r/politics 🤖 Bot Feb 28 '25

Discussion Discussion Thread: Press Conference with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

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u/RocketSocket765 Feb 28 '25 edited Feb 28 '25

This. It's obvious Trump is a manchurian candidate. Trump, Musk and international oligarchs, theocrats, and misogynists are selling the U.S. off for scrap metal and using Christian white Nationalists to control the sheep and getting them to bleet for their own deaths.

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u/radicalelation Feb 28 '25

It's the same playbook of pretty much every Russian-captured oligarch state. The times it fails is when the people are able to rise above the oligarchs, whether it's in properly functioning election, or unending protest.

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u/RocketSocket765 Feb 28 '25 edited Mar 01 '25

We don't have proper elections. I get why the Dems swore we did after Trump/the GOP tried to steal 2020. But we haven't for a while because oligarchs and bigots teamed-up up to gut our election laws and muzzle opposition to protect capitalism. I increasingly suspect the GOP stole it in 2024. We had rampant oligarch spending, widespread Russian govt social media disinfo campaigns, and Jim Crow 2.0. That's before we even get into provisional ballots probably tossed by right wing zealots (look up "True the Vote") and whatever the hell Trump meant by Musk being really good with the computers at voting precincts in Pennsylvania. Or Musk's bizarre voter registration "lottery."

For protests, the civil society nonprofits that also partnered with Dem party to do those in the almost non-stop social unrest we've had since ~2016, even in the pandemic, are not organizing massive protests now. Protests are great for showing numbers, but often become state sanctioned parades if not directed at shutting down commerce or GOP interests. Some orgs clearly also got infiltrated just like the 1960's (not reported, but obvious with some in tatters). Since the Dems and many orgs won't do that as they won't rock the capitalism boat or risk getting nonprofit tax status rescinded, people are skipping the parades and figuring out how to do direct action to protect neighbors, friends, and family against fascism. I may be wrong, but I think the U.S. has too many who know their rights, pride in the diversity of who they are, and believe in self and community defense by any means necessary (or are coming around to it) to let fascists take over. They're just learning how to rebuild since they're used to pushing back other ways that have collapsed.

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u/radicalelation Feb 28 '25

We have enough eligible voters to overwhelm most of the likely election hacks that could have given an unfair result for 2024. I honestly believe the effort to steal it was made in 2020 and the enormous turnout broke it.

Even on the outright stealing end, ballot stuffing, vote switching, whatever, ends up far less effective with more honest votes in the mix. The same could still happen 2026 before they tighten up their methods, otherwise I don't think we'll have Presidential elections in 2028.

Though, I think you're right that one way or another the people are going to say something. Loudly, and likely fiercely. I don't see us ending up quite like the centuries-beaten-down Russians, and they still rally and revolt plenty.

Leadership will show itself, and people will rally. What happens then is up in the air.