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

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#247376: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:36:15 PM

Even if he does get some followers from the army and marines, I imagine trying to make a police state or (especially) use the armed forces to put down riots or protests would result in widespread revolt among the military.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247377: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:38:19 PM

I remember being in so many discussions with Green Party voters, "I'm writing in Bernie" twits, and various other Unicorn Brigaders who all insisted that the Supreme Court wasn't a big deal, that Kennedy and Roberts were sane people, that they could "vote their conscience" and there would be no consequences.

I think it's pretty telling that they couldn't trust Clinton enough to vote for her, but could trust the conservative members of the Supreme Court to do the right thing.

[up]Soldiers follow orders. It's what they're trained to do. And that's ignoring the fact that Trump's hard-on for the army makes him very popular with certain segments of it.

Do I think that Trump is going to declare martial law? Not really. Do I expect the military to actually revolt if he did? No.

There is no magic fix to this problem. Trump is going to get a second Supreme Court Justice. Liberal progress in the country is going to be set back for decades. Democrats taking Congress in November—which is being treated as such a sure thing that I'm prepared to bet good money it won't happen—will not turn back time and undo this.

Edited by AmbarSonofDeshar on Jun 27th 2018 at 3:40:57 AM

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#247378: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:40:01 PM

[up][up]I disagree.

Edited by Clarste on Jun 27th 2018 at 3:40:11 AM

KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#247379: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:40:18 PM

We're not in a dictatorship yet, and I think it's very difficult to hash out the likelihood of that from where we're standing. While I don't want to make light of anyone's fears, I don't think that panicking helps anyone.

Oh God! Natural light!
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247380: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:41:56 PM

We don't need to be panicking about becoming a dictatorship. We need to be panicking about Trump turning American social and legal norms back to the 50s and 60s.

Also, for the love of God, stop hoping for the military to save you. The Army isn't going to depose Trump. Which generally speaking, is a good thing. Once an Army steps into politics once, it doesn't usually step back.

Edited by AmbarSonofDeshar on Jun 27th 2018 at 3:45:41 AM

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#247381: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:49:53 PM

The worst part? Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn't exactly a spring chicken either. So if she goes too in the next couple years (whether retirement or death), Trump could get THREE judges. Ugh.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247382: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:53:15 PM

A point that was brought up repeatedly in 2016. But that wasn't enough for some people.

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#247383: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:54:56 PM

I mean, since a lot of people were convinced "Hillary is just as bad/worse than Trump" I could see bringing that up only strengthening their resolve to through their vote away.

Edit: Page-topper.

Edited by LSBK on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:03:44 AM

Psyclone Since: Jan, 2001
#247384: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:55:42 PM

So what is the best case scenario for a Portuguese expat like me in the Netherlands? Go back home (and be forced to live with my terrible parents) and wait for the coming wave of global fascism and/or WWIII?

Edited by Psyclone on Jun 27th 2018 at 11:56:33 AM

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247385: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:59:20 PM

The amount of self-delusion it took to decide "Clinton is worse than Trump" will forever awe me. The amount of drugs that a person would have to take for that to seem like a reasonable statement is just remarkable. And it gets even more ridiculous when you move to the subject of the Supreme Court because even a basic reading of history would tell you that Clinton would, at worst, pick the kind of people Bill and Obama did, while Trump would have to be persuaded not to appoint a member of the Klan.

That's privilege blinders for you I guess.

Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#247386: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:02:04 PM

You can pretty much guarantee that Roe v Wade is gone, like completely gone.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#247387: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:03:36 PM

Nobody answered my question from before... are ANY of Trump's 20 nominations (technically it's 25 now but he hasn't revealed the new five, I think) somewhat sympathetic towards women's rights, worker's rights, and LBGT rights? Or are they all sociopaths?

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#247388: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:04:23 PM

[up][up][up]I don't know what it's called, but what's the phenomena where people who are moderately on your side are perceived as being worse than the ones who are actively and strongly opposed to everything you want?

For a lot of people "center-left/right" is more infuriating than "reactionary far-right".

Edited by LSBK on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:05:58 AM

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247389: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:05:28 PM

[up][up][up]They might not overturn it, but functionally, it's not going to matter for a long time. A court that exchanges Kennedy for another Gorsuch, let alone somebody worse, is going to write a lot of bad precedent, and undermine a lot of previously written precedent. You can expect a lot of the sneakier abortion bans pushed by states to suddenly be constitutional. You can also expect an uptick in Court support for bigotry, and for Trump to get the chance to push through ever uglier versions of his Muslim ban.

[up]It's not even a case of thinking the centre-left is worse than the far-right. Since as previously noted, Clinton was not a centrist and Sanders was not the far-left. It was a case of misogyny coupled with "she won't give free college and free weed, man. Must be the Devil."

Edited by AmbarSonofDeshar on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:06:39 AM

Mio Since: Jan, 2001
#247390: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:07:15 PM

[up][up]I think it's narcissism of small differences. But I might be wrong.

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#247391: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:08:40 PM

[up][up]I'm not talking about what their actual policy positions were, just how a lot of people perceived them to be. At this point it almost goes without saying that most people don't really look too deeply into what the people running actually stand for.

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247392: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:09:25 PM

Also sometimes worded as "a heretic is worse than an enemy."

Though again, not really the case here, because while the worst elements of the Unicorn Brigade like to position themselves as the far-left, they're not. For the most part they're privileged white college kids who can't figure out that their issues aren't everyone else's issues.

SilentColossus (Don’t ask)
#247393: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:10:04 PM

Most people who think that Clinton is worse than Trump usually fed me some conspiracy theory nonsense, like Benghazi. Or about how she'd be a dictator who wanted to take away your rights.

PresidentStalkeyes Eats moldy bread and flies into windows from United Kingdom of England-land Since: Feb, 2016 Relationship Status: Do you like me? (Yes ⎕ Definitely ⎕ Absolutely!!! ⎕)
Eats moldy bread and flies into windows
#247394: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:14:53 PM

I know I keep asking questions about Trump's approval ratings, but now I'm curious what the numbers would look like if they hosted a 'disapproval poll', cutting out those who are merely neutral/flip-flopping on Trump and only leaving those who explicitly disapprove of him. Would the disapproval numbers neatly line up with the regular approval ratings? I feel like at some point, if that many people openly and proudly hate your guts while in your country, you can only force so many of them into line.

Edited by PresidentStalkeyes on Jun 27th 2018 at 12:15:33 PM

Those sell-by-dates won't stop me because I can't read!
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247395: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:15:00 PM

Most people who think that Clinton is worse than Trump usually fed me some conspiracy theory nonsense, like Benghazi. Or about how she'd be a dictator who wanted to take away your rights.

There were a lot of ostensible leftists feeding us right-wing BS during that fiasco. That most of them were white men was not an accident—though as a side note, nothing is more irritating than some of the Clinton bashing college girls I met. "You can't say it's misogyny," they'd repeat again and again, while constantly checking to make sure the bro-dudes they were running with saw them being "the cool girl." I ran into one of them at a friend's birthday party, and I have never met anyone so utterly try-hard. "I could tell you so many things about all the terrible stuff Clinton's done," she dutifully parotted, while I tried not to scream and tried to figure out why my friend liked this person in the first place.

Edited by AmbarSonofDeshar on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:20:43 AM

Ingonyama Since: Jan, 2001
#247396: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:15:12 PM

I don't think it's very fair to chastise me for my commentary and decision. It's not like I'm planning to go around telling everyone I meet "vote, but it won't matter in the end"—on the off-chance that the Blue Wave can happen, and then we can fix or stop at least some of this nightmare, I would never want to sabotage things like that. I was also never going around being an enthusiastic cheerleader trying to convince people to vote, protest, get involved, etc., so my being silent wouldn't be depriving Democrats of support either. The simple fact is, I don't know enough about politics, or how to get involved, I'm not good with people, I wouldn't know what to say, and my ADHD/Asperger's make it so I just generally have trouble functioning in society as it is. I've been trying to stay abreast of what I can understand, to see if there's any possible way I could help, but seeing as I'm pretty much broke all the time there really isn't anything I could do to help besides vote.

Plus, if Social Security and Medicare do get gutted, I'll be dead anyway. So at this point the only thing I can do for my sanity is to vote when needed but otherwise give up, stay silent, and keep to my hobbies and entertainment. I am not going to discourage anyone from doing all they can to fight this, nor was I encouraging it before, so my decision really affects no one but me, and for the better. At least this way you won't have to worry about me popping up with gloom-and-doom every so often.

RJ-19-CLOVIS-93 from New Zealand (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#247397: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:15:40 PM

Donald Trump is becoming the Malignant Plot Tumor of US politics and he goddamn loves it!

Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#247398: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:16:38 PM

I've been looking around and i'm starting to believe the "Blue Wave" is just a delusion. The more I look, the more I notice that people rarely change for the better and never do anything to improve the situation even when they have the means to do so.

danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#247399: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:17:55 PM

While the military as a whole may not revolt, I personally would resign my commission if Trump got any funny ideas about enacting martial law or blatantly trying to use the military to violate the Constitution.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#247400: Jun 27th 2018 at 4:19:02 PM

[up][up]Where exactly have you been looking and what data do you have to support your belief?

Because there is very real reason to believe that a Blue Wave is more than possible (if not actively probable).

Frankly I think it's rather likely that calling it a delusion is strongly counterfactual.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:18:54 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang

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