I agree 100%. I take no deep consolation in my conviction - as JVL points out, the fact that we're even in this position doesn't bode well for the future.
However, it's important to remember that doomsaying per se isn't really planning for the worst. Everyone needs to seriously consider how we're going to respond if Trump gets back in office.
I remember before the 2016 election, there was an article - in Rolling Stone, I think - titled something like "Donald Trump Cannot Be President". It was a perfect summation of how most of us felt. People were perfectly willing to pontificate about how bad it would be.
But as far as how we'd respond, it was more like, "I don't even want to ... no, *no*, this just *can't* happen ...".
Well now we know it can happen. And true, more sober types were saying things like I'm saying now, and some of that turned out to be overly optimistic. But the guardrails of democracy did - ultimately - hold. Weakened and battered, but they held.
So our advantage now is that we know it's coming. People talk about how Trump has learned from his mistakes the first time around. But even if you don't think they're giving Trump too much credit for his ability to learn, the rest of us aren't going to be caught by surprise, either. We have to be ready, and avoid surrendering to fatalism if he wins again. The only other option is surrendering America.
What exactly, are you planning to do if he (or a version of him) wins in '24? How are you recommending we "plan for the worst"? What kind of plans do you see as being effective?
Seems if he (or a clone) wins again, it will be too late. The time for planning is to keep them from winning, not?
I'm not being a duck here... I'm genuinely interested in what kinds of plans you have in mind.
I talked in an adjacent comment about specifically what I expect might happen on the part of people in various positions of authority if Trump gets the nomination.
As to what you or I, individually, can do if he gets elected? That depends on who you are and what your position in society is. If you're just a regular citizen, you can apply pressure to your representatives in Congress, contribute to legal funds to combat Trump's abuses of power, attend protests, participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns for the midterms, etc. If you're someone in the aforementioned positions of authority, you'll have a duty to defend the law and the Constitution to the fullest extent possible.
The point is that we can't all afford to curl up into a ball and start talking about how we're going to move to Canada or just accept that America is fucked. Because that seems to be where a lot of people are leaning right now. The last time people mostly assumed this wasn't going to happen and we were unprepared. This time there will be resistance and pushback from the Federal workforce, because we know the shit Trump tried to pull last time.
I agree 100%. I take no deep consolation in my conviction - as JVL points out, the fact that we're even in this position doesn't bode well for the future.
However, it's important to remember that doomsaying per se isn't really planning for the worst. Everyone needs to seriously consider how we're going to respond if Trump gets back in office.
I remember before the 2016 election, there was an article - in Rolling Stone, I think - titled something like "Donald Trump Cannot Be President". It was a perfect summation of how most of us felt. People were perfectly willing to pontificate about how bad it would be.
But as far as how we'd respond, it was more like, "I don't even want to ... no, *no*, this just *can't* happen ...".
Well now we know it can happen. And true, more sober types were saying things like I'm saying now, and some of that turned out to be overly optimistic. But the guardrails of democracy did - ultimately - hold. Weakened and battered, but they held.
So our advantage now is that we know it's coming. People talk about how Trump has learned from his mistakes the first time around. But even if you don't think they're giving Trump too much credit for his ability to learn, the rest of us aren't going to be caught by surprise, either. We have to be ready, and avoid surrendering to fatalism if he wins again. The only other option is surrendering America.
What exactly, are you planning to do if he (or a version of him) wins in '24? How are you recommending we "plan for the worst"? What kind of plans do you see as being effective?
Seems if he (or a clone) wins again, it will be too late. The time for planning is to keep them from winning, not?
I'm not being a duck here... I'm genuinely interested in what kinds of plans you have in mind.
I talked in an adjacent comment about specifically what I expect might happen on the part of people in various positions of authority if Trump gets the nomination.
As to what you or I, individually, can do if he gets elected? That depends on who you are and what your position in society is. If you're just a regular citizen, you can apply pressure to your representatives in Congress, contribute to legal funds to combat Trump's abuses of power, attend protests, participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns for the midterms, etc. If you're someone in the aforementioned positions of authority, you'll have a duty to defend the law and the Constitution to the fullest extent possible.
The point is that we can't all afford to curl up into a ball and start talking about how we're going to move to Canada or just accept that America is fucked. Because that seems to be where a lot of people are leaning right now. The last time people mostly assumed this wasn't going to happen and we were unprepared. This time there will be resistance and pushback from the Federal workforce, because we know the shit Trump tried to pull last time.