138 Comments

Trump's cult is loud, it has shown a penchant for violence, but it is not led by brilliant strategists nor is it very large. Sure, it's about 30% of what passes for the Republican Party, but the Republican Party is less than 30% of all voters. That means it is a very small minority of the country.

Time for us to act like it. There are a lot more of us than there are of them. We are the majority. We have put up with their bullshit for far too long. And if they want trouble, I say Bring It On. Sure, there might have been 15,000 of those assholes in Waco last night, but more than a few reports said that they started to leave after 30 minutes of the Dear Leader (I think they really came to see Ted Nugent and Marge, but that's just me). So what? He wanted them out in force in NYC and he got nothing. And in spite of the fact that Garland seems unable to prosecute the big fish, they are going to prison by the dozens in DC. So, let him whine. Let him think that he can rally Y'all Queda to his side. When he loses again, both in court and at the ballot box, we need to make sure we never hear from him again.

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I think you're stating pure reality, Peter, freakshow performances by djt and followers notwithstanding. My sole real concern is the open question of how big a cohort of the military and law enforcement is avid enough MAGA to be armed, dangerous, and disloyal to oaths of duty.

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THAT really is the biggest thing to worry about...

I don't want to think about how ugly that could get...

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Dear, Lord. I hope you are right. I find it all terrifying.

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I also find it terrifying, but I also find them to be pitiful. A month or so ago I found myself at a stoplight next to a pick up festooned with Trump stickers. Being the smartass that I am, I rolled down my window and yelled "Now I know what a racist moron looks like" at the driver. He flipped me off and when the light turned he burned rubber to get away. They are bullies and like all bullies when you smack them in the face they run home crying to Mommy.

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You were really lucky the guy didn't have a gun!!!

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True. This is New York. That likelihood is lower than in some shithole state like Texass.

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And the likelihood is lower hecause NY state has so far thwarted SCOTUS efforts to arm occupants of NY pickup trucks too.

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A dozen or two fanatics (with a plan) launched the Sept. 11 attacks, killed thousands, and changed history. There are millions of out-of-their-minds Drumpf cultists and many of them are armed and defiant of the laws of this country. They can do a LOT more harm than any threat this country has ever faced from within since at least the Civil War.

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How an attack would benefit trump is unclear to me. You think it would spread his popularity? Yes, Waco energized Timothy McVeigh. Did a response of mass murder promote his goals? Oklahoma City and Charlottesville attacks did little to popularize domestic terrorists. The.9/11 attacks' practical effect was to turn up national security. Terrorism succeeds to the extent it freezes progress. The Bush administration's response to the WTC and Pentagon attacks demonstrates a failed response. NYC's immediate, defiant rebuilding, proud embrace of diversity, and refusal to cave in were exemplary, magnetic till covid accomplished what terrorists could not.

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I think the current circumstances and threat we face from empowered (by Trump) domestic insurrectionists is very different from the 9-11 response. That was an act of terrorism but what is brewing in this country right now is a more-or-less brazen and open rebellion, "in slo-mo" as one commentator put it. Intimidation, insurrection, definace of the law -- and the ground work for conflict in the next year, whether Drumpf succeeds in being elected, or is installed by machinations of the electoral vote.

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I don't mean to deny the gravity of the domestic terrorists' threat. But, as presented, acknowledgment often seems to imply inevitable success or catastrophic disruption, and that I don't buy. Some 9/11 lessons do apply. I watched the WTC North Tower collapse irl from a few blocks away, not on tv. Then for months I watched the heroic cleanup from closer. I saw the mayor of Oklahoma City stand on a restaurant chair to address rescue workers on dinner break. His patriotic advice: Don't feel you must tough out what will come next; seek therapy. Cleanup complete—on time, under budget, no fatalities—a proud little parade bearing the last beam rolled up the crews' route, West Street, where New Yorkers had applauded them every day, not up Broadway. Always remember, wherever terrorists and their support come from—Saudi Arabia or Staten Island—our resources are better than theirs.

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I hope you're right -- I'd hate to have to put this to the test, to stake our future on a nightmare scenario; whatever the outcome might be, the process will be ugly.

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I think Garland will do just fine.

Also Independents hate this shit. If Trump were running an actual campaign he wouldn't be turning them off like this.

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I hope you're right about Garland and doubt the threat of the kind of "campaign" trump's running. You're assuming normal-person rationality. What kind of person would ever have voted for him? We can't understand their looniness. He does. I don't think he gives a hoot about anyone but the base (and they're base, all right). I think it comes down to the old Anything to own the libs. As long as he sticks with épatering us, he's doing well with the base even if they're weary of his schtick. Even if he doesn't have their backs, he reassures them constantly he's on their side and hates us as much as they do.

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See my comment on the recent polls. We ain't the majority. Wish we were. When Trump in the polls on 538 is ahead of Biden...."Houston, we have a problem."

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We are more the majority than the GOP. Independents are the majority. Trump will never be president again.

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I hope you are correct, but the polls are not showing that at the moment. 538 and the polls which take in independents and both parties, are NOT showing what you wrote.

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I have no idea what 538 is or are. Every poll I have seen up to about a month ago showed Biden beating Trump easily. Since then I have no idea but they are a non-issue at this point.

My read on Biden is he is not running and we have many excellent candidates to take his place.

Regardless, Trump will never again be president. I highly doubt he will be the GOP nominee and I don't even think he's running a serious campaign. It's more of a fundraiser. He's going to be indicted in 3 jurisdictions spending all his time in court.

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I know what 538 is. 538 parlayed its surprise accuracy on a longago election into an nyt association into a successful business that swings between incorrect predictions and explanations of its incorrect predictions. (It may even be right at times?)

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We are the majority, polls don't matter, votes matter. And Trump has lost the GQP three elections in a row. That said, as good a job as Biden has done, I'd rather see a newer, younger face as the Democratic candidate in 2024, especially on the stage with a clearly diminished old orange man.

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As someone who is in my 70's, I cannot comprehend how anyone on the downward arc toward death can continue to lie and hate and provoke harm for others. If you are fortunate to live this long, and if you have not done so before now, it is the time of life to make peace, make amends, love, forgive, make the world better off then when you were born because you don't know when your opportunities to do so will end by your death.

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Well put. I'm in my 70's, and those thoughts go through my mind, as well. The thing is, I don't think Trump and his family think like what I would consider "normal" people. He belongs more in the world of tyrants, dictators, and mass murders.

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Traitor Tot doesn’t think like most humans. He asks himself, “How can I reek vengeance and havoc on all those who wronged me?”

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The fist thing he asks is, what's in it for me?

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Entitled is his reason for being. He is soooo stupid, he has no clue that he lies. He thinks he is disseminating real information.

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OK, "Traitor Tot" is a winner!!! Thanks for the morning chuckle.

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March 27, 2023
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I stole it from someone on this site. I'm keeping a list of nicknames for him. So far I have 25. Here's a few more from contributors on this site: Mangolini, Wussollini, Agent Orange, Orange Foolius, The Great Pretender, Herr Gropenfeuhrer.

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Yessssss!!!

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I agree with you... it is his 'September'.

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yes...if you're reasonably "normal."

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I recently saw an interview with a Jan 6 rioter, who said with piteous sincerity, “He said I was special.”

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So special he let the poor J6 rioter go to prison while he stuffed his face at Mierdalardo.

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No pardons and no legal bills paid. Real real special. Empty special.

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Special means "one of the monarchy", those who are born to be kings, God's anoited ones, royal. What a schtick.

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Isn't that interesting. Trump knows words to use with them. Depending on who's calling you special it is an amazingly powerful set of words, "You are special." He used that telling the insurrectionists to go home, too. We love you. You are special. Now if there's anything genius at all about Trump, it is the negative field but he has the exact buzz words for this bunch.

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And one should ask them, if you were a rioter and charged, I guess you weren't special enough for one of those pardons or having your legal bills paid. Now that's what I'd call special.

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He's a joke as a human being, but unfortunately he's not a joke as an inciter of violence.

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March 26, 2023
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Hold them, oh my, I can't bear the thought of being that close to them.

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Biden could stop all of it tomorrow. Fire Milquetoast Merrick and hire someone who can do the job. It's one of the main reasons people voted for him, and it's a slap in the face to all of us that he can't say that. It's a big reason why his approval rating is in the toilet. We are up against the Terminator. "It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!" And the sooner Biden recognizes that fact, the better.

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I am really sorry you feel that way about Merrick. There is so much evidence that there's a huge moving force going on just about this. The wheels of justice often seem to grind so slowly and often they do. But this is actually movning at a steady clip. I would ask you to be patient a little longer, realizing I may not get what I like but I do believe a lot is baking and ready to come out of the oven sooner rather than later.

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I really hope you are right about this, Mary!

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We all do. I know that's true. It is agonizing waiting. I am agnized and I worked in this field a long, long time. You can have a sure thing going on and bam, all bets are off. I also have everything crossed for good luck that I can think of.

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You and me, Babee. You and me.

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Oh, you give Trump way too much credit by calling him The Terminator. If that he is, then it’s The Terminator at the end of its run, battered and bruised, the on-light barely blinking. « I’ll be back » is no longer credible.

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Sorry, but Trump will not be done until he is indicted, convicted and exiles himself to some island as this financial empire crumbles. He hasn't begun to create pain for people all around him in his business, politically and his family. And unfortunately, the damage he has done and will do to our democracy and our way of life will live on long after he is gone. I am afraid the healing is going to be a long process.

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Yes sadly. It's going to take years.

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I hope so. We'll see.

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I have a couple of problems with this.

First I believe that slow walking the Trump investigations for the first 2 years is exactly what Biden wanted and what he probably asked Garland to do. Biden lamented when he got elected that the DOJ might get on the way of his agenda. And his agenda has done more in 2 years than anyone since FDR.

Second, now that the investigation is back on track the DOJ has been making all the right moves. They win every court case and they are offering immunity to some key witnesses like Kash Patel (however you spell it). This is not the same thing as prosecuting some 1/6 rioters who walks in and confesses. These investigations take many years. Take a look at the relatively straightforward case of Andrew Gillam, who ran against DeSantis, 6 years.

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The fastest thing I've seen in any high-profile case is pretty much the less than 24 hours the judge gave Trump's attorneys to present an argument by a certain hour at night and giving the government attorneys until 6 a.m. to respond. That was like the speed of an intercontinental ballistic missile which I like imagining hitting Trump's legal defense smack in its black raisin of a heart.

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But Sarah Connor defeated the Terminator.

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I actually think it’s more likely and in character for Trump to be preparing the ground to turn the casting and counting of votes into chaos and into an election steal with the help of the Republican state executive, legislative, and judicial deniers, and then have all of his MAGA minions in the streets demanding and declaring that he won.

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Let’s hope he’s in prison before the 2024 election.

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You hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what he will do with the election with the right wing legislatures. That is when all hell breaks loose and chaos descends and lives will be lost. He will stop at nothing to win. He has mentally gone crackers.

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Just to give a little context to this slimeball's lies about Jan 6th, NPR had a report on those who have been charged in the Jan 6th insurrection. (I refuse to use the word 'riot', because it was an attempt to subvert our government and only 'insurrection' encompasses the gravity of the event.)

Please note, though-the numbers are still growing, because the feds are still looking for over 1,000 more people who they believe were involved.

This isn't over by a long shot, but read this report and remember, Donald Trump did this.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/1165022885/1000-defendants-january-6-capitol-riot

By the way, to give some nuanced context for the 'rally' a lot of the attendees started leaving half-way through his speech. They'd been waiting all day for him, and they were tired.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-waco-2659656624/

" Donald Trump's first major rally of the year as he tries to avenge his 2020 election loss went off without a hitch in Waco on Saturday but fans didn't stick around long, reports the Waco Tribune-Herald. "

He's losing his mojo and he's the only one who doesn't know it.

The original news article about it:

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/trump-draws-thousands-to-waco-rally-sticks-with-familiar-themes/article_1ec36070-cb6f-11ed-9dc9-5739d75d987e.html

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Thanks for both the links and the concise summaries.

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I strongly suspect that those attempting to “take the White House by force,” will be met this time by massive military force and not by a few lightly armed police.

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I believe you are right. I became so angry after reading Lucians' post that I engaged my mouth before my brain. But I agree that another attempt at violence against our government will be met with a force that will astound the insurrectionists. But for sure, the orange traitor will be nowhere to be found. He is too much of a coward. The "show" he put on in Waco will prevent him from claiming he was exercising his first amendment right to free speech this time.

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Red hats. Brown shirts. Same shit, different century.

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I shudder to know that 70 million fools voted for him in 2020.

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He will crash and burn. What a waste of time.

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Well, we know what political pornography looks like.

Using videos of his brown shirts sacking the Capitol makes it official fascism is alive and well in America and MAGA is its name.

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Forewarned is Forewarned. I'm guessing that this will not play well in suburban voting precincts, but it's too early to tell. My suggestion would be to indict Trump and bring him to trial. And ramp up training the National Guard in riot control. This one isn't going to be like that which occurred at Kent State, Ohio, May 1 - 4, 1970. If any of those rioters brings a weapon to a 'stop-the-steal' rally, there is going to be serious trouble. This needs to be put down forcefully. There are less lethal methods of crowd control than were employed at Kent State, but if protesters are armed, all bets are off.

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Ah, the party of "law and order." Isn't that what the GOP thinks of itself? Isn't that their pitch? When did the rot really start festering? With Nixon and the WH Plumbers? And how about Spiro and his grifting? After Nixon's pardon (boy, that really taught the future crooks --here's looking at you, Dick -- a lesson, didn't it?) Then, we got Reagan and Ollie North and Iran-Contra. Toss in an invasion of Iraq based on lies about WMDs (go big or go home). Add McConnell refusing to let Obama get a vote on a nominee to SCOTUS, and lie after lie about "stolen" elections. Don't forget the lies told to get Trump's (who announced his candidacy from the "down" escalator, symbolism which has been proven prescient) nominees to SCOTUS confirmed. I wish that Biden, his administration, the Democrats, and the DOJ were half as "woke" as the GOP claims -- wake up and see that the real crime is the destruction of democratic norms and safeguards, and no one seems to have the wherewithal to stop it. It is a mistake to fail to hold Trump accountable ostensibly because his cult followers would be enraged/mobilized/apoplectic; after all, they already are all that.

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Great Summary of the GOP crimes and misdeeds. "Corruption" is too mild a term but I can't think of another one.

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His remarks in Waco were less incendiary than his recent social media posts on "Truth" Social. Perhaps some of his unpaid lawyers advised him that he could be held civilly liable were one of his targets to be injured or killed by one of his followers following Trumpian incitement to "get rid of" them. Some DC and Capitol cops are already suing him for the harm done to them by his cult followers on Jan. 6.

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"Sedition is a serious felony punishable by fines and prison time, and it refers to the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it."

Ok I'm not a lawyer - but how is this not sedition???

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