We see the stories our parents recounted to us happening before our eyes, only this time, in the place they brought us to, to escape from all those horrors, abuses, and depredations. We survivors are experiencing this terrible feeling of deja vu right now as a group, as a class. We talk about it, how eerie and grim this sense of deja vu is. It’s happening all over again! Do you remember this part of your childhood? When the armed men roamed the streets? When the secret police disappeared opponents? When the fascist masses united — and that was enough to destroy democracy for good? We talk about it, believe me — but you don’t hear it because we have no real voice.

America’s pundits are named Chris and Jake and Tucker. They are not named Eduardo and Ravi and Xiao and Umair. But Chris and Jake and Tucker can’t help you now. They don’t know what the hell they’re dealing with. They literally have no idea because they have no experience whatsoever. The only people who do right now in America are us survivors. Let me remind you, by the way, what happens we speak out: we lose whatever credibility and status we have. The moment I began to warn of this, I lost my column in HBR, my cable news appearances, and so forth. Don’t cry for me. Understand me, my friend, know me. If we had a voice, we survivors, we would be warning you as loudly and strongly as we possibly could.

All of us. We would say: This is not a joke. This is not a drill. When we survivors of authoritarianism experience, as a group, a class, a cohort, something that we never, ever should — the horrific deja vu that the horrors of our childhoods, that our parents knew, are happening, all over again, here, something is much, much more wrong than you know. Now let me make all the above concrete. I am going to use the example of Kenosha to draw out things that perhaps only we survivors can see — or at least that we see first and easiest. Things that the “real” American is either still playing dumb about, or is still mum about, and both equate to the same thing: silence, which is complicity, in times like these. When we look at Kenosha, we survivors, and you “real” Americans, do we see the same thing? Do we feel the same gravity, pain, urgency? You will have to tell me. Here is what I see, that I’m 100% sure every survivor sees — but I doubt “real” Americans fully see yet.

Let me make that point crystal clear, by continuing my example. What happened next in Kenosha? Trump threatened to send in “federal agents” — and then he did. Which “federal agents”? The ones he used just a few weeks ago, in Portland. The “Homeland Security” force which has become the precise equivalent of his Irani Republican Guard or SS: a paramilitary which isn’t accountable to the people, any democratic institution, wears no badges, can’t be identified, and is controlled only by the authoritarian, at his discretion and whim. What did Trump’s stormtroopers do in Kenosha? They disappeared people, just like in Portland. They simply picked groups of people, roared up in unmarked cars, and…abducted them. To where? To jails. For what reason? For no reason — there were no warrants involved, no due process, no Constitutionality whatsoever. People were simply made to vanish. Like in the Soviet Union. Like in Saddam’s Iraq or Gaddafi’s Libya. Like in Nazi Germany. Again, the “real” American will think I’m exaggerating at this point, so let me say it again. This is what more or less every survivor of authoritarianism thinks, not just me. The only people who don’t think, who still dismiss these comparisons as alarmist are the ones who have never experienced authoritarianism. Those of us who have? We know that abductions by paramilitaries in unmarked cars at the whim of a tyrant are really, really bad. Why? They point to the complete breakdown of the rule of law. The rule of law only means something when an authoritarian can’t simply disappear people from the streets, ordering his paramilitary to do it, ignoring the constitution, discarding due process — with total impunity. But all that is exactly what Trump can do.

You left the studio, but the lighting is still bad, DJTJ.

Trump needs to be tried for crimes against violating his oath of office and for gross violations of the constitution after he is kicked out of office.

He now has the nascent powers of a Gaddafi or a Saddam. No, I’m not kidding. He doesn’t have the full powers, to be sure — but he certainly has the beginnings of them. Maybe he can’t have people tortured in jail yet — but he can have almost anyone he likes in America picked up and disappeared. So how far away do you think even worse abuses of power are? When a tyrant can have almost anyone in a country they like disappeared, how far away do you really think torture is? Rape? Murder? I’m not being hyperbolic. I’m trying to speak to you like an adult. Will you listen? Let me finish my story of Kenosha, then, before the reality of authoritarianism overwhelms us both. What happened next? Nothing.

I'm reading this book "Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth." The more I go through it, the more I just think the formation of this country was a huge mistake and it should burn to the ground. Don't FF me until you pick up a copy and read it. You'll never think of the Revolutionary War or the Founding Fathers the same way again.

People didn’t pour into the streets of the capitol, by the millions. The nation’s intellectuals and columnists didn’t call for the head of state’s resignation. The opposition didn’t immediately start a global movement to observe these abuses of power. Nothing happened. And so the predictable is really what happened. The authoritarian’s numbers rose in the polls. That is because there is always some significant number of people who respond to violence, brutality, hate. Unless they are reminded, sternly, forcefully, that there is something better. That this is not who we must be. That this is the wrong path. In America, that is not happening. Not nearly enough to fight authoritarianism, and win. That’s not my opinion: it’s a factual reality. Trump is rising in the polls, and is now at the point where the slightest secret hate vote — all those polite soccer moms who say they’d never vote for him, and then do, in the heat of the voting booth — will give him an outright victory. He won’t even have to contest a loss, as he’s sure to do. He will just win. And then American democracy will be over. Because the last and final thing we survivors of democracy know is that truly terrible things are on the way then. Yes, really. Men who can put kids in cages and radicalize younger men to do real violence? They don’t want you to live in peace, freedom, harmony, and goodness. They want you to live in fear, despair, and terror. And they will begin using extreme violence to do it.

All of the flaws in the US government are being exploited to usurp power. This is more than just Trump himself at work as he is certainly not smart enough.

I do feel like we're doomed, although the Predictions for 2020 threads give me some hope.

A second Trump term? It will involve all of the following. Shock troops on the streets. Disappearances becoming everyday events. Critics and dissidents being tortured in hidden jails. Expression and thought being monitored for any negative portrayal of the fascists. Hated minorities institutionally dehumanized and resegregated. It will involve levels of such horrific violence and brutality that Americans still cannot understand or grasp precisely because they have been lucky enough to have never yet personally experienced them. So leave it to us. We survivors. We dispossessed ones. The exiles and orphans of modernity. The ones who have never felt like we belonged. The gift we always could have given you was to protect you from this. But even the good Americans never gave us room as true equals in their promised land. That is how America got here. By never letting us in, even though we were here. We could have told you how it happens, and what “it” means. But it is not too late to listen to us.

This is your last chance to hear our warning. It is happening here. Exactly — exactly — the way it happened there, to us. In our childhoods, to our parents, in all those distant, strange broken lands. This is how a democracy dies. This is how it all collapses. This is how the fanatics seize power for a generation or more. This is how the fascists win. Kenosha. Portland. Washington, DC.

This is how it happens. We survivors feel a sense of deja vu right now terrible that most of us can’t sleep, can’t focus, can’t…breathe, sometimes. I want you to understand how powerful this feeling of deja vu is. It is one of the most frightening things we survivors have experienced. Where will we go now? What will we do now? America never really accepted us, and now, it’s collapsing. That leaves us in a worse place than anyone else, really. We feel the price of this implosion acutely. That is one reason we try to warn you — but the other one is that we can’t not warn you. Nobody — nobody — should live through the horrors we knew as children, as parents, as human beings. Never again. It’s the vow every survivor makes. That’s why we are trying to warn you. It is happening all over again, here, exactly — exactly, precisely, absolutely — the way that we saw it happen before, and before, and before. Hear our warning. None of us have the time left now for petty divisions, intellectualizations, the games pundits play, the way I lost my column when I began to warn of all this. I didn’t pay the bigger price — you did.

You don’t have another mistake left to make.

This is it, and you’re blowing it, sleepwalking into collapse, letting the fascists steal your futures.

Do not let it happen here.

Umair

August 2020

No one warned the public in 2016

[quote]A second Trump term? It will involve all of the following. Shock troops on the streets. Disappearances becoming everyday events. Critics and dissidents being tortured in hidden jails. Expression and thought being monitored for any negative portrayal of the fascists. Hated minorities institutionally dehumanized and resegregated.

MARY!

If he "wins" the election I'm done with the USA. You can all suck it going forward.

America is not immune to kleptocracy.....

All it takes is a few great minds in a room to come up with a solution. America came about because some smart, manipulative men came together in a room and compromised. I wonder, in America is anyone going to sleep hungry? We will get to a more balanced America but its gonna take dialogue. The cool thing about everything is that young people in general enjoy black people music. Absorb their culture and interact on a daily basis with them ppl. Smartphones wil bring the world together. News will drive a person crazy if taken too personally.

I'm donating, volunteering, tweeting, re-tweeting, talking face-to -face and don't know what to do to help more. I'm exhausted, more by people who don't care or who are refusing to vote Biden/Blue for assorted dumbass reasons. Articles like this are so depressing.

Just wait, r15.

Just wait.

This is exactly what Michelle and Barack said during the DNC but it should be shouted out much larger. Someone needs to yell it loudly and daily. I know we have BLM protests but this is different.

BTW, what did happen to those people that were taken away in unmarked cars? I never liked ACLU but I appreciate them more than ever.

One thing I know is California and the Blue States will rebel. The bad part is the government has the military.

Most of America is back to normal. Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders all multi-millionaires. They don't give a flying fuck about our well being.

[Bold] I'VE BEEN TELLING/SCREAMING AMERICANS ARE THE DUMBEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET FOR ALMOST 30 YEAS! PEOPLE TOLD ME TO STOP BEING NEGATIVE AND FUCK OFF AND DIE! I WAS RIGHT!!!!!! FUCK OFF AND GREASE FIRE TO YOU ALL!!!! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, ASSHOLES!!!! DUH!!!!!!

Yeah, next thing you know Trump will be killing American citizens with drones....

Everyone wishes they were in America R23. I mean do you see ppl walking in kimonos or head scarves? The world wishes they were us.

[quote]what did happen to those people that were taken away in unmarked cars?

Do a little research.

Of course fear mongering propagandists like that article's author will have you believe they wound up in unmarked graves.

There are powerful very rich people-- the multi-billionaires like Mercer, etc. They are not supporting Trump, in fact, they want him gone. If Trump wins, there will be a de-evaluation of the dollar. Not good for them.

^^^America as a world economy would fall.

I believe it. I feel pretty helpless.

If he wins again then all you ASSHOLE CUNTS who didn't punch and delete all your REPIG family and friends the first round deserve to be thrown into a grease fire! Fucking pussies!

R29 what are you doing about your helplessness? Are you texting for Biden? Phone calls? Mailing letters? Put that despair into work. There’s stuff you can do! I’m hopeless too. But I’m working to make sure we win in November. Volunteer to work the polls. Anything.

It will be apathy in the end that will kill this country.

[quote]Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders all multi-millionaires. They don't give a flying fuck about our well being.

Some of those people are actively trying to tear apart democracy. Some of these people have sat in or close to the seat of power and not done even a fraction of what Trump has in the past few years.

Lumping Trump in with Michelle, Hillary, Bernie and ... ugh, even George is silly.

Michelle, Hillary and Bernie have tried to warn people for years and they really didn't have to. They could have sat at home and counted their millions. Hell, they could have become Republicans and soaked up all the money being generated by Trump. They didn't. That's the difference.

I get it, Chicken Little. But instead of clutching my Hello Kitty iron on stencil, I'm doing my best to be aware and keep a cool head. I'll get back to you after the revolution, m'kay?

R34 = Boris the troll.

Bernie hasn't done anything but brainwash his followers with Russian propaganda. His love for Russia is as old as his hate for democrats. Fucking traitor. At least with Trump you know he's evil. BS pretends to be nice, but then he stabs you in the back!

I've been thinking the same for months. Trump has destroyed America as we know it, and a second term will kill it.

America was never a democracy

When Trump calls for 12 years and when he pushes for his daughter to succeed him, I think of Belarus, Syria, Iraq and North Korea.

Mobilize, get off your couches, switch off the tv, take to the streets and storm the White House the Trump properties and the homes and offices of senate republicans and burn them to the ground.

Its like Boris and Svetlana convention here.

So true. There will be no protest because there should have been by now.

R18 is Boris drunk out of his mind. Complete word salad.

OP you have no Democracy to lose. Your former Republic has been a corporate oligarchy since Reagan.

R 39, you can still do that in Nov in case Joe loses and the Chiefs of Staff, the CIA or FBI don't take him out. The riots only help Trump now and you can't riot and protest Trump out of the White House. It's not a fight you are going to win.

R43 Been saying this since the early 80's. WeBfucked

What a rambling article. Who is this "we" the author speaks for? He spends more time talking about how we don't have any experience with authoritarianism and he (as his collective "we") does, than he does actually making his point.

R83 same here. I saw the birth of neoliberals as the handmaidens of the GOP, and their abandonment of labor and unions in the early 80s.

Here too, people will shout you down with brain dead invective if you say the Democratic Party stopped being the opposition and Nancy is useless, or that Nader did not cost them 2000, or praise Occupy WS, Greta, AOC, Chelsea, or Snowden, or that Obama was a right wing president voted in and given a Nobel to make white people feel better about being racist, and the same is happening again with BLM and identity politics that is surely delivering 2020 to Trump.

It's over. Save for the chorus of braindead invective from the ones standing by as even democracy in America is about to be buried...

I., for one, am bored and cannot wait to see it all burn down.

the OP posting this argument needs to cut the drama and verbosity and present the argument concisely. Otherwise, TLDR and preaching to the converted. Sorry.

Fuck Bernie Bros, if they ruin this election I will shit in each and every one of their faces.

Oh my

If I so much as hear the words Bernie or Sanders, I'm going to boot them in their tiny crotches. Stupid fucks.

"I knew Nazis had gas chambers an' shit, but like, never thought they'd put my dumb, schizophrenic, opioid addicted ass in one, duuuuuuhhhhh."

I wonder why all these working-class heroes refuse to understand that these people DO NOT LIKE THEM and will CONTINUE TO STEAL FROM THEM.

For those people who laugh at the dire predictions of what America would look like after ANOTHER four years of a Trump presidency, think about this: If right before Trump took office, someone told you that after just 3 1/2 years of Trump, we would have nearly 200,000 dead from a botched pandemic response and a growing race war in the streets of American cities, you would have laughed and gave your "Mary!" responses. But yet, here we are. Is it really THAT much of a stretch to predict the death of American democracy should Trump be re-elected?

[quote]If right before Trump took office, someone told you that after just 3 1/2 years of Trump, we would have nearly 200,000 dead from a botched pandemic response and a growing race war in the streets of American cities, you would have laughed and gave your "Mary!" responses.

The US death rate per capita is still lower than some of our closest allies like the UK, Italy, Spain and at the moment new cases are growing faster in Macron's France...and they've only done a fraction of the testing per capita that the US has done. And the US didn't have the horrific hospital scenes we saw in some Euro countries. Quit with the bullshit.

And no one with a half a brain is blaming Trump for the rioting and looting.

R53 Not at all. In fact many predicted the race war. Even the pandemic was predicted.

R53 The pandemic was definitely predicted. Here is Bill Gates in 2015, warning about how we aren’t ready for a pandemic. Surely epidemiologists have been predicting it as well.

The U.S. is still in the first wave, r54. Europe is now experiencing the second wave - as predicted.

When the second wave hits the US, it’ll be a bloodbath. But of course that’s what you herd-immunity proponents want.

Trumpism is a death cult.

R56 In 2014 Obama had responded proactively to the Ebola virus outbreak in Africa. His response kept the outbreak in check and avoided a global pandemic. In response he and his administration had set up a pandemic response team with epidemiologist experts along with what to do in the event of a future potential epidemic to keep it from being a pandemic and/or mitigate the outbreak. Trump not only disbanded the pandemic team but he called the COVID-19 outbreak a hoax, even as thousands were dying from it.

For the idiot comparing Covid to Ebola....they are 2 completely different diseases. Ebola is not spread through sneezing and coughing. It is not spread through the air. Ebola is actually hard to contract, it is not easily transmittable. Ebola is a severe but very controllable disease.

[quote]When the second wave hits the US, it’ll be a bloodbath.

If Europe's second wave tells us anything, it is that the situation is now nowhere near as lethal. New cases are soaring but hospitalizations and deaths are not.

Ebola is controllable? I thought it has a horrific death rate

R59 You're an idiot for thinking I was comparing the diseases. They have different symptoms and are contracted differently. It's about having a team of expert installed and a well planned policy and procedure to address a variety of outbreaks.

So go fuck yourself.

That’s because treatments have improved. Also, in Europe, anyone who needs medical care and/or time off can get it.

That is not the case in the U.S.

R62 Is so dumb he thinks a team of US experts could have been deployed to China and the communist Chinese government would have cooperated.

R53 Regarding your claim of a “growing race war,” I wonder how much the lockdown had to do with prompting the protests.

It’s still so interesting to me that half our battle is perception. Like, we all know this is real, but his supporters just cannot and will not perceive reality. So what to do?

Once upon a time, I believed in unity. And I still do, I want our leaders to always work toward unity. Having said that, we simply cannot worry about selling them on the reality, their hearts and minds cannot be appealed to, and I’m ok with it. What we need to do is *crush* them in the election. Fuck these people. They have picked their side, cool, get the fuck out of my way while I take back MY country. It doesn’t belong to them anymore, they’ve forfeited mutual respect.

R65, which protests? The ones like the protest by fat white guys with guns who stormed the Michigan state capitol demanding their right to infect people with COVID? Or the ones about ending senseless police brutality against Black people?

The Trump lienasty is a threat to the world at large, to global stability...

R67 All of the protests.

Trump represents the greed that controls the world. All for the few on top while the rest can go to war over mere crumbs.

It amazes me that Trump and his supporters constantly rail against socialism while having absolutely no problem with the fact that they're supporting fascism.

Thank you r38; we are a Constitutional Republic & not a "Democracy" as many are screaming about the imminent loss of . . .

R71 - so true. They are just too dumb to live. They certainly can't get enough of that Kool-Aid.

Very important read!!! I say this as a citizen of an authoritarian Eastern European country. The author is completely right and not exaggerating. What shocked me the most is that Harvard, a place of intellectualism and critical thinking, is now with the fascists. Firing a journalist from HBR for warning against authoritarianism? That is truly scary. Wake up, Americans.

8/29/20 - V2K transmission - "United States will fall."

[quote]The US death rate per capita is still lower than some of our closest allies like the UK, Italy, Spain.

All those countries have a way higher population density R54.

WE KNOW!!

R72, if Trump wins in November, the U.S. won’t be a republic anymore. Much less a democracy.

It’ll be a monarchy.

Yes, non-voters will be the majority again. How sad is that?

As tragic and devastating as the pandemic has been, that's not even the point of the article. What's been happening since he took office is his reinvention of the federal government such that the president can do almost anything he wants, circumventing the U.S. Constitution and all the normal procedures of decent, professional government.

Whereas before Congress generally had some standards and respected the processes and precedents--even allowing for the constant Rep/Dem showdowns and the periodic Republican tantrums that stonewalled Obama for 8 years and shut down the government multiple times because they weren't getting their way. There was some degree of oversight. Now, he and his AG have quashed the dissemination of real information unfavorable statistics, turned government departments into dedicated agents of Trumpism, halted almost all press conferences except those that feature Trump ranting as if he's on the stump, wasted millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on his personal whims and financial enrichment, broken major ethics rules, and so much more.

He's sown such mistrust in the institutions of government and the press that a good portion of the public has no idea what the truth is. They believe that whatever Trump says is true, even when the evidence to the contrary is right before their eyes. THAT is what authoritarianism is about--it's not about a botched response to a pandemic. That's just evidence of his gross incompetence, not his dedication to turning the office of the President (and, by extension, the US) into a personal fiefdom.

I really want to know what Plan B is if Trump wins again. The Joint Chiefs of Staff can't be happy with Trump giving more territory to Vlad, destruction of NATO and the bounty killing of US soldiers.

I really do, too, R81. I hope fervently that the Dems are smart and tough enough for what's coming, in that case. And that they already are setting up the pieces on the chessboard.

Tsk tsk this is terrible. Gotta go book a cruise - back later. Save democracy!! I'll make a donation affter I check how my stocks are sing.

If Trump wins again, there's nothing in the constitution that can stop him. That's unfortunately the situation we're in at the moment.

no r78, it will be a dictatorship.

It's well on its way already.

Jesus Christ get a reality check, the US survived a civil war, abolishing chattle slavery, and beat Hitler! Trump's not going to win but the country wouldnt devolve into a failed state if he did. Consider this: this country has state sanctioned chattle slavery--surely ANY state of being WITHOUT that would be better than WITH it? Or do you think Trump will pass the "Seditionous Liberal and Activist Voters Enslavement Act (SLAVE Act)"? You're dumb.

"Trump's not going to reinstitute slavery. Anything other than that is perfectly normal! God, you're dumb! Quit complaining."

--R86.

[quote]Jesus Christ get a reality check

What reality check R86?

That Trump has not only once stole one election, but he is on his way to do it again. The US is NOT a democracy anymore. The GOP has corrupted one half of the legislatory and the judiciary. An out of control moron and criminal is sitting in the White House who had no problem letting hundreds of thousands people die. He is making irrational and erratic decisions on a whim.

R88 imagine a world where this is true. Yikes!

[Quote]An out of control moron... He is making irrational and erratic decisions on a whim.

Well, this part is certainly true. Time for your meds, r88. I know you're passionate, but don't stress out, he's going to lose. The imminent second wave of COVID will make sure of that.

He's too lazy to be a dictator.

Nice try Dimitri @R89.

If he loses I would be very happy to be wrong, but so far he's gotten everything he wants and nothing in the constitution, no rule of law, no checks and balances were able to stop him.

The Plannedemic is here and your little Democracy is long gone.

The Democracy was gone thirty years ago. It' s just the people are waking to the fact that it won't come back without real revolution.

This thread is hilarious!

It's one thing to have to live in this country and have it taken over by a dictator, but quite another if that dictator is Donald Trump, one of the most evil, horrible persons to ever live. Why couldn't our dictator be Obama? or Madonna? or Drew Barrymore? even Mitt Romney would be livable. but fucking Trump????

The right are already branding BLM and people who oppose fascism as terrorists, so that means that the Patriot Act can be used against them. They can be abducted in secrecy and locked away with no recourse or rights because "national security". Who's going to be next?

OP isn't kidding, this is not a drill.

Trump’s platform (such as it is) calls for criminalizing anti-fascism.

Just let that sink in a little.

R96, they branded animal-rights and environmentalist groups "terrorists" during the GW Bush administration, and they used that legal power to put away a couple of dozen activists. Note that those movements killed no one, nor did they threaten to kill anyone (that I know of now). They only damaged property.

Too many adjectives make this author sound unhinged.

Oh, no, his writing style is too florid. None of this must be true, then!

R25 - ‘the world’, or what you imagine it to be, probably used to. It may again. But you’re delusional if you think rational people can’t see what an ugly, divided shitshow the US is right now and what it will most likely become if Trump gets a second term.

I’m in the UK and we’re heading right down the shitter and I don’t think we have any chance to pull back because of Brexit. But your country has a chance to regain its’ direction if Trump loses. Then we’ll be looking towards the West again rather than grimacing and looking away in dismay. Good luck, genuinely.

A sociopath will throw everyone to the wolves to protect themseves. If he doesn't get re-elected he's going to prison. Otherwise I don't think he would have run for POTUS again.

He somehow got through a first administration riding on the fumes of Obama- and with a lot of help from his friends. But a 2nd term will hawrubbly reveal how inadequate he is. And think of the money his businesses are losing.

He's going to wish he never ran in the first place, and so will his Deplorables.

"If he doesn't get re-elected he's going to prison. "

People all over keep mentioning this and i don't disagree. But this is the thing: According to AG Policy, you can't indict a sitting president. But that's "policy" - NOT law. AG Bill Barr has already shredded numerous policies since he took over. The Democrats have to gang up and challenge this. NOW. Not wait until after Election Day in case Trump "wins". I wish there would be more discussion about this.

Bump

If Trump cheats with Russias help and wins then armed civil war is justified. That's how it's done in most dictatorships.

Check out the twitter feed of Election Security Advocate Jennifer Cohn. Really important stories and information that aren't getting enough coverage.

No sense in continuing to ask our vulnerable participants here "Can I have your stuff?"

Henceforth, Orange It has promised our lifestyles, homes, livelihoods and belongings to arriving Russian replacements. Moving in will be a breeze for the invaders, and all they need bring is a toothbrush.

Barron looks like a scary Hitler's youth in OPs photo.

Seriously, click on the photo and take a look at that defiant face. He will carry on the legacy of brutality for scum trump.

Why are Barron's hands purple?

Poor circulation???

Hitler took power in Germany legally. Trump is just following a very tried and true playbook. His October surprise will be America's Reichstag fire.

I can see the benefit of not prosecuting a sitting president. If the shoe was on the other foot, republicans will throw anything, I mean ANYTHING on a democratic president from day one.

Careful what you wish for for!

Trump is now openly telling people to vote twice.

r112, so we shouldn't pursue a totally corrupt and criminal Trump because someday the mean republicans might do it to a Democratic president?

Great reasoning there.

R112, Republicans obey no norms anyway.

We don't deserve democracy. We have allowed millions of Mexicans to flood in. We have allowed blacks to riot decade after decade. We have allowed China to build up a rival military. We have shipped our jobs overseas. I don't know how long Trump will live but I'm sure he will serve at least four terms.

Do you remember what happened to Germany after the war? Let us see what happens to Trumpeters.

r116 gr8 b8 m8

If Trump wins this election, it's over for this country. They figured out how to cheat and get away with it before, but this time it will be blatant and in your face-a total "fuck you" to democrats. From then on it will be only Trumpers that win. Look for Don Jr. in 2024, and other Trump cronies down the line and Democrats will whine but won't be able to do a damn thing. Bye bye USA.

I don't think Trump will win, but I do think he could "win" ... the same way he won last time. My biggest concern is that even if Biden wins by a landslide, it won't matter. By Nov 4, the election might be irrelevant. There will no longer be a country worth Presidenting over...certainly not by January 21st.

If Trump loses by the wide margin we're hoping for, imagine the damage he will do with with his 70 days left!

America is a horrible place

Other words of wisdom from R116:

[quote]I would guess Trump will win in landslide.

[quote]There are those who think blacks are victims of extreme racism and deserve to be as rich as whites. I don't understand this.

[quote]Putin is a weak and insecure person. Trump dominates him personally and militarily.

[quote]Trump has exceeded most expectations as far as stability and good governance. I don't see him losing.

[quote]China is working Hard to make Trump lose the election. We should all vote Trump for that reason alone. There are more important issues than gay rights.

[quote]It's not easy being gay but supporting blacks is crazy because blacks want all gays dead. We are in a life and death battle with china; we can't have 13 percent of the population waging a racist war against us.

[quote]Blacks are not educated and are criminals. Should not be allowed to vote. Blacks hate gays. Kill gays on sight. Republicans offer hope through conversion therapy etc

[quote]Why would a sane white person be comfortable with Mexicans flooding in? I just don't get that. I guess you think u are so superior to other races that they offer no threat. Race has been everything for thousands of years and across all countries including modern times. Our ancestors had to torture blacks to keep them from killing us. Those so called lynching were not simple hangings. Every possible form of torture was used to terrorize the black population into obeying the law.

The trolls are just throwing anything and everything at the wall today, imagining that surely something will stick!

The weirdo at R122 has a lot of time on her hands.

Yeah, R124, the 65 seconds it took to find that information and post it was just exhausting. I can't believe I actually managed to carve out that much time!

[quote]And the US didn't have the horrific hospital scenes we saw in some Euro countries. Quit with the bullshit.

Yeah, actually we did, in New York City, in Miami, in Houston, and in other locations. Quit with the bullshit yourself.

R126 Then you no nothing of the scenes in Italy, Spain and France. True Cuomo's NY got close but Italy, Spain and France even worse.

Um, R127, your ignorance of events in the U.S. over the past couple of months is not my problem. I do, in fact know what happened in the Lombardy region, just as I know what happened in Houston and in other areas of south Texas. You have no idea what you're talking about.

R128 THOUSANDS of bodies left to decay in Paris. Rotting bodies in Frances nursing homes. A PPE shortage in France much worse than anything in the US. Doctors deciding who should live and who should be left to die in Italy etc. You are ill informed. Do some research.

LOL.... Uh-huh. Right back at you, moron. Let me know when you've done even a 30-second Google search on various U.S. hospitals. You don't know anything at all about this topic, as you have demonstrated in literally hundreds of posts here.

Do feel free to come back when you can back up *anything* you've written. You can't, of course, so you will continue to play silly games.

R130 Just one of hundreds of examples. Where in Texas was something similar?

R130 "Doctors facing 'temptation of euthanasia': French medic warns of terrible decision facing staff in coronavirus hit care homes while Spanish doctors are 'ordered to stop using ventilators for patients older than 80'"

It came to this in Texas? Oh really?

R130 "Horrifying images show coronavirus patients lying on the floor of a packed Madrid hospital "

“Hundreds of people are sitting in chairs or lying on the floor…"

"“We don’t have anything. We don’t have masks, we don’t have gloves, we don’t have waterproof gowns. We have nothing,” she said. “We are naked against the coronavirus.”

In what Texas hospital were there similar scenes?

It’s telling that Trump’s defenders here can only point fingers at other countries - instead of actually defending their Leader.

Which just proves that they know their Leader is indefensible.

It doesn’t matter how bad things have been elsewhere. Saying Spain was worse off than we are is particularly absurd—it used to be a fascist dictatorship! Given our resources, we should be light years ahead of the rest of the planet.

Liberalism has gone too far. We need to close border and take whatever action is necessary to maintain a white majority. We must not become South Africa where gays are burned alive.

^^ there's that idiot again.

In comparison to the EU, the US is the only developed country in the world that isn't flattening the curve.

Not true R138. Spain, France, Germany, UK, have all now departed from a flat trajectory.

The EU is starting to go through a second wave they thought it wouldn't happen until the fall or winter.

R140 Yet in this wave few are sick or hospitalized. Just testing positive.

Even David Brooks thinks we should be prepared.

Why did blm choose to riot during covid? That's not sane. Trump kept the economy alive during the pandemic and did not overreact to blm terrorism. Trump is the epitome of stability.

Yes, we know, he's a very stable genius!

Trump will probably win. It won't be the end of America. Just its democratic system. At home, that is; and in whatever limited way its existed.

But the US has ever been on the side of democracy as such. It has always preferred and supported dictatorships in other countries as they're easier to do business with and for making money.

There's a parallel with democracy at home too. It's never been a democracy for blacks or for the poor in America. The oppression of the poor and blacks and other races is stark now and no longer tied up in a pretty bow of platitudes.

The ugly truth is all coming together at home and abroad.

The Trump administration has been 1323 days of nonstop chaos. Just look at the revolving door at the White House. King Donald can barely string ten words together without contradicting himself, perjuring himself, and/or committing treason.

R143, is it physically painful to be as stupid as you are? I certainly hope so.

R145 blacks are doing worse in their own countries. It's supposed to be a white country.

F&F racist filth at r147

R148 but I wonder if most white people do feel its a white country.

R149 it's always been a white country. That was an absolute given. The question was , are the Irish white. All the nonwhite immigration is just plain surreal

[quote]It came to this in Texas? Oh really?

Yes, it absolutely did, you fucking moron. Really, just stop. You have been consistently wrong for months and nothing you have written or predicted has been accurate.

r147 is an extremely racist P.O.S.

Shun him gals!

Is it really that long ago that a Black man won the presidency with the highest popular vote count in US history, R145?

If I remember correctly there was a Marshall Plan after WWII keeping Russia from occupying Germany. Bill Clinton actively supported a United Europe, again minimizing Russia's influence East of the Baltics.

Hysterical ninnies, the whole bunch of you.

R153 that's the last good war, meaning when were the good guys. And counter to what was done for Europe, how many saddams, shahs and talibans have we funded, how many allendes and mossadeghs have we overthrown because they didn't do our bidding, and how many vietnams and yemens have we bombed.

We are not the good guys abroad. The chickens have come to roost domestically.

And Obama was acceptable because he was a conservative and self professed admirer of Reagan. Voting for him made people feel they were post racist. He even got a Nobel before he even started his job.

I wish there were a way to filter the comments so that the only thing I get are poll results. Nothing personal, ... bitches.

The 'support' for mujahedeens, Saudis, South Vietnam is to minimize the influence of Russia and China on the world stage.

One huge mistake US foreign policy did make was refusing to support the Shah in keeping medieval imams out of Iran. The whole Middle East conflict we have today stems from Iran being Russia's ally.

You sound stupid and criminally naive R155.

Mossaddegh was a Russian ally, he was supported and came to power by the help of communists.

China wants Biden to win. Trump for jobs, Biden for mobs.

Trump for con jobs, r159, and it looks like you fell for it. Seek help!

Joe Biden will sanction China over Hong Kong, idiot @ R159. He will also probably push forward the investigation on how China kept mum about coronavirus, letting it spread all over the planet.

Maybe the solution, if Trump refuses to leave, is for the producer states to secede. That would be divine.

Many posts here must be a result of keyword bot searches. I doubt they even know they are inserting their pre-programmed Kellyanne-type retorts on a gay website.

DEFLECTION 101

QUESTION: What do you have to say about Trump’s statement regarding (insert Trump crime of the day)?

ANSWER (Kellyanne, most always): Well, that’s very interesting, considering (insert pre-rehearsed anti-immigrant/liberal/democrat speech here).

Democracy died already. The day someone without any merit like Trump was nominated by a political party as a serious candidate while everyone just sat there acting like that was business as usual.

[quote]Liberalism has gone too far. We need to close border and take whatever action is necessary to maintain a white majority. We must not become South Africa where gays are burned alive.

Whites are not having enough children. The birth rate is in decline in all progressive countries. Borders have been left open because we needed immigrants to do the jobs a declining/aging population can't fill......food production, service work.....and the military. Problem is, many of the able bodied men they (Europe) invited in from 3rd world countries do not want to work, much less serve in the military. They have become a menace to society.

Whites as a group are committing suicide by not encouraging/incenting youth to have more children. Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z are just not interested. Too infantile themselves. In my family, none of my nieces or nephews--- ten adults aged 23-35 has children. A generation ago they would ALL have had 2-3 by now.

How can you be surprised when you fling open the doors to let muslims, who have eleven kids each, into your country and then cry that you're being overrun and your culture is dying.

Barron’s face in OP’s photo just sums it all up. Frightening!! Getting Damien vibes.

Odd that you survivors of totalitarianism don't know anything about the totalitarianism of the left. Useful for me though.

What hysterical bullshit.

The tirade posted by Op reminds me of back when Bush was president and Tim Robbins was crying about being silenced because of his opposition to the Iraq War. I heard him complaining about this as he made a speech carried live on CSPAN into every cable system in the United States. Apparently the irony was totally lost on him.

Immigrants are not necessary. We could let in east German females if they marry older white males and have ten kids.

^Or Russian breeders.

Bump

Umair sounds like quite the drama queen. We've been hearing this "there will be troops in the streets and people will be hauled off the concentration camps" doomsday bullshit since 2015.

The truth is that when Trump destroys America, it won't be a fruit of tyrannical labor. It'll be a fruit of idiocy. Like with COVID, all of his disasters are not caused by his evil genius, but rather his bumbling stupidity.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Trump isn't Hitler. Stop comparing Trump to Hitler. Hitler was an intelligent and calculated monster, Trump is a buffoon who tried to blow up a hurricane.

This isn't so much about Trump, but the people behind him. Barr, #MoscowMitch, DeVos, these are the real dangers. Trump is just the figure head of this monstrosity.

I said this before; the reason the GOP wants to weaken democracy is because they are outnumbered, they can't win an election without cheating. They saw a Black guy win the highest PV in US history, twice, and they saw their wet dreams of a white conservative Christian America slipping.

They are in a fight for survival and they are corrupt and criminal enough to bring the country down with them if they fear they'll lose.

They also admire the Russian oligarchy system with a couple of hundred people having all the money and the power and the rest is just scraping by. That's why they tolerated and welcomed Putin's help to smear and damage Hillary. Something Putin was very willing to do because Hillary, like Bill before her is very much pro NATO, pro EU, pro strengthening western alliances. Trump has helped Putin weakening NATO, EU and western alliances.

Election Security Advocate Jennifer Cohn:

Pls share this video. We need an informed electorate in case Trump tries to hack his way to reelection. We can’t afford to continue prioritizing public trust in the election above transparency & demanding an election that is actually trustworthy. TY.

The sound on that video is atrocious r175.

Check out this ad...

What fucking millennial fucked up those subtitles @ the 39-second mark? The "it's" is supposed to be "its."

That is all.

I believe that even if trump "wins" we will get rid of him. He's a stupid, lying, cheating, wannabe mob boss and his cult is made of of cheats and suckers. America has had enough. The electoral college has allowed a cheater and his ignorant followers to determine the current direction of the county, which is to continue to favor the 1%, bigots, cheaters, whackos, religious nuts, and ignorant people. I just saw a cretin MAGA maggot on TV ranting about how there is no Covid, it's a hoax.

We must not allow our country to be stolen by sleazy criminals and stupid people. If trump again "wins" by cheating we must immediately start impeachment proceedings again. If he cheats to remain in office about 10 million of us need to swarm the capital and hunt him and his cronies down.

OK, that's a little extreme but really not. We will get rid of him and his ilk one way or another. The fate of the planet depends upon it.

I don't think he can be impeached for "winning" (and by winning I mean what appears to be a legitimate majority of the votes.) Theft would have to be proven. I think the only thing you could really do is massive civil disobedience by taking steps to bring the economy to a standstill. It's the only thing that moves these people. Even then I don't know if it would work because if he got the most votes where do you get a majority of people to protest against him.

I think the media should stay away from the whole what if he refuses to leave story. Even contemplating it opens Pandora's box. Gives him ideas, normalizes the notion to too many people.... this is something that better just happen... if it isn't shocking, there's no hope.

I still believe Biden will win convincingly, if not commandingly.

He needs to be called out loudly and constantly on it. He's up there pounding his message home that it's the Democrats that are looking to rig the election while at the same time limiting election security measures, fucking around with the Post Office, ect. This should be brought up clearly and forcefully by the Democrats every time he opens his rancid pie hole.

This is the reason for no Tudor male heirs as well as the reason for the dynasty dying out in just under 120 years. Witchcraft is real.

Why is the article full of words and emotions, but devoid of substance and facts?

Where exactly did these survivors flee from, and what exactly are the parallels?

sorry, wrong thread second post above, obviously

King Donald is all but threatening civil war when He loses.

He is a traitor.

R180, I didn't mean impeach him for "winning." I meant impeach him again for all of his myriad of crimes like underplaying the covid virus, trashing the Constitution, trying to destroy the Post Office and other agencies, constantly lying, placing corrupt loyalists in positions of power, undermining the justice system with the antics of Bill Barr, and other of his illegal antics to destroy this country and install himself and his family as a ruling dynasty and on and on.

Impeaching him won't work. The GOP senate will completely dismiss any charges, just like they did last time. The checks and balances don't work anymore. These corrupt mobsters have already destroyed rule of law and constitution.

It's uncharted waters territory really.

And a civil war can't be won. Trump, emboldened by a second win will have zero scruples to use ANY means to squash protests.

Not sure how the joint chiefs of staff, the FBI and CIA will react if Dump wins again. Will they be patriots and on the side of democracy, will they prevent the US into slipping into a totalitarian hellhole?

R187, if Democrats are the majority in the Senate next year we can indeed impeach that fool.

Link, R27 to Robert Mercer wanting Trump gone.

If he wins it means their tactics work-the cheating and the dismantling the checks and inspections to prevent it-plus installing yes men and sycophants and henchmen to carry forth the agenda. It means Trumpism in some form or another from here on out. Don Jr in 2024, and whoever they install after that. If he wins, I don't see and end to this.

R188 If Trump "wins" re-election, I suspect the same will be true for at least 2 senate races. At least!!!

You need 2/3 majority in the senate to remove a sitting president, R188. Unless the democrats have that majority they won't be able to remove Dump.

Democrats won't get anywhere near 67 votes in the Senate to remove Drumpf anytime soon. That is the sad reality. Unless some Repugs cross over and vote against him as well (and not just Mitt Romney).

It was widely reported in 2018 and 2019 that Robert Mercer had given up on Trump. However, earlier this year he contributed $355,200 to the Trump Victory committee, which funds both the RNC and the Trump campaign. That's not much compared to the millions he donated in 2016 but it's not nothing.

The trolls on this thread are quite obvious.

Check this out...

I'm trying to imagine spending 10 minutes with OP. Jesus, you are exhausting. How the fuck do you get through a day? Have you considered putting yourself out of your misery?

R196 Not surprised at all. Trump actually hired actors to be in his Trump Tower lobby in 2015 to applaud when he made his official announcement he was running for president.

Half the posts on this thread are from Trump-funded “actors.”

Trump is becoming exasperated with blm violence. Many conservatives secretly are advocating for a return of some firm if black slavery. Maybe how the Chinese put Muslims to work in reeducation camps.

I think alot of people here are giving Trump too much credit. I don't see him as the criminal mastermind who is mentally acute to pull all this off, I think he's just an idiot flailing in the wind making spur of the moment decisions without an ability to see 2-3 steps down the line.

I do think the GOP is masterminding all this, all the while keeping Trump compliant by allowing him to bulk his bank account at the governmental trough and in keeping him and his family safe from prosecution. Trump, IMO, is like a child; if you keep him distracted over there, you can do what you want over here.

Today Trump retweeted the hashtag #pedobiden.

This is perfectly normal. Nothing to get concerned about at all.

R200, given your obvious mental illness, you should really stop posting, turn off the computer, and seek help.

The Judicial Department is looking into John Bolton's book, trying to pin something on him like releasing classified info. If trump wins again, expect his enemies to be jailed while crooks like Roger Stone go free.

People are being disappeared by a national police force in liberal cities. Migrant women detained at the border are having forced hysterectomies. We practically live in a fascist country now.

^ You're way late. It's been this way since after Clinton. They've told us along the way what they were doing to us, though. Folks who knew and told it were targeted extra judiciously in the most heinous of ways. The vast, vast majority of the citizenry? Frogs in the simmering/boiling pot. It's happening all over the world though - NATO nations. Don't worry - be happy.

r206, please give examples. I don’t disagree, just would enjoy you elaborating.

To the first several authors, what do you recommend we do to counter this? This slippery slope to authoritarianism has preyed upon my mind. I've been acquainted with many people who managed to get out of their native countries before the "sh... hit the fan" and everything I see happening rings true to their tales. Mostly, the aggression and ugliness from the "man on the street.". Apart from helping on a campaign, maybe writing letters to the editor, and voting I'm at a loss over what to do.

If Trump gets re-elected, I'm moving to Belize.

Would you people leave frogs alone? They do not sit in boiling water until they die. They are NOT democrats.

The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly. While some 19th-century experiments suggested that the underlying premise is true if the heating is sufficiently gradual,[1][2] according to contemporary biologists the premise is false: a frog that is gradually heated will jump out.[3][4] Indeed, thermoregulation by changing location is a fundamentally necessary survival strategy for frogs and other ectotherms.

R210 Point is, by the time impending fascism becomes apparent it's too late. No one GAF about literal frogs here.

RGB dead. It just keeps getting worse!

Some would say you're being alarmist or whatever, but I truly believe this democracy is on its last legs. If America doesn't vote Trump out of office, there is a very real chance the whole facade collapses.

It's called the New World Order darling, and whether you believe in it or not it's here.

[Quote] If America doesn't vote Trump out of office,

The vote won't matter. He's staying. That said, I am afraid hell win the votes too.

R215, I so hope you're wrong! But I don't think you are.

R215, I'm afraid he's staying in office too. To be honest, America deserves it. It's about time the idiot masses see how the rich and powerful really view them.

I have Canadian citizenship and a passport (born there), so I can always take a long trip if things get too unbearable.

Now that the fascists are assured of a 2:1 margin on the Supreme Court, they won’t care if he loses. But this outcome is actually worse.

This is one of the most ridiculous, overwrought, over-dramatic thread I have ever read on here. 0/10.

r219 = freeper

There is literally nothing we can do but vote at this point. I predict we are entering a dark period regardless of who wins. The country is too fractured to heal. Thanks deplorables!

OP is right which is why we need to WIN this election. We will not win if we scare the bejesus out of people who are worried that our society is breaking down.

The rioters and extremists do not give a shit about this country. They welcome Trump's re-election because it fuels their rage and undermines the democracy which they really don't believe it. The useful idiots they have convinced to look the other way at every nonsensical or violent activity need to rein it in and make sure others vote.

The hysteria is overwrought. We are not a fascist country. Any fool who says that has no clue what life in a fascist country means. This is still a very great country and continues to strive toward a more perfect union.

Germany in 1932 wasn’t a “fascist country,” but Hitler was still able to consolidate his power with only 44% of the vote.

It can happen here.

[Quote] Thanks deplorables!

And BernieCunts, fat ass lazy cunts who didn't vote and those cunts sooooooooo pure you could never vote for HER! This is your fault! I hope you all get cancer and have a long painful death! Fuck you! Grease fire!

R222 Nobody welcomes Trump’s reelection but deplorables and Putin

[Quote] We are not a fascist country.

Oh yeah? You'll see in a couple of months.

[Quote] There is literally nothing we can do but vote at this point.

Because this ^.

"OP is right which is why we need to WIN this election."

OP here. I just want to clear this up. I did not write the article, (I wish I had! lol). not even the headline, which comes directly from the article. I just agree with most of it, and I'm thrilled this thread had gotten over 200 posts.

Thank you, and keep spreading the word. :)

Bump

"The door's that way."

Just watch what Dump will do after he wins in November. A second win will only embolden him. Esp if he gets another judge on the SC.

I said this many times before; there needs to be a Plan B in place, to step in action, if all the checks and balances have failed, which it looks like they have.

The GOP and esp people like Barr, #MoscowMitch and DeVos have zero scruples to turn the US into a lawless oligarchy like Russia, where they get rich and have all the power. They hate the liberalism that has influenced western societies for centuries and esp in the last 50 years, they want a white archconservative Christian society where homosexuality is criminalized and women have no rights.

And this will not only have an influence on the US, it will slowly destroy the EU, Canada, Australia ...

Corrupt dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Russia or Brazil will become allies, the western liberal world will be the enemies.

Yes, r230, that's the "new world order" that the global anti-globalists (isn't it ironic?) want. A Hobbesian nightmare for all but the very richest and best connected.

R230 I'm with you all the way but,

[Quote] there needs to be a Plan B in place,

I don't see much of a plan A either. Waiting for Trump to self combust cannot be called a plan.

[quote] The GOP and esp people like Barr, #MoscowMitch and DeVos have zero scruples to turn the US into a lawless oligarchy like Russia

A single party with an unbridled market economy has been the GOP goal since, and was stated categorically as such, by Newt Gingrich.

We've had a single party for all practical purposes since the Wall Street neoliberals of the early Reagan era. Nader once related that he told his father he was working on a third party to which his dad said he'd be happy to see two.

Nader is a Russian stooge, just like Bernie and Corbyn. They attack the democrats from within.

[quote] Germany in 1932 wasn’t a “fascist country,”

This is not 1932 Germany. Crack open a history book.

Defeatist talk can work to DIScourage people from voting. I'm having none of that. Take your hysteria to the Hysterical Ladies Network.

Plan A is vote.

There is no Plan B. That was clear in 2000 and again in 2016 when we let Bu$h and tRump steal two elections.

If you want an alternative, I would strongly suggest that you work on your personal way of dealing with the hell that would follow if this corrupt, dangerous, and inept buffoon “wins.”

I expect that he may lose. But I’m apprehensive because — like the snake that he is — he seems to slither out of every situation that puts him in any peril.

r234, we have an undemocratically elected "president" who is actively fomenting violence against his opponents, whose public appearances are long litanies of grievances and scapegoating, who has declared war on the press, and who has vowed not to accept the election result if he loses.

How much worse do things have to get before you start seeing the historical parallels?

[quote]There is no Plan B.

So that was it then. Sorry guys democracy was nice while it lasted? We just got hijacked by a moron with Russian government mobster ties and a corrupt group of GOP criminals who tore up the foundation of what this country was founded upon.

And remember, this will go far beyond the US. This will have major implication for all western style countries and nations. Because Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and others have been waiting for decades for this moment, to step in and take charge.

What do you want me to do about it? I’m 65 & in poor health. Not everyone looks like a senior citizen in a viagra ad. I’ve been voting my whole adult life — what good has it done? vote, vote, vote everyone screams as if it’s going to solve all the problems. I’ve voted. It’s worse now than ever before.

I was ready to march in 2016 but nobody else was. Well, too bad. I caught pneumonia last year & haven’t been the same. If I catch covid, I die. I wanted to march against Gulf War 1 & 2, but nobody else did. I wanted to march after 9/11 and show that we are all in it together, rich & poor, stock traders & donut delivery guys all got killed together, but everyone wanted to blame Saddam Hussein. I said “Americans aren’t stupid enough to blame Iraq when it was Saudi Arabian business partners of the Bushes.”

But they were! All the flags came out, Rah Rah USA, Jesus needed new angels so he killed all those firemen & office workers.

Well fuck off. I’m too old now. I’m not going to risk my head getting bashed in by some rightwing cop, or getting pepper sprayed or tear gassed & losing all of my lung function. Everyone should’ve been out protesting in the streets from 1980 onwards. Hostile corporate takeovers, junk bonds, propaganda on radio & tv, billionaires moving manufacturing offshore along with their bank accounts. No taxes on billionaires & their businesses, union busting, no wage increases, consumer price index dropping food & energy costs, the 2000 election.

I was ready and writing (actual snail mail stamped) letters & phoning congress (on a landline) & sent faxes and y’all were too fucking lazy to get off the couch. Reality tv? It’s shit, stop watching it, assholes. But you wont. It’s your “guilty pleasure.” You watch shit singers singing shit music & dance along saying “He’s pretty good.” No, he’s not, he sucks & so does his music.

I’ve got Medicare & I’ll be gone in a few years. Why don’t you all get off your asses & get out onto the streets this time, ok? I did it against Vietnam & against nuclear power & for the environment (back when it was called “environmentalism” instead of “climate change”). Why don’t you get your heads bashed in or get shot by an AR 15 by someone who will get away with it? I’m done, stop begging me to sign your useless online petitions, you Facebook Instagram Tik Tok assholes.

You get your asses off the couch for once & do something. Fucking lazy video game addict fat slobs who video yourselves taking a shit in the bathroom & sitting in your car talking to your phone about your political beliefs.

R238 Oh no you don't. That's YOUR generation who voted for Trump and watch FOX. Trump is your generation.

Trump is the ultimate Boomer president, in both senses of the word "ultimate."

I'm not talking about mass protests or some stupid revolution R238. It won't succeed anyway. Trump will suppress it with all his might and he's not afraid to kill another 200 thousand protesters and more to keep him in power. SCOTUS and Barr will back him up if he declares martial law. Millions and millions of people took to the street in Hong Kong for months and the CCP was able to suppress that as well.

Something else has to happen to restore the constitution and the rule of law.

I love you, R238. Because that's exactly how I feel.

I marched for gay liberation and women's liberation and abortion rights. I was out of the closet when I was a freshman in high school in 1972. I can't even tell you how many jobs I've lost over the years ostensibly for other reasons, but actually because I was out. Still, over the years, I managed to scrape enough money together to buy some cheap property and retire, and if Trump is re-elected, I have plans to leave and retire abroad. Fuck it.

I did more than my share of marching and taking up causes back in the day, and the generations behind me got all the benefits (while we gay boomers get no credit whatsoever). Tell these lazy mofos to do something for themselves for a change instead of making Mommy and Daddy do it for them.

I'll be sipping an umbrella drink in Cancun.

R242 Oh look another Boomer patting themself on the back despite destroying the country. Rot in hell.

WHAT THE FUCK GOOD IS VOTING, IF THE ELECTION IS STOLEN BY NEFARIOUS MEANS

Voting is Plan A and ULTIMATE PRIORITY R244. If that fails and Dump still seizes power I hope there's a Plan B somewhere.

UNITE - VOTE - WIN

Exactly r230, One thousand times YES!!!!!!

"Themself"?? And R243, you're going to blame me for ruining the country?

Jesus, asshole -- at least try to learn to spell. Then maybe you have a shot at learning some critical thinking skills.

[Bold] R238, YOU FORGOT ALL THE CUNTS OBSESSED AND HYPNOZIED BY THEIR CELL PHONES!

The Atlantic: According to sources in the Republican Party at the state and national levels, the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. The longer Trump succeeds in keeping the vote count in doubt, the more pressure legislators will feel to act before the safe-harbor deadline expires.

To a modern democratic sensibility, discarding the popular vote for partisan gain looks uncomfortably like a coup, whatever license may be found for it in law. Would Republicans find that position disturbing enough to resist? Would they cede the election before resorting to such a ploy? Trump’s base would exact a high price for that betrayal, and by this point party officials would be invested in a narrative of fraud.

The Trump-campaign legal adviser I spoke with told me the push to appoint electors would be framed in terms of protecting the people’s will. Once committed to the position that the overtime count has been rigged, the adviser said, state lawmakers will want to judge for themselves what the voters intended.

Oh look at Vlad aka r243 being the divisive troll. Put Vlad on ignore and read away.

Of course Dump and the mobster GOP will pressure electors. If Barr had Epstein offed and intimidated Mueller (I believe he did both), this administration will stop at NOTHING, N O T H I N G, to get what they want.

VOTE these criminals out, if this doesn't work I hope there is some Plan B in place to restore democracy, constitution and rule of law.

This belongs here...

Love you, R220

Check out Umair Haque's twitter feed... (Haque is the author of this article).

Y'all better vote for Biden. I don't like him that much but I know we have to stop Trump. This may be our only chance, and he needs to lose big. If you're not registered there is still time.

The real story is not that Trump is claiming that the election is rigged against him. It’s that Trump, w/ the help of Russia and the current GOP in power positions, are actively doing everything they can to rig the election for Trump.

Bump

That's a 14 yo boy?

That pic above - it's like they all know and recognize themselves as the imposters they are and they're still surprised that more people have not caught on yet.

That pic above - it's like they all know and recognize themselves as the imposters they are and they're still surprised that more people have not caught on yet.

Everybody is excited about tomorrow night's Presidential debate. I don't understand. Why is it still happening?

The reveal of Trump's taxes is the strongest evidence yet of criminality. He isn't just a National Security Risk, he's a sure thing! Why hasn't the National Guard marched up to the White House and taken him into custody. He should be held in a military prison right now. Not "prepping" for a debate. At the very least, this latest information should automatically disqualify him from running for a second term.

Kill all Trump voters. Simple as that.

Correct, R261. People better start demanding that he produce the information about who holds those loans — among other things. We have a right to know that much at least. If he doesn’t want to reveal that, then he can resign and face the consequences now. He played a very dangerous game of chicken, and it’s all about to come crashing down around him.

I suspect that when the NY AG, the Manhattan DA, and Biden’s IRS and Justice Department connect all the dots and pull together all the threads, Cheatolini is going to be in a massive amount of very serious trouble. In addition to the legal and financial problems, he will be disgraced and humiliated in a way that will eat at him from within.

Delightful. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving POS.

I wish you were right, R263, but I don't trust Cyrus Vance. He's had Trump and Ivanka in his clutches on more than one occasion, donations were made to a fund, and charges disappeared. Too tired to google for a link right now, but it's known among many. Just not enough, apparently.

It will take 10 years to finally. Clean up after Tramp's mess.

Well, R264, it might not matter what Cy Vance does or doesn’t do, because NY Attorney General Letitia James isn’t going to let any tRump family members slither away. And the SDNY in a Biden DOJ era won’t either. Whichever tough, brilliant lawyer is chosen to lead that office as the new US Attorney will bring the full vigor of federal law enforcement to the task of prosecuting any relevant tRump illegalities.

It's not fascist to guard your own border and kill foreigners even children. Most gays are in the closet so gay rights mean nothing. Biden/blm will burn gays alive in the street if elected. The economy Will collapse and China will take over the world. Trump's not good looking but he was good looking when young . Trump's a penny pincher. We need Trump.

R267 is clearly a troll and just spewed BS all over her keyboard. While Trump and the GOP are moving to limit our rights and reverse gay marriage, stack the courts with right wing conservatives. You need to drink your vodka, do your krokidill, and neglect your children.

America is responsible for most of the authoritarian societies we have today. This is karma 101. Were any of you under the illusion that almost 60 years of imposing terror on others wouldn't have its price?

This election is like that in a banana country. Karma, since the US has been setting up dictatorships abroad for ever. It will be a paper stamp in 2024.

[quote] OP you have no Democracy to lose. Your former Republic has been a corporate oligarchy since George Washington.

There I fixed it for you

[quote]R267 is clearly a troll and just spewed BS all over her keyboard.

Maybe, but looking at their posting history, I'm more inclined to think racist true believer. That one really does seem to be just that unhinged and divorced from reality. Examples:

[quote]We don't deserve democracy. We have allowed millions of Mexicans to flood in. We have allowed blacks to riot decade after decade. We have allowed China to build up a rival military. We have shipped our jobs overseas. I don't know how long Trump will live but I'm sure he will serve at least four terms.

[quote]Liberalism has gone too far. We need to close border and take whatever action is necessary to maintain a white majority. We must not become South Africa where gays are burned alive.

[quote]Trump kept the economy alive during the pandemic and did not overreact to blm terrorism. Trump is the epitome of stability.

[quote]blacks are doing worse in their own countries. It's supposed to be a white country.

[quote]it's always been a white country. That was an absolute given. The question was, are the Irish white. All the nonwhite immigration is just plain surreal.

[quote]Trump has been moderate and faithful to his base. ... I would guess Trump will win in landslide.

[quote]He's been level headed and calculating. He is not remotely a hot head.

[quote]Trump hates Putin but avoids creating unnecessary friction. Putin is a weak and insecure person. Trump dominates him personally and militarily.

[quote]Trump has exceeded most expectations as far as stability and good governance. I don't see him losing.

[quote]China is working Hard to make Trump lose the election. We should all vote Trump for that reason alone. There are more important issues than gay rights.

[quote]It's not easy being gay but supporting blacks is crazy because blacks want all gays dead. We are in a life and death battle with china; we can't have 13 percent of the population waging a racist war against us.

[quote]Blacks are not educated and are criminals. Should not be allowed to vote. Blacks hate gays. Kill gays on sight. Republicans offer hope through conversion therapy etc

It doesn't really matter, of course. Stupid shit is still stupid shit, regardless of where it comes from.

"Biden/blm will burn gays alive in the street if elected."

[citation needed]

R269 most people would be hiding in the woods eating grass if not fir America. If China or Russia got the nukes first, they would have nuked most of the world and enslaved the rest. The sad part is that poor whites pay for all the charity and free military protection to filth like Canadians

R273 poll a few Mexicans or blacks on what they would like to do to gays

Who holds those loans? Trump holds them! We know which banks gave them! Deutsche Bank for one. A premiere money launderer. Why are people acting like the NYT is a big reveal. It seems to me I have seen 50% of that information before. And we have been 100% sure of Trump's M.O. for 20 years.

New CNBC/Change Research national likely-voter poll:

Biden 54% Trump 41%

Are Junior and Fatty singing a duet, or what's going-on there? Maybe that slow coke burn in the throat...

R267/etc is one of the most retarded trolls in the history of Datalounge and that's a gargantuan accomplishment. Congratulations, OP, your award in the form of a bottle of Adrenochrome extracted from a freshly cannibalized child is in the mail!

[quote]Karma, since the US has been setting up dictatorships abroad for ever.

What dictatorships has the US set up R270?

Um, R270? Have you ever heard of the Shah of Iran?

R281, let's not go there . . .

Is R281 serious? Every right wing regime in Central and South America for the past century, for starters.

The stupidity here is staggering sometimes.

Bump

Bump