Are you ready for the coming monarchy?

[UnseenParticipant]

A second Trump term is a looming possibility.

Liz Cheney assesses that the country is “sleepwalking into dictatorship” (her words). She also says that if he wins a second term, he won’t leave. In other words, like Napoleon, he’d crown himself king.

And if there’s any doubt that he would be a dictator, he’s erased it. He’s clear on what would transpire. He’d go through the entire Executive Branch, replacing anyone who couldn’t be counted on to be loyal with a sycophantic loyalist. He’d work to stack Congress with MAGAists by campaigning furiously to ensure that Trumpist cronies and henchmen would be elected.

As for the courts, he would simply ignore them. He likely would shut down the Supreme Court if they became inconvenient. Even if he didn’t, the Judicial branch has no enforcement power. That inheres in the branch of government headed by the president.

BTW, just look at his behavior now. He defies one gag order after another with absolute impunity. He’s proving that the judicial system has no teeth.

He’s made clear that once back in office, he’d actively punish and even imprison opponents, he’d crush independent journalism, and would solve the immigration “problem” in very heavyhanded ways, quite likely involving prison camps.

Don’t expect any help from the military. While everyone in the military signs and oath to protect and defend The Constitution, any moderate or left-leaning leaders in the military, like Gen. Milley, would be gone, replaced with leaders along the line of Gen. Flynn. .

The rank and file of the military tends to lean right as it is, and we don’t hire people in the military to think for themselves but to obey orders, trusting that those above them are wise and well-intentioned.

He could do all of this by declaring a “state of emergency” and suspending the Constitution.

“Well, but what if Trump is convicted and is in prison?” a) There’s no law preveenting a president from presiding over government from a prison cell, b) he’d get himself pardoned if he couldn’t do it himself, c) The Supreme Court could decide that he’d have to serve his term after he serves as President, and/or d) a sympathetic military could go in and take him out of prison.

And this is looking all the more possible with each passing day. What follows is a well-reasoned discussion of how much worse a second Trump term would be. He’s responding to a pro-Trump caller named Randy.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

If only he wasn’t so overwhelmingly self-centred to the point of stupidity.

[_Robert_Participant]

Well, here your proof Americans have regressed mentally, LOL

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Prince Eric and Princess Ivanka.

Oh my God! What a fabulous room! Are all these your guitars?

[UnseenParticipant]

It’s starting to look, from the polls, that unless Trump is kept off the ballot in several states, especially battleground states, he WILL be elected President in 2024.

In the past, he has threatened to form a third party if not nominated. Well, he’s going to be nominated by effectively turning the GOP itself into a third party which bears little resemblance to the traditional Republican Party.

If the excluded Republicans, who think like Liz Cheney, were to form a conservative party, they could conceivably ruin Trump’s run. However, I expect such a party, if they even end up on any ballots, may not even win any Electoral College votes.

Trump is riding the crest of a wave of fanatical one-issue voters (anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, Christian and/or white supremacy, lower taxes, climate denial, anti-homeless people, etc.) along with a lot of voters who will never vote Democrat simply out of general principle. By contrast, the Dems seem intent on alienating people by promoting unpopular issues that amount to social engineering.

At 78, I won’t see how this ends up ultimately, so I may be one of the lucky ones.

Trump could be the World Emperor in just a few years. He’s off to a good start if he gets a cooperative military. We have 800 bases almost everywhere that matters, nuclear submarines, ballistic missiles, drones, etc. A proto-empire is already out there, simply waiting for a supreme commander to wield its forces. Suddenly, an unholy alliance between Russia and China might seem like a well-needed counterbalance.

The problem, of course, is that Trump isn’t rational.

[UnseenParticipant]

Am I sounding lika Chicken Little-style conspiracy theorist here? If I am, you might consider who else is sounding the alarm. One of them is Trump himself, in his own words:

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Talk of a Trump Dictatorship Charges the American Political Debate. (Today’s NYT)

[unapologeticParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

unless Trump is kept off the ballot in several states, especially battleground states, he WILL be elected President in 2024.

Well, I’m in PA. And as I said last week. I’ve changed my registration to Republican so I can vote against him in the Spring primary. I am at least trying to keep him from getting nominated. I don’t care who the Democrats nominate. If the Republican convention nominates Trump, he will be on the ballot in all 50 states in November. There is no keeping him off the ballot in key states.

He has to lose in the primary, to lose at the convention. The primary only dictates the first ballot at the convention.  If the convention goes to a second ballot, the delegates can vote however they like. Nominate whoever they want.

I strongly urge all of us in the US to become Republican in time for the primary in your state. So we can send non-trumpets to the convention.

Unseen, where do you live?

• This reply was modified 9 months ago by  unapologetic.

[UnseenParticipant]

a) I’m in Oregon.

b) If he can be kept off the ballot in several states with significant numbers of electors, that could doom his drive, but a lot depends on the way the Supreme Court answers a few key questions, which they may be forced to take up by appeals  that I’m sure will be coming their way and which they will find hard to dodge. They need to clarify what an “insurrection” is, for one thing and whether the states get to define it for their purposes state-by-state.

c) There is no national movement for Democrats to lie and change party affiliation so the actions of a handful of atheists here would be moot.

[Author]

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