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No takesies-backsies, Anna Lindsey Halligan! :-D I don't get it. The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship. You can't threaten the press like thi

No takesies-backsies, Anna Lindsey Halligan! :-D I don't get it. The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship. You can't threaten the press like this so soon. That only works when you have a firm grip on power and a credible history of jailing and exiling journalists. It's like she watched Hegseth drunk texting in Signalgate and thought, "which journalist could I add on Signal".

fzeroracer 1y ago
This entire admin functions like giving the worst posters on a forum unbridled power. The only thing they care about is owning their perceived enemies. When you look at it that way, the fact that all of them behave like children and make the dumbest decisions possible all make sense.
- netsharc 1y ago
  What's cause and what's effect there? The fact that they have the emotional (and sometimes intellectual) intelligence of 6 years olds means what they mostly care about is the "pwnage"...
afavour 1y ago
> The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship I feel like a lot of them genuinely think that we’re past the point of no return and they will experience no repercussions. I’d have expected Halligan to have a different view given her legal training, but…
- slg 1y ago
  The percentage of the US population that voted for Trump went up roughly half a percentage point from 2020 to 2024 and most of American society has responded as if that makes him a permanent dictator. And it isn’t just his supporters, most Democratic politicians and ostensibly apolitical corporations are behaving that way too. I don’t get it.
  - harimau777 1y ago
    I don't think that people are afraid that he will become a dictator because of his popular support so much as because no one is standing up to his abuse of power. There's also the fact that MAGA is putting their thumb more and more on the election scales. I'm already not sure I think the next election will be fair considering how much MAGA has cheated already.
    - slg 1y ago
      >I don't think that people are afraid that he will become a dictator because of his popular support so much as because no one is standing up to his abuse of power. This is frustratingly self-reinforcing. Why is "no one... standing up to his abuse"? Because "no one is standing up to his abuse".
      - mmooss 1y ago
        It's trendy on the left, including among leaders, to resign, to talk about being powerlessness and afraid, etc. Today's NY Times had an article interviewing pro-Palestinian protestors mostly saying it. What a bunch of losers. And who would support them? Who is going to advocate for people who won't advocate for themselves? Have you ever heard a leader talk like that? Is that what they remember Churchill saying, standing alone against the Germans? MLK facing the overwhelming racist power structure, law enforcement, etc.? Washington at Valley Forge - 'to my soldiers, I feel really hopeless. The Brits are the most powerful military in the world and we're just a ragtag, irregular local force. There's nothing we can do. I'm going to resign, cross the Delaware, and return to my farm to wait out the war with my family.'
  - rand846633 1y ago
    The control of the supreme court as well as the demonstrated willingness to support a coup make the threat seem real.
  - afavour 1y ago
    It’s not entirely without reason. Just look at the electoral map proposed in NC: Trump won 51% of the vote, the GOP will be set to control over 80% of the NC House. And the Supreme Court gives permission to do whatever. You’re right to call out Democrats too. It baffles me. Like Trump destroying the East wing of the White House. Universally not popular (not necessarily unpopular with all but no one is cheering it). Where are the press conferences being held outside to highlight it and show the people how little regard Trump has for the “People’s House”. It’s an easy lay up.
- freen 1y ago
  It’s a commitment device: if the only way you’ll stay out of jail is if Trump is elected, you do anything you can, break any laws, whatever, to get Trump elected. Because then you won’t go to jail. See Santos.
- njovin 1y ago
  In her defense, she's an insurance lawyer who got onto Trump's good side by bad-mouthing how woke The Smithsonian is. She doesn't exactly have a depth of criminal justice experience to draw from.
- netsharc 1y ago
  What does that "point of return" look like, and who's going to actually enforce it? The regime has ignored courts' orders... I feel like only a military coup can actually do anything now. Because I expect the 2026 or 2028 elections to be held more with Russian, Turkish, or Hungarian standards rather than 80's Hollywood movie idea of America's standard. The Dems and courts are going to cry foul, and the regime will just laugh at their faces and continue to rule.
  - afavour 1y ago
    I think the protests over the weekend show that if the 2026 election were subverted then a lot of the population would take to the streets. Once the army fires on peaceful protestors protesting a corrupt election? That’s the point of no return.
    - slg 1y ago
      >Once the army fires on peaceful protestors For what it is worth, this weekend was roughly the 7th or 8th peaceful protest I have attended so far this year. It was the first in which I did not directly see a government employee firing something at a peaceful protester.
    - netsharc 1y ago
      I hope there'll be enough military service people who'll defy unlawful orders, but I fear they have "Follow your superiors" drilled into them from the very start. I remember reading on forums a decade or two ago comments by some Americans who believed in their exceptionalism, that they would never be like Nazi soldiers who just followed orders...
    - cool_man_bob 1y ago
      > I think the protests over the weekend show that if the 2026 election were subverted then a lot of the population would take to the streets. Ok? They’ll be pummeled by the police and natguard again. Maybe whatever sort of “revolutionary republican guard” Trump eventually creates for himself too.
  - consumer451 1y ago
mmooss 1y ago
> The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship. You can't threaten the press like this so soon. They've successfully threated ABC News, CBS News, the Washington Post, and more into submission.

fzeroracer 1y ago

This entire admin functions like giving the worst posters on a forum unbridled power. The only thing they care about is owning their perceived enemies. When you look at it that way, the fact that all of them behave like children and make the dumbest decisions possible all make sense.

netsharc 1y ago
What's cause and what's effect there? The fact that they have the emotional (and sometimes intellectual) intelligence of 6 years olds means what they mostly care about is the "pwnage"...

afavour 1y ago

> The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship I feel like a lot of them genuinely think that we’re past the point of no return and they will experience no repercussions. I’d have expected Halligan to have a different view given her legal training, but…

slg 1y ago
The percentage of the US population that voted for Trump went up roughly half a percentage point from 2020 to 2024 and most of American society has responded as if that makes him a permanent dictator. And it isn’t just his supporters, most Democratic politicians and ostensibly apolitical corporations are behaving that way too. I don’t get it.
- harimau777 1y ago
  I don't think that people are afraid that he will become a dictator because of his popular support so much as because no one is standing up to his abuse of power. There's also the fact that MAGA is putting their thumb more and more on the election scales. I'm already not sure I think the next election will be fair considering how much MAGA has cheated already.
  - slg 1y ago
    >I don't think that people are afraid that he will become a dictator because of his popular support so much as because no one is standing up to his abuse of power. This is frustratingly self-reinforcing. Why is "no one... standing up to his abuse"? Because "no one is standing up to his abuse".
    - mmooss 1y ago
      It's trendy on the left, including among leaders, to resign, to talk about being powerlessness and afraid, etc. Today's NY Times had an article interviewing pro-Palestinian protestors mostly saying it. What a bunch of losers. And who would support them? Who is going to advocate for people who won't advocate for themselves? Have you ever heard a leader talk like that? Is that what they remember Churchill saying, standing alone against the Germans? MLK facing the overwhelming racist power structure, law enforcement, etc.? Washington at Valley Forge - 'to my soldiers, I feel really hopeless. The Brits are the most powerful military in the world and we're just a ragtag, irregular local force. There's nothing we can do. I'm going to resign, cross the Delaware, and return to my farm to wait out the war with my family.'
- rand846633 1y ago
  The control of the supreme court as well as the demonstrated willingness to support a coup make the threat seem real.
- afavour 1y ago
  It’s not entirely without reason. Just look at the electoral map proposed in NC: Trump won 51% of the vote, the GOP will be set to control over 80% of the NC House. And the Supreme Court gives permission to do whatever. You’re right to call out Democrats too. It baffles me. Like Trump destroying the East wing of the White House. Universally not popular (not necessarily unpopular with all but no one is cheering it). Where are the press conferences being held outside to highlight it and show the people how little regard Trump has for the “People’s House”. It’s an easy lay up.
freen 1y ago
It’s a commitment device: if the only way you’ll stay out of jail is if Trump is elected, you do anything you can, break any laws, whatever, to get Trump elected. Because then you won’t go to jail. See Santos.
njovin 1y ago
In her defense, she's an insurance lawyer who got onto Trump's good side by bad-mouthing how woke The Smithsonian is. She doesn't exactly have a depth of criminal justice experience to draw from.
netsharc 1y ago
What does that "point of return" look like, and who's going to actually enforce it? The regime has ignored courts' orders... I feel like only a military coup can actually do anything now. Because I expect the 2026 or 2028 elections to be held more with Russian, Turkish, or Hungarian standards rather than 80's Hollywood movie idea of America's standard. The Dems and courts are going to cry foul, and the regime will just laugh at their faces and continue to rule.
- afavour 1y ago
  I think the protests over the weekend show that if the 2026 election were subverted then a lot of the population would take to the streets. Once the army fires on peaceful protestors protesting a corrupt election? That’s the point of no return.
  - slg 1y ago
    >Once the army fires on peaceful protestors For what it is worth, this weekend was roughly the 7th or 8th peaceful protest I have attended so far this year. It was the first in which I did not directly see a government employee firing something at a peaceful protester.
  - netsharc 1y ago
    I hope there'll be enough military service people who'll defy unlawful orders, but I fear they have "Follow your superiors" drilled into them from the very start. I remember reading on forums a decade or two ago comments by some Americans who believed in their exceptionalism, that they would never be like Nazi soldiers who just followed orders...
  - cool_man_bob 1y ago
    > I think the protests over the weekend show that if the 2026 election were subverted then a lot of the population would take to the streets. Ok? They’ll be pummeled by the police and natguard again. Maybe whatever sort of “revolutionary republican guard” Trump eventually creates for himself too.
- consumer451 1y ago

mmooss 1y ago

> The Trumpsters play it like it's already a dictatorship. You can't threaten the press like this so soon. They've successfully threated ABC News, CBS News, the Washington Post, and more into submission.