Yeah, I hope that's not the case but I worry about it. I think the most hopeful take is Trump isn't running again, he'll be like 86, so he's not going to give a shit what comes next. Why bother to use the power of the state to help dipshit Vance? If anything, Vance losing just reinforces how special and unique Trump was, inflates his own ego. In terms of elections, I'm more concerned with the midterms. Trump has an incentive to prevent Congress flipping.

But also remember, W. Bush also had a conservative supreme court willing to let him get away with war crimes. Fuck, he "won" in 2020 only because SCOTUS stepped in to hand him the win. W. Bush was more illegitimate than Trump. But we survived, and we got Obama after. So there's hope here too.

I'm not going to defend the DNC, and I know the "fight from the inside" line gets eye rolls. But look at what Trump did. He took over the Republican party. He represented what the grassroots activists and voters in Republican primaries wanted. It was ugly and gross, but that's what they wanted. And Trump transformed the Republican party in his image. Traditional Republicans became refugees, "never trumpers". The Paul Ryan's and Elizabeth Cheney's who were willing to go along, without adopting the new maga Republican line, were forced out. Now the old Reagan, country club, fiscal discipline, free trade Republican party is dead. The survivors are exciled to places like the Bulwark, like it's Taiwan and they're just waiting for the opportunity to take their party back, an opportunity that will never come because the grassroots won't let them.

I'm not saying this is a model. It happened in large part because fox news let Trump run wild because he was good for ratings, and by the time they went to quash him with Megan Kelly as hitman during a Fox News debate, it was too late, the base was with him and it was Kelly who was sacrificed as appeasement. It was overall a hostile takeover of the party based on the force of personality of one person, not a takeover based on differing policy ideas or a general vision for the party and country. I don't think we can, or should want to, replicate that. But still I think there might be something there, some nugget we can replicate, for the grassroots to force change from the inside.

It's a whole lot easier to take over a party than to build a new one.

The US adult population is something like 260 million, and Trump has like 73 million votes.

Tons of those people also had to deal with votor suppression, and I even had to manually cure my ballot this year because my "signature didn't match" supposedly (as did 5 other people I know who dropped off at the same location).

We've also been under a huge amount of propaganda and some people are literally living in separate realitites where their enemies are ridiculous evil characatures.

Like... I get it. It's hard to feel good towards America right now, and lots of those people who didn't vote deserve a lot of this blame. But is it really that rational to throw the rest of America under the bus?

At the very least, just help the people around you. Just be a person and participate in your community. You don't need to put a bunch of time and energy into political activism, but work done to help local communities is never wasted.

Thank you.

And this is why we’re going to move to Canada. Not like the oh we’re going to move, like I’m prepared to do literally whatever it takes including moving my family into a studio apartment in the middle of nowhere in order to protect them from the nightmare that is about to befall my country

I never thought I’d say that, but my fellow Americans have let me down in a way I honestly didn’t think was possible anymore. We have learned nothing from our past and the people who voted for sweet potato Hitler are going to get what they deserve. The problem is that everyone else is going to get what they deserve too

Maybe it’s just a fractal of earlier empires but with a shorter time on top and a faster decline. Whatever the case I’m not going to wait around for a dude in a guy fawkes mask to start a revolution. I’m outta here

Unfortunately they will suffer at least as much as the people who deserve what’s coming

I get the attempt and appreciate the response, but the ol question comes back, what periods of time were considered decent by all?I can't name anytime in last several hundred years where there wasn't human imposed sickness via slavery, greed, war, desire etc that affected millions of other humans and decent humans "had temporarily won" I've heard some mention the summer of 1969 but that accounts for small % of humanity. I cling to the not-so-shitty moments too and maybe I'm jaded, but it doesn't seem like any decency has won, despite having some decent leaders along the way. say Obama and I meet you with rabid Rs lambasting his tan suit and Healthcare ideas as if he was the antichrist. Pepperidge Farm remembers Obama.

I'll read on the arc of justice, but IMO the universe has never had an objective morality where it gives a shit about right or wrong, so can make no cause for justice. because you see justice is derived from laws, and laws are derived from ethics and morals which are subjective. there is no subjectivity without an individual (human).

but overall, yes I agree; fuck trump with hamburgers, hilariously.