2024 POTUS ELECTON

[quikky]

It seemed like his post said that while other administrations took the opportunity to grab more power and control people, the Trump administration helped rapid production of the vaccine and said stupid stuff (i.e. big positive, tiny negative). Is that fair, @quikky ?

The Trump administration was in charge of the Federal government. The CDC is part of the Federal government and answers to the Trump administration. The CDC either required or recommended everything that was done at the State level. Either through sheer incompetence or a total lack of leadership, the Trump administration completely failed to lead the nation during the COVID crisis. The Federal government either failed to deliver consistent guidelines or goals, there was never a cohesive response, support was either not provided or never provided to the State level, and on and on. Which lead to the shitshow we all experienced.

I don't get it. Somehow Trump is the best leader ever. Yet when pointing out obvious failures of his leadership, somehow it is someone else's fault. Circling back, if anyone is upset with the US response to COVID crisis and want to understand what went wrong, looking at the people actually in charge would be a good start. I will go out on a limb and state ANY adminstration other than the Trump administration going back to the Reagon administration would have capably lead the country through the COVID crisis.

You seem to be jumping all over the place with this. If you want to make the point that Trump is not very competent, a point I agree with, then you can make that point. Same with the "best leader ever" remark that no one here is making.

The CDC, the NIH/Fauci made a lot of recommendations, yes. However, as you well know, they do not have the power to lock people down or force them to wear pieces of flair on their face. Democrats seized on the recommendations and took near totalitarian control of their constituents. The federal government, i.e. Trump, did not. This is a counterpoint to the notion that he wants to be a dictator.

[quikky]

God dammit, @EricK!

[cole]

On a fear-mongering scale of 1 to 10 that's about a 7 or an 8. I'm not sure where the right's fear-mongering falls but it's not far off either way.

*caveat, it's not fear mongering if it's true... If Trump actually establishes a totalitarian fascist dictatorship, I'll obviously have to eat my words here.

the media has lost all credibility for the most part. they thrive on fear, both the left and right outlets.

is it even possible to become a dictator with our system of checks and balances, and balance of power?

[5hout]

@mouse My fav so far:
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1854263018865242321

You can probably imagine what a hypothetical person might say (if in a mean mood) to some of her statements.

[aurelius]

You seem to be jumping all over the place with this. If you want to make the point that Trump is not very competent, a point I agree with, then you can make that point. Same with the "best leader ever" remark that no one here is making.

The CDC, the NIH/Fauci made a lot of recommendations, yes. However, as you well know, they do not have the power to lock people down or force them to wear pieces of flair on their face. Democrats seized on the recommendations and took near totalitarian control of their constituents. The federal government, i.e. Trump, did not. This is a counterpoint to the notion that he wants to be a dictator.

I am trying to get you to connect the dots between Trump's terrible and inexcusable leadership and what happened during the COVID crisis.

Regarding Federal government recommendations: States cannot run deficits. States were 100% reliant on the Federal government funding through this period. States don't get the funding if they don't implement the recommendations.

The Federal government has the resources and technical expertise to deal with a pandemic. Congress created an entire agency devoted to esnure that it does. Because pandemics are national level problems that must be dealt with at the national level.

The head of the CDC, Fauci, wasn't in charge of COVID response. Jared Kushner was. That is who Trump installed to oversee the response. Kushner's only apparent goal from his actions was to funnel as much money as he could into the private sector.

It is my position that the complete void of Federal leadership forced the ill equipped, unprepared States to attempt and fill that void. So yes, non-experts with inadequate resources receiving conflicting and inconsistent information and a panicking population overreacted. Overreaction seems an obvious response to those circumstances.

Regarding Dems being draconian: fair point. Also fair to point out Democrats cluster in greater number in higher density population areas (urban). Asking: Does it make sense for higher density population areas to have more stringent requirements than lower density population areas in pandemics?

We both agree that 100% silly shit was applied. The same requirements applied to New York City are not needed in rural Wisconsin. We did see some of that and it was stupid.

The most egregious decisions were 100% Federal government recommendations. Those being the shutdown of schools and the economy. We will deal with the repercussions of that for decades to come.

The Trump Administration was in charge. Trump failed to do his job. Which directly led to response we all experienced. We all have issues with the COVID response. It starts in ends with the man who was elected to lead the country through crisis. We just elected him President again. We get what we voted for.

I think you misunderstand dictator and imagine someone like Putin. Hitler, Putin, whomever are ill comparisons for Trump. Autocrats typically have some overarching worldview they are implementing. I don't think Trump believes in anything other than his own innate superiority, his 'right' never to face consequences for his actions, and 'divine' right to be in charge. But the people around him believe BIG time in their bullshit. Trump 100% wants to be in charge but he doesn't want to be responsible nor be bothered with actually have to run anything. He just wants to get credit and eat up the limelight. Anything real is OPP. It's how he has operated his businesses his whole life. I'm not worried about Trump. I'm worried about the people he is surrounded by. They know as long as they feed his ego, give him his limelight, they can do whatever they want. Those are the scary motherfuckers Trump enables.

Dammit. You pulled me back in.

[quikky]

I am trying to get you to connect the dots between Trump's terrible and inexcusable leadership and what happened during the COVID crisis.

Regarding Federal government recommendations: States cannot run deficits. States were 100% reliant on the Federal government funding through this period. States don't get the funding if they don't implement the recommendations.

The Federal government has the resources and technical expertise to deal with a pandemic. Congress created an entire agency devoted to esnure that it does. Because pandemics are national level problems that must be dealt with at the national level.

The head of the CDC, Fauci, wasn't in charge of COVID response. Jared Kushner was. That is who Trump installed to oversee the response. Kushner's only apparent goal from his actions was to funnel as much money as he could into the private sector.

It is my position that the complete void of Federal leadership forced the ill equipped, unprepared States to attempt and fill that void. So yes, non-experts with inadequate resources receiving conflicting and inconsistent information and a panicking population overreacted. Overreaction seems an obvious response to those circumstances.

We agree on Trump not being very competent, so there is not need to try to convince me of it.

However, I do not buy the idea that federal incompetence is what prompted mostly one side of the political isle to become essentially totalitarian. Remember how DeSantis became known as DeathSantis in leftist circles, because he did not follow the "lock me down harder, daddy" mantra? Well, did Florida receive clear guidance from the feds, while Newsom in California did not? I'm sure we agree here, as you say next...

Regarding Dems being draconian: fair point. Also fair to point out Democrats cluster in greater number in higher density population areas (urban). Asking: Does it make sense for higher density population areas to have more stringent requirements than lower density population areas in pandemics?

I think it largely depends on what these requirements are, and whether they are driven by a legit analysis of basic rights vs actual science, or the blind faith in The Science mixed with high levels of neuroticism.

We both agree that 100% silly shit was applied. The same requirements applied to New York City are not needed in rural Wisconsin. We did see some of that and it was stupid.

Yup, agreed.

The most egregious decisions were 100% Federal government recommendations. Those being the shutdown of schools and the economy. We will deal with the repercussions of that for decades to come.

See my note above in terms of blue vs red state responses. Also, a lot of blue states kept the authoritarian policies well after Biden took office.

The Trump Administration was in charge. Trump failed to do his job. Which directly led to response we all experienced. We all have issues with the COVID response. It starts in ends with the man who was elected to lead the country through crisis. We just elected him President again. We get what we voted for.

I think you misunderstand dictator and imagine someone like Putin. Hitler, Putin, whomever are ill comparisons for Trump. Autocrats typically have some overarching worldview they are implementing. I don't think Trump believes in anything other than his own innate superiority, his 'right' never to face consequences for his actions, and 'divine' right to be in charge. But the people around him believe BIG time in their bullshit. Trump 100% wants to be in charge but he doesn't want to be responsible nor be bothered with actually have to run anything. He just wants to get credit and eat up the limelight. Anything real is OPP. It's how he has operated his businesses his whole life. I'm not worried about Trump. I'm worried about the people he is surrounded by. They know as long as they feed his ego, give him his limelight, they can do whatever they want. Those are the scary motherfuckers Trump enables.

Dammit. You pulled me back in.

I am seeing a lot of conflicting ideas here that perhaps you can explain. In this thread earlier it was said, I think by you (correct me if not), that the worry with Trump is that the good people around him during his first term kept him in check, and the concern is during his second term, the more sycophantic cabinet won't keep his worst impulses in check. This point implies that Trump is the problem, and the lack of proper counterweights around him will lead to his authoritarian impulses taking hold. Now you are making the point that Trump is not actually the problem, and those around him are the issue. So, which is it?

I mostly agree with you about Trump just wanting to be seen as The Man, and be in the limelight, than him actually wanting to grab power and control the system ala Putin. ...Which is why I am confused about the above, and how this man leads us to some Handmaid's Tale Christofascist dystopia. I mean, how would his supposed scary mofos pull this off in the next four years? I totally buy the fact that Trump is mostly a populist bullshitter that isn't nearly as competent as a lot of his fans believe but I completely fail to see how this dude is supposed to lead us to some totalitarian future. I think this is just years of left-wing fear-mongering talking, more than facts on the ground, with the Covid response being an example of his lack of true authoritarianism.

[aurelius]

I know I tend to write in short hand/conversationally. Trump and Trump admin is pretty interchangeable In most of my dialogue. I understand how that can be confusing. Trumps rather low IQ, ego, narcissism, and immoral nature makes him easily manipulated by those who can appease him. The trick is getting Trump to see any criticism of his administrations actions as an attack on him.

Project 2025 is published and publicly available. This is the plan of the people in Trump's orbit and what they will try to implement to push the US toward a fascist state.

COVID is just an example of his incompetence. The 2020 election is a direct example.of his authoritarianism. Attempting a coup of the government is right out of evil dictator handbook. I just find your argument that Trump's incompetence proved he is not a dictator bizarre in light of the 2020 election.

[KyleSchuant]

@mouse My fav so far:
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1854263018865242321

You can probably imagine what a hypothetical person might say (if in a mean mood) to some of her statements.

I was disappointed it wasn't a full headshave. I know that black men can often rock a headshave, but white men just look like thumbs. I wanted to see if a white woman could look good. Instead she just went for the "middle-aged mom", as she put it. All she did was make her hair match her Karen personality.

Out of all this drama I'd like to at least see some interesting fashion choices.

[mouse]

Democrats seized on the recommendations and took near totalitarian control of their constituents.

Having lived under the thumb of the Cuomo regime through this time... can confirm. I don't remember the feds going through local bars demanding to see their books and security footage to confirm 'food' was being served with any alcohol, but I do remember the NYS troopers doing it...

You can probably imagine what a hypothetical person might say (if in a mean mood) to some of her statements.

Oh they did in the comments for sure.

I saw it earlier and I can't get over the fact that I'm supposed to take her appalled outrage seriously when she's an adult woman who couldn't figure out how to shave her own head with a pair of clippers.

Seriously, I've cut my own hair for over a decade and what the fuck?

[mouse]

I wanted to see if a white woman could look good.

I mean probably not THAT one but we do have some data points...





And to some extent if cries for help are your thing...

[quikky]

I know I tend to write in short hand/conversationally. Trump and Trump admin is pretty interchangeable In most of my dialogue. I understand how that can be confusing. Trumps rather low IQ, ego, narcissism, and immoral nature makes him easily manipulated by those who can appease him. The trick is getting Trump to see any criticism of his administrations actions as an attack on him.

Project 2025 is published and publicly available. This is the plan of the people in Trump's orbit and what they will try to implement to push the US toward a fascist state.

I think if you want to be consistent and take Trump at his word (which I don't think you should, as I mentioned earlier), then he many times said he does not support or agree with Project 2025. What we have is Trump saying no, and the democrats saying yes. Meh. I don't find the notion that there's a big right wing conspiracy lurking behind in the shadows of Trump compelling without actual evidence of its implementation in the upcoming years.

COVID is just an example of his incompetence. The 2020 election is a direct example.of his authoritarianism. Attempting a coup of the government is right out of evil dictator handbook. I just find your argument that Trump's incompetence proved he is not a dictator bizarre in light of the 2020 election.

Trump's Covid response was not offered as proof that he is not a dictator, but rather as a piece of evidence suggesting as such. And, I find it as pretty compelling evidence, given that the environment would make any wanna-be dictator salivate: public fear, concerns for safety, "the greater good", unprecedented emergency, etc. I find it really hard to believe a man with authoritarian aspirations would not exploit the crap out of such a power-ripe environment. Further evidence of which is the fact that countless world leaders, as well as American governors and mayors, absolutely exploited the crap out of what was going on. Your argument of Trump's incompetence further backs up this point. He not only did not jump at the opportunity to massively expand federal power, he did so little as to be considered incompetent.

Regarding the election, where you see authoritarianism and a coup, I see a narcissist crying and stomping his feet. He cried and whined to everyone he could, the US system told him "no", so he took his ball and left the playground, while crying about losing to this day. Is this an example of a great man? No. And, frankly, the bullshit he spread was really the most dangerous aspect about it.

Now, we are two ordinary citizens with limited information and time to analyze it, so ultimately we're just guessing at the future. I think you're catastrophizing what you're seeing, and extrapolating far beyond the likely reality. I could be wrong. My guess is that Trump is not a dictator and won't become one, and that the next four years will be somewhat similar to 2016-2020. If he does well, Vance will likely be the GOP contender in 2028. If he stinks the place up, the GOP might finally push back against MAGA and there will be a new contender. Hopefully, the democrats will not spend the next four years obsessing about every bit of stupid shit that Trump will undoubtedly spew, and will instead moderate their views and come up with a solid center-left candidate/strategy for 2028 that's about more than "we're not team orange".

[KyleSchuant]

I mean probably not THAT one but we do have some data points...
And to some extent if cries for help are your thing...

What I'm taking from this is that a clipped woman can look good if she's physically and mentally strong, but not if she's weak and broken.

Which applies to women with regular haircuts, too. So there you go, no surprises there.

[mbasic]

lol at the idea Trump botched the covid response. He was only round at the very beginning.
No one had the right answer/play book, and/or if they did have a magic crystal ball, they could have NOT implemented it in this country to the extent to make any sizable difference in outcomes.

Unfortunately (not Trump's fortune/legacy...but unfortunate for the country), I think Trump will benefit long term history-wise (in a stepping in dogshit way), from not being in office from 2020-2024.

[mikeylikey]

I think if you want to be consistent and take Trump at his word (which I don't think you should, as I mentioned earlier),

I'd be genuinely interested in seeing a rubric for 'when to take Trump at his word'.

Because as best I can tell, it's "I take him at his word when he says things I <do/don't> like, and I disregard when he says things I <don't/do>" - with the brackets flipping depending on which side one is on. Which might go a ways towards explaining how we can all watch the same things and end up with opinions ranging from "Hitler 2.0" to "Savior of America", given the sheer volume of his ramblings.

[aurelius]

I think if you want to be consistent and take Trump at his word (which I don't think you should, as I mentioned earlier), then he many times said he does not support or agree with Project 2025. What we have is Trump saying no, and the democrats saying yes. Meh. I don't find the notion that there's a big right wing conspiracy lurking behind in the shadows of Trump compelling without actual evidence of its implementation in the upcoming years.

Your position is I either believe 100% of the things he says or 0%. I think you have created a rather dumb false dichotomy to support your narrative. So yes,

I believe Trump when he says he will implement Right and far Right policies that if he does not try to implement he will lose the support of his base. I don't believe Trump's "no" answer when asked during his campaign for President if he will attempt another coup. This isn't hard.

Trump's Covid response was not offered as proof that he is not a dictator, but rather as a piece of evidence suggesting as such.

What?

And, I find it as pretty compelling evidence, given that the environment would make any wanna-be dictator salivate: public fear, concerns for safety, "the greater good", unprecedented emergency, etc. I find it really hard to believe a man with authoritarian aspirations would not exploit the crap out of such a power-ripe environment. Further evidence of which is the fact that countless world leaders, as well as American governors and mayors, absolutely exploited the crap out of what was going on. Your argument of Trump's incompetence further backs up this point. He not only did not jump at the opportunity to massively expand federal power, he did so little as to be considered incompetent.

Just nah brah. Maybe it is the use of authoritarian to describe Trump. Okay. Fair. Trump is an aspiring autocrat.

Regarding the election, where you see authoritarianism and a coup, I see a narcissist crying and stomping his feet. He cried and whined to everyone he could, the US system told him "no", so he took his ball and left the playground, while crying about losing to this day. Is this an example of a great man? No. And, frankly, the bullshit he spread was really the most dangerous aspect about it.

If Mike Pence had done as Trump ordered him, the country would have been in chaos. We were a single person away from the second US Civil War. which was after he ordered Barr to use the Justice Department to help him overturn election results. I don't know why people downplay that. And still can't understand how people who identify as patriots would vote for the man. Trump stress tested the US on 2020. All the weak spots have been identified. Trump won't make the mistake of putting people into position of authority that have morals and principals the second term.

Now, we are two ordinary citizens with limited information and time to analyze it, so ultimately we're just guessing at the future. I think you're catastrophizing what you're seeing, and extrapolating far beyond the likely reality. I could be wrong. My guess is that Trump is not a dictator and won't become one, and that the next four years will be somewhat similar to 2016-2020. If he does well, Vance will likely be the GOP contender in 2028. If he stinks the place up, the GOP might finally push back against MAGA and there will be a new contender. Hopefully, the democrats will not spend the next four years obsessing about every bit of stupid shit that Trump will undoubtedly spew, and will instead moderate their views and come up with a solid center-left candidate/strategy for 2028 that's about more than "we're not team orange".

I have already stated there is doom and gloom in my posts. I hope Trump is just this immoral narcissist idiot that gets shut down in the courts as so many that voted for him seem to believe. But just wow. What an incredible risk we are all taking.

[cole]

What an incredible risk we are all taking.

again, how does someone actually become a dictator with our system of checks and balances and the strucurtes of balance of power (ie: 3 chambers and all that high school civis stuff)???

people tend to expect either the worst or the best outcomes, when in reality, the outcome lands somewhere in the middle. aurelius, im sure you will keep your job, house, still be able to put food on the table, and wave to your neighbor in 2028

[quikky]

I think if you want to be consistent and take Trump at his word (which I don't think you should, as I mentioned earlier),

I'd be genuinely interested in seeing a rubric for 'when to take Trump at his word'.

Because as best I can tell, it's "I take him at his word when he says things I <do/don't> like, and I disregard when he says things I <don't/do>" - with the brackets flipping depending on which side one is on. Which might go a ways towards explaining how we can all watch the same things and end up with opinions ranging from "Hitler 2.0" to "Savior of America", given the sheer volume of his ramblings.

I think if you want to be consistent and take Trump at his word (which I don't think you should, as I mentioned earlier), then he many times said he does not support or agree with Project 2025. What we have is Trump saying no, and the democrats saying yes. Meh. I don't find the notion that there's a big right wing conspiracy lurking behind in the shadows of Trump compelling without actual evidence of its implementation in the upcoming years.

Your position is I either believe 100% of the things he says or 0%. I think you have created a rather dumb false dichotomy to support your narrative.

I don't think you should take what Trump says seriously. I certainly don't. My point was that you (Aurelius) were fully believing Trump's statements, and then seemingly ignoring others. It just seemed odd that his deportation claims made you believe there will be an orange gestapo with red MAGA bands going door-to-door, but his claim that he doesn't like Project 2025 is part of some right wing conspiracy. That was my point about Trump's statements.

Trump's Covid response was not offered as proof that he is not a dictator, but rather as a piece of evidence suggesting as such.

What?

Should have said: "Trump's Covid response was not proving that he is not a dictator...". My bad.

And, I find it as pretty compelling evidence, given that the environment would make any wanna-be dictator salivate: public fear, concerns for safety, "the greater good", unprecedented emergency, etc. I find it really hard to believe a man with authoritarian aspirations would not exploit the crap out of such a power-ripe environment. Further evidence of which is the fact that countless world leaders, as well as American governors and mayors, absolutely exploited the crap out of what was going on. Your argument of Trump's incompetence further backs up this point. He not only did not jump at the opportunity to massively expand federal power, he did so little as to be considered incompetent.

Just nah brah.

Ok.

Regarding the election, where you see authoritarianism and a coup, I see a narcissist crying and stomping his feet. He cried and whined to everyone he could, the US system told him "no", so he took his ball and left the playground, while crying about losing to this day. Is this an example of a great man? No. And, frankly, the bullshit he spread was really the most dangerous aspect about it.

If Mike Pence had done as Trump ordered him, the country would have been in chaos. We were a single person away from the second US Civil War. I don't know why people downplay that. And still can't understand how people who identify as patriots would vote for the man. Trump stress tested the US on 2020. All the weak spots have been identified. Trump won't make the mistake of putting people into position of authority that have morals and principals the second term.

Now, we are two ordinary citizens with limited information and time to analyze it, so ultimately we're just guessing at the future. I think you're catastrophizing what you're seeing, and extrapolating far beyond the likely reality. I could be wrong. My guess is that Trump is not a dictator and won't become one, and that the next four years will be somewhat similar to 2016-2020. If he does well, Vance will likely be the GOP contender in 2028. If he stinks the place up, the GOP might finally push back against MAGA and there will be a new contender. Hopefully, the democrats will not spend the next four years obsessing about every bit of stupid shit that Trump will undoubtedly spew, and will instead moderate their views and come up with a solid center-left candidate/strategy for 2028 that's about more than "we're not team orange".

I have already stated there is doom and gloom in my posts. I hope Trump is just this immoral narcissist idiot that gets shut down in the courts as so many that voted for him seem to believe. But just wow. What an incredible risk we are all taking.

I don't disagree with the concerns you've outlined. I disagree with the notion that Trump wants a Christofascist dictatorship. The intent and the ability between narcissistic chaos due to a loss, and the deliberate dismantling of the US government to support a Christian totalitarian regime have too much of a chasm for me to mentally close.

[aurelius]

What an incredible risk we are all taking.

again, how does someone actually become a dictator with our system of checks and balances and the strucurtes of balance of power (ie: 3 chambers and all that high school civis stuff)???

Things end. They do all the time. Look at how other autocrats have taken power working with the established political system. They gain power legitimately than erode the institutions and legal system. They change laws, elections become rigged (technically Putin is elected) dog and pony show, and on and on. Let's go down the list of checks:

SCOTUS? Trump can just ignore SCOTUS. His supporters wouldn't care. Remember, SCOTUS has no real authority other than being ambiguously decribed as the 'highest court'. SCOTUS has always walked the fine line of only passing rulings that they can be ensured will be followed. That is ignoring Thomas and Alito are partisan hacks.
The Judiciary? Have you seen the rulings that have come out of the Trump judges (Canon, Kacsmaryk)? That should scare everyone. And Trump will have 4 more years to pack the courts with people that will 100% be his goons. God forbid a SCOTUS judge dies.
The legislature? The Republicans were willing to implement the fake elector scheme if Mike Pence had rejected the official results. Let's not even get into what a joke impeachment is. That was with McConnell leading the Senate. If we think Congress is going to save us we all deserve what happens.
The Federal institutions? Once headed by Trump's lackeys they will gutted or restaffed with goons. AG Barr was ordered by Trump to intervene with the Justice Department and refused. The next AG won't.
The only real check is the US military. But would the US military intervene?

Check and balances, institutions...are only as good as the people in them. People make decisions. Trump in his 2nd term will place people throughout the Federal government and Judiciary that are 100% beholden to him.

Look at Putin's rise to power. Everything Putin did on paper was legal. Technically he could not be President so orchestrated a constitutional amendment to allow him to be autocrat for life. Russian institutions were new and people did not have faith in them, but not the US right? US institutions have been under attack by the Right for almost 2 decades. There are plenty of historical examples of this pattern playing out.

*I went with Putin and not Hitler. But Hitler also used the political system to gain power. I actually think Putin is more analogous.

[aurelius]

I don't disagree with the concerns you've outlined. I disagree with the notion that Trump wants a Christofascist dictatorship. The intent and the ability between narcissistic chaos due to a loss, and the deliberate dismantling of the US government to support a Christian totalitarian regime have too much of a chasm for me to mentally close.

I rewrote some of my responses to better explain myself before I saw your post.

I don't think Trump wants a Christofascist state. I think the Far Right does. Trump just wants to be in charge. And the Far Right puts him in charge. The details don't matter to him.

There was a shitty Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Where Captain Sparrow has to pretend to be this indigenous people's god or they would kill him. It's like that. Trump tapped into the Far Right's perceived disenfranchisement and the general anger of the Right to obtain power. In order to keep power Trump must continue to be the 'Far Right leader'. If not, they will turn on him. Going back to what I previously stated about Hitler. He didn't start with "Let's build industrial ovens to cremate all the Jews." Hitler saw an opportunity to use the general populations anger and resentment of the Jews to obtain power. Once he obtained power, he couldn't just stop.
Populism and religion are a dangerous political forces to play with.

[quikky]

I don't disagree with the concerns you've outlined. I disagree with the notion that Trump wants a Christofascist dictatorship. The intent and the ability between narcissistic chaos due to a loss, and the deliberate dismantling of the US government to support a Christian totalitarian regime have too much of a chasm for me to mentally close.

I rewrote some of my responses to better explain myself before I saw your post.

I don't think Trump wants a Christofascist state. I think the Far Right does. Trump just wants to be in charge. And the Far Right puts him in charge. The details don't matter to him.

There was a shitty Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Where Captain Sparrow has to pretend to be this indigenous people's god or they would kill him. It's like that. Trump tapped into the Far Right's perceived disenfranchisement and the general anger of the Right to obtain power. In order to keep power Trump must continue to be the 'Far Right leader'. If not, they will turn on him. Going back to what I previously stated about Hitler. He didn't start with "Let's build industrial ovens to cremate all the Jews." Hitler saw an opportunity to use the general populations anger and resentment of the Jews to obtain power. Once he obtained power, he couldn't just stop.
Populism and religion are a dangerous political forces to play with.

Yeah it seems to me you're going mostly off of emotion to connect too many dots here. Trump is both a low IQ populist bullshitter, and also a totalitarian mastermind comparable to Putin that will disassemble our 250 year old system through legal machinations and stooge appointments. The people around him previously was what held him back from his worst impulses, but also the people around him now are what will actually drive us towards Handmaid's Tale because Trump is not the problem, they are, and they will just use him. I mean there's just too many leaps and inconsistencies here for me.

I would also ask you about who the people in this Far Right circle are, and what policies they support. (And please don't just say Project 2025). In terms of government, the Far Right to me seems far more hardcore constitutionalist, i.e. gut the federal government 90% than any kind of totalitarian. I see far more totalitarian tendencies on the Far Left. And, religion-wise, they tend to be socially conservative but not sure where this theocracy would come from.