General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA thing to remember as people contemplate where we are
Last edited Fri Nov 28, 2025, 01:05 AM - Edit history (1)
in the US and the danger we face. The argument and discussion over what lengths Crumb The 1st could go to or what actions he could take always has people trying to temper the sense of danger by downplaying the idea that he would take extreme actions. But in reality arguing that he wouldn't do something is based on holding on to the idea that there is some fear on his part of accountability or that some institution of government would hold him accountable and so he would be chastened from doing the act.
But I submit that he would not feel restrained in taking an act because of the SC ruling about immunity. I submit he has openly shown he doesn't care about his cruelty and he views attempts to hold him accountable as simply another battle to wage. There is no larger sense of things or a longer view of what impact his actions have.
So the reality is that if he were to order the killing of a political opponent he would not be prosecuted under the SC ruling as long as he claims it as a Presidential act. An institution try to hold him accountable and declare the act was illegal and not a Presidential act? He can have them removed or killed as well.
Yes I know all of the above sounds extreme and over the top because our rational minds operate from the basis that no President would do such an outrageous thing. All the while haven't we been coming from the same basis regarding his actions to this point? We have argued that it is inconceivable that any President would pardon the January 6th criminals, pour masked, anonymous troops into the streets of our cities to grab people at will and abuse them and disappear them, gleefully deprive millions of children of food and health care, end foreign aid that in less than a year is calculated as causing the deaths of hundreds of thousand of children, gleefully end foreign aid and watch the prevention of disease in poorer countries decrease and the list of horrors goes on.
Despite our rational minds telling us that certainly there are some bridges too far we have seen that argument tested and fail. So here we are. Some are considering the question of whether a heinous act of shooting two soldiers may have been some scheme of his. Others argue such a thing is too outlandish. I submit that the danger we face is not whether he did but the fact that he would if he wanted to.
He added to the pile of dead bodies during the early Covid years, he now added to the pile of dead children around the world, he has favored sex criminals with pardons and protection and the list goes on. All while openly extorting countries, institutions and businesses for his own financial enrichment. At long last Americans need to realize there is no bridge too far, no level that is too low and thinking along the normal rational lines and expecting that those exist and will give some restraint is not borne out by the reality of what has been done.
Silent Type
(12,223 posts)trump MIGHT have a chance at immunity if he shot one of the 6 Senators claiming they were seditionist.
Think trump would fail, even at Supreme Court level. But Im a whole lot less confident nowadays than several years ago.
But agree with all your criticisms of trump. Hopefully, well do well enough in midterms to slow him down.
moniss
(8,514 posts)"enforcement" at the polls for the mid-terms. We know that will be all about targeting Democratic voting areas and interfering with casting ballots.
Silent Type
(12,223 posts)We have poll watchers and lawyers too.
moniss
(8,514 posts)and it will involve all forms of voting and counting.
Silent Type
(12,223 posts)Fiendish Thingy
(21,710 posts)Your post is dangerously close to defeatist Doomerism, which does not help in the resistance of this regime.
Instead, I would invite you to remember this one absolute truth:
Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless
This truth has been proven over and over again in the past ten months, and the Trump administration, despite acting with lawless impunity, has been restrained, stalled or stymied numerous times by the courts, congress and the people.
In the month of November alone, there have been elections, court rulings and congressional votes that have all gone against Trump.
Trump may or may not escape Justice for his crimes (electing a Dem congress that will expand the court and neutralize the current MAGA majority will be a major determinant of that), but we cant let that distant potentiality distract us from the business at hand- returning Democrats to power,
moniss
(8,514 posts)The point of my post is for people to stop coming from the idea that there is some level the fascists won't go to and beyond. It is foolhardy to keep going "How can they do such a thing?" or "Don't they realize/care etc.?" It begins to put people in the Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski range of observation and argument.
The Supreme Court is not going to be expanded and there is plenty of indication that heinous acts have continued despite court orders/decisions.
Having the recent election success has not restrained the lawless immigration enforcement activity, it has not brought about alleviation of other abuses, it has not restrained even further attacks on the social safety net and the list goes on. Will we eventually be able to right the ship? Maybe but going along thinking it will not get much, much worse is folly. It got bad in February 2025 and got worse with every single day that passed and it is continuing.
So the idea of "It's OK, somebody will stop them" is something we've seen before in this country and this group of fascists is the most heinous group to be in power in our nation's history. Not just a little worse. They don't give a damn about court rulings. If you think the courts being lied to and being ignored is being stemmed then you can show me the officials found in contempt and receiving any punishment. I see none and am not holding my breath waiting.
I know what I see and I remember very, very well when he first took office this term that I and others began warning early on about how extreme the actions of these people could get and how rapidly they could move. I also remember very,very well that tons of people pooh-poohed the warnings and said it was being "alarmist" etc. and that Crumb The 1st wouldn't dare do this or that because this or that agency, inspector general, court etc. would "stop him". I advocated early on for people in vulnerable groups to consider alternatives to living here in order to be safe if they had the means/ability to do so. Again people ridiculed that advice. So how many of those deported to who knows where wish they had made a move on their own beforehand? I can assure you picking where you go always beats someone else forcing you to someplace you don't want to go.
So the advice of "Don't worry, it's alright because in a year or two we'll have more votes in Congress" doesn't do shit for the mother getting yanked from her family and sent to El Salvador in the middle of the night. People in this country need to wake up and realize what is upon them.
Stacey Grove
(156 posts)and it doesn't stink of undercover right wing "cleverness" that I see way too much of on this site.
EXCELLENT POST.
Fiendish Thingy
(21,710 posts)Yes, the reality is this administration acts with lawless impunity and commits numerous atrocities daily.
But, as I said, this administration has been restrained, stalled and stymied time and time again by the courts, congress and the people.
With only a couple of exceptions, the Trump 2.0 administration has obeyed all court rulings (after acting lawlessly beforehand of course). When a ruling goes against them, instead of defying the ruling and acting anyway, they appeal and wait for a final ruling.
Why? Who knows?
Why didnt Trump just veto the Epstein bill? Who knows?
Examples of the limits put on this administration:
No troops were deployed on the streets of Portland or Chicago.
Kilmar Garcia is back on US soil.
Tina Peters is still in Colorado prison, despite attempts by the DOJ to take her into federal custody.
Many Republicans are begging for some way to reinstate the ACA subsidies before the midterms, lest dozens of them be forcibly retired by the electorate.
Numerous Republicans are announcing they wont run for re-election.
Gerrymandering has been blocked in Texas, and headed to an appeals court.
There are many other injunctions in the appeals process on various issues. Some have stays, some dont.
Trumps EOs on voting, banning mail in ballots, etc. have been almost completely ignored by the states.
Thats reality too.
It isnt a Pollyannish everything is going to be fine outlook; it merely acknowledges this one absolute truth:
Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of activists have unclutched their pearls, and unwrung their hands, and are working hard to ensure a blue tsunami next November.
The odds are in our favor.
moniss
(8,514 posts)into what others say is a major failing on your part in discourse. Nowhere in my OP did I say people should give up. My OP is about people waking up to the realization that there is no basis for thinking or operating from a standpoint that there is some level beyond which these fascists will not go. The OP is also about the danger of thinking that there is just because it hasn't been conceivable before in any other President.
As far as your intimation that I sit and wring pearls you have no idea of anything I do or have done. You claim to have been active and that's fine but you have no right to insinuate others you don't even know haven't been active as well.
no_hypocrisy
(53,942 posts)taking away money and government benefits from people and then killing them (or passively, letting them die).
In his mind, he OWNS the United States and we are his serfs.
Irish_Dem
(78,503 posts)He is capable of anything.
Mental health professionals keep warning the public, but people refuse to believe the severe risk level.