What is all this afraidness?

[DV1]

For some time now I've been seeing stories about retribution, revenge, etc., about what Trump is going to do with some writers bringing up scenarios of an American Stasi or Gestapo roaming the streets and government. We are not in the Germany of the 40s/50s. There are not going to be 'Red Shirts' patrolling the streets. Do you think urban areas are going to put up with that? You think Southside Chicago, East LA, and other areas are going to be easy takeovers? I may be wrong but from what I've seen here at DU it doesn't seem to me like many commenters here would put up with that crap. And do you think the majority of'suckers' and 'losers' in the Armed Forces are going to put down their firearms and raise their hands in surrender?

So, to all those opinion writers, pundits and others who are having 'Oh woes me!' seizures, enough already. It's not going to happen. Using the word 'resistance' might create all types of scenarios in theory and imagination but resistance, in reality – on the streets, well, let's just say it's not a pretty thing that'll quickly reduce the numbers of online 'warriors' for Trump. It's one thing to aim a few invectives on a keyboard but another thing if the invectives are whizzing by you at 2700 or more feet per second. Comprende?

Do you know who really is afraid? Donald J. Trump. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place of millions who wish his name was already in the obituaries and his Keystone Kops accomplices who wish for domination. But ol' Donny is not that stupid. He knows that that he can only push the envelope so far because he knows that if it 'rips' — then it's game over. Even the most adept con men will tell you that you want to avoid ripping up the game to where there is no endgame for anyone. It's an empty Lazy Susan.

Anyway, thank you for reading this little Monday morning rant. I think I may have added extra coffee in the filter. I'm good with it.

[atreides1]

1. N/A

[Stargazer99]

2. Who are you kidding????

[JohnSJ]

3. I have learned that when someone says he will do something, no matter how

cruel or authoritarian, believe him.

[LuckyCharms]

4. One thing I've learned long ago...

Anything can happen.

January 6 wasn't exactly a picnic with wine and cheese.

The pandemic wasn't dinner and a movie.

So I guess we'll see.

[mucifer]

5. It's going to be horrific. So you believe project 2025 has no chance with them

controlling every aspect of government?

[DV1]

13. Do you think the USA will allow

anything 'domestically' to destabilize its position 'globally'? I don't think so.

[jaxexpat]

19. The United States of America may not, but the dissonant states of mutual distrust may be too distracted to care.

[TBF]

21. Define "USA".

I would appreciate specifics. He has the executive branch, the judiciary, and the legislature. His first act of business is to replace generals so he can turn the military on any dissent. Who is this "USA" that is going to stop him?

[DV1]

22. We, the people, are the USA.

And believe it or not, there are people amongst us who if they discover that those mentioned branches have been really compromised from their original intent, they will shake those branches free of the offending disease. This has been done before and in most cases none of us know anything about it. So, before you go around thinking that you and all of us are just walking casualties, Trump and Co., mostly Co., are even more cautious of what the future holds for them. The party is fun while it's happening, but all parties end and then comes the clean-up. Of course, and unless age has made him sloppy, Trump will make sure he's not the one to do any cleaning.

As for the military, well, even Trump knows there's no guarantees there. None.

If that's not specific enough then give me a detailed specific and I will answer accordingly.

[TBF]

24. I suppose you are correct

even here in TX, I'm sure there are areas of Houston in which Donald et al would not be welcome. I personally would not want to be the one trying to deport a Salvadoran gang member.

[TBF]

25. And I did think about your post when I was reading about the

Wall Street Journal editorial "Disruption Won’t Work at Treasury - Musk gives bad advice to Trump on financial policy-making." It was printed yesterday, and today Trump has "widened his search" for a new Secretary of the Treasury. Trump certainly heard their criticisms loud and clear.

[zorbasd]

34. Well, yes, I think that was the whole idea

of this election. Choosing a country that will continue to advance globally, or choosing for a country to decline globally and exponentially. The people chose the later.

[jmbar2]

39. I'm not seeing any coherent response to stop it.

He and his cronies seem completely immune to any legal or ethical constraints. They rejoice in harming vulnerable people.

[milestogo]

6. Oh really?

[BigMin28]

7. Get back to us

After his speech on January 20th. I think we will be horrified. Remember his 1st inauguration speech about American carnage?
He thinks he unstoppable this time.

[DV1]

9. No one is permanently unstoppable.

Trump himself knows that he can be 'stopped' at any time. In all of his considerations, that will always be on the back-burner especially this time 'round.

[leftstreet]

10. Maybe what people fear is that no one will stop him n/t

[DV1]

15. Then..

we're going to have to do something about that fear, and about those who won't.

[BigMin28]

17. I never said he was unstoppable

I said he believes he is now. That makes him dangerous. Given the fact that Congress and it appears the courts back him, he is capable of doing great damage and harm. His administration will have things ready to hit the ground running this time around. They have been preparing for 4 years.

[DV1]

20. Let me repeat something in a different way:

Donald Trump will not do anything to damage and harm the USA irreparably. Let the United States of America and all that its people have endured and struggled for two and half centuries be destroyed by the whims of a New York City construction con man? No, that's not going to happen. Trump himself knows this. And while people on the outside are crying the sky is falling, the end of the world, and so on, Trump is just wondering to himself if he can even make it through this four-year sentence and hoping whoever waits for him outside on his release is friendly. In short, if it were up to him, Trump would be as far away from Washington D.C. as possible. But he's got four more years on a leash and he's not going to upset the hand holding it by doing something irreparable.

Follow Trump's doings for the next four years. You just might catch a glimpse of the leash at work.

Now, what if Trump was a real madman who wanted to take down the USA and the world along with him? If that had really been the case, we wouldn't be talking about him now.

[qazplm135]

31. He can seriously weaken social security and Medicare

That will end up killing people and hurting others
He can get rid of military disability compensation for retirees, it's right there in Project 2025.

He can fill the courts with ultra conservatives for a generation of not two.

He can gut the entire federal workforce.

He can gut 100 federal programs and policies.

He can deport or place into camps 10 million people or more

He can add tens of trillions to the national debt

He can allow Russia and China to take Ukraine and Taiwan

He can allow another pandemic with crazy vaccination policies

Those are just off the top of my head. Telling folks to not be so worried about that and more is, well, if I said what I really think I'd get banned.

[Think. Again.]

8. Hey, nice glasses!

is that a rose colored tint to the lenses?

[kentuck]

11. He cannot be permitted to break our laws the way he did the last time.

They should be on his case every minute of the day.

[DV1]

16. Every relentless second.

[Walleye]

12. In the movie Casablanca, the character Rick played by bogey says to the Nazi

“There are some parts of New York I’d advise you not to invade”

[DV1]

14. Yes.

[Nigrum Cattus]

18. Grow up

Yes, there will be revenge, big time. Just watch !

[liberalmediaaddict]

23. What is all this predicting the future?

The truth is none of us have any idea what a Trump administration, Republican congress and conservative Supreme Court is capable of. Not even Trump voters.
That's why anyone paying attention is freaking out.

None of us could predict how the first Trump term would go but we all know how it ended. Even though a large part of the electorate wiped the year 2020 from their memory.

Trump hasn't gotten saner or less corrupt since he left office. Or more presidential. His cabinet picks prove that. As of right now that's all we know for sure about this aspiring dictator.

[Irish_Dem]

26. Have you ever lived or spent time in an occupied or fascist country?

I have.

It can happen here and this is where we are headed.

Americans are naive and spoiled. We take every single thing we have for granted.

[Blappy]

27. Many people are scared by angry clowns /nt

[kerry-is-my-prez]

28. Ask all the poll workers, lawyers and journalists who have had to move

and have gotten death threats. All it takes is to get some right-winger mad at you and have them post your address and phone number on the RW web sites.

[BlueTsunami2018]

29. We already know what's going to happen. P2025 laid it all out.

They have all three branches and ALEC style legislation already printed out and ready to be rubber stamped. They’re going to move faster than you’ve ever seen Congress do anything. The destruction will be swift and brutal. They don’t give a shit who gets hurt and there’s going to be nothing anyone can do about it. They’ve already said they’re going to be using the military for their sick deportation plans, the next logical step is using it to squash protests.

People are right to be terrified of what’s to come. I take these sons of bitches at their word.

[yaesu]

30. Those who don't depend on SS, medicare, medicaid or other government programs really won't have

much to be worried about other than WWIII, economic collapse or being the laughing stock of the world. Everyone else's lives will be devastated by 4 + years of fascism. You can't uncook a chicken or a democracy.

[stillcool]

32. or if you happen to be a woman

black, latino, or whatever flavor of the month the GOP chooses to hate on.

[Emile]

33. A march of neo-Nazis in Columbus, Ohio, over the weekend

was just a coincidence. I think they feel emboldened with the election of their dear leader Trump. What do you think?

[bdamomma]

37. There are

more of us than them. In our history, we never went down without a fight, so are we capitulating to their sick ideology and to this sick felon???? Time will tell.

[DV1]

42. There will be no capitulation.

[DV1]

41. Trump doesn't care about emboldened neo-Nazis, MAGAs, Qanon, etc.

@Emile
__

To him they're all "basement dwellers" who also just happened to be convenient tools for his advancement.

But Trump has a real problem with the upcoming possibility of Jan 6 pardons. This is a no/win—no/win situation for him. One of Trump's staples in his campaign runs has been to imply threats but not personally actualize them. Implication is vague enough to be legally argued whereas actualities have a higher contrast demanding accountability. Trump is accountable for whatever makes him look good but anything else he'll just find someone to take the blame.

But re Jan 6 pardons, Trump will be held solely responsible and accountable for his decision. Whichever way he goes he's going to offend one side and that means consequences of all sorts.

His choice will be revealing in that it will indicate whether he wants to make nicey-nice with the power-dwellers rather than the basement-dwellers; with the former things would be a little less contentious while the latter may be emboldened to create even worse problems for Trump.

There is also the outside chance that he'd do a few 'courtesy' pardons that would please no one but would give him some wiggle-room for explaining his decision.

[global1]

35. I Think You Should Ask Joe & Mika!!!....nt

[Coventina]

36. Are you brown or black? LGBTQ? Muslim? Female?

All those groups have good reason to be afraid.

[TheKentuckian]

38. We aren't who you need to bargain with.

Best wishes convincing the person in the mirror.

The certainty expressed seems like a paper mache mask rather than the real McCoy but that is just an impression from well outside your skull, maybe you believe it but I am just picking up what comes across as a Jenga built on exceptionalism.

[DV1]

43. Is 'certainty' the issue?

Yes, I am certain.
No mask, mirrors, or bargaining needed.

[msfiddlestix]

40. That psychopath is not afraid of anything. He has all the power now & he's using even before officially takes office .

of course our worse nightmare just came true, it was not irrational of us to see very dark forces overwhelming the electorate.

But it is in my mind quite irrational for us not to recognize at this juncture. he accomplishing a great deal before he's even in office.

Oh yeah, don't forget to thank Garland for handing our justice dept. security and democracy over to him and his gangster mob on a silver platter.. like we didn't see this coming three years ago.

[JoseBalow]

44. You're cute!