United States Politics Thread 47

[zompist]

Education is handled at the state level here, and plenty of states are already run by Republicans. Yet they haven't eliminated public schools, far from it.

Republicans have openly allied with Christian nationalists, but they have not been indistinguishable from them so far. Christian nationalists are hoping to change that. They plan to use Trump's popularity to set the direction for the Republican party from the federal level.

And they're starting by demolishing the agency that would enable them to do so.

To be clear, this isn't a flaw in your theory, but theirs. The Republicans are now the classical example of why you shouldn't get high on your own supply. Conspiracy theories that are useful for getting out the vote turn out to be terrible for actually accomplishing their evil ends. After telling themselves for fifty years that primary education is a liberal conspiracy run by Washington, they get to destroy the hated Department of Education. Still doesn't change the fact that education is run by the states.

[malloc]

They are irrelevant because they don't have any money. Nevertheless, they exist in large numbers. A regime that prizes loyalty above all else will eventually be incentivized to hire them. If the regime lasts long enough for that to happen, their money problems will disappear.

It sounds like you are greatly overestimating their abundance. I honestly can't remember the last time I encountered one in the wild and only hear about them as targets of criticism and mockery from proper leftists.

[rotting bones]

And they're starting by demolishing the agency that would enable them to do so.

They think there will be too many legal challenges if they tried to make the Federal government provide preferential funding for religious education. They are trying the party discipline route instead.

They are hoping that Republicans at the state level will pledge loyalty to Trump and adopt MAGA policies. These policies will be Christian nationalist in content.

[rotting bones]

It sounds like you are greatly overestimating their abundance. I honestly can't remember the last time I encountered one in the wild and only hear about them as targets of criticism and mockery from proper leftists.

Nazbols control entire organizations like the ACP: http://www.idcommunism.com/2024/07/comm ... party.html

There are more than enough of them running around to replace the entire body of talking heads employed by the contemporary left. There will be even more once the money starts flowing.

[jcb]

Time to throw away my Webster's dictionary and replace it with an Oxford one...
- https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-s ... th-2048679
- https://nypost.com/2025/03/21/us-news/t ... g-charles/
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... arles.html

A more serious thought: Trump divides people into two groups: those he admires ("strong winners"), and those he detests ("weak losers"). He seems to admire King Charles. Therefore, Britain could perhaps use the king to convince Trump to help Ukraine and defend Europe in general.

[jcb]

That assumes that Trump doesn't simply scapegoat some minority

...which would require El Presidento* Trump be able to remember his thoughts for more than ten seconds at a time. Look at how the Irish went from "I love them, they're my favorite people" to "They're destroying America" (the latter when asked if Ireland was part of the EU's actions that Trump says are hostile to the US)

* = one thing I picked up when I was trying to help my dad learn Spanish (admittedly a mix of Penninsular and Latin American), was that -o is masculine, which methinks Trump would insist upon.

Reminds me of https://youtu.be/IguubYGk_MM?si=wCkaQAL9xMHG831h&t=70

[keenir]

I'm sure the government will be able to employ a new crop of "leftists" to explain why regress is not really regress.

Quite unlikely. I realize you greatly dislike the direction taken by the contemporary left, but they certainly aren't allies of reaction nor does the current reactionary movement have any fondness for them. Based on their current actions and rhetoric, the MAGAs have no interest in allying with leftists of any stripe.

remember the Revolution! Islamicists worked alongside Tudeh against the Shah.

[Raphael]

I'm sure the government will be able to employ a new crop of "leftists" to explain why regress is not really regress.

Quite unlikely. I realize you greatly dislike the direction taken by the contemporary left, but they certainly aren't allies of reaction nor does the current reactionary movement have any fondness for them. Based on their current actions and rhetoric, the MAGAs have no interest in allying with leftists of any stripe.

remember the Revolution! Islamicists worked alongside Tudeh against the Shah.

For once, I partly agree with malloc. I doubt that all that many MAGAs care about Iranian history.

[malloc]

remember the Revolution! Islamicists worked alongside Tudeh against the Shah.

Except that the Islamists didn't vote the Shah into office only years before the revolution. These people have remained loyal to Trump throughout one scandal and crisis after another. Currently the polls show Trump enjoying an all-time high in support, not mass disillusionment. Remember that I have lived my entire life in the heart of MAGA country and interact with these people every single day. I remember being stuck in the car with my family as they complained that Bush was entirely too merciful toward the Iraqis and wished that the US military could just gun down Iraqi civilians with impunity. Nothing about the rise of Trump or his enduring popularity really surprises me.

[rotting bones]

For once, I partly agree with malloc. I doubt that all that many MAGAs care about Iranian history.

To be clear, the grassroots MAGA lunatics would have nothing to do with this. If the Trump regime lasts long enough, the government will eventually want to indirectly support the "patriotic socialists" to astroturf obedience among people who identify as "leftist".

MAGA is ideologically opposed to driving EVs, but many of them apparently see the country as heading in the right direction despite having Elon Musk in charge. (Some MAGA are saying what Trump is doing is even better than they expected. I guess they are being distracted by all the flashy cruelty against immigrants while billionaires steal their rights from under their noses.) The "patriotic socialists" won't be in charge of anything except propagandizing to leftists.

[keenir]

Quite unlikely. I realize you greatly dislike the direction taken by the contemporary left, but they certainly aren't allies of reaction nor does the current reactionary movement have any fondness for them. Based on their current actions and rhetoric, the MAGAs have no interest in allying with leftists of any stripe.

remember the Revolution! Islamicists worked alongside Tudeh against the Shah.

For once, I partly agree with malloc. I doubt that all that many MAGAs care about Iranian history.

my point was that the precedent isn't impossible...sadly i couldn't remember a similar event in US history, though i'm sure it exists.

[keenir]

remember the Revolution! Islamicists worked alongside Tudeh against the Shah.

Except that the Islamists didn't vote the Shah into office only years before the revolution.

i apologize for using an analogy. my point is that sometimes people can & do cooperate with groups - idiologically opposed or not - to achieve their mutual goals.

and I hate to tell you this, Malloc, but Persia wasn't one of the countries who used to vote on which king would ascend to the throne...though the Holy Roman Empire was, so you were close.

These people have remained loyal to Trump throughout one scandal and crisis after another.

yes, scandals and crisises that impacted politicians or other people. now Trump is hitting them in the wallet, and nobody likes that.

Currently the polls show Trump enjoying an all-time high in support, not mass disillusionment.

that...would be an interesting poll to have to word questions for.

Remember that I have lived my entire life in the heart of MAGA country and interact with these people every single day.

remember?

I remember being stuck in the car with my family as they complained that Bush was entirely too merciful toward the Iraqis and wished that the US military could just gun down Iraqi civilians with impunity. Nothing about the rise of Trump or his enduring popularity really surprises me.

suddenly the penny drops and we get more explanation of the Why of you.

[rotting bones]

Musk attacks CFPB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9TxnPmm7Co https://www.google.com/search?q=musk+cfpb&tbm=nws

Trump is trying to prevent lawyers from entering courtrooms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9IsH7GzyAc

[rotting bones]

Time to throw away my Webster's dictionary and replace it with an Oxford one...
- https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-s ... th-2048679
- https://nypost.com/2025/03/21/us-news/t ... g-charles/
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... arles.html

A more serious thought: Trump divides people into two groups: those he admires ("strong winners"), and those he detests ("weak losers"). He seems to admire King Charles. Therefore, Britain could perhaps use the king to convince Trump to help Ukraine and defend Europe in general.

I'm surprised Trump wants someone else to be King of America other than himself. Or maybe joining the Commonwealth and then rebelling against it to annex Canada will paint his Pharaonic might in starker relief?

[rotting bones]

Personally, I'm rooting for a future where Trump dies and MAGA preserves his skeleton. When they are divided amongst themselves, they take one of his bones, burn it on a brazier and read the cracks using the Oracle Bone script. They believe that Trump is the True Messiah, and that he reveals China's next conspiracy from the afterlife.

[Ahzoh]

Reminding me of the Nazi era:
https://apnews.com/article/science-trum ... cc2751d67e

[Raphael]

Personally, I'm rooting for a future where Trump dies and MAGA preserves his skeleton. When they are divided amongst themselves, they take one of his bones, burn it on a brazier and read the cracks using the Oracle Bone script. They believe that Trump is the True Messiah, and that he reveals China's next conspiracy from the afterlife.

I've thought for a while that when Trump dies, his followers, or at least many of them, will simply refuse to believe that he's dead.

[Ahzoh]

It makes me sad and scared that my mum, who works in the US on a work visa, might get randomly wrongfully detained and held in detention for being Canadian. And chances are she won't be able to go to my Aunt's wedding this summer for the same reason.

They'll detain you for weeks without any word for pretty much nothing, as they already have to several Canadians already.

[Raphael]

It makes me sad and scared that my mum, who works in the US on a work visa, might get randomly wrongfully detained and held in detention for being Canadian. And chances are she won't be able to go to my Aunt's wedding this summer for the same reason.

They'll detain you for weeks without any word for pretty much nothing, as they already have to several Canadians already.

Good luck.

[Ahzoh]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/24/poli ... berg-order

And people thought Trump cared about drug gangs. He just let one go.