How is ONE PERSON able to do this much damage to literally the entire human race?

[mwb970]

ONE PERSON will end everything for everyone? For no discernible reason?

[coffeenap]

1. If I were a believer,

I'd swear he is Satan.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. The Anti-Christ is here.

[marybourg]

4. "Christians have been warning us about

the Anti-Christ for two thousand years and when he finally shows up they make him President” - - - unknown

[Jack Valentino]

108. And if the true Christ were to return, they would support sending him to

a prison in El Salvador (while some would support killing him outright),
because he would seem "too woke"---
and possibly point out how their lives and beliefs
were contrary to the instructions in the book which they don't read.

[2naSalit]

114. Well...

They did kill that jesus guy whom they say they worship so...

[Fla Dem]

46. That's exactly what I thought.

[MuirHero]

124. I am Lutheran and am also coming to that conclusion.

In contrast, Jesus was a radical woke leftist, the diametric opposite of the Antichrist/Trump.

[harumph]

3. Or at least satan's half-wit brother.

[sop]

5. I'm a former believer, but I've been saying Trump is the Devil for years. I again believe in the concept of evil.

[PittBlue]

95. Same here...

I left religion behind when George W. Bush was residing in the White House. I keep saying trump is Satan.

[MuirHero]

123. Yes, he's the devil incarnate.

[BigmanPigman]

52. I just wrote that on a different thread.

[DENVERPOPS]

58. Not only that coffee nap

Think of Trump as just a messenger of PUTIN's orders...........................Putin is the True Satan........

[tonekat]

68. I'm an atheist but he's like Damien

Here to destroy the world.

[NCDem47]

78. Trump's greed and narcissism are of demonic levels.

Hitler. Putin. The Kim family.

All cut from the same cloth that Trump has lines to.

[0rganism]

101. F47 is seriously one or two prophecies short of being the actual fucking antichrist, he's really challenging my atheism

We're like one temple rebuild away from having the Revelations equivalent of a royal flush from this motherfucker.

[Jack Valentino]

107. If I were a true believer, I would realize that it was SATAN and NOT GOD,

who made him turn his head at exactly the right second, last year....

and that the results now are what 'Satan' would desire, and not 'God'.




And YEAH, most of those who claim to be 'christians' have supported the rise of an 'anti-christ'.

[calguy]

6. Satan works in mysterious ways

[CousinIT]

7. Non-biblical explanation: 1) He's a psychopath (what some call evil) and 2) he's allowed to do it.

Nobody is stopping him—Congress, courts, voters -- no one.

Psychopaths are transactional, cunning, and manipulative. Further, they have no conscience, no capacity for remorse, guilt, sympathy, or empathy (except for themselves).

Key characteristics of psychopathy include:

Lack of Empathy: People with psychopathy often struggle to understand or care about others’ feelings. This trait contributes significantly to their manipulative behavior.

Superficial Charm: Many psychopaths can appear charismatic and engaging. This mask often hides their true intentions.

Impulsivity: Individuals with this disorder may engage in reckless behavior without considering consequences.

Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth: A common belief among psychopaths is their superiority, leading to entitlement and arrogance.

Pathological Lying: Frequent lies serve as a tool for manipulation and gaining control over others.

[allegorical oracle]

20. He's been destroying other people's stuff for nearly seven decades. In a

documentary that aired in 2015 or 16, neighbors of the drumpfs told how when they took excursions to the seashore, most of the children would take their pails and shovels to the water line and build sandcastles. Donald would sulk and walk off down the shoreline. When he returned, he kicked all the sandcastles down.

Another neighbor described how Donald attended one of the neighborhood birthday parties. Again, he stayed off by himself as the other kids played games. Then he walked inside the house, where the birthday cake was displayed, plunged his fist into the cake, returned outside to throw the cake at the other children.

Another thing: I'm fed up with the "Trump Derangement Syndrome" moniker that's become popular. The word "derangement" doesn't modify the word "syndrome," it modifies "Trump." He, not the rest of us, is the one who is deranged.

[BigmanPigman]

59. He's been a spawn of Satan his whole life.

He is beyond a "bad seed". He had serious mental health issues since his childhood. He is a psychopath and that means he can not be cured. Sociopaths can sort of get better but only if they really want to and work hard at it and with therapy. Psychopaths can never get any help. This is in their core and they can't change that. The US voted for this AGAIN! And now he is even worse!!!

That is why the protests are so numerous.....older people do not like losing their health care and social security. A lot of conservative seniors are realizing tRump is not acting in their best interests now. They are finally waking up to his cruelty since his sadism is hurting them. Issues about guns, abortion rights, etc do not concern them on election day. However, their retirement income and health care do effect them so now tRump has lost some of his fan base.

[KitFox]

89. Reading about his childhood behavior is chilling.

His next door neighbor shared to a Trump book author that she put her toddler outside in his playpen. When she came back she found Trump from the other side of the fence hurling rocks at her child. Picturing that doesn’t surprise in the least. He remains cruelty personified.

[JHB]

91. That whole "derangement syndrome" thing started under Bush...

"Bush Derangement Syndrome" was like the beta-test version of Republican voter cultishness. Us liberals didn't have legitimate reasons to oppose Bush, so we could be dismissed as having some weird mental illness.

Meanwhile, the only people consistently showing deranged behavior are the Republican base.

[NJCher]

106. I saw that documentary at the library

I considered checking it out, but considering the fact that I have gone so far as to install the kitties extension to replace his hideous image while I navigate the Internet, I think you can imagine why I didn’t check it out.

Those were interesting anecdotes that you cited about his younger years.

I think we have to admit that trump is a unique combination of horrible traits. I don’t think the world has ever seen such a combination of despicable traits in one person. It seems that no one can find even one redeeming quality in his personality.

[Meowmee]

113. He is a psychopath/ sociopath narcissist- lets just call it what it is

[llmart]

127. Trump Derangement Syndrome

When I first heard that term I thought it meant those people who worshipped him. The other meaning makes no sense to anyone who is educated, but then again his cult members aren't known for being literate.

[LisaL]

24. Yep. Voters elected him.

For the life of me, I can not understand why, but here we are.

[pioche4]

118. He only makes sense as a narcissist sociopath celebrity

He’s not an economist, he uses politics to get his way, his cabinet picks selected for viewership rating: they should all be sent o “love island” and isolated from the rest of the role to contain the havoc on world order.

[DENVERPOPS]

60. I have met many a CEO of large corporations

that qualify with those character traits...............

Of course, psychopaths would be the first to animately deny them having those traits.......Just like Trump.........

[CousinIT]

85. "Snakes in Suits' - highly recommended read. n/t

[John Ludi]

8. One of various "design flaws" of human nature:

the worship of "charismatic" leaders and the propensity for a certain percentage of people to follow them right off a cliff...and drag the rest of us with them.

[allegorical oracle]

37. So true. One needs only to think of Jim Jones. It's a curious feature of

some humans. Maybe it's genetic/biological hardwiring or childhood experiences-- or both.

[yellow dahlia]

99. Yes. At times, the grifter sounds like Jim Jones.

He gets a certain weird creepy voice. Actually the grifter has a few different voices tones...more than one that could qualify as creepy.

[HariSeldon]

51. It's bad when charisma is paired with psychopathy

These reinforce each other: some people follow because of the charisma, others because they don't want to be cross-wise with a psychopath. The psychopath then sees the followership as proof of their own importance and deservedness of priority over others, which the followers then give, which empowers the psychopath to wield even more vindictiveness. The end result is a steep threshold to part ways with the psychopath, since those who do become subject to his/her vindictiveness.

[Bumbles]

71. Could never see the charisma.

Perhaps it takes one, or many in this case, to like one.

[Jack Valentino]

109. Me neither. Always thought he was kind of an asshole---

and his voice grates on me.... especially since 2016.


(I never watched more than a very few minutes of his "very famouse" TV show,
before looking for something of more interest)

I think his tendency to publicly speak hate against sundry "minority groups"
is mis-characterized as "charisma" by those who share his hates.

[yardwork]

54. Yes.

Also, I think the internet plays a role. People are designed to trust what others say, and that works against us on the internet. Propaganda, marketing, influencers pretending to live a certain lifestyle - it's all fake but we're wired to believe it.

When we interact with people in real life we pick up on all the ways each individual is unique. Communicating on the internet makes it too easy to lump everyone into a few big categories. We make assumptions and miss all the interesting details.

It's made it easy for sociopaths like Musk to gain a lot of power.

[markodochartaigh]

83. In the 2010's Cambridge Analytica

made individually targeted propaganda possible in a way never before possible. Our techbro oligarchs surely have developed this powerful tool in the last decade. And in the computer world where everything moves at an increasingly rapid pace a decade is a very long time.

[JI7]

9. It's not just one person. The Republican party

lets him do it. The Republicans in Congress have the power to stop or greatly limit what he is doing but they don't. In fact it's the opposite .

[RandomNumbers]

21. It's way beyond the Republican party.

Most of them are puppets on strings held by those actually in control.

Trump looks like the "one guy" because somehow, for all his apparent stupidity on issues normal people care about, he mastered the ability to appeal to the masses, work them up, get them focused on some metaphorical shiny object while others are going about accomplishing his real purposes. How does he control those others? Does he? Or is he just the tool for the cabal that is controlling him?

Whatever the details, I think we can all agree that there is an evil cabal behind this, not just one person, and that many - possibly not all, but probably most - of the visible faces, such as Congress critters, are just pawns in the game. I bet some of them are absolutely terrified. (My sympathy is limited in the cases of those who I know on their own hold some quite putrid positions. But I won't credit them with being in control of their current situation.)

[Auggie]

40. +1,000,000

[Cherrycheeks]

42. It makes me so angry when some of these ...

i will just say, people who as the question to public or politicians, "what are the Democrats doing?'.

I dont hear a damn question about "What are the repubicons doing? now they want to praise and worship Rand Paul.".

[krkaufman]

57. Yep, he's just the grifter in it for his own gain

The whole of the Republican Party, and the monied interests behind them and their propaganda machine are what's enabling (and in many cases directing) these actions.

[kansasobama]

10. US Constitution is outdated

I have mentioned this before. The Constitution never prepared for the future, did not accommodate for fascism. Framers should be ashamed to put so much faith on men. Also, it does not make it viable for Amendments. I understand it should not be easy. But our Constitution does not even make it remotely possible to amend. Also, the way the senators are allotted to states was done to preserve the hold of slave owning elites. That has come back to bite in other areas.

Ultimately. this is likely to destroy the country in the next 100 years before it is rewritten. Republicans are willing to suffer for the sake of the leader and Democrats and Democratic voters are nowhere near the involvement that is needed for a healthy democracy. This is cult democracy. Look at the majority of Republicans in the state houses. It is pathetic. It is almost like Democratic voters do not vote at the local level

[sop]

15. The Framers were men of honor, they failed to account for the possibility men like Trump would be president.

[JHB]

92. Oh, they knew it was possible. They all had classical educations, and the Greeks and Romans...

...had enough characters who rose through short-term popular backing that it was part of the reason for dividing the government into the three branches. What they didn't foresee was the other two not having minds of their own and going along with it.

[dalton99a]

18. +1. Our democracy at the national level is severely defective.

[CrispyQ]

47. Kurt Godel suggested there were inconsistencies with the Constitution that could lead to a dictatorship.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241278542_Godel%27s_Loophole

snip...

Considered the greatest logician since Aristotle, Kurt Gödel once claimed to have found a deep logical flaw or contradiction in the US Constitution. But like the lost proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem by the brilliant French mathematician and jurist Pierre de Fermat, no one, it appears, knows with any real certainty the particulars of Gödel’s discovery. The story of Gödel’s lost discovery of a deep logical flaw in the US Constitution has been told and retold many times before. In summary, after Gödel had applied to become a US citizen in 1947, he prepared for his citizenship interview with Judge Philip Forman by making a close study of the Constitution. But in the course of his studies (perhaps on the eve of his citizenship hearing), Gödel reportedly found a fatal contradiction in the Constitution (or what the author refers to as “Gödel’s loophole”). What was it? The author offers the following conjecture: the problem with the constitution is the amending power in article V. In brief, if the amending clause of the US constitution can amend itself, then all express and implied substantive limitations on the amending power might be overcome through a constitutional amendment.

Here's an interesting account by the man who was with Gödel when he got his citizenship. Einstein was also with them, so it's an interesting read for that, too.

https://robert.accettura.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Morgenstern_onGoedelcitizenship.pdf

[kansasobama]

86. Thank you for this info

Enjoyed

[spanone]

11. Because one of our partys have chosen to ignore the Constitution.

[Meowmee]

12. Because no one has stopped him

He was enabled his entire life from his family to the banks etc. who kept financing him through several bankruptcies until finally he became a Russian asset and they bankrolled him... and right now, if R wanted to they could get rid of him, and should, before he destroys everything, with impeachment and conviction. That would be the end of him for good. The market crash itself is reason enough. But they won't. They could have stopped him twice before and didn't.

As if there weren't already a gazillion other reasons as we all know... such as murdering over one million with covid and an insurrection etc.

[leftstreet]

14. +1

[William769]

13. Technically it wasn't one person

You got to add the people that got him there.

[delisen]

16. It is the crazy real cost of Dictatorship as a form of govt. nt

[Celerity]

17. The US started erecting the 'imperial presidency' in the 60s & 70s. Now, 60 odd years on, we're reaping the bitter fruit

The entire superstructure of the American constitutional for of governance is based off good faith. That is now gone, and being taken to new lows with the monster Trump and the wicked Rethugs. They have gamed the system from top to bottom. They have exploited most of the long wave constitutional flaws to their advantage and to the nation’s (and world's) detriment.

[Ocelot II]

19. Because nobody stopped him, and he has plenty of enablers.

Hitler couldn't have been Hitler without Goebbels and Göring and Himmler and all those other delightful fellows. Trump couldn't be Trump without all the enablers in the GOP who attached themselves to him for reasons of power and influence (which is also why they refused to kick him out of office when they had the chance). It took a world war to get rid of Hitler, and we can only hope it doesn't take another one to get rid of Trump.

The structures of the Constitution, devised by men of the Enlightenment, should have been able to stop him, but the Constitution presumes that most people in government will act in good faith; the mechanisms for removing the bad ones work only if there are enough good-faith actors. And right now there aren't.

[Hugin]

22. Because he's allowed to... n/t

[LisaL]

23. Well, he has a lot of enablers.

And he wouldn't be in this position of half of US voters didn't elect him.

[Trueblue Texan]

25. Too much power concentrated in one executive position.

Where are those checks and balances that were written into our Constitution?

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Greed built the pyramid that Oligarchs fed. Don't worship false idols unless you paid for him. /nt

[Kid Berwyn]

27. Corrupt Supreme Court

“They come to me.” — Jane Roberts, wife of Chief Justice John Roberts.

’They come to me’: Jane Roberts’ legal recruiting work involved officials whose agencies had cases before the Supreme Court

In newly revealed testimony, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts said she worked for “U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators” and more.

By HAILEY FUCHS and JOSH GERSTEIN
Politico, 01/31/2023

Jane Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts, acknowledges having represented a wide variety of public officials — including senior Justice Department officials and Cabinet members — as they transitioned to jobs in the private sector, according to testimony in an arbitration hearing to resolve a lawsuit filed by an ex-colleague against her former legal recruiting business.

A partial transcript of that testimony was included in a complaint submitted to the House, Senate and Justice Department filed in December on behalf of the former colleague.

Snip…

Jane Roberts’ placements included at least one firm with a prominent Supreme Court practice, according to the complaint, which also includes sworn testimony from Roberts herself, in which she notes the powerful officials — whose agencies have had frequent cases before her husband — for whom she has worked.

“A significant portion of my practice on the partner side is with senior government lawyers, ranging from U.S. attorneys, cabinet officials, former senators, chairmen of federal commissions, general counsel of federal commissions, and then senior political appointees within the ranks of various agencies, and I -- they come to me looking to transition to the private sector,” Roberts said, according to a transcript of a 2015 arbitration hearing related to her former colleague’s termination.

In her testimony, Roberts also noted the benefit of working with senior government officials: “Successful people have successful friends.”

Continues…

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/31/jane-roberts-legal-recruiting-work-agencies-cases-supreme-court-00080515

You can’t trash the Constitution without breaking a few golden eggs.

We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority

The inside story of how Leonard Leo built a machine that remade the American legal system — and what he plans to do next.

by Andy Kroll, Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz, illustrations by Nate Sweitzer for ProPublica
Oct. 11, 2023

Excerpt...

If Americans had heard of Leo at all, it was for his role in building the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court. He drew up the lists of potential justices that Donald Trump released during the 2016 campaign. He advised Trump on the nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Before that, he’d helped pick or confirm the court’s three other conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. But the guests who gathered that night under a tent in Leo’s backyard included key players in a less-understood effort, one aimed at transforming the entire judiciary.

Snip...

To pay for all this, Leo became one of the most prolific fundraisers in American politics. Between 2014 and 2020, tax records show, groups in his orbit raised more than $600 million. His donors include hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, Texas real estate magnate Harlan Crow and the Koch family.

Snip...

Having reshaped the courts, Leo now has grander ambitions. Today, he sees a nation plagued with ills: “wokism” in education, “one-sided” journalism, and ideas like environmental, social and governance, or ESG, policies sweeping corporate America. A member of the Roman Catholic Church, he intends to wage a broader cultural war against a “progressive Ku Klux Klan” and “vile and immoral current-day barbarians, secularists and bigots” who demonize people of faith and move society further from its “natural order.”

Snip...

Leo encountered the Federalist Society while working as an intern for the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington in the fall of 1985. At a luncheon hosted by the group, Leo heard a speech that he later said “had an enormous impact on my thinking.” It was delivered by Ed Meese, Reagan’s new attorney general. Meese made an impassioned declaration that originalism would be the guiding philosophy for the Reagan administration. “There is danger,” Meese said, “in seeing the Constitution as an empty vessel into which each generation may pour its passion and prejudice.”

Continues...

https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority

Fusing NAZI to Dixie and Big Money (“California über Alles”): Meese is the guy who didn't mind when White House staff slurred Martin Luther King.

[allegorical oracle]

50. Did hear, 'tho, this a.m. that Leo and the Koch Bros. are furious about the

tariffs. DJT may have gored the wrong oxen.

[Kid Berwyn]

64. $6 Trillion is no small sum.

That’s about a dozen Elons. Bet that’s only the tip of the iceberg…

An (estimated) $21 to $32 trillion in financial assets are sitting offshore in tax havens. Due to the secrecy that pervades the tax haven system, precise numbers are hard to come by so estimates can vary. The Tax Justice Network estimates that $427 billion is tax is lost every year to tax havens.

Source: https://taxjustice.net/faq/how-much-money-is-in-tax-havens/#

Until Dimdonnie, I thought traitors were the worst. Now we must face greedy traitors.

[et tu]

66. krasnov has many enablers

corrupt congress, supreme court, oligarchs
and of course 'national' christains which is an oxymoron.

[Kid Berwyn]

69. Legions

“Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me” and congressional Republican allies. That's how (DoJ) Donoghue, who took notes during the call, summarized Trump's response.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/07/30/just-say-election-was-corrupt-trump-told-doj-december

[et tu]

73. so many enablers

[Hotler]

28. Because he's been allowed to. Everyone is afraid of him. I remember the first time I punched a bully back,

I found it quite refreshing. Just saying.

[Kaleva]

29. Catastrophic climate change was a world wide effort that took decades

Even if Trump never existed, 10's of millions, maybe 100's of millions, are going to die.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

30. How? Autocracy. . . . . nt

[Turbineguy]

31. He has lots of help.

[AllyCat]

32. He's enabled by a bunch of cowards.

[lark]

33. OH, there is a definite discernible purpose to the damage he's doing!

Profiteering for himself and the rich
Proving he can do whatever he want up to and including destroying our constitutional way of life
Destroy and/or transfer all assets to the rich by stealing them from the working class
Match Putin in hate and destruction

[struggle4progress]

34. He has a large propaganda machine including FOX, Heritage, amd the whole GOP

[bluestarone]

35. I think three words can answer this question.

IMMUNITY was given.

[Blues Heron]

36. Murdock/Limbaugh and that whole brainwashing hate the libs thing. That technique has led to genocide in the past

[yellow dahlia]

104. The brainwashing hate the libs thing is largely responsible for how we got here.

They need a great misinformed masses to pull this charade off.

[Orrex]

38. Because Butler PA was staged and not real.

[yellow dahlia]

105. I thought so immediately.

[maxrandb]

39. It's NOT one person

Last edited Sun Apr 6, 2025, 01:45 PM - Edit history (1)

It's all of our family, "friends", neighbors, coworkers, fellow parishioners, fellow mosque and synagogue members and associates that voted for the piece of amphibian shit.

It's 2,000 radio stations that have broadcast nothing but hate 24/7/365 for the past 50 years.

It's Faux News, and "influencers" sharing their blowjob/handjob preferences on Tic-Toc.

It's relentless horseshit on every social media outlet.

It's the "press" that treats real serious shit like it's an episode of the Golden Bachelor.

It's EVERYTIME we have heard their MAGAt ignorant, racist, vile, nazi deplorable shit at church, or the PTA, or in the employee breakroom, or at the neighborhood barbecue, or at the school board, and didn't fucking call them out on their vile, racist nazi shit.

[erronis]

41. Very well said!

[BlueMTexpat]

43. ONE PERSON

with a LOT of support from Republicans who are kissing his a**!

He can't do this alone!

[Littlered]

44. Could I get a little context

Please. What person, and what damage are we talking about here?

[milestogo]

63. Seriously?

[orangecrush]

100. Bye

[ToxMarz]

45. Maybe partly because the Repukes have worked tirelessly to bring their dreams

of a 'Unitary Executive' to fruition. They have shuffled so much power towards the Presidency in the hopes that some day they would have the person to use it and grab what was left still out of reach. They never feared the Democrats would abuse it in this manner, so they were content to continue growing it while waiting for Godot. Godot is here, and he's not exactly who they dreamed he would be.

[TygrBright]

48. ONE PERSON couldn't. One person enabled by a corrupt judiciary and millions of selfish morons - easy. n/t

[tonekat]

67. GOP members of Congress

Have capitulated to him and paved the way for his illegal acts in lockstep.

[Mz Pip]

49. Not just one

Everyone who voted for him is responsible. This was a group effort.

[FloridaBlues]

53. It's not just 1 person his entire Administration plus musk.

[S/V Loner]

55. He is the hammer and the handle is being held by...

the Federalist Society (who worked diligently for decades taking control of the judicial system), the Heritage Foundation (who have made alliances with every nutcase group in the country), the billionaires (greed and power) and the GOP who have been complicit with the destruction of the previous groups all for the sake of perceived power (Perceived being the operative word here. Real power they will never have just as they no real power now. They are stooges complicit with their own destruction.)

[KitFox]

84. Perfect summation. I always have that Grover Norquist quote pop into my head I think it was at CPAC and he said

(something to this effect): We don’t need a president who can think. We don’t need a president who is a fearless leader. Just pick someone who has enough working digits to hold a pen and will sign anything we put in front of him.

[S/V Loner]

94. Love it. n/t

[aggiesal]

56. Because he's an immortal, selfish, POS devil. n/t

[milestogo]

61. Because the people who can stop him refuse to do it.

If Trump keels over today, have no doubt that JD Vance will pick up the mantle. And there will be another one after him. We will not be able to vote and protest our way out of this.

[Elessar Zappa]

131. JD Vance won't have the following Trump does.

He couldn’t win in 2028, unless we run a terrible candidate.

[milestogo]

133. He could win if they keep screwing with voter rolls and election laws

to the point where elections mean nothing.

[seta1950]

62. You're right

This should not be allowed😤

[JustAnotherGen]

65. I'm not a Religious person

But he might be the anti-Christ

[dem4decades]

70. It's the Republican Party that is responsible for this damage, the Orange Menace is just their tool.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

72. It isn't one person doing this. It's everyone in Project 2025. NT

[Uncle Joe]

74. It's the same dynamic as takes place in the T.V. series,

"The Walking Dead."

You might start out with just one or two mortally challenged people walking around trying to eat the living, but it easily spreads just by getting bitten.

It's the same dynamic as with unlimited campaign financed governmental corruption either via fear or favor.

When the political power structures actually favor corruption by process, those most adept at corruption will rise to the top and the challenge of staying on the right path face ever more obstacles.

Thanks for the thread mwb.

[birdographer]

75. It's not one person

It’s many people. Republicans in Congress could halt the tariffs today—they aren’t law, they are just something donny wants. But they are either too smitten with him or too afraid of him to do anything about it. So there’s a bunch right there that are enabling him. And then there is the Heritage Foundation and Stephen Miller and the rest of the regime that are backing him. And let’s not overlook Elmo, who has done a massive amount of damage with no one stopping him—again, can’t get off their knees worshiping donny or too afraid of both donny and Elmo.

It takes a village to destroy a country and bring so much damage on a global scale. What I don’t understand is why nobody has taken the head off the snake, which would then take out the snake itself. Vance has no cult. And at that point, if someone took out one person nobody likes, what says they won’t do it again? Could be a helpful perspective.

It’s not one old, delusional, demented man.

[JHB]

76. Because it's NOT just one person, it's several collections of zealots who see him as their "big chance"

Last edited Sun Apr 6, 2025, 12:32 PM - Edit history (1)

There has always been a faction of the Conservative Movement that had a sneaking admiration for the Bolsheviks. Not the ideology, of course, but for the ability of a small radical faction to play other factions against each other, maneuver for leverage, and being absolutely ruthless when they saw a chance to take total control.

These Conservo-Bolsheviks have always wanted to do away with the New Deal, get rid of the income tax, any program or policy that helps ordinary people. To them, America's "golden age" was literally that: the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, when "great men" built great industries, amassed huge fortunes, and didn't have to put up with any damn government hampering them for trifles like "grinding people under their heels." This is the leadership of the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society and Project 2025, people like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh who actively worked to paint Democrats as "the enemy". They demonized Bill and Hillary Clinton so that less extreme Republicans wouldn't decide they could work with a "pro-business" Democrat who was content to work with and tweak the Reaganomics framework rather than to reverse it. If the squishier ones went that way, the Conservo-Bolsheviks could kiss any chance of more extreme measures goodbye. Thus, we've had the last 35 years, with Republicans hamstringing Democrats at every opportunity while going for broke whenever the opportunity presents itself, all while consistently putting conservative operatives on the Federal courts.

Overlapping with them are the Pluto-Bolsheviks. They share a lot of goals with the Conservo-Bolsheviks, but being the guys footing the bills, they want to make sure the outcome is tailored to their liking. This is the Kochs, the Mercers, all sorts of billionaires and multi-millionaires. This group was especially active in trying to get enough support for a new constitutional convention, where the nation's foundations could just be rewritten to their liking, locking in their own personal obsessions and making reform pretty much impossible. And by making reform impossible they would make revolution inevitable.

Next up are the Theo-Bolsheviks, an odd coalition of extremist Evangelical Protestants and right-wing Catholics. They think America has been a moral nosedive since the 60s, and they're out to put the country "back" to a place it never really was, but the facade makes them all tingly. These are the various Trump-loving Evangelicals who rationalize his behavior as that of a modern King Cyrus, the hardliners of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Opus Dei people, all the Catholic RWers on the Supreme Court, etc. Even if the Theo-Bolsheiks came out on top, they're doomed to simply turn on each other due to the "Catholics aren't Christian" views of the Evangelicals. But for the time being they have enough in common with each other and the other factions that they can work together on "step 1: taking control."

The latest addition are the Techno-Bolsheviks: Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, and others who have adopted Curtis Yarvin as their guru. Yarvin argues that American democracy is a failed experiment that should be replaced by an accountable monarchy, similar to the governance structure of corporations. They fully believe they're the only ones who have brains. The rest of us are pretty much insect drones, and lesser beings whose expertise can be replaced with AI. In other words, they're F***ING NUTS, and they'd be harmless if they were muttering into their cups together at some dive bar, but instead they're some of the richest men in the world, and their views overlap enough with the other groups that they're all useful to each other.

[chia]

130. Good post. Re: the Catholics, another component is integralism. For added reference:

https://religionnews.com/2024/04/03/the-strange-world-of-catholic-christian-nationalism/

[ecstatic]

77. Mitch McConnell, Merrick Garland and SCOTUS own this

fiasco. They refused to hold him accountable for his crimes and now he is completely above the law.

We are truly living in a nightmare. Millions will die from trump and eloon's reckless actions. It just takes a while for the fall out to become apparent.

[kacekwl]

79. It's not one person

it's the entire Republican Congress. They can stop this madness today. They alone are allowing trumps illegal and traitorous behavior.

[Martin68]

80. Trump is able to do this by tapping into, manipulating, and exploiting the craven, cowardly, greedy, unprincipled,

amoral, and ignorant portion of the population. It helps that most Republicans in Congress fall into this category.

[Irish_Dem]

81. Trump has millions of enablers helping him.

So it is not just one person.

[nowforever]

82. James Comey

His fear of being perceived as weak caused him to release the Hillary email bombshell that tanked her campaign. He was being chided by some around him to man up and his own sense of inadequacy led to the worst decision of his life. Obama never should have appointed him, this appeasement mentality of some democrats is a critical flaw in the party. Democrats need to fight like rabid dogs if they ever expect to win against the party of greed.

[kansasobama]

88. Agree and also Garland

Biden should have fired him after 2 years

[AZLD4Candidate]

87. It's not uncommon. Hitler. Mao. Stalin. Napoleon. Pizzaro. Columbus. Ayn Rand. Milton Friedman

Kissinger. Osama Bin Laden changed the world forever.

One wrong person in the right place at the right time has been the mantra of human history.

[thought crime]

90. The "Strongman" must demonstrate power

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Trump is a perfect nihilist for whom power is an end in itself. His confidence in his own ability is limitless; the only truth he knows is what he happens to think. Nothing else really matters. And what good is it to be “the most powerful man in the world” if you don’t actually demonstrate that power? As a nihilist, he doesn’t care if power is used for Good or for Evil and it's easier to destroy than to build; he just wants maximum effect. The more shocking, the better. He wants every person on Earth, but especially his followers, to say, “Look what Trump just did!”.

[Mysterian]

93. Because the drafters of our constitution had to compromise and include stupid shit

like the electoral college and the undemocratic apportionment of senators, which gave imbecile redneck bumpkins way too much power in our government.

[Initech]

96. What I want to know is, how the fuck is anyone OK with this?

If any other president did this much damage to my country, I would be raising fucking hell. He's single-handedly damaged America's standing in the world and got us on a democracy watch list. We're falling in line with dictators from countries like Hungary and Argentina. But somehow the fucking asshole gets a pass for everything. This isn't just 1940s Germany, it's also 1790 France.

[bluestarone]

97. TSF has a lot of enabler's.IF he succeeds in what their plan is, there will be

millions of people that will wish they haven't supported him. Trouble is, THAT will be too late for our country to survive!

[GulfofMexico]

98. I used to pondert that question about Hitler. Now I'm part of the disaster.

Yup. One goddamn piece of human scum, a criminal and traitor and sex offender and every other horrible thing a human can be, and he's ruling the freakin' world! And no one, so far, is doing anything substantive to stop him. It's mind boggling and totally incredible. Donald fuckin' Trump?! OMG.

[JT45242]

102. Putin is pulling all the strings...that is the real puppet master

Never forget that he has been a Russian asset since the eighties....

Putin led him to further on Obama
Putin pushing white rage

He is just the instrument that the former kgb is using

[Skittles]

103. because AN ENTIRE POLITICAL PARTY IS BACKING HIM

THAT IS HOW

[JCMach1]

110. I had about 15 IRL time in an airport near the orange pos

In the 1990's.

It took about about about 2-5m to learn he was a beyond the pale toxic human being.

I will never get how people will follow that...

[Aussie105]

111. This is a real lesson in civics, politics, and the damage Man can do to others.

And the many loopholes in the American Constitution, the legal system, and our inability to recognise Evil in others early enough to prevent substantial damage.

Somehow, I envisage a future leader to be non human, but a sentient super intelligence, with an explosive device implanted in it, and all it takes is for say 1 million fingers to press the destruct button.

Then learn from what went wrong, rewrite the algorithms, and try again.

Trump does have a 'destruct now' button, but how to activate it is currently a known unknown factor.

[Meowmee]

112. No, we recognized it immediately, please do not include me and many others in "we"

[B.See]

115. How?? Complicity, Complacecy, and COWARDICE.

Like a well kept lawn, DEMOCRACY is forever in need of being CARED FOR, lest the evils of hate, greed, fascism, authoritarianism, and nationalism TAKE ROOT.

They must be WEEDED OUT at first sight. Otherwise you wind up with a total SHITSHOW.

[OldBaldy1701E]

116. Because we let him.

And, are still letting him.

[GiqueCee]

117. Well, you can thank...

... John Roberts and his five accomplices for giving that evil sonofabitch nearly total carte blanche to piss in the political punchbowl and not worry about any consequences; the malignant swine behind Project 2025; the Republicans for never calling him out, even when they could; and then there's simple-minded skid marks who voted for him, and still think the Sun shines out of his fat, pimply ass.

[PatrickforB]

119. Because WE HAVE NO FAIRNESS DOCTRINE REQUIRING TRUTH IN NEWS REPORTING AND HAVE NOT SINCE

Reagan killed it in 1987.

When this happened Wall Street took over and 'news' is now reported in a way that generates maximum 'clicks' to boost SHAREHOLDER PROFITS from ad revenue.

When PROFITS take the place of TRUTH, then we get what we have now.

[Elessar Zappa]

132. The Fairness doctrine won't help.

Most of the propaganda today comes from cable and the internet. And if you tried to regulate those, even liberal justices would throw it out as violating the first amendment.

[PatrickforB]

135. I disagree. This is like saying that it is usless to spray water into the living room of a burning house because

the bedroom is also on fire.

If we had a Fairness Doctrine in place and imposed it on network and cable 'news' shows, and people could actually count on them to report the truth as opposed to 'infotainment' designed to boost ratings and thus ad revenue, then more people would watch them.

Sure, social media would still run amok with conspiracy theories, but people would be able to watch the news and know they were getting the straight scoop.

Here's a solution that would help the whole kit and kaboodle:

End the legal doctrine of shareholder primacy established in the 1919 MI Supreme Court ruling against Henry Ford in favor of the Dodge Brothers. According to Wiki:

Ford Motor Co., 204 Mich 459; 170 NW 668 (1919), is a case in which the Michigan Supreme Court held that Henry Ford had to operate the Ford Motor Company in the interests of its shareholders, rather than in a manner for the benefit of his employees or customers.

This means that the fiduciary responsibily of ANY corporate officer in a publicly traded company is ONLY to generate profits for shareholders. This is why we have guys like the United Healthcare CEO denying all those claims to boost profits. How many hundreds of people did that orclike monkey creature kill or permanently harm through those sociopathic actions we must wonder?

Instead of shareholder primacy, why not simply change the rules of corporate governance to include worker and consumer interests, and environmental oversight?

This would act across the board as a 21st century Fairness Doctrine because one of the stipulations on the consumer interest side would be a requirement that shows on cable and the traditional networks to present factual news reporting and if they were presenting a 'side' then all sides would have to be covered equally.

Because consider that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing we've always done and expecting different results.

For example how many texts and emails do you get a day from politicians promising to 'fight for you?' Because if we want our politicians to actually BE EFFECTIVE in 'fighting for us,' then we need to change some of the rules, don't we?

[Crowman2009]

120. Because the giddy for the geddon folks want jeebus to come back faster!

What better way to do that than elect someone who will destroy everything!

[Javaman]

121. because we live in a cartoon democracy and have been living in one for a while

we like to play democracy but when it comes to holding up it's basic principles we are all suddenly looking some place else to amuse ourselves.

[Crunchy Frog]

122. He was enabled by the tens of millions who voted for him

and tens of millions more who didn't bother to vote. Plus decades worth of RW activism, and the billionaires who have funded it.

[HereForTheParty]

125. If someone like Trump can be elected president, the people are the problem

It wasn't a hostile takeover. The constitution can't save the country if people don't support it and believe in it. And clearly many don't.

[Simeon Salus]

126. I believe in D&D's alignment chart as a way of graphically plotting behavior to establish a personality type

The alignment chart is a tool of the game which helps players understand monster and character behaviors.

On one continuum you have from Lawful to Chaos (reliability vs. flexibility), on the other you have from Good to Evil (altruism vs. selfishness). In D&D, the Paladin is the knight who is always true and acts to defend the weak and innocent. This guy is no paladin. He is the opposite. Even his allies can't trust him. He's a looter.

By my reading, when his various behaviors are plotted, Drumpf's plot shows him as both chaotic AND evil.

[JBTaurus83]

128. Well,

I grew up in a Catholic/protestant household which made anything religious very combative at times. Now as a middle aged adult I consider myself agnostic or spiritual/ pagan depending on your definition.

All of that being said, I do believe he’s not “the” Antichrist but “an” Antichrist. Everything he does is opposite to the spirit of the supposed words of Jesus.

Everyone makes mistakes, everyone makes poor choices, but an Antichrist is someone who just does every single thing within their power to bring negativity into the world. The world has had a lot of terrible leaders, but, he’s certainly earning his place in notoriety.

[MaeScott]

129. By exploiting the US' love of bigotry and racism. nt

[Torchlight]

134. With permission by folk who prioritize who and what they hate

at the expense of who and what they love. The Burn-It-All-Down crowd is happy and warm for the time being, until they finally realize they too are just more fuel.