Tag: A Very American Autocracy

‘May You Live In Interesting Times’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

But for the fact that we will never have another free-and-fair Federal election in my lifetime, I would say that Trump’s clusterfuck the last few weeks might mean something.

But, fun fact, nope.

Trump is going to run for — and win — a third term and we’ll all be sitting around wondering who will be his successor. The chief reason for all of this is the Republican Party, on an existential basis, is corrupt, autocratic and craven to the point that only burning it to the ground would change anything.

And that, my friends, is just not going to happen.

So, we’re stuck with one of our two major parties not believing in any form of democracy that doesn’t help them. As such, while there may be the occasional flair up, in general we’re heading into a New Age where the US is probably going to align with Russia and other autocratic states just as the social safety net is gutted for huge tax breaks for plutocrats.

Lulz, nothing matters.

The United States Will Never Have Free-And-Fair Federal Elections Again

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is it, folks, the end. It’s clear now that our democracy was far less stable than we realized. But, here we are, at the end of the road. We will never have free and fair Federal elections again.

For the time being, we’ll*probably* have something akin to free and fair state and local elections, but that’s it. And that doesn’t even begin to address the idea that something might go wrong and we’ll swerve into a militarized police state of some sort.

Anyway. Trump is going to ruin the United States and we’re now a fascist state. I really need to get out of this country at some point, but that’s just not practical for the time being. I just hope I don’t get pushed out a window.

The Kennedy Center Is Going To Suck Now

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump seems determined to drive the Kennedy Center into the ditch like he does everything else he touches. Kid Rock will probably have a residency there soon enough. Or, I could see Trump turning the place is a sleezier version of the Grande Olde Opry.

Something horrible like that.

And I continue to doubt we’re ever going to have free-and-fair elections on a Federal basis ever again so, lulz, this is it. Trump and his toadies are going to ruin the entire country, at least for the rest of my life.

I need to get used to living in rather different country, I guess. Maybe one day I’ll find the funds to leave the country somehow, but that could be a long, long time from now and I’m going to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Trumplandia fortune for the time being.

The Quiet Before The Storm?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are pretty quiet at the moment, in relative terms. There is the usual Trump chaos, but, in general, things are kind of meh. And it’s not like I want anything big to happen — unless it’s cool.

My lingering fear is that whatever “event” happens is Trump’s Reichstag Fire moment that he uses as an excuse to seize control of the country in a big way. We can only hope *nothing* happens and we’ll just slink into our autocratic future without too much horrible things going on in the process.

Contemplating The Possible Collapse Of The Social Security Administration

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As is always the case with Trumplandia, a lot is going on at the same time. The economy — apparently according to forecasting data — is just about to tank in a way not seen in decades. Meanwhile, there is growing chatter among those in-the-know that the skullfucking that Trump is doing to the Social Security Administration…might…actually cause some disruption in the ability of the service to cut checks on time.

Now, before you get too excited, Americans are extremely docile folks. Not even a Great Depression got them to do anything of note. And the Civil War was, in real terms, something of a fluke and in some ways only happened because Abraham Lincoln, personally, was a badass.

And remember, even if somehow, magically, people took to the streets en masse in an effort to bring down Tyrant Trump one of two things would happen — one it works and there’s a civil war because MAGA Reds would pop a gasket or two it doesn’t work and Tyrant Trump uses it as an excuse to consolidate power and we become a military police state.

So, lulz?

Americans love to just “muddle through” things, but I Trump, personally, is a a cocksucker who loves to make it impossible to do just that, so….we’ll see. It’s at least possible that, by the end of the year, the USA will not only pull out of NATO and the UN, but become a full-fledged tyrannical state under the MAGA Nazi jackboot.

Sigh.

This Is Not Your Father’s Autocratic America

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The case could be made that the United States has, essentially, been an autocracy without an autocrat for sometime now. But, finally, we have our autocrat in the guise of Trump and…lulz?

People are making some basic assumptions about our future that just aren’t accurate. We’re never going to have free-and-fair Federal elections again and Republicans just don’t give a shit what you, the voter, thinks. So, getting mad at them on Twitter doesn’t mean jack shit.

Now, this raises the obvious issue of — what is to be done?

All the obvious ideas are not ones I really want to entertain at the moment because I hate what it would involve. But I just want people to realize that the United States is now Trumplandia. We are no longer a democracy and we’re just one tweet away by Trump from aligning ourselves with other autocratic states like Russia, Turkey and Hungary.

And all of this is happening in the context of the Singularity rushing towards us. So, I don’t know what to tell you, folks. I don’t think Americans, in general, are prepared to do what they would have to do to get rid of the Trump regime and MAGA so we just have to get used to all of America becoming Pottersville from It’s A Wonderful Life.

Good luck.

Welp, Maybe I Called It

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


I was just being rhetorical when I suggested that ding-dong Trump might pull the United States out of NATO and align with Russia. Now, given that Musk agrees with this nightmare….maybe it’s actually going to happen?

I still don’t know if any Americans would care. NATO and the UN are largely abstract concepts to Americans obsessed with the price of eggs, so… lulz? Maybe Trump really could do as I fear and do an “Axis of Evil” with the United States, Russia, Turkey and Hungary being members.

Then what. Then what would happen?

There might be some protests, but not enough to change Trump — or Musk’s — mind. So, lulz? It continue to think that the next five years could be some of the most dramatic years since at least the end of WW2, if you factor in the issue of the Singularity rushing towards us at a fast clip.

If Trump Destroyed The Post-WW2 Liberal Order, Would Any Americans Care?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is increasingly clear that we may be but one Truth Social post away from completely re-aligning the global order by trying to form some alliance with Russia. The specifics are up in the air, but I could totally see him taking “America First” to its logical conclusion by ending American involvement in NATO and forming some sort of new military alliance between the United States, Russia, Turkey and Hungary.

And that, as they say, would be that.

Given the absolute power Trump has over the Republican Party, I suspect within hours of the announcement the talking points would be distributed and everyone would fall into line. This, especially if Trump pitched it as a way to cut the military budget significantly so he could cut takes even more for plutocrats.

I do sense that the United States is growing just a wee bit more unstable than it used to be just months (weeks?) ago. Trump flipping out on the president of Ukraine in the Oval Office recently may be seen as a watershed in our long national MAGA nightmare.

It reminded a lot of people that, “Hey, is Trump a Russian spy?” And, yet, I have my doubts that even if my nightmare scenario came to be that anything of note would happen. MAGA would tow the line while the already pointless Democratic leadership would just wince and grit its teeth, not actually doing anything worthwhile.

So, I do think it’s at least possible that by the time Trump is Moscow in May to celebrate the end of WW2 that, lulz, we may be living in a totally different geopolitical world than we do now.

The Eagle & The Bear: Thinking The Unthinkable

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Given what happened today at the White House between Trump and the president of Ukraine, we have to contemplate Trump taking things to the next logical step — destroying the post-WW2 liberal order entirely and aligning the USA with Russia.

Here’s how I think it would happen — Trump, at some point between now and when he goes to Russia for the anniversary of the end of WW2, will announce that the US is not only pulling out of NATO, but forming a new alliance with Russia, Turkey and Hungary.

He will also say that the USA is pulling out all of its troops from Europe and South Korea and cutting the defense budge severely.

It definitely *seems* as though the events of the last few weeks are leading up to something like that. Now, of course, the question is, will Trump do it?

America, You In Danger Girl

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t know what to tell you, folks. We are still in the 1939 to 1941 era of this clusterfuck. The good guys still don’t know what has hit them and maybe in this particular situation, they never will.

Unless something happens I can’t predict, the USA is careening towards a full blown Russian-style autocracy sooner rather than later. Trump will run for an illegal third term, win and the point will be made, no matter what — the old Constitutional order is completely broken and, lulz, we’re going to have to think up something new.

This is just the beginning. Trump is probably going to remove troops from around the world — specifically South Korea and much of Europe. He will probably make it clear that NATO is moot, no matter what the Senate may want.

The question is — will anything stop Trump at this point? Anything? Anything?