• Mac@mander.xyz
    708·
    21 days ago

    Anyone who thinks Trump is the sole problem and that him being out of the news will solve all the problems is clueless.

    • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      422·
      21 days ago

      I know what you’re saying. That the environment that gave us Trump would still exist. Sure. All the issues, both illegitimate (white resentment, racism, propaganda) and legitimate (wealth disparity, disillusioning political figures, late stage capitalistic despair), would still remain.

      But that also gives too little importance to Trump’s unique place in this. He is a uniquely cynical, sociopathic trigger that is exploiting this populist anger, while being so incompetent that he fails to solve any of those issues underlying it.

      He thus is simultaneously perpetuating those issues, while feeding off of them - both creating and burning the fuel of populist anger. DeSantis, Vance, Hawley, all the other toe-headed power-simps who would step in to take his place would fail to hold that paradoxical balance for long - they think they can learn it, but Trump is built for it. That is Trump’s unique skill, his singularly destructive, delusional, sociopathic egomania.

      Like a wildfire - yes, when there are dry hot conditions, many things could start one. But it’s also true that you may have been almost through the dry, hot season when a wildfire hits. And if you could have prevented that first fateful spark a week - maybe a day - longer, you could have avoided catastrophe and tragedy.

      I think that’s where we were in 2016, and we failed to contain it. It spread so far, that we were barely able to contain it in 2020. But if we can avoid it in 2024, if we can prevent Trump from sparking another wildfire, maybe the season could change.

      • antiyank@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        423·
        21 days ago

        But that also gives too little importance to Trump’s unique place in this. He is a uniquely cynical, sociopathic trigger that is exploiting this populist anger, while being so incompetent that he fails to solve any of those issues underlying it.

        Nah he’s just a dude. Maybe you should quit swallowing his mystique as well, it empowers the guy.

        • stembolts@programming.dev
          11·
          21 days ago

          You are detached from reality if you are unable to see what the OP describes.

          It’s not even hard to see at this point, the image has long been set in stark, giant, letters, imprinted on history.

          But given his popularity, you are not alone in being detached from reality.

        • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
          8·
          21 days ago

          Yeah, of course he’s just a dude. He’s one of the least worthy dudes out there, for all the attention he’s getting. He didn’t justifiably earn any of that.

          But nonetheless, he is a key that happens to be shaped perfectly to unlock, exploit and exacerbate populist anger. It could have been anyone else if the conditions were different, but it is uniquely him in this history. That’s all I’m saying, but it a very important detail.

    • ShareMySims@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      202·
      21 days ago

      Also, if they think he’ll just fuck off if he loses, they’ve not been paying any fucking attention…

    • MrMakabar@slrpnk.netEnglish
      7·
      20 days ago

      That was not the claim. Just that Trump news are nasty and Trump is one of the few Republicans who has enough charisma to end up in the news. If he gets voted out, there is a good chance of him never running again and fading away into the background. It means the Republicans need a new leader and whoever that is, is probably going to fail.

      • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        20 days ago

        If he gets voted out, there is a good chance of him never running again and fading away into the background.

        By no means. That’s what people thought in 2020, and look what happened.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
          4·
          20 days ago

          Anyone who thought Trump wouldn’t run again completely misunderstands what motivates him. And anyone who thinks Trump will run again also misunderstands what motivates him. Trump’s whole schtick is that he was cheated out of the election, but losing twice in a row sends a pretty clear message, and he’ll lose the support of the party. Also, he’ll be 82, and likely won’t have the same fire he has today.

          He’s a complete narcissist, and I don’t think he’ll risk losing three times in a row. The next election, if it happens, would likely be a landslide (who wants to vote for a loser three times in a row?) and a massive hit to his ego. A close election gives him the opportunity to claim the election was rigged, and being able to pull that off twice is probably enough for him to save face.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    21 days ago

    Trump is one problem in a world full of problems, but goddamn will it feel good to be rid of him all the same.

    • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
      14·
      20 days ago

      I almost can’t remember what the internet was like without seeing his name or face every day. I miss it.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        20 days ago

        The internet you remember before he came around is dead, never to return. It’s not his doing, it’s the complete and utter corporate takeover of the internet, and the funneling of 95% of the traffic to 4 sites. It’s the algorithmic content presentation, and the curtaining of real friendship content. It’s these platforms refusing to show you what you want, and only showing ads and boosted content, which is essentially an ad. The Internet is dead. Long live the Internet!

  • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
    261·
    20 days ago

    Trump isn’t going away, even if he doesn’t win. That’s what people thought in 2020. Now that Biden’s president, Trump will just disappear, right? Wrong.

    And yes, I know he said that he won’t run again in 2028, but I don’t believe it. His cult would beg him to run again, and he’d do it.

      • Comment105@lemm.ee
        81·
        20 days ago

        We can all hope, and this time we’re probably gonna be right.

        But the Republicans aren’t running out of people.

        There’s no reason to think Trump’s end will make the bad half of America stop this push. There’s a relatively good chance they’ll find a sufficiently appealing new leader or puppet. If that falls, maybe you can rest and go back to casually provoking the religious right, playing catch with your rights, and still stay safe for a while. Members of the LGBT community dropping “Live and let live.” in favor of “Use the right pronouns!” was a potentially fatal mistake.

        • Dae@pawb.social
          9·
          20 days ago

          While you’re definitely correct that Trump isn’t the last bigot who will run for president, none of them will have rhe same level of influence he did.

          Trump is a literal cult leader. You have pastors like Shane Vaughn who literally call him “a messiah.” He is literally worshipped. That’s why he could get away with Jan 6th, that’s why he’ll have so many voters no matter what, it’s a cult.

          With the above said, the his defeat will dishearten his mkst fervent followers. I believe many of them will never be able to bring themselves to vote for another candidate, ever. Not all, but many. Republican voter enthusiasm will be at an all time low.

          Following this, the infighting we already see will only get worse as would-be successors fight for the scraps that their titan left behind while others fight to leave Trumpism in the dust. Even if they manage to get a majority, they’d accomplish nothing meaningful.

          Their entire plan hinges on Donald Trump’s cult influence. The depend on his rabid base of supporters. If he loses this election, that goes away. The remnants will be fought over, but none of them will be able to touch the level of influence Trump himself had. His legacy will leave the Republican party fractured for decades.

          • untorquer@lemmy.world
            2·
            20 days ago

            The cult leaders are evangelical pastors. They’ll find a new guy because it’s profitable. They will herd their sheep to a new wolf.

            The exploitative business types will follow for the same reasons. They only worship profit and trump literally gives them your tax money, cuts their taxes, and curates the courts to their interests.

            • Dae@pawb.social
              1·
              17 days ago

              No, it’s Trump. They, Robin Bullock, Kat Kurr, all of them make prophecies about Trump. The whole fucking theology centers on Trump. He’s become the lynch pin to their everything. One pastor in particular, Shane Vaugn, claims that “Trump is a messiah.”

              They have hitched it all to Trump. Without him, it all falls apart. They will try to pivot because they won’t just give up their influence, but his second defeated will hurt their credibility. It will sow doubt. And when he eventually kicks the bucket, will, I wager most Christians only have it in themselves to wait on just one messiah to come back.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      20 days ago
      1. He did go away for a while, but not by choice. He was banned from Twitter, his reddit group quarantined, and news stations fucking finally decided to stop reporting on his every stupid statement
      2. Of course he won’t run again in 2028, he’ll be dead. The dude looks like he’s knocking on heaven’s hell’s door right now.
      • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        20 days ago

        I hope he lives for 40 more years to watch himself become less and less relevant, with nazi republican losers continuing to pin their hopes on him that he is increasingly unable to deliver.

        • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
          3·
          20 days ago

          Neoconservatism is dying out. Right wing anti-liberalism is on the rise. Vance is the marshmallow tip of the spear.

    • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      20 days ago

      The nazis pinned so much of their cult on his engorged, dying pus sac of a body that they may lose a substantial amount of steam if he loses.

      A loss of steam that needs to be aggressively and ruthlessly leveraged to undo and bolster against as much of their nazi bullshit as humanly possible.

      • AVincentInSpace@pawb.socialEnglish
        11·
        18 days ago

        bold of you to assume they wouldn’t just instantly pivot to the next fascist in line like Ron DeSantis if he went completely out of commission.

        even bolder of you to assume they would care if he lost the election. after all, they didn’t the first time

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
      22·
      20 days ago

      If he doesn’t end up in prison or the psych ward he’ll be too old to “run” again.

      • basmati@lemmus.orgEnglish
        29·
        20 days ago

        Yeah we thought that about Biden and the fascist xunt still ran again, destroying the primary, and eventually appointed one of the least popular politicians in US history in his stead.

  • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
    24·
    20 days ago

    I’m Canadian and can’t vote in any American election.

    I hear more about Trump than I hear about all of our politicians combined.

    I just don’t understand how people can get so excited all the time about this stuff. Like, being so invested in some rich assholes life that you’ll commit treason and break into Congress to wander around aimlessly?

    Why are you like this? Make politics boring again.

  • Lucy :3@feddit.org
    16·
    21 days ago

    Four options:

    • He’s finally prosecuted for his countless crimes and lands in jail for life
    • Natural death/diagnosis of dementia
    • He’s voted out
    • He’s elected and someone with better aim tries their luck
  • Modva@lemmy.world
    15·
    21 days ago

    Agree with the sentiment for sure, but would also add that a lot of Americans like him, they LIKE what he said, he was heavily supported at last count. Even now he is supported substantially.

    That is something many people need to think about. What happens next election? He won’t be the last.

    • cybersandwich@lemmy.world
      4·
      21 days ago

      Others don’t seem to have the hold over those clowns as he does. Meatball Ron fell flat. Vance wouldn’t maintain this level of support for 5 minutes. Hawley can’t. Horse face green is just a clown and not a serious candidate.

      I think his losing again would snap some people out of it.

      I think the party would bail on him. Especially if he causes losses down the ballot. They won’t back him for another election.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
      42·
      20 days ago

      And every election, it’ll be saving the world from fascism so we have to vote for Democrats, no matter how far to the right they sprint.

  • Professorozone@lemmy.world
    151·
    21 days ago

    Voting him out will not remove him from your feed. You will hear about how the election was stolen again. About how his disciples tried to destroy the capitol or the white house or whatever, again. You will hear about how he was out on trial again. You will hear about whatever new crap he comes up with.

  • WrenFeathers@lemmy.world
    155·
    21 days ago

    We’re trying! Sadly we are wedged between two factions that are hell-bent on getting him elected.

    One, purposefully- the other, ignorantly.

      • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
        2·
        20 days ago

        if we cannot incarcerate, exile him. let him go crying back to putin and see how accepted hell be

        • limelight79@lemm.ee
          3·
          20 days ago

          It’s amusing that Trump can’t see that Putin will drop him as soon as his usefulness ends, just like Trump does to people who support him (Giuliani, for example).

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      20 days ago

      I think it would work reasonably well, because losing twice in a row sends a pretty clear message.

      Someone younger than him will pick up the torch though, so his ideas will unfortunately live on.

      • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
        1·
        20 days ago

        people younger than him are already driving a lot of his public policy pronouncements, so those policies might as well be attributed directly to them. if they left diaper don to his own devices, much of his following wouldve evaporated by now save for the racial extremists.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
          2·
          20 days ago

          I think there’s a good chance the whole “MAGA” movement dies out in a few elections if Trump loses this round. It’s not particularly popular in my area at least, and “MAGA” candidates have consistently lost the nomination for local elections because people are tired of all the BS (Trump will still win my state though because of the R). If he loses, I think it’ll peter out a bit unless someone with Trump’s charisma gets the nomination in 2028.