Trump is a cartoon villain who should have nothing to do with serious matters. He should be gone. J.D. Vance scares me way more than Trump though, and he’d be the next mole to pop up after Orange Julius Caesar.
Trump is “untouchable” because he has a massive share of political capital, the currency of how things move in government. In his case, it’s a huge mob of feverishly loyal, armed patriots with the intellect of fenceposts. These are the kinds of power reserves that have built and destroyed countless nations, and it’s why Trump gets away with everything he does and why the GOP has hoisted him up as the figurehead to implement all their dumb fucking ideas and back-room earmarks to funnel money to the corporate donors.
This power bloc follows Trump because they are charmed by someone who is both authentic and contemptable “just like average folks” in their eyes. He is openly resentful of everyone, he hates what he does, he hates the people around him, he spits on his own base and they love it. To them, it feels refreshing, it feels like a “real person” to their limited scope and perception of the world, and he validates their absolute worst impulses, and you can never underestimate the loyalty and commitment of someone who has their deepest fears or passions granted to them.
Now Vance… the GOP and Peter Thiel have been parading this guy around, desperately hoping that he can pick up and continue the mission as soon as Trump keels over. But it’s not working. The base isn’t openly scornful of him, yet, but they’re truly not captivated by him, he talks like a politician, he talks too much, he smiles and laughs, he says all the right things at the right times. This is exactly the “Washington Deep State” vibe that they despise.
I’m not saying Vance won’t be dangerous or cause a lot of problems, but he will be RADICALLY neutered in what he can get away with. He will be barely above full-on “Lame Duck” status for his entire term. It will be another status-quo, right-wing slop presidency that maybe starts a small war somewhere to drum up attention and funding for some contractors, then gets voted out by some popular liberal Democrat.
History is a flat circle. I’ve seen a lot of this before.
If trump dies, Vance doesnt need to be elected or Trump’s popularity
The longer it takes for him to die, the more time he has to erode democratic structures that would prevent a technocrat like Vance from installing themselves permanently
Frankly I think we missed the window for the good version of him dying - especially if he dies abruptly in a way that could be spun into suspicion
Oh I agree, if Trump’s body suddenly realizes tomorrow that it should have stopped functioning years ago and he just spontaneously turns to dust in the oval office, there will be about a week-long, nationwide celebration, but it won’t make things better in the medium-term.
Vance isn’t going to command the same level of political power by far, but the shit that’s already been started (or ended, like USAID) will continue to wreck our society for years or decades, even if everything goes right, even if we had our glorious leftist revolution like kids around here seem to like to think will happen any day now, the damage is active and will continue to cause damage for years and years. The world and American policy are like slow moving boats, and even minor adjustments can take decades to have an impact.
Im not really talking about things like USAID, I’m talking about his consolidation of power broadly and the normalization of the abuse of presidential power
Trump is a cartoon villain who should have nothing to do with serious matters. He should be gone. J.D. Vance scares me way more than Trump though, and he’d be the next mole to pop up after Orange Julius Caesar.
Vance cannot hold Trump’s political capital.
Trump is “untouchable” because he has a massive share of political capital, the currency of how things move in government. In his case, it’s a huge mob of feverishly loyal, armed patriots with the intellect of fenceposts. These are the kinds of power reserves that have built and destroyed countless nations, and it’s why Trump gets away with everything he does and why the GOP has hoisted him up as the figurehead to implement all their dumb fucking ideas and back-room earmarks to funnel money to the corporate donors.
This power bloc follows Trump because they are charmed by someone who is both authentic and contemptable “just like average folks” in their eyes. He is openly resentful of everyone, he hates what he does, he hates the people around him, he spits on his own base and they love it. To them, it feels refreshing, it feels like a “real person” to their limited scope and perception of the world, and he validates their absolute worst impulses, and you can never underestimate the loyalty and commitment of someone who has their deepest fears or passions granted to them.
Now Vance… the GOP and Peter Thiel have been parading this guy around, desperately hoping that he can pick up and continue the mission as soon as Trump keels over. But it’s not working. The base isn’t openly scornful of him, yet, but they’re truly not captivated by him, he talks like a politician, he talks too much, he smiles and laughs, he says all the right things at the right times. This is exactly the “Washington Deep State” vibe that they despise.
I’m not saying Vance won’t be dangerous or cause a lot of problems, but he will be RADICALLY neutered in what he can get away with. He will be barely above full-on “Lame Duck” status for his entire term. It will be another status-quo, right-wing slop presidency that maybe starts a small war somewhere to drum up attention and funding for some contractors, then gets voted out by some popular liberal Democrat.
History is a flat circle. I’ve seen a lot of this before.
Frankly I think we missed the window for the good version of him dying - especially if he dies abruptly in a way that could be spun into suspicion
Oh I agree, if Trump’s body suddenly realizes tomorrow that it should have stopped functioning years ago and he just spontaneously turns to dust in the oval office, there will be about a week-long, nationwide celebration, but it won’t make things better in the medium-term.
Vance isn’t going to command the same level of political power by far, but the shit that’s already been started (or ended, like USAID) will continue to wreck our society for years or decades, even if everything goes right, even if we had our glorious leftist revolution like kids around here seem to like to think will happen any day now, the damage is active and will continue to cause damage for years and years. The world and American policy are like slow moving boats, and even minor adjustments can take decades to have an impact.
Im not really talking about things like USAID, I’m talking about his consolidation of power broadly and the normalization of the abuse of presidential power