Anyone with a half a brain could see this from day bloody one...

[Soph0571]

...Everyone else needs to catch up damn quick.

If those that use the egoistic narcissistic ethic free simpleton that is Trump continues to get their way democracy will be lost. This is their end goal. Trump needs to be taken down to show the fuckers behind the puppet show that they do not get to change the world order cause billions and bollocks... and then for all those who still do not get it, the MAGATs and the ones that just don't care who governs them, who refuse to engage with the system...

[Girard442]

1. I'm still astonished that the Deplorables saw Trump as an acceptable choice.

How filled with hate do you have to be to want that man as president?

[democratisphere]

2. Racist, evil and hateful.

Most lacking intelligence.

[Demobrat]

3. They love him because

he doesn’t make them feel stupid by operating above a third grade level.

[eShirl]

5. they're being manipulated by the media that panders to them

these manipulators are expert at it

[Hortensis]

8. They voted their team, and most would have in spite of being

appalled by Trump. They're also appalled by what they see as a long-term problem of too much liberalism endangering the nation.

Many serious people though it was very important to get a more conservative judiciary and were genuinely concerned about the next SCOTUS appointments. Moderate cons, of the sort like Nicolle Wallace, Scarborough, and so on, really didn't want the kind they're getting, but most of those people don't know that yet. They're glad that at least succeeded so well.

No excuses for them, their addiction to the happy thrills of confirmation bias and their voting behavior makes them just as much at fault for what that's lead to. But they are not the same as Trump's aggressive populists, his white supremacists, his authoritarian followers, his religious right. This era's John Birchers who would support anything he did because he is their leader against us, the new "commies" to replace the enemy they lost when the Cold War ended.

[bullwinkle428]

11. Ordinary assholes loved being represented by the ultimate asshole.

[Perseus]

4. And something that its not being talked about much

He is trying to incite a militia (the bikers who support him, according to him), the military and the police. If you take a look at what has happened in countries like Venezuela, the only way the regime has been able to stay in power has been because of "Los Colectivos", which is a bunch of motorcycled criminals who have been provided with weapons, they roam the streets, rob, rape and kill innocent people, whenever there is a march protesting against the regime they go out and start shooting, then you have the police and the military that has been corrupted, the high commands (Generals, Captains, etc.) have been corrupted to an extent they are multi-millionaires now, and anyone who thinks the military cannot be corrupted has not been paying attention, we have Flynn, Petreus, and who knows who else.

This is dangerous, and I am hoping that some good journalist is doing the research to see what is happening within those groups, if they become corrupted, they become the pillars of the regime by sheer force, and for regular citizens it is very hard to fight it, can it be fought? of course, the USA citizens will fight like they did during the Independence, because this will be a 2nd round, unfortunately with domestic enemies. I guess we can call it a civil war.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. MAGAts want to be RULED and TOLD what to think.

Being dumber than a box of rocks is who MAGAts are.

[Cosmocat]

7. Yep

for all this bravado and assertions of being independent and tough, they are mind numbingly packish.

[Ilsa]

10. They have Daddy issues. nt

[DENVERPOPS]

17. Why do you think

Why do you think they hand picked the evangelical far right religious fanatics to be their followers???

They feel they NEED to be ruled, and TOLD what to think and believe contrary to logic, reason or sane thinking............

[Hortensis]

9. "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically,...

“Maybe you do not care much about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”

― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic

That's what's happening, and it's much bigger than Trump. The Republican leadership realized years ago that they could no longer win national elections democratically and that the demographic transition meant they would eventually, inevitably lose most red states as well, including the south. Trump's both a symptom and an aberration of what came next. President Pence would be back on track.

Btw, when polled, way too much of the electorate have indicated interest in authoritarian government as a better option than democracy, including some on the left.

Dangerous times.

[smirkymonkey]

12. +1000

I find this horrifying. Because it's so true. There is no playing fair with them. Our only hope is total annihilation of the republican party in it's current form. We cannot underestimate their capacity to destroy our democracy from within, and they will unless we stop them.

[Kurt V.]

20. +1001

[Hortensis]

21. Those conservatives who "will always be with us"

need to throw out their leadership. Very badly.

On the "plus" side, in the typically destructive way of populist movements of course, both the Tea Party and Trump were incompetent rebellions against the corrupt agents who've taken over their party. They know they're being betrayed. Like the trained attack dogs they are, though, they continue to serve by still fearing and hating us far too much to join us against our common enemies.

[Wounded Bear]

13. Anybody who is surprised has not been paying attention...

and/or has no knowledge of history or politics.

The Authoritarian Playbook was written in ancient times. Only the physical tools and the media change, not the basic tactics, because they are rooted in basic human psychology.

[ooky]

14. Pretty much all hallmarks of a fascist takeover, the parallels to

1930's Europe are many.

[Karadeniz]

15. Good summary...and good to see the Frum quote again!

[dalton99a]

16. Kick

[patphil]

18. So the logical deduction from this:

There are a lot of people out there with less than half a brain.

[densan]

19. Classic strategy...

PsyOps targeting "low information", racist voters.
Time to start taxing "churches" too.