What makes you think the midterms will be free and fair elections?
Still living in ignorance. There will be no real elections any more, as they have told multiple times
Don’t worry. There will be no midterms due to (random excuse). Signed: Emporer Donald Trump
More likely there will be rigged elections, to give the pretense of legitimacy. Just like in Russia.
Elon Musk will just manipulate the outcome of the elections, just like he did in 2024. It no longer matters who you vote for; it matters only who Elon Musk sponsors.
There’ll be a war before the midterms, martial law will be declared and elections will be suspended. That’s what I suspect he’ll do.
During all the wars the US has ever been in, elections have never been suspended.
Have you been watching what this clown is doing? There’s always a first time with him.
Doesn’t even have to be an actual war - this government showed that they can redefine words to mean whatever they want (see them invoking a wartime law recently), so they might as well define drag queens as an invasive species, declare war on them and implement martial law/suspend elections because who’s gonna stop them?
Exactly, war isn’t necessary, all he needs us a large protest. He’ll send in goons to instigate violence, then send in authorities to break it up. After some nasty violence, probably some deaths, he will have the justification to impose martial law. Then he can suspend elections until peace is restored, and since he controls the peace, that will never happen.
He needs to keep his congressional majorities, to give him credibility and to keep investigative commitees under Republican control. He will never allow free elections unless he is confident that MuskRat’s/ Russia’s/ China’s hackers have the election system fully rigged.
Yea, I’m no doomer. But, I read a lot of history. Trump getting inaugurated and Elon throwing a seig heil twice solidified my belief that there will be no 2028 presidential election.
Trump will manufacture a “Reichstag Fire” moment which will be used to blame “antifa”, “leftists”, “trans”, “immigrants”, etc. and then martial law will be implemented. However, this will only come after Trump feels satisfied that the military has been purged of any high ranking officials that may dissent.
Once martial law is enforced, they will continue to purge anti-Trump dissenters and any marginalized groups.
Trump could very well pull all of this off by 2026 midterms let alone 3 years from now before the next presidential election.
Did you see that article about the “Trump derangement syndrome” bill written by the Minnesota state politician who has a side gig as a child predator?
They’re gonna ignore that last bit and make it a doubleplus ungood thoughtcrime to openly object in any way, shape, or form to the fascists taking over. The bill makes provisions for non-consensually institutionalizing political opponents. That is not an exaggeration. That bill is a test that they’re running in Minnesota to see if they can pass and implement this sort of thing.
This bill will be used as a pattern. Expect this to show up in Texas and Florida at some point soon. After that, expect it then to make its debut on the national stage.
I did see that. I will say, as a history buff, what I find both fascinating and terrifying is that we are at a point in history where we, the people, are able to see so much current events in actual real time.
No more waiting for the newspaper or the pre-recorded news. The immediacy of media today has kind of forced a level of transparency we haven’t see before when considering events like the rise of a Hitler-type, the resurgence of white supremacist groups, police brutality, protests, riots, genocides, wars, etc.
These kinds of political acts we’re witnessing today were always happening, right? Just completely hidden from public view and delayed by days or weeks even if it is revealed to them. This hasn’t entirely changed either. I remember hearing about an Iraq War vet who came back to the States and saw a “breaking news” report about an operation happening “now”; except he was part of that operation that happened a year prior.
He is old and getting older. Hopefully he doesn’t make it to 2026, naturally or not.
orangeboi is categorically heinous, but this has gone far, far beyond being about one person. This is The Business Plot, round two. This is an axial shift of the United States away from democracy going forward. This is fascism.
There’s still JD Vance. Trump will be the scapegoat for all of the dirty work that was done to usher in a fascist regime. Vance will be presented as the calmer and more focused dictator.
I don’t know that Vance has that stupid charisma Trump has that his base fucking gargles on. I also don’t think others would be as scared to act against him as they are the current dictator. This is probably just wishful thinking on top of wishful thinking though.
Yeah, Vance comes across like a hamster on steroids. But then, Trump is also a shitty example of a human being, so who can say what the authoritarian enablers will suck up to?
The shitty ones always live long unfortunately
We’re still pretending he’s not gonna skip them with a declaration of war in Canada, Panama, or Greenland?
Elections are run by the states including for federal office. They are not run by the federal government
Nor are there is no provision anywhere to cancel elections due to war. They still happened during the US Civil war
Hell even if in a hypothetical that it was just blue states that held elections, that would be enough to potentially flip the house. California and New York have enough potential and realistic house flips to change the US from red to blue
Declaring that they won’t happen just plays into Trump’s hands. It makes people more cynical and less inclined to fight back
Elections are run by the states including for federal office. They are not run by the federal government
This sounds like someone who doesn’t live in a red state…
I’m waiting for Missouri to just go ahead and decide that we don’t need to vote. They’ve just overturned votes we passed.
You speak sensibly.
Trump is without sense and will act without sense.
Good thing the majority of state Governors are not Republican and would not welcome interventions from a fascist federal government. Oh wait…
even if in a hypothetical that it was just blue states that held elections, that would be enough to potentially flip the house. California and New York have enough potential and realistic house flips to change the US from red to blue
That implies that the legal system is not so profoundly subverted that it would still uphold democracy. Don’t bet on that.
OK. That’s a wild thing to say. If you’re willing to say that the red states may illegally fail to hold elections can you not recognize the likelyhood that they’d stop, by force, blue states from doing the same?
Do you seriously think blue states wouldn’t fold if pressured to stop elections?
I’m not convinced that any of this will come to pass and elections will be stopped but if they want to they can and will.
That requires much more than just red states republican legislatures being complicit. That’s just a straight up military coup at that point. That’s not the scenario the earlier people were laying out
We’ve had hybrid senarios before. During Lincoln’s elections, many southern states didn’t even let him put his name on the ballot. He still won the election
Not really if it’s threatened and the dems instantly fold. A dozen or so congress members and few senate members in support of freezing elections, the threat of violence, and a continuation of what see we now. That’s about all that’s needed.
Still, though it’d argue it unlikely, military intervention cannot be ruled out
On this being a separate situation it’s not really. It’s just an expansion of your own hypothetical. In a world where red states halt elections they would also pressure blue states to do the same. Blue states would likely fold as they have to many of the more important issues recently.
Don’t conflate national dems and state dem parties. The state dems are fighting back far stronger
Hell many are defying trump straight to his face such as Maine’s governor who told him in person that they’d not comply with his anti-trans stuff
Kathy Hochul is still enforcing NYC’s congestion pricing despite Trump directly telling her to stop and threatning federal funding
And so on
Why do you think flipping the house matters? We’re living in a dictatorship.
Because they do have power if they’re willing to use it. It can slow them down. For instance,
They have subpoenas. Make republicans have to spend all their time talking about all the horrible things they’re doing to the floor. Remove all their time to do said horrible things because they’re too busy testifying
If they don’t testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms. This is something that did happen to Steve Bannon when he refuesed to testify for the Jan 6th committee. Not just a hypothetical power
Because they do have power if they’re willing to use it. It can slow them down. For instance,
Chuck Schumer had that power last week. Look how well that turned out. That’s what you’re basing your hopes on?
They have subpoenas. Make republicans have to spend all their time talking about all the horrible things they’re doing to the floor. Remove all their time to do said horrible things because they’re too busy testifying
Actually, no. Democrats have no subpoena power or ability to hold official hearings while in the minority.
If they don’t testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms. This is something that did happen to Steve Bannon when he refuesed to testify for the Jan 6th committee. Not just a hypothetical power
I wouldn’t exactly use Steve Bannon as a prime example. It took years for him to see any consequence at all, and he got a bare minimum. He got, what, 4 months? For the amount of money Bannon is making off of riding Trump’s dick, I’d sit in a jail cell for 4 months too.
And I’ll counter your argument with Jim Jordan. Ignored subpoenas. Didn’t even get so much as a censure in the house for ignoring their own subpoena, let alone any form of punishment at all. If you for half a second think a Republican-led House is going to charge a prominent, full-throated MAGA member and chair of the Judiciary Committee with contempt, order his arrest, and have him jailed for non-compliance, I have beachfront property on Mars you may be interested in.
Your rationale goes on the premise that traditional norms and laws still apply. They do not. When the people who are in charge of enforcing those laws and norms are actively telling you that they’re not going to enforce them, those laws aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
Chuck Schumer had that power last wee
And the senate would not need to be involved here. All but 1 house dems did vote against it when there was a real chance to stop it (it wasn’t 100% certain that republicans had the vors in the house)
House dems are livid at Schumer. The house has been better at opposing - it’s just that their powers are much more limited while in the minority are more limited compared to the senate.
Democrats have no subpoena power or ability to hold official hearings while in the minority
The context was in flipping the house. They would be in the majority in that scenario
If you for half a second think a Republican-led House
Again the context was flipping the house
even pelosi was angry at shchumer and thats saying something.
Ok and assumming they flip the house what are they going to do? They can do all the hearings and pass out a metric fuckton of subpoenas, what makes you think anyone in this administration listens or shows up? I am pretty sure they did that the first time around, and people shook their fingers and sent very mean letters to no avail.
Whose to say Ttump then doesnt just dismiss congress? Whose gonna fucking stop him?
If they don’t testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms. This is something that did happen to Steve Bannon when he refuesed to testify for the Jan 6th committee. Not just a hypothetical power
The Sergeant at Arms is part of the house, not the executive
If Trump tries to illegally dismissing congress, they could just still meet and direct the Sergeant at Arms anyway
Who enforces those subpoenas? Who enforces the contempt charges? Trump is in charge of all of the enforcement mechanisms.
If they don’t testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms.
The Sergeant at Arms as I wrote. They are part of congress. They are not part of the executive branch
Under this process, the procedure for holding a person in contempt involves only the chamber concerned. Following a contempt citation, the person cited is arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House or Senate, brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment, imprisonment for coercion, or release from the contempt citation).[18]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_Congress
The sergeant at arms of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the House with law enforcement, protocol, and administrative responsibilities. The sergeant at arms is elected at the beginning of each Congress by the membership of the House.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_at_Arms_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives
So, one guy is going to go around arresting top officials of a dictatorship?
Trump is often a paper tiger. He quite often backs down from fights the minute someone pushes back. He’s also been rather willing to throw people under the bus
He’s not yet a dictator as much as he might be trying to make himself one. Most of his power in this moment is from people complying assuming he is. He is a lot weaker in actually getting you to do something if you resist than he wants you to believe. Don’t do his dirty work for him
The fight isn’t over until it’s over
Histrionics aren’t helpful even when they’re factual, let alone when they aren’t.
It’s helpful to point out to people that following established rules doesn’t work when the people in power disregard them with impunity.
There’s not going to be a legal or political uno reverse card that will stop what’s happening. The only established mechanism that still exists to get us out of this is if the military does its duty and protects us from the domestic threat to the constitution.
But, with Trump replacing the joint chiefs and top JAG members, I’m not betting on that happening.
People need to stop living in the fantasy of, “we just have to wait it out for 2-4 years.”
but Trump promised to get rid of elections
Are we still pretending we’ll have anymore real elections?
we had real elections before?
It can always get much worse
Guys, the economy slaughters children in Gaza might be a bit sends US citizens to death camps unstable rn raids private institutions with police compliance idk if I should strips citizens of all rights vote for these guys ignores all court orders stating their actions are illegal rn
Eh. Just give American hamster brains a few years and we’ll be back to voting for rapist felon traitor fascists because the TV told us to.
The elections? It should cost some of them their lives.
cost Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
So back to the people that helped create the environment we are in?
Idk why anyone thinks 2026 isn’t already for all intents and purposes over. Watch even this year, Virginia is going to go deep red, free and fair elections in the United States are done. You want republicans out of Congress, you work to get 20 million or so Americans on the national mall. Anything else at this point is just performative nonsense.
Like bro already said all blue states would disappear next year in a “big surprise.”
2026 isn’t over. But relying on free and fair elections is foolish when Trump is in control of the process.
The system is fucked. We can’t rely on the system to save us. We’d better be making other plans.
We’ve had multiple special elections already this year. Dems have had some massive overperformances in some of them.
For instance, Iowa saw a Trump+21 district state senate distict flip
Virginia had special elections earlier in January where dems had a couple of point overperformance compared to harris
Stop doing Musk’s and Trump’s work for him and claim things are over before they’re over. All this does is create cynicism and apathy that play straight into his power
Join on the streets too and vote in every damn election. They want you doing neither, so do both
We’ve had multiple special elections already this year. Dems have had some massive overperformances in some of them.
And how much has that swung control to the Democrats? Because if it matters, the outcome might be different.
Agreed. Some combination Musk, Putin, Thiel, and Vance hacked the last election. If they have another one, it will be hacked as well.
All we have to do to get the house back is stop robbing state parties via the “victory fund” so it can be used in down ballot races.
The last three elections they’ve been giving the max state donations to the DNC and chosen presidential candidate, putting all our eggs in the same neoliberal baskets for a position the last Dem president spent four years telling us didn’t even matter and was effectively powerless.
I really expected the new DNC chair to come out against the program, there’s still plenty of time, but I wanted a day 1 announcement
Not if the spineless Democrats have anything to say about it!
I mean given how the Democrats passed their temporary budget that will give away billions to the wealthy and cuts social security and Medicare/aid with the Republicans help, it’s really the Democrats fault the economy tanks.
You know how that’s going to be played it in the media and the Republicans and Democratic leadership will be too incompetent to ineffectively push back.
