Turning On The Giant Faucet Of Bullshit - US Politics February 2025

They’re definitely considering defying the court order but they might chicken out

He clearly will immediately pardon anyone working for him who runs into any legal issues at all. That's among the scary things here, is the blatant empowerment of anyone — cops, militia members, freelance vigilantes — who he perceives as doing dirty work on his behalf. As far as federal charges go, they all have get-out-of-jail-free passes.

Fortunately, a lot of the worst things they can do are also illegal under state and local laws, which will just depend on which jurisdiction they happen in.

I kinda wonder when the 'business community' (whatever that is) will start to step in here.. sure, they love deregulation etc but they also crave calm stability and none of this shit is heading in that direction

Maybe they don’t want stability. Shock Doctrine and all that

well I think the tariff shit invites an unwanted instability

It's pretty clear that the people who created Project 2025 were mostly focused on how to reshape the government to suit their radical right agenda. They seem to have no real plan to deal with the political fallout from rapidly imposing that agenda on the nation and world or else simply believed that such political considerations could safely be ignored. This assumption is going to be tested by political reality. I'm hoping for a severe public backlash demanding accountability, especially protests directed to (or at) members of Congress.

especially protests directed to (or at) members of Congress

saw an article today about GOP legislators terrified of Musk-funded primary challenges if they fall out of step

They seem to have no real plan to deal with the political fallout from rapidly imposing that agenda on the nation and world

Oh they have plans. The plans are to wait for widespread public outrage and protest, declare a state of emergency and institute martial law. Not nationwide, you can't feasibly do that and wouldn't need to. They'll focus on big cities in blue states, and especially obviously on D.C.

If Trump actually followed through and pardoned Derek Chauvin — as Jack Posobiec has promised he will — that might be all the trigger they need.

I'm not saying that will turn out well for them, but I think they do have a plan.

xp - Oh gosh! If I act to save the nation from catastrophe I might lose this cushy job! I am petrified by uncontrollable fear at the very idea.

Chauvin is serving his federal sentence concurrently with his state sentence, so a Trump pardon would have little practical effect fortunately.

Yah, good point.

There is a non-zero chance that Elon Musk will be murdered this year.

I wonder if Elon has stopped venturing above the ground floor? I know DC has height restrictions but there’s plenty of balconies.

(As up to date as this form of wishing ill is, ‘Mr loose balcony railing’ will never make as good a badge as ‘Mr Choppy’)

Maybe they could have a fruitful visit to Gaza …

I wonder if Elon has stopped venturing above the ground floor? I know DC has height restrictions but there’s plenty of balconies.

Musk is far more likely to be Luigi'd than Putin'd.

he probably has a small army of Rhodesian mercenaries surrounding him at any given moment

Doge Boyz double as human shields

The South Africa shit is so fucked up. Collective amnesia is real

Trump said Spain was the S in BRICS and I thought he was a dumbass but I guess he was just being a purposeful dick

Musk is far more likely to be Luigi'd than Putin'd

Poutined

By Canadian assassins

Eh-sassins

Musk is far more likely to be Luigi'd than Putin'd.

Don't forget this is why he's suddenly been carting his poor hid everywhere sitting on his shoulders.

hid = kid typo

Ugh, polls still show some support for Trump (and among Republicans even higher support for him than in 2017)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/polls-early-days-trump-second-term-politics-desk-rcna191561

I know it’s hardly even worth pointing out at this point, but Jesus this Eric Adams thing is just brazenly corrupt.

this is Vance's plan, not P25

https://i.imgur.com/csIX4g4.jpeg

xps to tipsy

Curtis Yarvin's moment to shine.

We're doomed. Elie Mystal, courts reporter for the Nation article "The Courts Can't Stop the Trump Musk Coup" excerpts

I’m not even sure the people who think the courts will save us have fully considered what “saving” will look like should it come from the Republican-controlled Supreme Court. It’ll be like being dragged out of a fire by a very hungry wolf. As a person who has read these people all of my adult life, please believe me when I tell you that, if the Federalist Society judges strike down some of these Trump executive orders, you’re not going to like how they do it...

I’m not saying that the courts do not matter. As I said, some good decisions will squeak through. Some lives might be spared. I also cover the courts, and I have to believe that such coverage still serves some purposes in our rapidly declining civilization. A ruling against Trump could help to spur public opinion against his actions. A ruling against Trump that Trump ignores could help to break the media out of its Trump-induced stupor. The lawsuits are necessary; the TROs are necessary—literally any shred of resistance against anything Trump is doing is necessary.

But the courts will not save us. Even a friendly court is not designed to save democracy from a democratically elected president, and most courts are not our friends to begin with. The American people gave Trump and Musk the power they now lord over us. (Even though I’m aware that nobody voted for Musk, everybody who voted for Trump knew or should have known that they were handing the keys to all of our data to a billionaire white South African with an apartheid complex). Only the American people can take that power away.

Trump’s approval rating is as high as it’s ever been. Musk’s is worse, but his allowing Musk to run roughshod over the very concept of government does not appear to be negatively affecting the public perception of Trump. As long as this remains the case, Trump’s Republicans will continue to lick his boots. Democrats will continue to react with timidity and fear instead of resolve and determination. As long as the public approves of what Trump is doing, he will keep doing it. He will most likely keep doing it even should the public disapprove, but that will be a different problem.

A court order cannot enforce itself. It cannot change a mind. It cannot make white folks less racist. It cannot recapture things that have been lost, or stolen. The only thing that can save us is us.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/courts-cant-stop-the-trump-musk-coup/

When do Americans start rioting in the streets?

They don't they're politely waiting outside

When their team wins the Superbowl

But excepting citizens who are at home reading a book and having lots of sex

where's that black bloc when you need them? they are probably all still plotting their next move against the WTO.

truly remarkable that Trump's approval rating remains the same despite the fact that every single move he's made is massively unpopular and he's ceded total control to one of the most disliked people on the planet. either his voters have no clue what's going on or they straight up don't care. sure feels like the growing sentiment in America is "this country ain't worth saving"

Depending on whom you believe, it's no big deal, a good thing actually, or 1930s Germany.

The not-terminally-online might hear all this conclude that those messages cancel out, and the thing to do is proceed as normal.

And frankly, even for people who are decently well-informed and therefore terrified? There's still no way to know what will happen or what they can do about it.

And it nets to the same thing: they still have to rotate the laundry, empty the litter box, pack the kids' lunches. Focus on what is right in front of them.

I'm not at all surprised about Trump's approval rating: it's followed the usual patterns. IF we get to 2028 it'll be in the 30s again.

Sarahell, I want the rich and powerful to be executed. that is what the guillotine represents in the public imaginary, despite its historical inaccuracy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not at all surprised about Trump's approval rating: it's followed the usual patterns. IF we get to 2028 it'll be in the 30s again.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, February 11, 2025 8:50 AM (four minutes ago)

yeah people voted for "change" and they're getting it

In the UK people voted for "change" (literally that word was the slogan). All they've gotten is much of the same and that's why the current govt is already tanking in the polls.

yes, despite the obvious differences, they're both the result of an emaciated political culture

Prediction: if Tr/usk were "stopped" (whatever that means) by the courts or by political obstruction, that would only be temporary.

Because the magas' lust is to see the Trumpian program implemented, not merely gestured at. If the full trumPurge does not happen, then the urge to purge remains unsated, and that energy remains.

We say that Trump is unpopular, and maybe so, but the idea of change IS popular. Indeed, a fundamental restructuring of society is much desired on the left as well.

As it stands, though the current Dem/left opposition coalition flies the unappealing beige banner of "Things As They Were Last Year."

Reagan staged a revolution but it is said that the only component of government he was able to shutter was the Civil Aeronautics Board.

I don't think the current energy will abate until a Cabinet-level department is gone. At least.

People, broadly, need to see things actually happen before they can say whether they're bad. Right now so many things we say sound like chicken-little warnings. Warnings coming, broadly, from the same mouths that warned them about CFCs and the ozone layer and recycling. A lot of folks can tune that out.

(All of the above rambles submitted in response to the perennial "why aren't people rioting in the streets" question Not intended as approval or prescription.)

(A thousand xposts)

Unfortunately in this case we elected Change UK.

We're doomed

i believe there is a doomerism containment thread to express these kinds of sentiments, thanks

My hope is that the Dems shut down the government. Shut it all down. If Trump says fuck you and moves ahead anyway, well, we'll get to it.

there seems to be a ton of angst and uncertainty right now over how far Dems are willing to push things, which is fair because there's a lot of vague talk coming from them, getting to be time to put up or shut up

I saw anti-Elon protests in my town yesterday, it does appear the people are really fired up right now

How long until we get to Musk threatening GOP senators who won't vote to get rid of the filibuster

xp - there seems to be a big push on Bluesky to focus protests at Tesla dealerships and factories

I said nothing, because I was not a Tesla

Video of an ICE raid on a Memphis taco truck. The owners of the truck only know what happened because they have security video, otherwise they would have no idea, they would have just found an empty truck.

https://fb.watch/xHbmYxuEdc/?mibextid=v7YzmG

Brave guy hiding his face there. Chilling.