• jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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      1 year ago

      Paradox of tolerance.

      If we all sit around while people organize killing us, eventually they’ll try to kill us.

      We can’t treat Republicans as just having a different opinion. This isn’t “bedroom walls green or blue”. This is “should gay people live?”

      There’s a saying about the boxes of liberty. Unfortunately, the right seems poised to open the ammo box first.

    • TunaCowboy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      We all need to believe them when they tell us what kind of America they want to live in and what they are willing to do to get there. Fascist militias are popping up all over the place, all the while blue states are restricting access to firearms while red states are busy expanding their own. I’m hopeful it will never come down to it, but at the end of the day Jon Stewart’s not going to come to your rescue when they have you on your knees in front of a trench. There may come a time where you’ll wish you had access to non-nerfed rifles and normal capacity magazines.

      Additionally, you might wonder why hyper capitalists are strong proponents of gun control but always manage to carve out exceptions for themselves 🤔.

  • Telorand@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I am alarmed, but not for 2025. They’re not likely to win in 2024, but that doesn’t mean they’ll drop their machinations after being foiled. I’m more concerned about the next coup attempt and the 2028 election.

    • Ashyr@sh.itjust.works
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      I can be alarmed for both. Just because they look like a circus right now doesn’t mean Trump can’t win again in 2024.

    • kitonthenet@kbin.social
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      you’re out of your mind if you think they’re unlikely to win in 2024, that’s exactly what everyone thought about 2016

      • Telorand@reddthat.com
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        Defeating an incumbent is no small feat, even with the insanity going on. Just look at Boebert as a prime example. Ted Cruz is despised, yet he keeps winning by the skin of his teeth.

        I’m referring mainly to that phenomenon, not implying that it’s going to be a cakewalk or that people should get complacent.

        • takeda@lemmy.world
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          Yet trump lost in 2020 despite being incumbent.

          He also got 74M votes in that election. I too don’t want him to win, but assuming he will lose is sure way to help him in the election.

          In 2016 he won, because everyone was certain that Hillary has the presidency in her pocket. A lot of people who normally would vote for her did not show up or voted 3rd party as a protest, because they were certain that it won’t affect the outcome.

          • Telorand@reddthat.com
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            1 year ago

            Trump lost, sure, but that’s the exception, not the rule. And in a head-to-head with Biden, who is doing a fabulous job ingratiating himself to unions, coupled with the clown show that is the remainder of the Republican party, and it’s an obvious uphill battle for anyone trying to unseat Biden.

            However, as I said, that is not a call to get complacent. We collectively unseated the incumbent in 2020, but make no mistake that the people that want him there this time have a lot of money and influence. We need to be as coordinated if not more so this time around, because it really is going to be a matter of, “Do you want fascism or democracy?”

            The autocratic powers pulling the GOP strings don’t intend to repeat their same mistakes.

            • cogman@lemmy.world
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              Yeah, assuming trump loses, I’m still really nervous of the various ratfucking the GOP has prepped for 2024. But it is, in fact, not a guarantee that trump won’t win outright. There’s been a number of factors that have made biden somewhat unpopular (higher interest rates, gas prices, inflation). I believe those are mostly out of his control, but does the average voter? Biden is far from a perfect president, he’s done some pretty good stuff but he’s also somewhat milktoast in areas that might cause voters to not turn out.

              Until the rightwing shitbags ditch their autocracy ambitions we are in a super perilous position. They have the judiciary locked up likely for the next 30 years which is going to make progress really super hard (making progressives look bad).

              Until dems are consistently winning the house, senate, and presidency nobody should feel comfortable when a presidential election comes around. The fact that dems lost the house in 2022 is something that should make every anti-fascist nervous.

              • Telorand@reddthat.com
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                The fact that dems lost the house in 2022 is something that should make every anti-fascist nervous.

                I agree, though I will say that was predictable (even though it didn’t have to happen at all). By all accounts, Democrats should have lost more, but thanks to a lot of effective grassroots efforts on shoestring budgets (fuck you, DNC), they didn’t.

                Either way, it’s going to be a lifelong battle for many of us. Thanks, “Me Generation.” /s

            • Windex007@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              They’re polling within a margin of error of eachother.

              “Do you want fascism or democracy?”

              This isn’t at all how the choice is internalized among the right. Nobody thinks they’e the bad guy. Nobody thinks they’re the facist. You’re trying to apply your own understanding of a situation to someone else’s reasoning… and that’s just not how any of this works.

              Maybe Trump will win, maybe he won’t. But there are a lot of fundamental issues with your argument as you’ve presented it.

              • Telorand@reddthat.com
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                They’re polling within a margin of error of eachother.

                Over a year out from the election. With problematic polling methodology. I’m not that worried about current matchups. A lot can change in a year, a month, a week before the actual vote takes place.

                But there are a lot of fundamental issues with your argument as you’ve presented it.

                I’m not trying to convince anyone on the right. I’m trying to convince people on the fence and bolster anyone’s waning resolve, because whether the right sees it that way doesn’t change the fact that those are the choices. Their fucked up paradigm doesn’t reflect reality, and I’m not obligated to pretend their fantasy is anything but that.

                • Windex007@lemmy.world
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                  I mean, the same problematic polling methodology called 2016 a slam dunk for Hillary.

                  And you’re right, a lot can change in a year…

                  But honestly how much room is there for things to get better for Biden or worse for Trump? Biden pretty much could not be doing better. The economy is clearly headed in a good direction, he’s already going balls to the wall on infrastructure. He gets to stand back and just watch the GOP house implode on itself, getting to absolutely look like the only credible functioning adult in DC. Trump pretty much couldn’t do worse. He’s not even showing up to GOP debates, he’s just buying McDonald’s in court, where his crimes are in full plain indisputable view to everyone.

                  The polling numbers right now are what it looks like when everything is going right for Biden, and everything is going wrong for Trump. And it’s still a dead heat. The fact that there is a year to go shouldn’t comfort you, it should terrify you.

                  So again, I appreciate your optimism, and I hope against hope that you’re right… but I think your analysis comes through some very rose coloured glasses.

          • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Hillary won the popular vote. The Republicans haven’t won the popular vote since 92, and it’s increasingly unlikely they ever will again. This sucks because that allows the DNC to throw whatever milquetoast fossile they want to into the seat, because they know they have the country held hostage by the FPTP bullshit.

            • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago
              1. popular vote doesn’t matter

              2. it’s amazing how you people always find a way to blame Democrats for literally everything

    • flossdaily@lemmy.world
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      1. The Republicans would have this election totally locked up right now if it hasn’t been for the supreme Court overturning Roe and cancelling student debt relief. They may have radicalized the left to come out in droves over these two things. Even then, it’ll be a nail-biter.

      The anti-Trump sentiment has lost it’s urgency for some, and NO ONE is excited to vote for Biden. He’s ancient, sounds low energy even at this most passionate. His policies are slightly left of center when it’s great compared to the dead-center we all expected, but he’s not even FIGHTING for anything we can all get excited about, let alone WINNING any fights.

      The entire remainder of Biden’s term is going to be a do-little presidency, because Republicans won’t give him a win on anything.

      1. Even if Republicans lose, we could see Insurrection 2: This time with guns.
      • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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        It’s pretty ridiculous considering how good Biden has shown himself to be, he’s gotten a shitload done and surpassed every expectation. But that’s what being brainwashed by media gets you, people just “feel” they shouldn’t vote for him, rather than look at his track record.

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
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          It’s worth noting that election season, with all the ads and campaigning proper, hasn’t even started. I don’t know what Biden’s strategy will be, but maybe it will be good…? We’ll just have to see if they can turn out the people who are on the fence.

      • GlendatheGayWitch@lib.lgbt
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        Overturning Roe didn’t push the left to vote though. 2022 had terrible turnout, not that 2020 was great.

        In TX in 2020 when everyone was rallying to vote out Trump, only ~52% of the Voting Age population cast a vote. Then in 2022 after Roe was overturned and knowing that all of the legislative branch and a large chunk of the judicial and executive branches were up for election, only ~37% of the Voting Age population turned out to vote.

        I know that major elections without the presidential vote get less people, but that’s a huge drop-off with everything at stake. That’s even with 40 years of early voting in the state and a recent expansion of early voting where polls are required to be open at least 9 hours in week 2 and at least 12 hours in week 2 and the final day of voting.

        I’m really concerned that we’re going to have a republican president in 2024, there was at least some action from the left in 2020 to get rid of trunp (even if it wasn’t enough to keep the house) but all that fire is gone.

          • GlendatheGayWitch@lib.lgbt
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            It was a little under half of registered voters in TX, but that’s still not good.

            In 2022, there was about 21.8 million in the voting age population, 17.6 million were registered to vote, and only 8.1 cast a ballot.

            In 2020 the numbers were 21.6 million voting age population, 17 million registered, and 11.3 million ballots.

            If we hope to affect change in the country, people need to get out there and vote! Polls are open in TX for 12 hours for an entire week, but we still have people waiting to vote on the last day when there’s a line.

            Driving passed polling places and having lived in most of the metro areas of TX, I’ve never seem or heard of a line more than 15-20 minutes in the 2 weeks of early voting. It would be super beneficial too if we had momentum at the local level to push for some of the polling places to be open until 10 PM as is allowed by law.

  • capital@lemmy.world
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    Lefties, it’s time to start asking yourself if you wanna be disarming yourselves.

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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      Under an authoritarian government, there is neither left, nor right, nor civilian gun ownership.

      Bold of you to assume that 2a will survive a coup for anyone not directly aligned with the new power structure, or for that matter, that any of the present US Constitution will survive a coup at all and not simply be replaced with martial law instantly and permanently: coups are slow until they’re not, and then they are lightning fast.

      Someone’s clearly forgotten that every accusation is a confession, and has been tricked into looking at the wrong suspect. The ones who “are coming for your guns!” like the right wing propaganda machine so often screams these days, are not the “lefties” nor “liberals” nor even most of the right.

      The ones who intend to take them are those who right now intend to be in power when democracy is gone, the Constitution is suspended, and they don’t want YOU pointing YOUR gun at the enforcers of the new order, whoever you are. If today you have a red Trump flag or a vote blue flag, tomorrow they will NOT give a shit: they are coming for EVERYONE’S guns.

      “Lefties,” ha. Like there are going to be actual political parties under a dictatorship.

      • TwoGems@lemmy.world
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        Trump supporters don’t care. They’re too stupid to realize anything you said. They think they’ll get special treatment under said dictatorship. It’s up to the “left” and whatever still sane centrists to turn out to vote regularly.

      • capital@lemmy.world
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        I’m clearly talking about who currently identifies more with the left side of the spectrum.

        Do you believe gun ownership is as prevalent on that side as the right?

      • greenlava@lemm.ee
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        You’re not generally wrong here, but if trump were to become this dictator, in all likelihood he would call gun owners to kill the unarmed libs first. THEN take the guns from the righties. I’m not sure how that makes a huge difference from a self defense standpoint, but I thought it was an important step in the evolution of your described state

        • Doc Avid Mornington@midwest.social
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          How does one resist a dictatorship in control of tanks, bombers, drones, and the largest surveillance state in history, with little rifles? How do other countries with strong gun control resist dictatorship? How many existing dictatorships can you name, where guns aren’t readily available?

          • capital@lemmy.world
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            You already forgot about our 20 yr boondoggle in the Middle East?

            What resources did those guys have?

            • jagungal@lemmy.world
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              Local cooperation. When it’s a foreign force it’s relatively easy to get cooperation from local civilians. When it’s your own government who has been installed by your own fascist faction I think it’s harder to resist without getting dobbed in.

            • Doc Avid Mornington@midwest.social
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              First of all, you’ve responded apparently to the first of my sentences, and pretended the other two don’t exist, so I’m not feeling too optimistic about your good faith in this conversation. But ok.

              There is a vast difference between a local authoritarian government intending to control the local populace, and a neoliberal government from far away that just wants to destabilize your region, increase oil profits for transnational corporations, and funnel a fortune into arms dealers. Our boondoggle in the Middle East was only a boondoggle if the goal was the one stated, which, I suspect you are smart enough to know, it wasn’t. The actual goals were very much accomplished, and the local resistance was a key part of that - how else could they justify all that spending?

      • hihellobyeoh@lemmy.world
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        I am pro 2a, I still haven’t ever voted for the right, I just know that if the side I vote for decides to try to remove my 2a right, there are checks and balances built into the government to prevent that from being permanent.

        Edit to add that I know what you’re talking about, I see it to, but just know that some people who are pro 2a are not blind to rhe insanity that is the republican party.

  • Adalast@lemmy.world
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    I had the hypothesis that, with the proximity to the election, the invasion of Ukraine was also Putin setting the stage for Trump to have grounds to justify declaring national Martial Law followed by the summary dissolution of Congress and the suspension of the Constitution. All it would have taken would be for us to “aid” Ukraine and have Putin “retaliate” against somewhere in the Pacific NW. I’m guessing Portland since it is a liberal stronghold. Putin could have invaded Portland, Trump would have send in the boys in green to “drive them back”, but not before declaring martial law and somehow not before all of the liberal officials in the city were rounded up and executed. He could have then just installed cronies of his to take over the city and the rest of the plan would have already been taking place.

    • Teotwawki@lemmy.ml
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      Five years of dictatorship and a permanent end to the republic, with his grand-nephew becoming the next dictator.

    • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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      Not too anybody who’s been paying attention to the politics of the last few years. Whether it’s Trump or someone else, the republican party has embraced fascism, and they’ve basically tried to throw out all the rules slowly. They’ve even captured the Supreme Court and a large amount of federal judge appointments to make sure it can happen.

      Want to know why one person is stopping all the military appointments right now? The hope is that they can install lackies in those positions in 2024 if they win.