Hardkill

It didn’t actually back then, but this time things will be way too different. Trump’s second term term as presidency will be as unique as him winning the 2024 election was. We’ve never had a US president as authoritarian and as wicked as he will be as soon as he steps back into the Oval Office.

SURVIVAL ALERT: Trump's Second Term Threatens to cause financial armageddon for everyone in America who did not and will not ever support him. I don't know how I will be able to sleep well at night during most of Trump's second presidency. His first presidency ended with the COVID-19 recession, which was one of if not the worst recession since the Great Depression. His return to power already sparks catastrophic fears for about half the country: Global Market Meltdown: Tariffs and trade wars ignite inflation, interest rate chaos. Economic Collapse: Budget deficits skyrocket, debt ceiling crisis looms. Financial Ruin: Savings wiped out, pensions threatened. PERSONAL SURVIVAL UNDER THREAT Future hangs in balance: Job Loss: Mass layoffs, unemployment soaring. Healthcare Disaster: Access denied, medical emergencies unchecked. Social Unrest: Division, protests, and chaos engulf America. PROTECT YOURSELF The only ways I generally know I might be able to stay vigilant: Diversify Assets: Shield savings from market turmoil. I don't know how. Emergency Funds: Prepare for financial shocks. I don't know how. Staying Informed: Monitor economic alerts, adapt to changing landscape. I don't know how. THE FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN Trump's second term poses unprecedented risks. Hell, now that Trump's presidency is poised to usher in the most Christian nationalist order in modern US history, I fear persecution everywhere simply for being Jewish, including at work and school. I pray that I am wrong!

Do you realize that this is how right-wing populists like him and Trump or even Soviet-style communist populists like Hugo Chavez or Vladimir deceive suckers like into believing that they really have your best interests in mind?

You're coming off as a real fool. You really thought that Matt Gaetz actually believes in getting money out of politics? He's only been pretending to be a populist just like Trump has been, only for his own political advantage.

That's a valid point. Maybe the country will be safe enough for people like us like in Hungary or China.

I just read one Leo's latest blogs about Media Pervertry and I now feel completely hopeless about pretty much everything in the world. As long as the whole world, especially the US, is stuck in this increasingly "democratized" and fractured media environment I don't see how the fascists can ever be defeated. Nobody on this forum is even talking about how this abominable doom loop spell can ever be broken at all within our lifetimes. I've looked all over the Internet and the only thing I can find is this answer according to AI: Mass Awakening: Widespread recognition of the propaganda's falsity and calling for environmental and political awakening. Critical Thinking: Encouraging critical thinking and media literacy to distinguish fact from fiction. Grassroots Mobilization: Organizing community-driven movements to challenge dominant narratives. Country hitting rock bottom: Economic collapse or severe recession, Environmental disasters or climate-related crises, Social unrest or widespread protests, Constitutional crises or authoritarian overreach.

If we all lose our jobs and go broke under Trump, then I will say "I told you so." Bitcoin is a total scam.

Then, they could be either doomed as a party for eternity or just decide to pass more "Third Way" Republican-lite policies with Republicans in Congress that will be bad for the country in the long-run like the kind of policies that Bill Clinton and neoliberal Dems passed with Dole, Gingrich, and the Republicans in Congress in the 1990s.

I get your point, and I really thought that Democrats should be unapolegetically liberal/progressive in 2024. I still think they should, but only on economic policies. Believe me, I want to fight for all kinds of social justice for all people in our country, but honestly don't see how fighting for any more social justice stuff is going to work for the foreseeable future given how extremely negative this political environment has tragically gotten for immigrants, non-whites, and women. I remember you saying that the reasons Democrats were very successful with getting stuff done during the years the New Deal Coalition existed (1930s to mid 1970s), not just because of the Great Depression, but because both major political parties pretty much agreed on every social issue unlike today were there is virtually no agreement on any social issues amongst both parties. Therefore, Democrats primarily focused on getting left-leaning economic policies enacted during those years until the late 1960s/early 70s. Hell, even Republicans like Eisenhower and Nixon got a significant amount of good things done for the people economically:

Sadly, yes. What do you think are the chances that Trump and MAGA would come after people like you and me for no good reason?

Ideally, we shouldn't, but look at the reality of the situation we are in. Also, there is precedent for this. After the Reconstruction era, the Republican Party basically said, 'We've done enough for Black and Brown people, let's focus on growing businesses and the economy.' Teddy Roosevelt, the last truly progressive Republican US president, essentially became an anomaly within his party during the 1900s. Even Woodrow Wilson, who became the very first liberal/progressive US president in US history, wasn't really crazy about the idea of women having the right to vote and was quite a racist Southerner. Even Throughout his presidency, FDR recognized that enacting serious policies granting civil rights to African Americans and other non-whites was virtually impossible. To pass urgent economic reforms, he knew that he had to compromise with powerful white Southern racists in Congress and racist lobbyists from the business community, who advocated for economic measures that would exclude Blacks and other non-whites. The Democrats eventually lost more and more of the South and other rural areas of the country, especially after LBJ and Congress enacted all of the historic laws that ended Jim Crow laws for good by the late 1960s to 1970s.

Why would they turn on Trump when they are no longer obligated to?

Ohh.... Just when I thought there was some glimmer of hope for our country..... So, only the blue states can push back against Trump's regime in their own states. At this point, Democrats might only be able to win back power at the state and local levels of government.

Yeah, God only knows what other perverted stuff or crimes he committed. Could it be that I mistakenly thought that all of the guardrails for the country's checks and balances would be gone for good?

Well, certainly in normal times it would, but we are living in probably the most abnormal time in US History. Why didn't all of Trump's crimes blow up in their faces, but a child sex scandal? I mean, what kind of consequences would Trump and his party face if Gaetz was the US Attorney General even though they will now have essentially zero checks on their power at the federal level? I am sure that the worst is still yet to come, but people like you and me have been anticipating Trump's 2nd presidency to be the most corrupt presidential administration the country has ever had and that the fabric of our society will break down to levels that we can't even begin to imagine.

Yeah, but why didn't they just confirm him anyways if they had all of the power to do so?

Yeah, I get that now.... but half of the country, including good people like you and me, don't deserve this at all. Besides, working on my life purpose and self-development how am I going to be able to fight back against the upcoming tyranny? Aren't you afraid that Trump and MAGA could come after people like you and take away everything you've accomplished? I hope that no crazy Trump supporter or anybody in the Trump administration finds out where I live. I'm starting to see some validity in the 2nd amendment, especially now.

Thank you. Now, Even if this sentiment for anti-mainstream populism is relatively short-lived, what about the dominance of conservative messaging that continues to metastasize in this media landscape? How from a practical standpoint can centrist liberals win against conservatives/Republicans again at this point?

You obviously didn't watch the vid I posted. The polls predicted that Hillary Clinton would win both the popular vote and Electoral College easily in 2016, but she lost. Lichtman and Moore were the very few forecasters who correctly predicted that she would lose back then. The polls in 2020, predicted that Biden would defeat in a near landslide (approx. 8%+ margin in popular vote and 370+ Electoral votes) including winning Texas and Florida. Yet, Biden won 306 Electoral Votes and won the popular vote by 4.5% margin. Lichtman and Moore predicted Biden would definitely win in 2020 months in advance. The FiveThirtyEight state polling aggregate also predicted that Biden would win Michigan by about 8% points and win both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by a much greater percentage than he actually did. The polls showed that Harris would win the popular vote and probably eke out a win in the Electoral College. They were wrong. The polls predicted that Romney would the popular vote in 2012 against Obama, but Obama beat him easily winning the popular vote by 3.9% and winning the Electoral College decisively. Forecasters, including once again, Lichtman and Moore, predicted that Obama would win well ahead of the election. Despite predictions of a disastrous outcome for the Democrats in the 2022 midterms, the Democrats actually secured a historic victory in the 2022 midterms overall, defying Biden's low approval ratings. Their win back then was among the greatest for an incumbent White House party in U.S. history! Truman in 1948 was predicted by all of the pollsters and pundits to lose the presidential election and yet he too defied those predictions by not only winning another presidential term, but also helping his party successfully retake control of both the US House and US Senate in Congress after the 1948 general elections. It was a real slap in the face for the Chicago Tribune when they prematurely said in their headline "Dewey defeats Truman." That's only a small set of instances of how many times the polls got it wrong. Btw, even though Michael Moore again predicted this election wrong he also pointed out how many other times the polls and pundits were wrong: https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/stop-obsessing-over-the-polls Professor Lichtman's 13 Keys system is by no means a perfect science, but his record is still undoubtedly unsurpassed by any other Model, Forecaster, pundit, or pollster out there. Michael Moore also has had a better long-term record of predicting elections than virtually every pundit and pollster out there.

Even Michael Moore, who correctly predicted every presidential election from 2008 to 2020 also predicted the 2024 election wrong:

Actually, the top independent economists said that Biden’s stimulus bill turned out to be the least to blame for inflation. The main reasons for inflation were: Global supply disruptions, the war in Ukraine which caused a major oil price shock, the Federal Reserve being very late with handling inflation, and corporate profiteering.

That's misleading. She only said that she wouldn't have done anything differently than Biden just that one time. She campaigned a lot on a number of things that would've been progressive leaning such as: building affordable housing at a mass scale for lower-income and middle-class folk Expand Medicare to provide home care to help families who are struggling with the costs of long-term care, vision, and hearing Expand Medicare to negotiate even more drugs Raise corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% Universal Pre-K renew and extend the child tax credit Paid Family Leave Continue addressing climate change Pass a nationwide abortion rights bill Voting rights Act for racial minorities, ending gerrymandering, and getting dark money out of politics and more

Hmm, I see... Well, I suppose I have been overreacting. Sorry. This really has been very, very hard for me to process all of this given how much of a major setback this really turned out to be for our society. Trump's regime is also going to be like hell given how insane, unstable, and chaotic it will be. Having to endure another four years of this freakdom is undoubtedly going to suck.

Well, do you think that it's actually possible for centrists and/or liberals to ever regain power even in this defected media landscape?

So, even the dominance of the right-wing propaganda/disinformation machine will come to an end before we all pass away?