Hard to say what would have happened, but I feel like I was pretty much unaffected as an European the last time.

We were fucked 24 years ago.

Exactly: that’s when the first coup (the Brooks Brothers Riot) succeeded.

The right wing in America has been sliding further right for a long time, and tending to drag the left along with it. (Nobody is under the impression that the US “left” isn’t actually center-right.) In the last decade, that rightward silde has accelerated. Trump, being the presumptive Republican nominee for president, is the “best” that the lunatic far right - not America - can push forward.

The Democratic party, representing the left center-right, is no longer allowing itself to be dragged further right. And there remains a fairly large proportion of people who still call themselves Republicans who oppose the burgeoning fascism. Those are the people who feel politically homeless right now; they just need someplace to go and someone to vote for. Liz Cheney is floating a third party run, and I think she’s easily able to consolidate “sane conservative” support.

I was predicting that the Republican party would split back in 2015. I had no idea they would drag on like this for so long.

Why do you think there will be violence before the election, but after Trump’s nomination? In this scenario, in your mind, who are the ones that kick off this violence?

I wish that were true, but I suspect that the American people have become too passive to resist a dictator. He won’t take over by force, but cloaked in legitimacy, just like Hitler and Mussolini did. Heck, you don’t even have to go back that far. That’s Putin’s playbook, too. A Republican President also has a Supreme Court that favors very strong presidential powers and a permanently divided and largely impotent Congress. No real resistance there.

So, what’s left? The police? American police would love having more power under a dictator. The public hates cops these days, and a dictator would restore their “rightful place” as respected and feared enforcers who will “clean up the streets”.

The military? Well, that’s a wild card. They may not support a dictator, but they also don’t want to start a civil war. I think a US dictator will give himself enough legal cover and legitimacy to convince the military to hang back from interfering in politics.

The most likely source of resistance is from individual states. However, I’m not sure what they can do, realistically. Secession would certainly start a civil war, which would play right into the dictator’s hands, giving him the perfect excuse to suspend rights and use the military for domestic purposes.

I wished I could be so optimistic. They have had endless chances to reject him and haven’t. It’s almost like Putin has some leverage on a bunch of em lol.

He will get nominated, but hopefully my fellow Americans will not let him return to the white house.

Of course he has a choice.

He can choose facing the consequences of his actions.

If that’s unappealing, he can also choose to, let’s say, “pull an Epstein”.

Let’s not give him the benefit of saying this is the only “strategy” he has left, because that implies you can’t blame him for trying. Like any reasonable person in his position would do the same thing.

And that’s complete nonsense. He’s not an animal stuck in a bear trap, he’s a human being, who has been very open about his penchant for fascism long before he was charged.

The leftists need to learn how to use guns and own them. SocialistRA and liberalgunowners are communities that welcome leftist gun enthusiasts and new comers who want to learn for whatever reason.

Yeah and Donnie’s definition of leftist is anyone that isn’t actively deep throating his boot

Were fucked, We just get a 50% chance to choose what hole.

The inmates are running the asylum. Even McCarthy wasn’t enough of a lapdog.

It’s exponentially easier to be a fascist dictator than a conscientious democratic leader.

I wouldn’t know… I’ve never been either. I do have experience being subject to the former, but not the latter.

Honestly, I’m guessing the majority of Democrat voters nowadays aren’t voting Biden because of who he is, but because of who he isn’t. Any other person that isn’t a direct threat to democracy would probably be enough for them.

That being said, I’m not American and I don’t know who the other candidates could be: I know in 2020 Bernie could’ve done well but in 2024 he’ll be way too old.

This is exactly what the Second is intended to take care of

Not it isn’t. The idea that the 2a is supposed to prevent government overreach is revisionist history.

The intention of the 2a was to make a standing federal army unnecessary. Madison didn’t want a federal army, but knew the nation would need some form of military, so he wrote militias into the constitution.

(He changed his tune when the War of 1812 showed him how necessary a true military was.)

It’s laughable to think that people in power wanted others to be able to overthrow them with guns. In fact, rebellions were attempted with guns in the years after the revolutionary war. And they were put down. Never did George Washington say, “Ah, these men with guns seem to think we are being tyrannical. We should reconsider.” No, he said, “Pay your fucking taxes.”