To me the answer is obvious: there won’t be anymore real elections. At most there’ll be Orban-style or Putin-style elections. A charade where the winner is already fixed.
We might have been in there for a while. There were a lot of shenanigans with voting machines, voter rolls etc. The trouble is, DT (I like the sound of this, don’t you? It sounds like something nasty that comes in a bottle🤣) has completely poisoned the water concerning voting machines and tampering. After swearing up and down for years now that the 2020 election was legit (I’m sure it was), it’s impossible to now go, “well, actually, in 2024 we believe such and such might have happened.”
" [When,] in that drive to power, they will commit so many high crimes and unutterable treasons, to add to those already committed, that simple self-preservation demands they can never allow a transfer of power to anyone who might hold them accountable. "
You got that right Andy! Where will Trump end up-East Bloc/Russia! I don't see him leaving the White House except that a rebellion has the military fly him to Russia, Hassad-style!
One can't just say, "Yeah, the midterms!", when the tRump regime is already preparing the groundwork for DOJ and GOPer state AGs to mount severe challenges to not only ballot results, but also challenging voter reg rolls, state voting laws, and state and local election boards who "ignore voter fraud". In NO way will the tRump crowd allow free and unfettered voting next November, and the Dems need to have a huge legal effort to contest the coming fuckery, with teams in every state, Blue and Red, at the ready...it's going to be ugly, people.
I am very skeptical that the 2026 mid-terms much less the 2028 elections will be "free and fair". If Trump thinks there is any chance he could lose his majorities in the House or Senate, he will not hesitate to do any of these things: declare martial law and cancel elections, declare more emergencies, insist that some blue states are so corrupt that they cannot be trusted to conduct fair elections, arrest incumbent Congressional Dems on bogus charges (so they cannot campaign), radically step up voter suppression, station ICE Gestapo goons outside polling stations in Dem districts, launch hundreds of law suits.
It seems implausible that Trump would allow any challenge to his near unlimited powers no matter what he has to do to defeat it. And it seems likely that the Supreme Court will allow his to do anything he wishes to keep Dems out of power.
No. Our Democrats in government have already proven they are not ready for this. They have not been able to stop it. Only nonmagat Republicans can do it.
With all due respect, I think to some extent, you're overthinking this; hating people on Medicaid actually requires having some sort of governing philosophy - Republicans just want the tax cuts that their rich donors paid them to get. That's it.
As for whether democrats can reverse the damage: as crazy as this sounds, I'm actually optimistic, as, ironically, Republicans have shown the way - just DO things, and worry about legality, cost, etc, later. People perceive republicans as better on the economy because they don't sit around and complain that life is too hard; voters rewards decisive action, so if/when we get the majority again in a few years, unleash left wing MAGA on them. Funny enough, it will be THEN that Republicans will go back to pretending about curbing executive power.
I agree. Day 1, repeal the Trump, Bush and Reagan tax cuts. Reinstate the 70% marginal rate that Reagan killed. Day 2, 100% wealth tax on every dollar over $1B. Day 3, Medicare for all. And so on…
Exactly. This brazenness is something I actually admire Republicans for. They don't worry if something is legal or unpopular - just do it, and figure the consequences out later, and if people don't like it, hammer it until they do. Voters want Men/Women of Action.
I like your thinking. But so far, Democrats have been unwilling to show this force. We wouldn't be heee if they had. How do we force a fair election in '26?
Thank you. Your comment offers a reasonable theory to explain what I've been asking myself and others for days now-- hating people on Medicaid, universally, seems to include wheelchair-bound elders who worked long and extremely hard, with great frugality (and occasional untrumpeted acts of sacrificial generosity to help their neighbors in crisis) their entire lives in the small, rural agricultural communitie. Those are the people this administration insists they love more than anyone and anyplace else, no? Yet these elders, who simply want to age in place in their modest, cherished home, so they retain some independence and the dignity that confers, and so they can continue to open their doors to multiple generations of family for treasured gatherings throughout the year, those elders are now, overnight, supposed to figure out how to cover the extremely modest home health care visits previously made possible by Medicaid? Why they would not think twice about harming those elders and their families, all of whom voted for them every time, was not something that made the slightest political sense to me (I left moral sense behind long ago). Your explanation makes it all fit.
Seriously ... Lumpys said out loud ...we only need your votes this time .. embedded deep in this criminal bill is that he and he alone and his SCOTUS junkies have giving him free reign ....so don't hold your breath for mid terms ...because as in NC and other states there won't be any mid terms again ......they're already cancelling future elections. It was in the playbook and damn it they just kicked us all in the face .Be aware or beware ...time to try out our survival skills .. I hope you all been planning for what's really getting ready to be our reality . If they don't provide to us ,we have to quit paying taxes to further their comforts . Never in all my 73+ years did I think this time would come . Thank God grandma and grandpa gave me skills ,I and mine will need now
Soon they tout hiring guards and support staff for their concentration camps, as well as enlarging their gestapo as an economy-booming jobs programs. These are the perfect positions for the mediocre whites who made up MAGA, after all.
Foreigner here. Americans are being far too passive about the actions of the Trump administration. The opening this week in Florida of what is effectively a concentration camp is a hair-on-fire moment. It’s happened before: Dachau, the first Nazi Party concentration camp, was opened in March, 1933, about two months after Hitler was appointed chancellor. Learned discussion has its place, but it doesn’t matter how the U.S. got to this moment. And it doesn’t matter that the midterms seem close. All Americans are now, today, the proverbial frog falling asleep in a pot of water sitting over a low flame. If it were my country, I would want tomorrow to be a day of multi-million person marches, to be repeated weekly until the administration resigns.
I believe you are right about Republicans hatred of social assistance programs. What they want as a federal government is a military obedient to the despot, currently the felonpotus; zero social policies to lift up the poor to a middle class or more, zero safety nets for food and healthcare, zero clean energy projects; a justice department targeting people not loyal to the absolute ruler; an ICE police force to rid the country of immigrants now, all black, brown, Asians, and liberals next; a millionaire/billionaire run oligarchy to plunder all resources and labor to further enrich themselves; and a christo-fascist national religion to teach children to accept authoritarianism. That is their agenda.
please be careful you are not being taught to hate "the other". "christo-fascist" seems to imply the enemy is Christianity. I would agree about the so called christian right, but these are not Christians; they are primitive pagans who call themselves christian because the "brand" is popular. real Christanity has been on the side of the people since Jesus taught "love thy neighbor" We need their support. and we even need the support of people who think they are christians and feel threatened to the core of their being by what appears tp them to be an assault on their only hope.
Great work Paul! I think that is the best explanation yet, although I do think the damage to the MAGA individuals is so saturating, that literally the bill affects their states more than blue states!
I think if the Democrats keep exposing "the lie" that Trump is breaking every promise and cares about nobody, especially their wallets, the chance of holding onto anything in the mid-terms is grim! We will have to have another Jan. 6 dragging Trump and staff from the White House, except this time the police will help!!
i am a little surprised to find that I agree with almost everyone who has commented so far: don't count on free and fair elections in the future. i'd add don't count on Democrats doing anything even if they win the elections. Moreover there is some truth that it is NOT all about the money: There is a great deal of hate driving the MAGA revolution: from the always-be-with-us racist hate, and hate for "welfare cheats" or just poor people in general, to hate of "government regulation," whether environmental protections or just speed limits....but added to that we have the real deep hatred of all things beautiful, hatred of good itself, that drives some people.whose names you know.
No more institutionalists. We need Democratic leadership that will add 4 more Supreme Court justices on day 1, along with term limits and an IRS and DOJ investigation into corruption and graft on that court.
They made Presidents kings? Fine. Then use the power, dammit. The Dems must wield power if they ever regain control.
They’re betting this will all be forgotten. They’re betting their constituents are too stupid or uninformed to know. They’re betting that Faux news has brainwashed them into irrational hatred of Democrats. They’re betting that their republican colleagues at the state level have passed enough voter suppression and gerrymandering laws that will ensure their reelection.
And you know what? They’re probably right.
Anyone here think Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina, etc etc will see the error of their ways and vote out these spineless, soulless, blood sucking republicans?
ANYONE?
No. These imbecilic voters will allow the leopard to eat their faces and then ask for more.
To me the answer is obvious: there won’t be anymore real elections. At most there’ll be Orban-style or Putin-style elections. A charade where the winner is already fixed.
Commonly known as "competitive authoritarianism".
or "illiberal democracy"
We might have been in there for a while. There were a lot of shenanigans with voting machines, voter rolls etc. The trouble is, DT (I like the sound of this, don’t you? It sounds like something nasty that comes in a bottle🤣) has completely poisoned the water concerning voting machines and tampering. After swearing up and down for years now that the 2020 election was legit (I’m sure it was), it’s impossible to now go, “well, actually, in 2024 we believe such and such might have happened.”
" [When,] in that drive to power, they will commit so many high crimes and unutterable treasons, to add to those already committed, that simple self-preservation demands they can never allow a transfer of power to anyone who might hold them accountable. "
The Birmingham Principle
You got that right Andy! Where will Trump end up-East Bloc/Russia! I don't see him leaving the White House except that a rebellion has the military fly him to Russia, Hassad-style!
I'm a little surprised that you discount the possibility that they think they may be able to rig future elections so as not to lose quite so badly...
One can't just say, "Yeah, the midterms!", when the tRump regime is already preparing the groundwork for DOJ and GOPer state AGs to mount severe challenges to not only ballot results, but also challenging voter reg rolls, state voting laws, and state and local election boards who "ignore voter fraud". In NO way will the tRump crowd allow free and unfettered voting next November, and the Dems need to have a huge legal effort to contest the coming fuckery, with teams in every state, Blue and Red, at the ready...it's going to be ugly, people.
Even the best left-leaning mainstream journalists treat election manipulation by the right like it’s not a thing. I’m continually mystified.
I am very skeptical that the 2026 mid-terms much less the 2028 elections will be "free and fair". If Trump thinks there is any chance he could lose his majorities in the House or Senate, he will not hesitate to do any of these things: declare martial law and cancel elections, declare more emergencies, insist that some blue states are so corrupt that they cannot be trusted to conduct fair elections, arrest incumbent Congressional Dems on bogus charges (so they cannot campaign), radically step up voter suppression, station ICE Gestapo goons outside polling stations in Dem districts, launch hundreds of law suits.
It seems implausible that Trump would allow any challenge to his near unlimited powers no matter what he has to do to defeat it. And it seems likely that the Supreme Court will allow his to do anything he wishes to keep Dems out of power.
Are Dems ready for this?
Nope. They can’t even agree on a message. It’s time for new leadership
No. Our Democrats in government have already proven they are not ready for this. They have not been able to stop it. Only nonmagat Republicans can do it.
Are there any non-Maga Republicans?
With all due respect, I think to some extent, you're overthinking this; hating people on Medicaid actually requires having some sort of governing philosophy - Republicans just want the tax cuts that their rich donors paid them to get. That's it.
As for whether democrats can reverse the damage: as crazy as this sounds, I'm actually optimistic, as, ironically, Republicans have shown the way - just DO things, and worry about legality, cost, etc, later. People perceive republicans as better on the economy because they don't sit around and complain that life is too hard; voters rewards decisive action, so if/when we get the majority again in a few years, unleash left wing MAGA on them. Funny enough, it will be THEN that Republicans will go back to pretending about curbing executive power.
I agree. Day 1, repeal the Trump, Bush and Reagan tax cuts. Reinstate the 70% marginal rate that Reagan killed. Day 2, 100% wealth tax on every dollar over $1B. Day 3, Medicare for all. And so on…
Exactly. This brazenness is something I actually admire Republicans for. They don't worry if something is legal or unpopular - just do it, and figure the consequences out later, and if people don't like it, hammer it until they do. Voters want Men/Women of Action.
I like your thinking. But so far, Democrats have been unwilling to show this force. We wouldn't be heee if they had. How do we force a fair election in '26?
Thank you. Your comment offers a reasonable theory to explain what I've been asking myself and others for days now-- hating people on Medicaid, universally, seems to include wheelchair-bound elders who worked long and extremely hard, with great frugality (and occasional untrumpeted acts of sacrificial generosity to help their neighbors in crisis) their entire lives in the small, rural agricultural communitie. Those are the people this administration insists they love more than anyone and anyplace else, no? Yet these elders, who simply want to age in place in their modest, cherished home, so they retain some independence and the dignity that confers, and so they can continue to open their doors to multiple generations of family for treasured gatherings throughout the year, those elders are now, overnight, supposed to figure out how to cover the extremely modest home health care visits previously made possible by Medicaid? Why they would not think twice about harming those elders and their families, all of whom voted for them every time, was not something that made the slightest political sense to me (I left moral sense behind long ago). Your explanation makes it all fit.
Thing is, parts of this bill are close to irreversible. For example, Medicare for All won’t reopen a rural hospital that has closed.
No, but initiatives to rebuild and reopen will.
This case would require federal/state/local ownership and operation hundreds of times over.
Like I said, just do things, and worry about that later. Thats how the GOP operates, and it seems to have worked out well for them.
Seriously ... Lumpys said out loud ...we only need your votes this time .. embedded deep in this criminal bill is that he and he alone and his SCOTUS junkies have giving him free reign ....so don't hold your breath for mid terms ...because as in NC and other states there won't be any mid terms again ......they're already cancelling future elections. It was in the playbook and damn it they just kicked us all in the face .Be aware or beware ...time to try out our survival skills .. I hope you all been planning for what's really getting ready to be our reality . If they don't provide to us ,we have to quit paying taxes to further their comforts . Never in all my 73+ years did I think this time would come . Thank God grandma and grandpa gave me skills ,I and mine will need now
Soon they tout hiring guards and support staff for their concentration camps, as well as enlarging their gestapo as an economy-booming jobs programs. These are the perfect positions for the mediocre whites who made up MAGA, after all.
The Republican Party loves to make Americans hate a government of the people.
The worse they make the government, the more people will be dependent on big business.
For Republicans, it isn't about the people. It's about the corporations.
Since the first corporations and the Boston Tea Party, there has been a dynamic of government for the people, or a government for the corporations.
Foreigner here. Americans are being far too passive about the actions of the Trump administration. The opening this week in Florida of what is effectively a concentration camp is a hair-on-fire moment. It’s happened before: Dachau, the first Nazi Party concentration camp, was opened in March, 1933, about two months after Hitler was appointed chancellor. Learned discussion has its place, but it doesn’t matter how the U.S. got to this moment. And it doesn’t matter that the midterms seem close. All Americans are now, today, the proverbial frog falling asleep in a pot of water sitting over a low flame. If it were my country, I would want tomorrow to be a day of multi-million person marches, to be repeated weekly until the administration resigns.
We Americans are a very fat, lazy, complacent lot. Not too much gets us off our couches.
Right on, Paul.
I believe you are right about Republicans hatred of social assistance programs. What they want as a federal government is a military obedient to the despot, currently the felonpotus; zero social policies to lift up the poor to a middle class or more, zero safety nets for food and healthcare, zero clean energy projects; a justice department targeting people not loyal to the absolute ruler; an ICE police force to rid the country of immigrants now, all black, brown, Asians, and liberals next; a millionaire/billionaire run oligarchy to plunder all resources and labor to further enrich themselves; and a christo-fascist national religion to teach children to accept authoritarianism. That is their agenda.
rain
please be careful you are not being taught to hate "the other". "christo-fascist" seems to imply the enemy is Christianity. I would agree about the so called christian right, but these are not Christians; they are primitive pagans who call themselves christian because the "brand" is popular. real Christanity has been on the side of the people since Jesus taught "love thy neighbor" We need their support. and we even need the support of people who think they are christians and feel threatened to the core of their being by what appears tp them to be an assault on their only hope.
It’s insane that a country of your size is now just shrugging off that there will be no elections, and this is just life, now. 😳
This is more than disturbing. Come to Canada! Help us resist! 🇨🇦
Great work Paul! I think that is the best explanation yet, although I do think the damage to the MAGA individuals is so saturating, that literally the bill affects their states more than blue states!
I think if the Democrats keep exposing "the lie" that Trump is breaking every promise and cares about nobody, especially their wallets, the chance of holding onto anything in the mid-terms is grim! We will have to have another Jan. 6 dragging Trump and staff from the White House, except this time the police will help!!
i am a little surprised to find that I agree with almost everyone who has commented so far: don't count on free and fair elections in the future. i'd add don't count on Democrats doing anything even if they win the elections. Moreover there is some truth that it is NOT all about the money: There is a great deal of hate driving the MAGA revolution: from the always-be-with-us racist hate, and hate for "welfare cheats" or just poor people in general, to hate of "government regulation," whether environmental protections or just speed limits....but added to that we have the real deep hatred of all things beautiful, hatred of good itself, that drives some people.whose names you know.
No more institutionalists. We need Democratic leadership that will add 4 more Supreme Court justices on day 1, along with term limits and an IRS and DOJ investigation into corruption and graft on that court.
They made Presidents kings? Fine. Then use the power, dammit. The Dems must wield power if they ever regain control.
Bingo.
They’re betting this will all be forgotten. They’re betting their constituents are too stupid or uninformed to know. They’re betting that Faux news has brainwashed them into irrational hatred of Democrats. They’re betting that their republican colleagues at the state level have passed enough voter suppression and gerrymandering laws that will ensure their reelection.
And you know what? They’re probably right.
Anyone here think Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina, etc etc will see the error of their ways and vote out these spineless, soulless, blood sucking republicans?
ANYONE?
No. These imbecilic voters will allow the leopard to eat their faces and then ask for more.