A thread of statements addressing the closing arguments of the Trump campaign

@wdlindsy @Deixis9

Perhaps "strategy" is too ambitious a word. I am wondering if "stupidity" (but see below) is just infectious: Stupidity produces more stupidity and in the end stupidity elect stupidity. I am thinking less biologically, but rather like prion in mem-space, a self-propagating rotting away of the substrate for science, logic and discourse.

Stupidity: Yes, I mean, despite using this word, mostly "undereducated". ...

Commenting on Trump's bloody fantasy about placing Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad, Lucian K. Truscott notes that Candidate Bone Spurs dodged the draft and doesn't even know how to fire a rifle himself. Then he adds

"In the closing days of this campaign, Trump is defaulting to threats of violence and arrest."

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/20

Candidate Bone Spurs threatens Liz Cheney with a firing squad

In the context of calling Liz Cheney a “war hawk,” Trump says she should be given “a rifle” and face what amounts to a firing squad of “nine barrels.”

(luciantruscott.substack.com)

Timothy Snyder creates a helpful lineup of statements Trump made at his fascist hatefest at Madison Square Gardens and statements made in the same venue at the Nazi rally of the American German Bund in 1939.

He concludes,

"If you like, see if you can tell which is which.

Once you have sorted it out, see if that makes anything better.

Donald Trump is working within a tradition, and he knows it."

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/21

Rallies at Madison Square Garden

Quotations from October 27th, 2024, and February 20th, 1939

(snyder.substack.com)

@wdlindsy Remember the time when the orange guy’s wife gave a speech that was plagiarized (original version was Michelle Obama’s speech)?It’s not new that this group only knows how to copy. It’s up to voters to catch up on history lessons they missed or skipped years ago so that they take action quickly to stop this divisive, destructive, and deadly hate through the power of their votes.

@wdlindsy

#trump doesn't surprise me ... I'm surprised by how many people will be voting for him.

@wdlindsy Modeling is a powerful teaching technique. Trump gets away with criminal and immoral behavior, so a huge slice of US citizens say, “Why not”. If #Trump had been incarcerated even once, it would have been a tremendous social deterent. It may be too late now, and our Judiciary is to blame.

"We’ve come full circle after nine years. We started with being able to get away with shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue to calling for the execution of an opposing politician.

I don’t know how many people this latest monstrosity [i.e., Trump's bloody fantasy of having Liz Cheney executed] will move."

~ Mark Mansour

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/22

America’s Fractured Politics | Mark Mansour | Substack

A newsletter about politics and the law by a longtime Democratic activist. Click to read America’s Fractured Politics, by Mark Mansour, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

(mmansour.substack.com)

"This country is big enough to accommodate two responsible political parties. It has for many years. It is not big enough to hold a sane party and the Trump party. If they win, it will be years before we have a fighting chance to restore comity and sanity. If they win, our civil liberties are in danger, as are future elections. If they win, we will no longer be able to speak out as we do here without real fear of retribution."

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/23

Isabel Fattal and Stephanie Bai offer a helpful list of forty instances in which Trump has incited or praised violence against his fellow citizens, from the 2016 campaign until today. They wrote this BEFORE Trump fantasized about putting Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad.

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/24

A Brief History of Trump’s Violent Remarks

Here are 40 instances in which the former president incited or praised violence against his fellow citizens.

The Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com)

@wdlindsy

"Have you ever wondered how good was so easily destroyed by evil in the past?

And thought to yourselves how ignorant and unaware those people must have been?

Well, look around.

Because the past is upon you."
SearingTruth

@wdlindsy

I’ve had the occasion to travel pretty extensively in my rural area the last two weeks.
I see more signs for djt than for Harris/Walz.

I looked at every house thinking, “these people are my neighbors. What do they think they see in him?”

I don’t know.

I hope Harris wins in numbers so overwhelming he just goes away.

I can dream!

"Maybe it was always building to this: thousands of people singing and dancing to 'Macho Man,' some sporting neon safety vests, others in actual trash bags, a symbolic expression of solidarity with their authoritarian hero whose final week on the campaign trail has revolved around the word garbage."

~ John Hendrickson

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/25

What Trump Sees Coming

At one of his final dystopian rodeos, the former president hinted at 2025 and beyond.

The Atlantic (www.theatlantic.com)

"Trump is returning to his conspiratorial election denialism. Four years ago, he tried to undermine the results in Arizona, Georgia, and other states. Last night, he singled out Pennsylvania. (A day earlier, his campaign had filed a lawsuit in the state, alleging voter suppression.) …

Whether he succeeds or fails, the detritus that Trump has left behind will likely linger."

#Trump #fascism #racism #misogyny #violence #economy #garbage
/26

@wdlindsy Billionaires are really worried their time is coming - AND THEY ARE CORRECT.

@wdlindsy next time, we need to lean into some sort of fecal metaphor: lying sack of shit being my personal favorite

@wdlindsy

"Learning to Kill

It's odd the way that societies change. Time and time again historians and sociologists are taken aback in wonder and confusion at the sudden, dramatic, and often dangerous transformations of a people’s basic nature and identity.

When this occurs in individuals we call it insanity, and often look for psychological or biological illness to explain the anomaly. When it occurs in societies we call it inhumanity, and have yet to address its root cause.

There are of course the classic and well known transformations of good societies into those who embrace darkness, such as the Germans adopting the ideals of the madman Hitler, or the Italians adopting his lesser counterpart Mussolini. But there are unfortunately many lesser discussed and equally tragic examples of a societies transgressions against its own mores. From the ancient Greeks and Romans, to modern day Americans and Europeans, societies have shown a great propensity for suddenly abandoning their most cherished beliefs and morals, and in their stead, learning to kill.

To be sure, these transformations do not occur overnight, but are instead attended by a slow, steady, but ever increasing drumbeat of misinformation, dehumanization, beratement, and ultimate hysteria directed towards any perceived enemy. The voices of reason and dissent are routinely suppressed and discredited, the rule of law abandoned, and any possible sense of guilt muted by vague and overt appeals to absolute nationalism.

And so we find humanity today.

In the midst of elections where the abandonment of our most basic precepts of humanity are trialed, humanity hangs bare.

Learning to kill.

It's not as difficult as we thought."
SearingTruth

@wdlindsy

"We are one last lantern.

To light the rest.

So shine.

And drown the darkness."
SearingTruth

@wdlindsy I still remember the woman quoted during Trump's first presidency, complaining that "he isn't hurting the people he needs to be hurting."

That told me a lot about why people supported him.

Every Trump supporter has a list of enemies whom they want Trump to persecute for them.

They know Trump has an enemies list, too.

They assume it coincides with theirs.

It would be satisfying to watch them find out they're wrong, but I'd rather the issue simply not come up.

Vote Harris/Walz.

@wdlindsy

Trump is a dangerous man, and I think a Putin supporter.

I am more nervous about the USA elections than I was about the UK ones.

@lyndamerry484 I agree, and I understand your reason for being nervous about the US elections: they will have global consequences.