Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Celerity

(43,262 posts)
Thu May 14, 2020, 07:32 PM May 2020

A Second Trump Term Would Be A Hellscape Of Indescribable Proportions

No impeachment, no 25th Amendment, no indictments. And, worst of all, no election. Nothing.

https://thebanter.substack.com/p/a-second-trump-term-would-be-a-hellscape



WASHINGTON, DC -- For some time now, I’ve been trying to crystalize into words specifically why a second term of the Donald Trump poseur presidency would be catastrophic for the American republic. And I think I’ve landed on the central reason why it would be a nightmare of gargantuan proportions. We’ve all witnessed, front row center, the ceaseless firehose of news -- endlessly blasting us in the face, around the clock in some cases, with all varieties of soul crushing nincompoopery, maliciousness, racism, misogyny, indecency and genocide-level death since inauguration day. Indeed, the horrendousness extends further back in time to the campaign, but the existential crisis began when Trump officially kerplunked his way into the White House.

So far, we’ve been rendered mostly powerless when it comes to fighting back. While there have been some significant gains in the House through special elections and, naturally, the 2018 midterms, Trump has been able to continue his disruption of the American system without being truly handcuffed. This is, to me, the primary reason for this sense of powerlessness. When it comes to accountability in a second term, there’s little to no chance Trump will be removed through another impeachment. Even if the Democrats take back the Senate, there won’t be 67 votes to remove -- and that’s if Nancy Pelosi is willing to impeach Trump again. So, while a Democratic Congress would thwart the Trump legislative agenda -- and that’s nothing to sneeze at -- Trump will have little fear of another impeachment.

We also know that Bill Barr’s Justice Department will never indict him, at least while he’s president. That door’s shut, too. Likewise, it should be relatively obvious by now that there won’t be any removal through the terms of the 25th Amendment, either. Mike Pence doesn’t have the guts for it, and Trump’s cabinet is, by now, mostly loaded with sycophants and spineless weasels. As of today, the only way Trump can be removed is through the election, and I know very few of us who are 100 percent confident that Trump will lose. Despite that, Trump is constrained by the fact that he has to run again. Sure, he desperately wants -- and needs -- a second term, primarily to keep himself out of prison for a while longer. However, he knows that if he hauls his ponderous bulk too deeply into the realms of despotism and totalitarianism, he might lose in November. Believe it or not, Trump is absolutely constrained by the accountability of the election. It often doesn’t seem like it, but he is. Along those lines, here’s why a second Trump term would be a hellscape of indescribable proportions.

For a moment, think back through the last four years of Trump, including the deadly incompetent response to the plague. Now, imagine all that amplified by a factor of a gazillion, knowing how Second Term Biff would be operating for another four years completely unfettered by all accountability, including an election. No impeachment, no 25th Amendment, no indictments. And, worst of all, no election. Nothing. Four more years, and literally zero constraints on the blood-curdling horror show that would begin on November 4, should this election go badly for Joe Biden and the Democrats. An unconstrained, unaccountable Trump is what some of the more radical Bernie Sanders supporters don’t seem to grasp. In their effort to kneecap Joe Biden’s general election campaign before it’s barely on the ground, and thus helping Trump’s chances, they’re losing sight of the very basic, textbook aspects of what it’d mean to have a president who didn’t really care about or respect the array of constitutional strictures in his first term, and they certainly haven’t stopped to consider how or why he’d become far worse in a second term. All they care about is their agenda, but their agenda will be set back decades if Trump gets the chance to immolate the foundation upon which that agenda would be built.

snip

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
A Second Trump Term Would Be A Hellscape Of Indescribable Proportions (Original Post) Celerity May 2020 OP
we need to win the house and senate nt msongs May 2020 #1
+100000 Celerity May 2020 #4
It would be a nightmare on steroids. lunatica May 2020 #2
NY and New England are ready made Canadian provinces. roamer65 May 2020 #14
Yes! They're far more Canadian than they are Alabamians, lunatica May 2020 #15
Chunks of Texas and New Mexico Ilsa May 2020 #17
I can't take four more years. Leaving the country. LuckyLib May 2020 #3
I cannot imagine a greater hell. smirkymonkey May 2020 #5
... Celerity May 2020 #6
Creepy, right? smirkymonkey May 2020 #7
+100000 Celerity May 2020 #8
Damn! lunatica May 2020 #16
No Shite.. for our very Souls we need to get Cha May 2020 #9
the ending is the best argument Celerity May 2020 #10
Exactly.. Thank you for Cha May 2020 #11
yw and stay safe Cha Celerity May 2020 #12
We're doing pretty good over here.. Cha May 2020 #13

Celerity

(43,262 posts)
4. +100000
Thu May 14, 2020, 08:01 PM
May 2020

Atm I see a 52-48 Democratic majority

Lose AL

Defend all other Blue seats

Flip IA, AZ, NC, ME, CO, MT

Fair chances at: GA (the regular election, Perdue is weak), KS (Open seat. Sibelius refusing hurts us badly, I would have put it in the flip category if she had run, but Bollier has a shot)

More remote chances but not impossible: KY (grrrr, McTurtle is almost a bigger threat than Trump, and more than Barr IMHO), GA (special election, Doug Collins will unfortunately win I think, Yates and Abrams refusing to run in either GA seat race hurt our chances in both) TN (Open seat. I would have put it in the flip category if Tim McGraw had not refused to run, grrr, James Mackler has a chance, but still, Mcgraw, especially as he had said for years )

Forget it category: AK (we do not even have a Dem running, Al Gross, an indie, is probably toast) and TX (not even Beto or Julian Castro would have toppled Cornyn, who is far more popular than Cruz)


The House is probably, probably safe, but CA-25 2 days ago is a warning shot. All it takes is for us to lose a net 16 seats and the Rethugs pull it back. We are defending 50 to 60 very close and/or flipped House seats, so it is not in the bag by any means.

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
2. It would be a nightmare on steroids.
Thu May 14, 2020, 07:47 PM
May 2020

I think it would lead to a real civil war. The outcome for such a thing would be a split up of the country into at least two or more countries. It would get worse after that as the red states would fail utterly due to having to make it on their own. They would soon slide into 3rd world status due to incompetent and greedy leadership and an even more ignorant populace.

The Blue states would do just fine.

Ilsa

(61,692 posts)
17. Chunks of Texas and New Mexico
Thu May 14, 2020, 09:10 PM
May 2020

could be returned to Mexico! Make the Nueces River the border, or maybe the San Marcus/Guadalupe River. A taco truck on every corner!

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
5. I cannot imagine a greater hell.
Thu May 14, 2020, 08:04 PM
May 2020

He reminds me of Hitler in that picture. Seriously. That is not hyperbole.

Celerity

(43,262 posts)
10. the ending is the best argument
Thu May 14, 2020, 08:16 PM
May 2020
An unconstrained, unaccountable Trump is what some of the more radical Bernie Sanders supporters don’t seem to grasp. In their effort to kneecap Joe Biden’s general election campaign before it’s barely on the ground, and thus helping Trump’s chances, they’re losing sight of the very basic, textbook aspects of what it’d mean to have a president who didn’t really care about or respect the array of constitutional strictures in his first term, and they certainly haven’t stopped to consider how or why he’d become far worse in a second term. All they care about is their agenda, but their agenda will be set back decades if Trump gets the chance to immolate the foundation upon which that agenda would be built. We might not even emerge from the other side of a second term with a traditional small-r republican government -- there’s a very real chance Trump will seize more power, becoming a Putin-style dictator, propped up by Fox News and an unprecedented billion-dollar disinformation campaign, further annihilating institutions and replacing a shared reality with fiction, and all that with a plague.

How does Medicare-For-All and a Green New Deal emerge when the entire system has been crippled? Hell, we won’t even be able to “take to the streets” given the current crisis. Anyone who’s actively undermining the Democrats today is directly or indirectly manifesting this worst-case outcome. Untold death, persecution, and division is just the beginning. We all know from experience that if Trump is given an inch, he takes a thousand miles. We can’t let him have another term because he lacks the character, the personal restraint and the respect for the American system to keep himself from overreaching -- steamrolling everything we hold sacred, and literally no one who will tell him “no.” These are the stakes, and we all have an urgent and unwavering responsibility to weigh these stakes heavily between now and election day. Nothing is more important.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»A Second Trump Term Would...