4 ms·

If Trump dies, Vance becomes president. If Vance dies, Mike Johnson becomes president. What do you know about those people that I don't that convinces you the h

by uoaei 2mo ago

If Trump dies, Vance becomes president. If Vance dies, Mike Johnson becomes president. What do you know about those people that I don't that convinces you the hammer will come down once Trump is dead?

OgsyedIE 2mo ago
The electoral strength of the Trump base is their ability to identify with Trump, which makes the political component of open defiance a guaranteed loser. None of Trump's presumptive successors have his advanced age, imagery of an unregimented approach to self-care, comfortable ease with crude mannerisms or showmanship. A USA where the economy is poor and the Gen X and older cohorts have returned to 2010 levels of apathy is one where Newsom, Walz, Kelly, Booker, Ocasio-Cortez etc openly directing anybody they have authority over to disregard all instructions of federal personnel up to indefinitely detaining federal personnel does not stop them from sweeping in 2028.
- ndsipa_pomu 2mo ago
  I've never understood how there's a cult of personality around Trump when he's not got any redeeming qualities.
  - mcphage 2mo ago
    I don’t either, but he does.
  - atmavatar 2mo ago
    A big part of his draw is that there are a lot of truly reprehensible people out there, and Trump gives his base permission to say and act out their worst instincts. For example, before Trump, it was slowly becoming increasingly unacceptable to openly espouse racist and sexist beliefs in public and among your peers. Now, we have official government communications and executive orders including blood and soil rhetoric.
  - preg_match 2mo ago
    He's loud and annoying, which many perceive as confidence. He's not confident, make no mistake, but people think he is. Someone smarter and better spoken will perform worse. They want a "simple man". Of course Trump is not actually simple, but because of how stupid he sounds they think he is.
    - ndsipa_pomu 2mo ago
      However, he tries to portray himself as smart and knowledgable but is clearly quite stupid. That doesn't track with his supporters both believing what he says and also thinking that he is stupid. In contrast, Boris Johnson (ex-UK Prime Minister) deliberately made himself look like a blundering fool (messy hair, stumbling over words etc.) whilst being very smart. Unfortunately, he lied a lot and abused his power, so we eventually got rid of him - not the kind of person you want to have power, but the type of person who seeks power.
  - exolymph 2mo ago
    He's funny as hell. I don't like him as a politician but he's an extremely effective showman.
    - mcphage 2mo ago
      Is he? He comes across as an overbearing, bossy boor. Do you have to be the right kind of person to find him funny or something?
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
solid_fuel 2mo ago
Vance has the charisma of a moldy potato and Johnson is a fucking weirdo. Trump is (justly) hated by many but he was a celebrity with decades of fame behind him and billions of dollars to throw at the presidency. Do you think that Vance or Johnson really have the skill and charisma required to stay atop the twitching corpse of a horse that used to be the republican party and keep it moving? Here's a general rule and a hint - (aspiring) dictators and authoritarians always fill the positions closest to them with people who are semi-competent, but not competent or ambitious enough to threaten their power. That's because the greatest threat to their power is from their allies, not their enemies. If Republicans found a spine or some love for their country one day they could easily impeach and remove Trump - there's no doubt the Democrats would vote for it. And, if Republicans ever do the math and decide that Trump is more of a weight than a boost, they will do exactly that. This dynamic is why we've got Pete Hegseth running the military instead of someone... sober.

by uoaei 2mo ago

OgsyedIE 2mo ago

The electoral strength of the Trump base is their ability to identify with Trump, which makes the political component of open defiance a guaranteed loser. None of Trump's presumptive successors have his advanced age, imagery of an unregimented approach to self-care, comfortable ease with crude mannerisms or showmanship. A USA where the economy is poor and the Gen X and older cohorts have returned to 2010 levels of apathy is one where Newsom, Walz, Kelly, Booker, Ocasio-Cortez etc openly directing anybody they have authority over to disregard all instructions of federal personnel up to indefinitely detaining federal personnel does not stop them from sweeping in 2028.

ndsipa_pomu 2mo ago
I've never understood how there's a cult of personality around Trump when he's not got any redeeming qualities.
- mcphage 2mo ago
  I don’t either, but he does.
- atmavatar 2mo ago
  A big part of his draw is that there are a lot of truly reprehensible people out there, and Trump gives his base permission to say and act out their worst instincts. For example, before Trump, it was slowly becoming increasingly unacceptable to openly espouse racist and sexist beliefs in public and among your peers. Now, we have official government communications and executive orders including blood and soil rhetoric.
- preg_match 2mo ago
  He's loud and annoying, which many perceive as confidence. He's not confident, make no mistake, but people think he is. Someone smarter and better spoken will perform worse. They want a "simple man". Of course Trump is not actually simple, but because of how stupid he sounds they think he is.
  - ndsipa_pomu 2mo ago
    However, he tries to portray himself as smart and knowledgable but is clearly quite stupid. That doesn't track with his supporters both believing what he says and also thinking that he is stupid. In contrast, Boris Johnson (ex-UK Prime Minister) deliberately made himself look like a blundering fool (messy hair, stumbling over words etc.) whilst being very smart. Unfortunately, he lied a lot and abused his power, so we eventually got rid of him - not the kind of person you want to have power, but the type of person who seeks power.
- exolymph 2mo ago
  He's funny as hell. I don't like him as a politician but he's an extremely effective showman.
  - mcphage 2mo ago
    Is he? He comes across as an overbearing, bossy boor. Do you have to be the right kind of person to find him funny or something?

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

solid_fuel 2mo ago

Vance has the charisma of a moldy potato and Johnson is a fucking weirdo. Trump is (justly) hated by many but he was a celebrity with decades of fame behind him and billions of dollars to throw at the presidency. Do you think that Vance or Johnson really have the skill and charisma required to stay atop the twitching corpse of a horse that used to be the republican party and keep it moving? Here's a general rule and a hint - (aspiring) dictators and authoritarians always fill the positions closest to them with people who are semi-competent, but not competent or ambitious enough to threaten their power. That's because the greatest threat to their power is from their allies, not their enemies. If Republicans found a spine or some love for their country one day they could easily impeach and remove Trump - there's no doubt the Democrats would vote for it. And, if Republicans ever do the math and decide that Trump is more of a weight than a boost, they will do exactly that. This dynamic is why we've got Pete Hegseth running the military instead of someone... sober.