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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#170951: Jan 29th 2017 at 11:55:36 PM

Yep. Be prepared. We're going to have our own Tianemen Square very soon.

LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#170952: Jan 29th 2017 at 11:58:37 PM

If Trump and co really are doing what that Medium article is suggesting and seeing if they can safely ignore the other two branches, a) that's horrifying, and b) I can't imagine that Congress or the judiciary would just sit there and take it.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170953: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:04:05 AM

Are you really that fucking sure?! I've heard that the army officers don't like Trump and if that's that, then they won't do apeshit to murder their own citizens!

Or hell, it may just unleash a goddamn civil war because it's obvious that unlike China, the story with USA and the fight for independence will make people go to other greater lengths to oppose them and never fucking give up about it!

So all of you stop trying to take the pessimistic approach of it and start looking for the most hopeful scenario instead of one where all hope is lost! I'm getting tired of hearing that kind of scenario over and over again!

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Perseus Since: Nov, 2009
#170954: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:06:17 AM

Or maybe you could stop getting mad at people for being worried. It's not helping.

edited 30th Jan '17 12:06:30 AM by Perseus

Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#170955: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:08:08 AM

A possible way out - if power is collected by the inner circle and results in bloodshed - is that the Republican leaders would be able to say "we were explicitly not a part of this" and thus have the justification to intervene. But whether they would have the support of their voters is a different question, and one I'd like to be more optimistic about. But by that point, they may very well be too late and too powerless anyways.

Sorry for being pessimistic, but from where I'm looking - and at the rate things are currently going - this shit ain't gonna end well.

edited 30th Jan '17 12:13:21 AM by Eschaton

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170956: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:08:53 AM

[up] Sorry, but still, they're getting overworried and pessimistic about the situation and the implied defeatism in it.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
unnoun Since: Jan, 2012
#170957: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:12:26 AM

I mean, it's possible if the legislative and judicial branches tried to oppose anything, they would be the first to die.

Trump put a portrait of Andrew Jackson back in the Oval Office. And as Jackson once said right before the Trail of Tears, "The courts have made their ruling, now let them enforce it."

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#170958: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:12:55 AM

The thing about Tiananmen Square that really sends a chill down my spine is the fact that even after that tragedy, China is still an authoritarian one-party state. They went full Ministry of Truth, and scrubbed out all information about the protest that wasn't in line with their politically convenient version of the events...and they got away with it. From what I have read, people in China have given up on democracy since.

I can only hope the same won't occur with the US.

edited 30th Jan '17 12:14:34 AM by Draghinazzo

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170959: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:14:33 AM

[up] And it won't because of the free flow of Internet itself.

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#170960: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:15:56 AM

Congress and the judiciary just taking it: Congress is still majority Republican, so it's unlikely that the Democrats can do much beyond ensuring that they can prove that they tried, short of some Republicans discovering principles.

The judiciary: Well, Scalia's dead. The problem is how exactly can the judiciary bring the hammer down - something the executive branch probably doesn't want to happen.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
LinkToTheFuture A real bad hombre from somewhere completely different Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: What's love got to do with it?
A real bad hombre
#170961: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:17:22 AM

In such a worst-case scenario I can see Trump overreaching, Congress impeaching him for it, and him just going "fuck you". That would have truly Earth-shattering consequences.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison
Ludlow Since: Apr, 2013
#170962: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:17:50 AM

So, now that we've all agreed that everything is hopeless and that the United States is going to become a facists dictatorship, can we now express the desire to leave this country without being shamed for it?

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#170963: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:17:57 AM

Well, I don't know about that. Part of the reason China has such a strong grip on information is that their internet censorship is extremely meticulous and heinously well-crafted. People can bypass it without THAT much trouble, but only the tech-savvy and particularly invested are going to try and circumvent it. The chinese government allows them to do that because they know they have no real power to change anything. Most of the population is going to become complacent and fed on state-run and state-approved news.

And as far as the US is concerned, I'm not going to assume the worst will pass, but I'm just saying that this isn't something new or undocumented.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170964: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:19:09 AM

[up][up] Don't cross the line of defeatism just now!

edited 30th Jan '17 12:20:14 AM by Luigisan98

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
unnoun Since: Jan, 2012
#170965: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:20:55 AM

There have been instances in countries where the Executive just sorta ignored attempts at control from the legislative, and then killed them all for their trouble.

Checks and balances only work if you have norms and people that care about the rule of law.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#170966: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:21:20 AM

Also, if memory serves China has always been fairly centralistic. Not sure if the US's more federal structure would allow for such a thing.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#170967: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:21:34 AM

China had the disadvantage that it never really had a proper democracy.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170968: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:21:43 AM

[up] The executives to the legislation or the legislation to the executives?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#170969: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:22:43 AM

[up][up]Oh yeah. China has a long and "proud" history of authoritarianism.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170970: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:23:46 AM

[up] And that's the main difference when it comes to the US, something like T Ianamen would not happen like that!

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#170971: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:24:53 AM

Optimism is dangerous when it fails to acknowledge that the current state of affairs is really fucking terrible and not likely to change.

Luigisan98 A wandering user from Venezuelan Muscat Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
A wandering user
#170972: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:25:30 AM

[up] You mean the one in the USA? What do you mean it won't change?

The only good fanboy, is a redeemed fanboy.
unnoun Since: Jan, 2012
#170973: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:26:31 AM

We are already in uncharted waters, surrounded by fog, with no lifeboats to be seen.

Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#170974: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:27:18 AM

And the vague outlines of shipwrecks below.

Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#170975: Jan 30th 2017 at 12:28:36 AM

I mean that it would be completely unprecedented for a president to be brought down anywhere near this early, and that the situation would still be really shitty even if that completely unprecedented thing happened.


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