jhymesba

I know what I'm about to say may get reactionary downvotes, but I think the answer is not overconfidence.

Let's get real. Jan 2021 until Dec 2024 was a rough time all around. Starting with COVID, then the supply chain disruptions that brought, then the bird flu with chickens and the impact on the cost of eggs, and Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the global impact on energy costs, and not to mention the whole rent-seeking, profit-taking megacorpo bullshit we're still living with, people struggled from 2021 through 2024. This struggle was what caused the Shitgibbon to win more than any overconfidence.

Democrats did themselves no favours, either. When Biden ran against the Shitgibbon, people got the impression he was a caretaker POTUS, someone who would stand up for Democracy in 2020 then run as a Lame Duck until 2024, when Team Blue would select the next generation for POTUS. Unfortunately, nobody stood up. Harris was invisible, and not the attack dog I expected her to be. None of the other Democrats stepped up, either. It was business as usual, not the 'Democracy in danger' moment they were portraying it as.

And their handling of Trump? Absolute dogshit. Trump skated on his 6 Jan 2021 crimes, and Death may well take him before Justice does. And obviously, the Dems wouldn't let him skate if what he did was so bad, right? That's what many voters, especially low information voters, think about the whole situation.

So, Fall 2024 rolls in, and you're the typical American voter: a knucklehead who can't see anything that's not directly in front of you, pulled a thousand different directions, and trying to decide what to mark on your ballot for President. Eggs are ridiculously expensive. So are so many other essential groceries. High fuel costs are still in the back of your mind. Your kids are duller and dumber thanks to missing the '21-'22 and '22-'23 school years, and you remember missing your friends at Church, the weekly hangout, and work/school those years. And man, those Dems said that Trump was a threat to Democracy and needed to be gotten out of office so America didn't die or such shit, then 4 years of doing jack and shit and he's back running for office, and you remember that groceries were affordable and you could fill up your car for cheap when Trump was in office, and now you can't do any of that, and so you say "Hey, how bad can he really be?" and you vote for him. 77.3 other knuckleheads join you for various reasons, including looking forward to the American Reich and putting those upity minorities back in their place, and bam. Trump 2.0. As the old saying goes, consider how stupid the average American is, then remember that half of Americans are dumber than the average American.

At least now, Trump's shortcomings are front and centre for a lot of American voters; enough so that 2/3rds of them are saying "yeah, we fucked up putting the Shitgibbon and his Merry Band of Miscreants back in." Small victories!

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TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 1mo ago

I'm not going to begrudge the people who think resistance needs to be more kinetic, but that's not who I am. I'm fucking 52 years old and have never been a fighter. I barely know how to punch properly, and while I can shoot a gun, I've never shot a gun while being shot at, and likely would be as much a danger to my side as to the other side. I suspect a whole lot of that 2/3rds we're dismissing in the polling is like me. The protests bring us out. Civil war will have us hiding or fleeing.

And like others have said. Trump was so annoyed by our presence he generated AI slop. We live rent free in his head.

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TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

This is an excellent point. Trump brought out 77.3 million votes for his coalition. Meanwhile, 75.0m voted Harris, and 3.0 million voted third party (mix of ideologies, not all would-be Harris votes). Add to that 90+ million non-voters, which probably has some fraction of the 6 or so million voters who voted for Biden in 2020 who didn't turn out for Harris. Convince 29k people in Wisconsin, 80k in Michigan, 120k in Pennsylvania, and like 45k in Nevada to turn out for Harris, and we're not having this conversation right now. We don't need all the cult to switch votes. Frankly, 1% swapping or 2% actually turning out is all we need. And people dooming about how set the Trumpers are seem to be working more to depress enthusiasm amongst Blue Team players than actually save democracy.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

How I explain Self-Hosting to the non-techies in my life: "This is me practicing my trade. As a server and systems admin, I need servers and systems under my control that I can experiment with, set up, configure, break, and fix, and self-hosting has a benefit that instead of four computers, two by my wife and two by me, each hosting its own data, I can set up a network storage device where both of us can store our data." Any more than that, and I probably won't go into detail, because I don't ask my accountant friends to go into the weeds about their career and return that favour by not going into the weeds about my own. :)

1

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

I think that is exactly what happened. As others mentioned, the Bell Riots led to widespread clamouring for rights in general. Between the 2024 Bell Riots and the 2063 first contact between humanity and the Vulcans, we have, in Christopher Pike's own words, "... the Second Civil War, then the Eugenics War, and finally, just... World War III. This was our last day. The day the Earth we knew ceased to exist. What began as an eruption in one nation ended in the eradication of 600,000 species of animal and plants, and 30% of Earth's population. Global suicide." And what Captain Pike glossed over? Oh gee, you could write whole books on it. Look up Colonel Green. After World War III, he went on an Exterminatus campaign. Everyone who was not 100% genetically pure, such as Augments and mutants from the war, was exterminated by his faction. 37 million deaths were attributed to him, and he was seen as such evil that an alien silicoid race known as the Excalbians made a simulation of him to understand humanity's concepts of good and evil.

So, yeah. The story we get is the realistic story you mentioned. If we are on the Trek timeline, we've got some horrible shit ahead of us. We still have the Bell Riots ahead of us (we're actually past the point in time, but it sure looks like those writers were presentient when they wrote Past Tense Parts 1 and 2 back in 1995!), and we sure seem on course for World War III. The world sure doesn't need Khan Noonian Singh, though. Between Xi, Putin, Kim, and Trump, we have the megalomaniac asshole niche QUITE filled!!!

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

Absolutely. And while the person is filibustering, he should be placed in a small room, with a lectern, cameras, and a microphone, and must speak on the topic at hand. No reading from the phone book. You best be talking about the bill you're stopping, or any supporter of that bill can immediately call for a vote. And you lecturing doesn't mean the Senate's business stops. Other bills can be called and the only way you get to vote is have someone take over the stand for you while you go vote. Regardless of who's up there, you gotta keep talking about the bill. Make filibusters put skin in the game.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

And my point is that while on the surface, your point makes sense, and yes, we are on the road to a bloody civil war, your point rings hollow when seen by someone who looks at people who look like you and me abusing them because their skin is darker than ours. This is a real thing going on. It's a real problem for an awful lot of people. You may think pointing fingers gets us nowhere, but not pointing fingers and calling this out is how we got to where we are now. And frankly, you saying 'pointing fingers gets us nowhere' is your privilege speaking. My beautiful Black wife getting called an ape, an n-word, or worse by people who look like me is more important to me than coddling some racist asshole's feelings. I'm going to call them out every chance I get, and I'm going to call people calling to just look the other way out as well. It's easy to do that, and in my book, it's cowardly as well.

If you're truly on the progressive side of the aisle, please use your privilege to stand up for those who can't. Otherwise, you're part of the problem.

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TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

Let's get real, fellow White man who voted Blue. We're a minority. For everyone like you and me, three more people who look like us voted for the shitgibbon and his merry band of miscreants. In a country with 95 million people counted as White males (who are NOT Hispanic), that's 56 million White dudes who think the Shitgibbon is on their side. And when we include Hispanics? Well, all of the 6 million idiots who voted for Trump thinking they would be counted among the good ones because they thought their Whiteness overcame their Hispanicness? They're in the Finding Out phase.

All you can do is say "Hey, I voted Clinton in 2016, Biden in 2020, and Harris in 2024. It's not my fault 56 million people who look like me shared a single brain cell and elected that shithead into office." Do what you can to help people survive in the Shitgibbon Era.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

The Midterms will represent a potential check on Trump's power, though we still have major hurdles in the Supreme Court and Trump himself. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump keeps doing what he wants under cover of a Reich-Wing Supreme Court and with a threat of an armed revolt of his MAGA base. The hope is that we can limp through the next two years after the Shitgibbon gets put in check, forcing him to run around the board trying more and more unhinged things until we checkmate him in 28. The reality is that he's still got plenty of pieces and isn't afraid to flip the board if he doesn't get what he wants.

But maybe if he and his followers see tens of millions of people standing up when he tries it, they might fuck off back to the holes they came from.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

Open message to Vance:

When you say kid, I think 4 to 10 years old. A tween is 11 or 12 years old. A teen is 13 to 18. Technically, a 19 year old is also a teenager, but they're also a young adult. Nobody older than that gets the 'kid' pass from me.

These people were in their 20s and 30s. They are grown-ass adults who should have responsibilities of grown-ass adults. If you say 'I love Hitler,' at any age, you get another title from me. "Shithead." And that transcends age.

Now fuck off, couch fucker.

1

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

They'd not be so forward in polite spaces, but yes, this is exactly what they'd be thinking, and perhaps saying in spaces they don't think will get into the public, such as encrypted group chats. ;)

1

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

And before people start saying this is somehow new, I bet if we had group chat apps back in the 70s and 80s, we'd have the exact same messages from THOSE then "Young Republicans."

This shit is baked into the GQP, like it was in the Dixiecrats in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, and like it was in the Confederates in the 1860s.

4

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 2mo ago

Yeah. Because just not looking for new diseases erupting is such a great idea. I hope Europe and China are doing their due diligence, and hopefully we don't have the next big disease kick off in the USA.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 3mo ago

What do you think will happen when you thumb your former best friend right in the eye? Canada is right to be pissed at America. This motherfucker can go get bent.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 3mo ago

No. It isn't.

TheHiddenCatboy @lemmy.world 3mo ago

Trump's schtick is to do things he's not allowed to do according to precedent. Domestic terrorism can't be prosecuted. He declares antifa domestic terrorists and promises to prosecute them and everyone who supports them. The US Military cannot be deployed on US territory. He does so anyway. Presidents can't get rich off the office while they're in the office. He's getting and has gotten stupid rich off of his office. And Presidents are not above the law, but with cover from his hand-picked supreme court, he is. What makes you think he won't deploy the military against Blue States trying to have elections and arrest anyone sent to remove him? Let's stop giving him cover and prepare for the worst, even as we hope for the best. That away, if he gets thrashed next year in the Midterms and then shown the door in 2028 (to both him and his hand-picked successor if he respects the 22nd Amendment....which is itself not a given), we can sigh a sigh of relief, but if he suspends elections, we're ready to fight him that day instead of taking a year and a half to gear up.

TheHiddenCatboy

@ jhymesba @lemmy.world

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TheHiddenCatboy

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