Political Violence Makes The Task Of Stopping Trump And Fascism Much Harder
Political Violence Makes The Task Of Stopping Trump And Fascism Much Harder
Philosophy professor and fascism expert Jason Stanley responds to the assassination attempt on the former president, in an exclusive essay for Zeteo
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A couple years ago? Sure
Now? We are on the brink. The supreme court is so corrupt that they have given trump immunity for everything he has ever or will ever do. This includes a literal violent fucking insurrection where he attempted to lynch congress and the VPOTUS.
In a world where people gave a shit about any of the above? Yeah, this would be a problem. But Democrats and The Left are hellbent on tearing down their candidate for a multitude of reasons and have consistently refused to do anything that could possibly have prevented the current mess of a supreme court.
Attempted political violence doesn't make stopping trump harder. Yes, it emboldens his base but nobody else is going to feel sympathy and the Democrats were always going to kill their own chances anyway.
nobody else is going to feel sympathy
The undecided voter who only pays attention to the news when something "big" is happening doesn't like assassins and think fist pumping after a bullet flies by your head like a cheesy movie scene is super cool.
Beyond that, the rhetoric of violence just kind of validates all the claims about might making right that fascists hold on to anyway, which is probably a bit to esoteric for a lot of people to see but I'm pretty sure it shows dividends that will undermine future efforts at a better society. I won't say violence is never justified (e.g. self defense situations), but just as a political tactic against fascism assassinations are like cutting the head off a hydra.
e;
We are on the brink.
This I emphatically agree with.
If an "undecided" voter decides to vote for trump because he got shot? They are the dumbest mother fucker in existence and were looking for an excuse to vote for a fascist anyway.
I’m pretty sure it shows dividends that will undermine future efforts at a better society.
That ship has sailed. We are no longer fighting for a better society. We are fighting for a society period.
If the end result is "This nation is fundamentally broken and we need to re-assess the constitution before we engage in full blow civil war... again"? GOOD.
But that self awareness is not going to happen under the fascists who are openly undermining the country and planning to make trump a king.
Agreed, however, I think a lot of voters are vying for the title of "dumbest motherfucker in existence" so I will definitely keep fighting tooth and nail to make sure people I know vote and fight against fascism.
Therein lies a massive problem with the US electorate. Be it due to modern media, poorly funded schools, or more probably, both of those things, you're going to need a plurality of the dumbest motherfuckers in existence to vote for you if you want to win just about any election.
Yes. It is The struggle
But if something as trivial as "his ear was too close to a speeding bullet and he bled a bit" wins him a vote? That voter was never going to be YOUR voter.
Failed political violence makes stopping Trump harder.
Political violence may stop Trump the man, but do you think it'll stop Trumpism? No. It won't. Instead, some authoritarian jackwagon who actually knows how to play the game will step up into Trump's shoes, and ride his assassination straight into the White House. Then they'll dismantle Democracy so they can't lose again, and the only way we get them out of power is by bleeding a whole fucking lot. The good news is it's some unhinged Republican who took a shot at Trump, so it may take some of the wind out of Trump's sails on this.
They'd still need a figurehead to become the President. Who could it even be, without splintering Trump's coalition into disparate factions?
If you truly believe this, I don't know what to tell you. If enough of the Left believe this, we're lost.
Ron Desantis will GLADLY step up and take over from Trump. And he's a bit more competent than the Shitgibbon.
He can't win, though. He's a loser.
Pretty much all of Trump's hangers on are losers. They have zero charisma and voters hate them. Without Trump they're toast.
Wow. You are sure of yourself there. Absolutely no way at all that Desantis, Haley, or Ramaswamy might not pick up SOME of Trump's votes? Especially if Trump was assassinated? No chance at all the MAGAts won't line up behind whoever takes on the reins?
All I think would need to happen is the candidate stepping in for Trump says he's gonna make the Left pay by making sure everything Trump was going to do gets done. I don't share your optimism that assassinating Trump will make our job any easier. In fact, I think there'll be plenty of Trumpers with rifles looking for a few Liberals to make pay for their guy being killed.
But you do you. I'm done here.
But Democrats and The Left are hellbent on tearing down their candidate for a multitude of reasons
Reasons like he may not be fit to do the job, he's trailing in the polls, and is likely to lose?
and have consistently refused to do anything that could possibly have prevented the current mess of a supreme court.
Such as? Everyone says this but never gives the next sentence, what they should have done.
Stack the supreme court to better represent a 50+ state country of 340 million people. Or, as of the recent ruling, use an Official Act or two to fix the fucking courts.
Needs Congress, and there's barely a Senate majority. You think Manchin is going to play ball for that? We couldn't even get rid of the filibuster.
I think this is the kind of situation where you pull out every single stop because it is literally the future of the country. I don't care what back room deals are being made. I care about there being a future.
You know, rather than having a ruling that is basically "Anything that is an official act is legal and if there is a dispute we'll eventually rule in favor of the republicans when it gets to us". Which... opens up the kind of options that this article is saying would help trump even though they clearly wouldn't.
Stack the court how? Congress can set a different number, what's the plan to get it through the House and Senate?
pull out every single stop
Like what? You don't have the numbers. This is my issue, this is the equivalent of saying "stuff, just do stuff".
The President no longer needs to get anything through Congress. He can just do it unilaterally and dare SCOTUS to overturn its own recent opinion.
But he actually can't. He can't expand the court and he can't seat justices. You're just saying nonsense.
You really need to read Sotomayor’s dissent in Trump v. United States.
He may need Congress' "consent" for some things but he can Seal Team Six any Congressperson who doesn't "consent," so effectively he can do whatever he wants.
You really need to read Sotomayor’s dissent in Trump v. United States.
I have.
He may need Congress' "consent" for some things but he can Seal Team Six any Congressperson who doesn't "consent," so effectively he can do whatever he wants.
- He wouldn't. 2. If he did he'd be prosecuted. 3. This was never meant to allow Biden any power, R is the in group, D is the out group. 4. Republican ideology doesn't treat in and out groups the same, the rules are different.
So please stop.
You're completely missing the fact that the final arbiter of what consists of an "official act" is SCOTUS. They can unilaterally decide (and will) that Biden's actions are not official acts and therefore not immune. They won't apply the same standard to conservatives, I promise you that.
The SCOTUS is the final arbiter.
The SCOTUS that got smeared across the wall by seal team six and are being replaced by people who will say "Well, that was legal at the time so no harm, no foul. Now let's get rid of that fucking insane decision and fix this country, shall we?"
Exactly congress will atleast control some things, like the flow of money.
At the end of the day, republicans and dinos are just looking out for their own self interest. I don't care if we need to rebuild Epstein's Island and dedicate most of an annual military budget to get them on our side, we do it.
But also? As I have repeatedly alluded to: The Supreme Court just ruled that anything the president does is legal. Up to and including siccing seal team six on a political rival.
Yes, the Supreme Court are the ones who eventually decide if something counted as an official act. But there are supreme court approved ways to create openings to get more legal minded justices on the bench.
republicans and dinos are just looking out for their own self interest. I don't care if we need to rebuild Epstein's Island and dedicate most of an annual military budget to get them on our side, we do it.
Here's the problem, they understand the power of the Supreme Court. There's nothing you can offer them to untie this particular knot, none of them are voting to expand the court.
And you continue to ignore the supreme court sanctioned method of "cutting the gordian knot" with seal team six.
So it is very clear you are not arguing in good faith since you continue to focus on how there is nothing that can be done so let's turn the other cheek so that we leave nice corpses for the republicans.
And you continue to ignore the supreme court sanctioned method of "cutting the gordian knot" with seal team six.
This isn't a thing. If Biden ordered the assassination of justices he'd be prosecuted by the DoJ and the FBI. You're insane if you think otherwise.
So it is very clear you are not arguing in good faith
Not arguing in good faith? You cannot give a specific example of what Dems could have done to avoid this or what they can do now. You backed yourself into a corner and are now screeching seal team six nonsense.
Biden wouldn't do it, Dems wouldn't stand for it, and SCOTUS wouldn't sanction it. It's a nonsense argument to distract from the other vague nonsense you've said.
What part of "SCOTUS just made the President a King" do you not understand? Biden could literally kill Manchin (and any other Congressperson who refused to rubber-stamp his plan) and it would be legal.
Polls haven't shifted one way or the other as of yet. If this does anything, then there might need to be a different conversation.
Polls haven't shifted one way or the other as of yet. If this does anything, then there might need to be a different conversation.
Biden has been trending down since April and has been behind in the polls since then. His an incumbent who is down in the polls.
How about the fact that he looks confused a lot too? He's very old and doddering. At his age he couldn't be a judge in my state, but he can be president?