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I don't know anything about anything, obviously, but here on Week 2 Day 1, I'm really struggling to figure out how this situation is going to play out. It clearly FEELS like it can't be sustainable even through a few months, but I can't even begin to see what ends up resulting.

There's obviously the outcome they want - Trump rules as a dictator, they destroy the federal government, have their dreams of Hungary/Russia West. The fall of democracy, etc, etc. That's where they've been driving so far, and haven't faced any significant obstacles thus far.

Neither the Republicans in Congress or the judicial branch have shown any sign that they're going to take action against the blatantly illegal actions so far. Not that their "we are the party of the Constitution" talk was ever sincere, but they're clearly here to enable.

Democratic leadership is still trying to pretend that we are in normal times. No united opposition, no united messaging. A few individuals (AOC, Crockett, etc) are trying to push back, but the leadership isn't on board. 3rd parties are vanity projects and in hiding.

And the media where most average Americans get their information are still pushing the framing of "Trump takes bold steps to reform government". On social media, true-believers and disinformation operations are whatabout'ing every comment section. All while the damage piles up.

But between the halting of government funding, the firings, immigration raids and threats, tariffs, military invasion threats, etc, it seems like things will quickly reach a point where people start to notice the destruction, right? But can anything be done before it gets to that point?

I really don't see a world where the American people, for lots of reasons, pull a South Korea and flood the streets or engage a general strike. If that was going to happen, I'm pretty convinced that it would have happened before now. Lawsuits will take years to work through if they are allowed.

Maybe the system is too chaotic to understand. But I think the expiration date on normality is coming very soon, and there's no guarantee that what follows it will be in any way pleasant.

The MAGA beast that Trump created will turn on him eventually, & that will be his undoing. They have to hate someone, & once they realize he's not there to help them, they'll violently revolt. In the meantime, someone's officially trying to put California secession on the ballot....

Maybe NC can become a Canadian providence - put it on the ballot please!

That is the point. Too much chaos, so many folks are reacting to everything individually and not the real point of it all. The point is to create separation because unity destroys what he is doing. It's his playbook.

I agree. I think the thing I’m struggling with is: does that strategy win? Maybe. If not, what sort of event(s) have to happen for things to swing. And I’m having a hard time thinking of an answer to that one.

Everything feels so goddamn heavy right now. You can't make sense of it bc, well...that's impossible. Yet we are expected to, in some ways, carry on as if the country isnt a dumpster fire and work our silly little jobs.

Part of me wants to find somewhere else in the world to go, part of me is concerned that there won't be anywhere sane or safe to go.

The one thing I _DO_ know is that the business Republicans who thought "We need someone to gut regulations and consumer protections so we can make even more money" have no idea that the white supremacists are the ones actually running the show, and don't care about their profit margins.

The democratic response seems to be "fuck it, let the wheels fall off". After going through this shit 4 years ago and then losing an election because the average American is too dumb to understand high school level civics and economics, there is a strong undertone of resentment.

Any ONE thing from the past 8 days would be grounds for immediate impeachment and removal. But it's met with a collective shrug from the people whose job it is to do that. Conspirators or quislings, they're all failures.