Comment by mschuster91 15 hours ago
In the current US environment, no one can survive going against Trump, and as recently evidenced, this is meant literally.
The US, for all intents and purposes, is now a kleptocracy. Rule of law, freedom of speech, even court orders, all of that doesn't matter any more in practice. There will always be some way for the federal government to strong-arm anyone into submission.
Why would you not bend the key ? There's a reasonnable chance Trump is gone in less than 3 years and MAGA tears itself apart. Better bet on that than try to make a stand now and lose everything.
> Let’s see what happens to the first person to call his bull shit
Well, ICE just executed a woman in broad daylight with multiple cameras filming, and a day later you got Kristi Noem standing on a podium with a slogan referencing to an OG Nazi massacre [1][2] and half the US government gaslighting the country, spreading outright lies [3] without consequences so far.
When they can get away with this level of lies, they can get away with anything. Trump's infamous "I Could ... Shoot Somebody, And I Wouldn't Lose Any Voters" quote [4] wasn't a joke - it was a clear prediction of what he intended to enable eventually.
[1] https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/tom-morello-trump...
[2] https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/80-jahre-massaker-lidice-100....
[3] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-08/what-happened-in-minn...
[4] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/23/464129029...
I do not usually comment on politics but just this one time, and hopefully I can wordsmith it without taking a political stance.
When Trump started his campaign, circa 2011 with the birth certificate, he did not know he will win or not, but he made it his life's mission.
Countering him will take the same zeal. I know we have a precedence of presidents retiring, but unless Obama (and Hillary and Biden and Kamala) hits the streets as the leader of resistance, the resistance will be quelled easily by constant distracting. Yeah maybe AOC, maybe Bernie, maybe someone else, but no ... Trump is smart and dedicated (despite the useful idiot role he plays), he can not be countered by mid-term and full-term campaigns. We are not in Kansas any more. Been a while. The opposition needs a named resistance leader whose full time job is to engage Trump.
I'm not American, but in my opinion Newsom+AOC might have the zeal and voter base to MAYBE do something.
Newsom (or his PR team) knows how to play the troll game correctly, hitting low blows and not sticking to the fucking high ground.
AOC on the other hand will make the MAGA base _so_ irrationally angry they might do something actually stupid. She's also got Bernie's views, which might make America a place I want to visit some day in the next decade again. I've literally turned down all expenses paid company trips to USA a few times because I just don't want to risk either not getting into the country or not getting back.
Not with that attitude they can’t. Let’s see what happens to the first person to call his bull shit. If jpow folds or is actually indicted, you may be right. Let’s see what happens with Exxon though i think they’re gonna bend the knee.