The fact that we are entering a time when a coup in the USA is a legitimate threat is so utterly terrifying.

From at least Reagan to now diehard conservatives have laid the foundation for all of this over the course of decades and Mitch McConnell and many of the other conservatives now in dismay at this shift absolutely played a crucial role in making it all possible.

I’ve always wondered what people in Germany felt in the 1930s. Well, now I know. I’m not saying Trump/Republicans are literal nazis and authoritarianism is inevitable but the utter chaos unfolding is reminiscent.

not sure if you deserve the downvotes lol. Whatcha mean?

Top “generals,” plural I believe.

edit 1: just remembered different services use different ranks, the other confirmed fire was an admiral.

edit 2: Another general was indeed fired: Gen. James Slife

And they’re likely getting replaced with diehard loyalists. The Joint Chiefs is already going to a MAGA if I heard correctly.

Quoting Lenin: “There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen.”

And it’s starting to feel like there are days when centuries happen.

If Trump genuinely, fully wants to drive the United States into authoritarianism, forcefully installing diehard loyalists in the military is one of the most crucial early steps.

I rarely lean into conspiracy theories and we’re living in insanely complex times but this move has me genuinely worried. Hopefully, my fears turn out to be a figment of imagination.

I’m sure that several prominent politicians have been putting together teams to run campaigns but the GOP candidates probably mostly wanted to avoid any official announcements or major actions until Mitch made it official. Now the gate is open and the race is on.

The Switch OLED is already a bit big to travel with for me but I make do and I’d prefer it to be smaller in hand. I had the lite and much preferred its form factor. OLED does have a much, much better screen. Different strokes for different folks. The Deck doesn’t meet my use case, nad that’s fine.

I missed “Go” and thought they meant Game Freak and I was quite shocked lol

Steam Deck seems pretty amazing. Unfortunately, in my case, it’s too big to travel with and I doubt my small hands will find much comfort.

Really hope they come out with a Steam Deck Lite. I know you can buy smaller handheld PCs but last I checked they were quite pricey (tbf I haven’t checked recently)

That sucks. It wasn’t much money tbh but a few bucks here and there was nice.

Dude there’s no need for petty insults. Clowns are highly trained professionals who bring joy to the world. No need to insult them with unfair associations to slimy dinosaur politicians.

They shall be tut-tutted once, tut-tutted twice, tut-tutted three times. And they might get a stern glare as well.

And if they gut medicaid, that’ll push pestilence even further and contribute to death as well. The situation in Ukraine contributes to war.

I’ve never bought into the apocalypse stuff but it’s interesting how quickly and easily things line up.

I’m pretty sure once she crosses into “physical” action (not the right word but not sure what to use) she’s probably just getting removed herself. In this hypothetical case, maybe that encourages widespread resistance, but I think we’ll hear crickets in a few weeks.

If she’s going to extreme measures, probably best to do so as a last resort. She might be able to pin Adams under state laws or other mechanisms to try and remove him. If nothing else, better to go into a showdown with Trump with stronger legal backing.

So what does the governor do? What does anyone do? What’s “the” action? The only avenue forward is hopefully legal measures because if governor breaks any serious laws she’s done and nothing happens.

Yeah, it is all political theater because one party is much more powerful than the other.

Yeah I think we all agree Trump doesn’t give AF about what’s legal. But crucially, Trump can do that because he’s commander in chief of the world’s largest military, has a Supreme Court that supports him, has a rabid base that would go to war for him, and a Congress that overall is more favorable to him than Democrats.

In other words, Trump is in a position to flout rules. The governor is not. This doesn’t make me happy. I don’t support it. But it is what it is.

“Do you honestly think having some legal justification would change anything about how Trump would respond?”

Not sure where you’re going with this. Sadly, we’re in a might makes right era. I’d be surprised if Trump pays more than cursory attention to the lawyers advising him.

Pretty much the only thing the governor can do is political theater or resigning in protest (which Trump could care less about).

I’m not a we go high when they go low kinda guy but it’ll be really hard for a governor to act like Trump. And it’ll be especially hard if said governor has to go up against Trump. It’s hard to compel Trump because who enforcers anything on him? Yet Trump is probably drooling at the possibility of sending federal agents to arrest a governor.

None of this makes Trump’s abhorrent behavior okay, of course.

BeHoLD tHE pOWeR oF a TuT tUT!

I feel terrible for laughing at this. Guess I should submit and go belly up myself in repentance.

Sardonic humor is practically a necessity for survival at this point. Really glad that this wasn’t a high lethality crash.

I once stumbled on a discussion, on Reddit I think (or maybe it was Twitter) from a small-time farmer who basically admitted that most farmers in his position realized regulations were important and could be a force for good, but large agri-businesses constantly flouted rules and never got anything more than a slap on the wrist when caught. A sort of “rules for thee, not for me” situation. And so all the small time farmers had to cut corners and ignore regulations to remain competitive and viable.

Overly complex regulations could increase the barrier of entry for newer companies, small time entrepreneurs, etc. In some instances it can actually be in the interest of large, established companies to maintain overly complex regulatory environments as it keeps competition out of the market.

Insightful simplification of regulations that increases their effectiveness while reducing unnecessary burdens might be feasible, and also, beneficial for society as a whole.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get that with this administration. They’re just going to smash and break, and at best, they might realize they broke some important things and perhaps repair it to a limited extent.

edit: clarified a few points.