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this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024
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Man. I want to believe that, I really do.
But the man literally led a coup attempt. A shitty, ineffective one, but he tried nonetheless.
Last time Trump was held back by guardrails, people in the administrative government and in his cabinet kept his worst behavior in check.
This time, we're already seeing plans to dismantle all that. Only install loyalists, remove anyone else. As in, literally demoting military higher ups who won't kiss the ring.
I just hope they're still too incompetent to do any irreversible damage. But fuck me, man. It's hard to be hopeful.
From what I hear, one of the most important guardrails last time was the 5S system: smile, say sure, subsequently shred. Trump lacks focus and follow through for anything except his core interests, so some of the people close to him apparently got away with simply not carrying out some of his more boneheaded demands.
Yeah, but that was when he wanted the appearance of respectability and brought in some establishment Republicans who hadn’t drank the koolaid. The people he’s nominating now are loyalists through and through who won’t have any reservations to give in to his worse demands.
I'm not sure it was ever about respectability. I think he just didn't have his shit together to actually be president. Campaigns usually start making transition plans long ahead of the election.
The other thing was that he didn't have as much of a stranglehold on the Republican Party in 2016. It was still very possible to be a politician in open opposition to Donald Trump. So when it came time to pick someone, he couldn't pick and choose proven loyalists. He just had to choose from among ranks of people who may or may not be hostile.