I’m starting to really consider the whole “reality is a simulation” angle, and whoever is running the game has put in a cheat code. (not really really, but more than I ever have before)

It’s like a shitty unrealistic movie plot has unfolded over the past decade. And every time it looks like maybe things are heading back on track, BOOM, we get another event that just turns us right back on the track to crazytown.

I’m having a hard time coming up with anything I can cling to in the hopes that Project 2025 isn’t going to go exactly as planned down to the last detail.

How are we not going to become real-world Gilead (but with more racism)?

  • Billiam
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    4 months ago

    The Inspectors General that Trump is trying to fire basically told him to fuck off.

    Under a law passed in 2022 (you know, when the Dems were doing nothing 🙄) the president has to give Congress 1) 30 days notice of firing an IG and 2) enumerate the reasons why that IG was being fired. The second any reason is given to Congress these people are going to sue for wrongful termination since it’s blatantly obvious to everyone Trump is trying to rid the government of anyone who could hold him accountable.

    • @PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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      134 months ago

      What is the consequence of not following these rules?

      If the only consequence is a lawsuit he doesn’t have to pay personally, then I don’t think he cares.

      • @NvrLmp@lemmy.world
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        64 months ago

        I suppose if the firings are regarded as “official acts,” the courts will support POTUS on this one.

      • @CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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        54 months ago

        Currently the consequence is they aren’t accepting the termination of their enjoyment and aren’t leaving.

        If the consequence of not following the rules means it doesn’t get enforced then he cares very much.

        • @PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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          64 months ago

          Why does trump care if someone he tried to fire refuses to accept that they’re fired. He can still hire a replacement and pretend the person he “fired” doesn’t exist, and as long as the rest of the bureaucracy plays along with him (which it always seems to) then trump faces no consequences for breaking the rules.

          This happened time and time again last term where he broke norms and rules that had no codified repercussions. Dems would say “you can’t do that, it’s not allowed” but he’d do it anyways and succeed.

          The checks placed on the POTUS need to have actual teeth and not just be a gentlemen’s agreement

    • @octopus_ink@lemmy.mlOP
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      4 months ago

      Oh yeah I saw that headline when I got up this morning and it made me happy to see. But talk me down the tree a little further if you can.

      In the current state I don’t see how it matters. I’m glad they did it. I appreciate the gesture, and I think it was an important one. But I feel like we’re all still pretending that laws and norms matter when clearly they no longer do for Trump and anyone under him.

      What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

      • Billiam
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        74 months ago

        What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

        What stops him is people willing to ignore obviously illegal demands, and the more people that stand up to him the more people will be encouraged to do the same. Now, if Trump openly defies court orders and the executive branch has enough sycophants in it that they’re willing to help him, then it becomes up to us to solve that problem.

        • Solid summary, the best way to deal with authority in general is to ignore them. Mind you someone can always use violence but often times thats a sign of weakness from someone who is trying to claim they have power.

      • My concern as well. Trump really doesn’t seem to give a damn this go-around. There were people in place that hit the brakes on him last time, but this time nobody’s doing shit.

      • @CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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        54 months ago

        What exactly stops him from having these people forcibly removed and/or their access to government resources cut, their paychecks held, their clearances revoked, etc? Who is in charge of those things that can stand up to that?

        Trump doesn’t directly do any of those things, he would have to order other people to do so, and the risk of doing so is that if he encounters more resistance people start to notice that the emperor has no clothes.

        The more people resist the more it encourages others to do the same. The president is not a king that can dictate commands, and the more people stop obeying the more Trump runs into those protections that stop him being a tyrant.

    • @crusa187@lemmy.ml
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      214 months ago

      I don’t think they expect this one to hold water, but it does serve as an excellent distraction from all the other nefarious shit coming down the pipe. Don’t lose sight of that other stuff - especially attempts to liquidate the treasury into $doge, $trump, or any other shit coin. That is the monumental heist they’re gunning for, make no mistake.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        214 months ago

        It’ll be like Roe. Where they lose at every level because it’s obvious until they get to SCOTUS. Who will decide in the GOP’s favor based on the Papal Bull of 462.

    • @octopus_ink@lemmy.mlOP
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      44 months ago

      Thank you this is what I’m talking about! (Holding my breath to see if he’s somehow overridden or disbarred.)

  • @That_Devil_Girl@lemmy.ml
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    534 months ago

    It’s the rich buying off both major political parties in the US. One is paid to implement a fascist oligarchy. The other is paid to pump the breaks on the fascist oligarchy when the population freaks out.

    In both cases, political bribery has run amok and unchecked. Neither party is beholden to the will of the people. Low voter turnout means Republicans and oligarchy wins. High voter turnout means Democrats and the same oligarchy wins.

  • @Snowclone@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Some reporting is saying impeachment is being floated, suing the president has been a matter of course since Obama took office and hasn’t stopped since, he’s already issuing orders that are blatantly illegal and clearly violate the constitution. There are a lot of openings to fight back right now. Is anyone? Idk.

    • Desert Hermit
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      74 months ago

      I doubt this to the point I would bet money against it if I could.

      Did you not see that a proposal to amend the constitution for 3 terms was ACTUALLY proposed by a Congressperson from TN?

    • DigitalDilemma
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      54 months ago

      I’m beginning to think this term is more about Vance more than Trump. At least, that’s the plan by those behind Trump.

      Let Trump go mad and do everything evil at a hundred miles an hour, which is what’s underway. Create utter chaos and make it impossible for anyone to draw breath and structure a defence. Then when the country finally pushes back (Maybe after about year) and he’s impeached, slip in JD Vance as a more moderate leader and everyone will be so grateful the Republicans secure several terms by turning against and blaming everything on Trump.

      I could be wrong. Anyone making predictions in this chaos is guessing.

  • @jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works
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    224 months ago

    31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

    41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

    45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

    46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

    The Gospel According to Matthew Liberal Talking Points

    • @tronx4002@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      There are trumpers that read the bible. I always wonder what goes through their heads when they read the teachings of Jesus.

      • Gil Wanderley
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        34 months ago

        In verse 40, “brothers and sisters of mine”, they think it means white, middle class, cisgender, heterosexual, neurotypical, conservative people.

      • @tomenzgg@midwest.social
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        14 months ago

        They really love using

        Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me

        in the context of abortion.

  • snooggums
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    224 months ago

    Project 2025 won’t go exactly as planned, but at least half of it will and the rest will sow enough discord during the attempt to run the country into the ground. We will most likely still be the most powerful nation unless we split, just because of the massive population and resources available.

    • @trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world
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      104 months ago

      There are two countries on this planet with more than three times you population and enough resources to take over your position of most powerful nation if they stop fucking around and you guys screw up badly enough.

      • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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        44 months ago

        China? Maybe. India? Fucking no. We’re not even going to hit middle income trap like China. We’re going to remain underdeveloped country for the foreseeable future.

  • You can’t push back against the person who doesn’t care. These “trump” things aren’t likely coming from trump. All he wants is attention. So as long as someone spins an idea to him that will get him attention, he will sign it. He hasn’t had an original idea in decades. So you won’t see push back in public much. It will happen between the people behind the scenes.

    • @Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works
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      74 months ago

      This is something people should point out more often. For me, in terms of policies, the real president are Vought and Peter Thiel. Two very dangerous men because unlike Trump, they are very smart and actual ideologues. The one foil they have is that their ideologies are only compatible so long as they have a common enemy in liberals. If they managed to beat the liberals they would inevitably have to fight one another for ultimate control over the ideological direction of the party (at this point in my hypothetical future perhaps the only party in America)

      • The next election will be very interesting.
        If trump is still functional (in the goes to rallies for a successor sense), will there be someone he can or will transfer his popularity to. I kind of doubt it. Anyone able to take on that popularity is a threat to him. Maybe he would do it for one of his kids, because he might think he could control them, but I still doubt it. So he might submarine his own party.

        That would open the door for another boring centrist from the democrats that “plays ball” with the party elites.

        If trump is too feeble to do any rallies and such. That would allow a trump like replacement to pick up the republican torch. This would push the dems toward needing a progressive trump like populist to try to win. The dem “party” (the people behind the scenes) would fight that. Just like they did when Bernie was up against Hillary. And could end up handing it to the new trump like person. This would be the path to your future one party system.

        The third scenario would have trump die in office somehow. Vance would “play ball” with the rep party elite in a heartbeat. And he is more like a pre-trump politician. We saw that in the vp debate. But the party elite would probably back him. It could end up with the return of the pre trump days with boring poloticians who just do what the party elite say, with the party elite m9ving back into the shadows.

  • @SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social
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    174 months ago

    I dunno, man, it just feels like the ol’ fascist/totalitarian tactic of flooding the zone with shit until people get exhausted from fighting it has worked, people are exhausted, and there’s this energy of elated resignation, like, we can’t swim upstream anymore, so fuck it, riding the current is kind of fun (and the inevitable waterfall is out of sight and out of mind for the moment).

    • ObliviousEnlightenment
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      34 months ago

      Thats all fine and well until youre shot on the front lines or happen to be one of the minorities being drowned

  • ssillyssadass
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    144 months ago

    I don’t have an article about it on hand, but there was one judge who blocked Trump’s attempt to remove birthright citizenship.

      • @LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        Yeah we have three branches of government.

        Executive Judicial Legislative

        The President heads the executive branch. The Legislative branch is split into the Senate (2 representatives from every state) and Congress (number of representatives depicted by state population size). (The Vice President actually sits in the Senate and can be used as a tie-breaker (101 votes instead of of 100 senators). The Leader of the House (Congress) is third in line for the presidency. The judicial branch is mostly known to be the Supreme Court but also contains the Federal Judicial Center.

        Basically. For a law to exist you have to get a Majority vote from Congress and the Senate. Then the president signs it into law, or can Veto it. (If Congress has 2/3 vote the president veto would be overwrote). Same is required to amend the constitution itself (2/3)

        Also if the people don’t feel representatives have gotten their issue to the floor there are petitions. If a petition gets a lot of signatures it requires a formal response by the legislature. During the Obama administration he opened a website called We The People that allowed signatures for petitions and if 100,000 signatures were garnered it was required to get a formal response. This website was shut down during the first Trump administration in 2018.

        So the Judicial branches job is to review any bill being signed into law and ensure it is not in conflict with previous laws, or deemed “unconstitutional” which would block the law and send it back to the legislature requiring them to acquire a 2/3 vote to amend the constitution where it conflicts.

        The legislative branch also holds the power to oust the President if they overstep. Essentially if over 50% of Congress believes the president should be removed they can impeach him. Which sends it to the Senate. (Most every president has removed themselves upon a majority of Congress but they aren’t required to yet). When it goes to the Senate they hold a trial. A 2/3 vote of the Senate implements the presidents removal. (The Republicans in the Senate did not vote to remove Trump, and thus they never had 2/3s of the vote and he refused to step down.). John Tyler and Richard Nixon both resigned before the Senate voted.

      • stankmut
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        24 months ago

        In the US, people consider any public sector job to be working in/for the government. Judges, Legislators, the president, TSA security, Park Rangers, Cops, Clerks at the driver’s license office, etc. would all be considered government roles. Sometimes you need to clarify if you mean federal government or state government.

        The president, his staff, and his political appointees are called the administration.

  • @maplebar@lemmy.world
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    84 months ago

    I’m starting to really consider the whole “reality is a simulation” angle, and whoever is running the game has put in a cheat code. (not really really, but more than I ever have before)

    🙄

    I have some reeeeeeal bad news for you: the American voters handed Trump and the Republicans not just 1, not 2, but ALL 3 fucking branches of government, on top of a media in which at least 33% is in his fucking pocket and at least another 33% is too stupid to see through his bullshit.

    I’m not sure what kind of push back you’re expecting or who you’re expecting it from exactly, but to whatever extent there IS push back it’s gonna be 90% performative gesturing and hand-wringing until at least 2026. And that’s the best case where people are smart enough to vote in their best interest, which knowing how fucking stupid you all are, I’m not gonna hold my breath.

    GLHF.