• FreeMindFreeAss@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    His past few vids were not even very convincing AI, he’s barely hangin on. When I was a kid my dad’s friends would joke about the decripit soviet leader being strapped to a 2x4 and dragged out for public appearances. Well well well how the tables have turned

    • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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      1 hour ago

      He was referring to Breznev. In the late 70s he was in terrible health and was hospitalized but no soviet media talked about it. There was a joke that Russia TV was just a ballet channel due to the constant playing of Swan Lake to fill in the time.

      • FreeMindFreeAss@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Thanks for the reference, most of that side of the family died in pretty quick succession so these memories are just what my mind can contain. tbh Swan Lake 24/7 might do more to heal our nation than the news onslaught we get. My dad died in '16, about 3 months before Trump got in, and I’m almost happy he didn’t have to see it. He was a lifelong republican but he was also a WWII buff, I’d never seen him actually afraid of a politician until then. I’ve been traveling the world since I was 17, he used to be terrified for me, but during that campaign he started encouraging me to spend more time abroad.

  • TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca
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    4 hours ago

    People think he rambles a lot, but it has a purpose to it. What I’m worried about is that after meeting with the Project 2025 guy, that rambling might be receiving some calibration as well as a long series of other meetings to see if they go a new route.

    I don’t think he is really that ill simply because JD Vance would have been picking up a lot more of the slack if that were the case to position himself as the new president.

    Then there’s also the possibility that he is part of the caste of the country that does actually benefit from having no government oversight or presence during a shutdown. It makes people and groups that much more dependent on the private market alternatives these oligarchs own.

    Maybe he isn’t making any comments because this is where he wants to be right now. He still controls ICE, the execute and the supreme court can still continue reshaping the US, and he’s in a point where he has essentially just hit the pause button on any changes in congress until he can decide how to revert and influence that. He’s at the point where people who protest the extended shutdown can be incarcerated as the “radical left” “homegrowns” for whom the shutdown helps prevent any recourse as well, he’s putting any loyalist he can into ICE and it has a bigger budget than the rest of the military, he’s plunging and farming the value of the US economy which he and his oligarch friends can weather and later buy up on the low. It seems like he might have settled for this as a win condition, so he’s no longer making appearances to push things into other agendas for now.

    States need to step up if the government remains shut down, this is the perfect opportunity and excuse for them.

    • TheMinister@sh.itjust.works
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      15 minutes ago

      You think with trump and his sycophants and handlers would be willingly parading around their younger, hopeful replacement? “Strongmen” will lie and obfuscate the truth because the lie works. Look how long they’ve managed to get his followers to believe he’s just a virile and Uber healthy, fearless leader. They won’t shove the wet mop with eyes that is JD Vance into the role until they absolutely have no other options. Look all throughout history, these types of fascists have to project strength even when it’s clear they’re old, decrepit and on the edge of death.

    • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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      2 hours ago

      You make it seem like he has a plan. I see an aged poser pinballing around in a toddler stomp. We may both be close to the truth.

      • nomy@lemmy.zip
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        42 minutes ago

        He might be twiddling his thumbs but I bet the shadowy cabal controlling the right definitely has a plan and a schedule they’re working on.

        Dump is in a holding pattern.

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Ah man, they might be able to legally mint that coin after all. Fuckers corpse should be buried in a prison yard.

    • D_C@sh.itjust.works
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      7 hours ago

      Crikey, harsh…but fair. Though a very long and painful illness that is untreatable is preferred.
      With just enough brain function for him to realise he’s on a slow painful and road to death.

          • D_C@sh.itjust.works
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            2 hours ago

            We deserve for him -and his children, and his cronies and cohorts- to be imprisoned for the many blatant crimes. However I’ll settle for a nice long painful death. The next best is a quick and painful death.
            However, him going away and being forgotten is fine if some form of painful death isn’t an option.

            • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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              2 hours ago

              You aren’t really thinking about your best interests. Humans are really poor at predicting what will make them happy.

  • EtAl@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 hours ago

    Some folks here believe once Trump is dead, his empire will pass onto someone else. I couldn’t disagree more. Every time someone tries to do what Trump does, it’s a big flop. It will all unravel with him gone. It’s called a cult for a reason.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      2 hours ago

      MAGA is a Cult of Personality, and there is no #2. Plenty of people feel like they are the obvious successor, but NONE of the MAGA followers believe that. They worship Trump, and Trump alone. When he dies, MAGA dies with him.

      When he assumes room temperature, the knives are coming out, and the backstabbing will be glorious. All the Dems have to do is stay out of the way.

      • nomy@lemmy.zip
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        39 minutes ago

        All the Dems have to do is stay out of the way.

        Well, fuck.

      • Colonel_Panic_@eviltoast.org
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        2 hours ago

        It absolutely is a cult of personality. The part that breaks my brain is that his personality is abysmal. Just gross, horrible, mean, rude, hateful, lying, cheating, hurtful. Not even objectively attractive or well spoken. Just babbling hateful drivel. I do not understand how it ever got this big except that he represents all the worst parts of humanity and he gave all the worst people the permission to be the worst version of themselves and that is more appealing than being smart or kind.

        And when he does die the cult WILL implode. It already has fractured, but it will shatter into factions and infighting and it will be a big mess and lots of collateral damage. But maybe it will all be finally over. A decade of hearing his bullshit will finally end and maybe his cultists will start to snap out of the trance and be reasonable again.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          2 hours ago

          He got that big because you not only described him, you described the bulk of his followers. A lot of people are just Pigs, and they’re proud of it, they think it’s a virtue.

          • Colonel_Panic_@eviltoast.org
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            1 hour ago

            Yeah. I don’t know which was better. Having millions of closeted racist hateful people pretending to be nice or outwardly venom spewing racists.

            At least now we can tell who the bad guys are because they broadcast it everywhere they go, and we can cut them out of our lives and try to stay away from their toxicity.

    • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online
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      3 hours ago

      Exactly. Trump’s control over his base is unique. This is why they wanted him on top so much. We a bit fortunate that he is such an old and unhealthy fuck instead of being someone younger. Trump was always this egotistical and delusional. Can you imagine how much worse it would be if he was just 50?

    • TWeaK@lemmy.today
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      5 hours ago

      It’s less about this being a cult, more about it being a cult of personality. Regular cults can continue on, a cult of personality dies when the personality dies.

      • arc99@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        The worst outcome is he is seen walking and talking. If he dropped dead I doubt anybody else would feel emboldened to act the way he did.

      • D_C@sh.itjust.works
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        7 hours ago

        It would also be good to prepare to take his cronies and enablers out. Legally if possible, though other ways are acceptable.

    • eskimofry@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      I hope it does unravel without dragging the whole world into another war. But i fear the seed of hate has already taken root. Unless the entire system is purged of hate I don’t have confidence it will be as simple as the Don kicking the bucket.

    • Sunflier@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      Question then becomes what to do about his lieutenants. We still got to deal with the evil that is Miller. In fact. I think tRump is too big an idiot for the full scope of evil that his administration is doing. I think much of this comes from Miller.

      Musk owns many politicians and is throwing his seig heils.

      • MuskyMelon@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Correct. Trump is just the face but if he stroke out and can’t make public appearances, the facade falls quickly and there will be a 25A crisis.

        MAGA isn’t going to follow en mass any of the fuckers propping up Trump.

        • Sunflier@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          MAGA isn’t going to follow en mass any of the fuckers propping up Trump.

          You sure about that? They chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” They’re setting up camps. They hate the same groups the Nazis interred. They’re seig heil-ing. They want genocide.

          I think that means they’d follow anyone who gives them permission to hate. Hate is a powerful narcotic.

          • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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            2 hours ago

            No, MAGA dies with Trump.

            They’ll all try to coalesce around someone, but there will be multiple candidates, based on their own personal ambitions, rather than the needs of the country. None of them will gather enough support to conquer the others, and they will be ripe for destruction, if the Dems can get their shit together.

            But if Schmuck Schumer and a Jeffries are still running the show at that point, the Dems won’t get their shit together, will barely respond to the atrocities of the last decade, and allow something far worse than MAGA to arise.

          • TWeaK@lemmy.today
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            5 hours ago

            You’re confused in thinking MAGA is one contiguous group. There are Nazis within MAGA (in fact they have been promoted, especially this term), but there are non-Nazis too. There were people in MAGA who loved Charlie Kirk, and people who hated him for being pro-Israel.

            The only thing tying them together is Trump.

            • Sunflier@lemmy.world
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              1 hour ago

              but there are non-Nazis too.

              I’m not so sure of that. Are there? This seems a hopeful fantasy in light of their lack of showing after tRump 2.

              • nomy@lemmy.zip
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                32 minutes ago

                “Non-Nazi” in that they can look the other way while the actual Nazis do the dirty work.

                They’re still Nazis but it’s not their defining political position.

    • stickly@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      Oh he’ll for sure be propped up and wheeled around indefinitely, but it’s basically confirmed he’s getting more frequent TIAs and worse recoveries despite his treatment. Real question is how bad is the next puppet going to be once he croaks.

      • Tinidril@midwest.social
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        12 hours ago

        I don’t think there is anyone close to being able to hold onto the MAGA fan base of Trump kicks it. Vance sure can’t, Elon is universally hated, as is Stephen Miller. None of Trump’s kids has any charisma either.

        • MBech@feddit.dk
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          6 hours ago

          The whole point of everything the administration is doing right now, is to make sure support won’t matter. Who needs supporters when the vote is rigged?

          • Tinidril@midwest.social
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            4 hours ago

            They can only rig things so far. There’s a reason Congress has a record number of Republicans that have an announced they aren’t running again. There is a reason red states are rushing to push gerrymandering to its limits. They expect more elections to be contests.

        • phx@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          The next few years would end up being “weekend at Bernie’s, Trump edition”

    • MithranArkanere@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      They likely have a replacement ready. When you manage to get a group all-in on tribalism juice, they’ll come up with cognitive dissonance and narratives all on their own and fall in line no matter what happens.

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      12 hours ago

      Yeah, every time I see a headline saying “Trump, 79, …” I just scroll past it at this point.

    • renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      16 hours ago

      Yeah and if the CK thing was any indicator of how it’ll go, the administration will milk it for all it’s worth. It’ll be gross.

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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        2 hours ago

        CK was supposed to be the big Horst Wessel martyr that they could build support around, but nobody cared. They all played it up for a week or two, but once they stopped flogging it, it disappeared.

        Their “Flood the Zone” strategy works when something sticks, and they can amplify it. But MAGA seems to have a systemic case of ADHD, so nothing lasts more than a week, before they are chasing the next outrage perpetrated by the Conservative Propaganda Machine.

        Nobody even talks about his “assassination attempt” any more, but that’s probably because it was obviously a hoax, and they don’t want anyone pulling to hard on that thread.

      • Almacca@aussie.zone
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        15 hours ago

        I hope he dies in the stupidest, self-owning way possible, like tripping over his own feet and falling down some stairs. Preferably on camera.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          2 hours ago

          Definitely on camera. I want that still shot of his twisted head at an unnatural angle, his tongue hanging out, and his lifeless eyes looking in two different directions.

          Put THAT on on the cover of Time.

          • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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            15 hours ago

            During one of his dumb speeches in front of a crowd of MAGA idiots … right in the middle of making one of his dumb statements, just suddenly stops, stares into space and falls over.

            • TheseusNow@lemmy.zip
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              12 hours ago

              Preferably saying something stupid like “Folks, let me tell you something — if I’m wrong, if the Republican Party is wrong — and by the way, we’re not — but if we were wrong, then may God strike me down right now! But it’s not gonna happen, because we’re doing what’s right for America. Believe me.”

              Love to see how they would try to spin that being his last words.

            • BeeegScaaawyCripple@lemmy.world
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              14 hours ago

              as long as there are elvises (heart attack while eating something nasty and then shitting oneself, then dying) involved and it’s on camera, i’ll win a bet

        • bender223@lemmy.today
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          14 hours ago

          I was thinking he could be so constipated from eating junk fast food that he farts himself to death sitting on the toilet. 🚽

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        Unlike with CK though, they won’t be able to hide or contain or threaten the millions of people who will take to the streets celebrating. THAT is the part I look forward to, the absolute, uncontainable movement of the masses defying the state and all it’s impotent rage.

        • renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          14 hours ago

          Honestly I don’t see that happening. Even with his passing, that really doesn’t change anything. The administration is still there, and 2nd in line is couch-fucker vance. The foundation for their plans are already in place, and quite frankly, Taco has served his purpose with his popularity declining.

          The administration will just use any uprising as a reason to mobilize more troops in the name of safety or whatever. I really wish I’m wrong though.

          • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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            2 hours ago

            There will still be an enormous national celebration, and the remaining administration will watch it in terror.

            They are likely to use that reaction to respond with violence, but it won’t last. American citizens, both Democrat and MAGA, won’t accept the new government. There isn’t a single MAGA voter that cares about JD Vance at all. He may get their reluctant support as Republicans, but he won’t get it as MAGAs.

            After Trump croaks, the Republican party will almost certainly splinter.

          • ameancow@lemmy.world
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            14 hours ago

            JD doesn’t have the political capital Trump has had which has been the reason Trump gets away with shitting in the faces of everything and everyone.

            He has a feverishly devoted base of armed, loyal voters who will support ANYTHING he does. That’s raw political power at a foundational level. Nobody understands how he does it so they keep jockeying people like Vance into the spotlight hoping to be able to take the reins.

            But Trump’s base hates Vance. He talks too much, he sounds like a politician, he has no swagger like Trump does. The magic will go out when the dim light goes out of Trump’s lousy life.

            I don’t think birds will sing and sunbeams will wash the country clean or anything, but the end of Trump will be the beginning of the decay of the republican party. They have no leader with the same political capital. About the only person who had a chance of introducing his own brand of charisma to flute the rats was Charlie Kirk.

            • Jaysyn@lemmy.world
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              5 minutes ago

              JD doesn’t have the political capital Trump has had which has been the reason Trump gets away with shitting in the faces of everything and everyone.

              Trump isn’t going to share the Russian kompromat that he has on the GOP in Congress with Vance. Russia didn’t hack the RNC for shits and giggles.

            • bagsy@lemmy.world
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              12 hours ago

              It is well understood how he does it. Go watch the documentary Bad Faith. The CNP (Council for National Progress, the group that founded the heritage foundation), has been supplying priests and pastors talking point for 50 years. The CNP told the priests what to say, the priests tell people to follow trump. boom, cult.

              I’m fairly certain when djt checksout, the cult will be gifted to JD and business will continue.

        • renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 hours ago

          “And if you call right now, we’ll send you not one, but two commemorative plates and a set of gold plate holders”

    • aow@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      Rawstory sensationalizes small bits of real info, constantly. He’ll probably pop up tomorrow.

  • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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    12 hours ago

    I am hoping he lives long enough to prosecute his half of a civil war. We want the bad guys to constantly step on rakes, and Trump is very good at that. Ideally, he should die in the middle of that, so that Thiel, Elon, and the rest of the dickhead gang can fight over the throne at the worst time possible for the Dark “Enlightenment”…no, the Dim Ignorance.

    The less good people have to die because of these jackasses, the better.

      • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
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        10 hours ago

        Problem is, the people who created and pushed Project 2025 are still around and supporting their foul agenda. They must die, so that democracy can live. If it takes Trump being the bungler-in-chief for the next couple years…I will put up with it.

        Trump is the least competent of the bunch. We need the more dangerous serpents to lose their heads, else they will continue sinking their fangs into us.

        • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          He is the mascot. I wouldn’t count on the other people being able to hold on to power without him. Maybe they will, but he is an important tool.