this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” Obama told Jay Shetty on his podcast “On Purpose.”

“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she said.

“The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned,” she said.

Without naming Trump, she continued: “Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience.”

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[–] TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world 157 points 10 months ago (20 children)

Me too and I'm not even American, dissolution of NATO, serving Ukaine on a platter to Russia, possibility of more war in Europe with Putin getting bolder.

No pressure Americans but your elections are kind of important for the future of the world.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 67 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There was a rider attached to one of the latest appropriations bills (which is now law) that restricts how future Presidents can pull the US out of NATO. It can't happen now unless Congress passes an act authorizing the President to do so, or with a 2/3 vote of the Senate (the same mechanism as ratifying a treaty).

So at least on this issue, we've put in some safeguards in case we elect an idiot again.

[–] teamevil@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Because rules and laws stopped him before

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 46 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Yes, they did. He’s not in office right now because of those rules and laws

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They stopped some of his bullshit, but they also failed to stop a lot of it. If he's allowed to run for president again, that will be a huge example of rules not stopping him.

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[–] Xanis@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

I may argue he's not in office because the coup attempt didn't succeed.

Though maybe that's just me.

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[–] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (6 children)

Yeah but a bunch of white college kids who don't even know what Mer7aba means have decided that the way to serve the Palestinian cause is to let the guy who handed Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to Netenyahu back into office to teach the establishment a lesson so we're fucked.

I'm starting to think they're actually just right wingers who know that saying what they ACTUALLY want will get them dumped by all their cool allies club friends. Probably why they keep insisting on dumb fuck takes like "bErNiE wOuLd Be A cEnTrIsT iN pOlAnD!" and "AmErIcA hAs No LeFt!!!!!"

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[–] Hackerman_uwu@lemmy.world 70 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I’m fucking convinced you guys are going to vote that chud in again. Or let him be voted in again. There is nuance but it’s the same outcome.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 56 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (10 children)

The people who want to spite Biden's genocidal support by not voting for him don't realize that the alternative is a fascist dictator who actively relishes in the prospect of killing brown people. If you think Biden's treatment of the Gazan war is bad, wait til you see Trump.

Same with the Ukrainian war. If Biden is milquetoast, Trump will guarantee your toast is forever black and inedible.

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[–] leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 65 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I'm not American but what's happening in the US and what will happen when/if Trump gets re-elected definitely worries me. It's difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state. And if you just rolled your eyes at that word, take a look at who's currently second in line to the US presidency.

If Trump does win, I really fear for American democracy. Do you really think a man who encouraged an armed insurrection to support a subversion of an election will pause to think twice about removing the few rights large sections of America currently have? And if the process prevents him, do you think he'd think twice about dismantling the process? At gun point if necessary?

[–] vexikron@lemmy.zip 51 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

Hi, American here.

American domestic politics is absolutely fucked right now.

The Republican Party does not really even have any policy proposals for serious issues at the Federal level.

They spent years saying 'Obamacare bad', saying they could do healthcare better. Basically it is a decade later and they have no plan, not even a proposal.

Taxes? We still have morons like DeSantis basically saying 'I dunno, maybe a flat tax?' to applause during stump speeches and debates. The flat tax proposal is absolutely insane for a large number of reasons, but the Republican base eats it up.

Look, there are something like 50 million + Americans that believe in all or most of the QAnon conspiracy theories, that believe God himself appointed Trump as President.

Trump stacked the Supreme Court.

The Republicans have functionally made abortion illegal in about half the country.

Meanwhile the economy is /apparently/ recovering, though the prices of basically everything you need to routinely pay for have risen fairly dramatically while wages have remained basically stagnant. Wealth inequality has spiralled to obscene levels, rent has basically doubled in about half a decade.

As I write this, I believe that polls of Biden v Trump are still showing Trump ahead.

Even if Trump does not win, and even if the MAGA QAnon types do not do a bunch of terrorism (again), they still exist, and are hopelessly living in basically an alternate reality where anything that goes against their worldview is fake, a conspiracy, of the Devil.

It was about 3 years ago now that I told my friend group that the QAnon problem was so serious that we would need some kind of analogous concept to the de-Nazification program as was implemented after WW2 in West Germany to deal with it. They either laughed at or ignored me. None of those people are my friends any more.

We are fucked.

The only thing that motivates most Republican voters is hatred. Any politician who says Trans people bad, Critical Race Theory bad, Immigrants bad, Homeless People bad, anything like that receives applause from the audience.

And I write this /as a homeless person/ who will almost certainly not be able to vote in the upcoming election. I will be /lucky/ if I can even find and qualify for an actual apartment after basically a bunch of crimes that happened to me in the course of last year caused me serious physical injury and the loss of all of my possessions, ruined my credit score, placed my in incredible debt, lost me my job and my ability to do any other job until my physical injuries are healed, which I simply have to handle myself, while homeless, because the cost of engaging with American healthcare system to handle my problems now would be sufficient to outright purchase a modest home (outright) less than a decade ago.

Meanwhile, Trump has outright stated he would like to implement basically concentration camps for the homeless. He has stated he wants to eliminate the vermin leftists. He is very concerned with the purity of the blood of the nation, and has outright stated he will be a dictator.

And he is currently leading in the polls.

Again, this country is fucked. So, sorry Europeans, I would love to be able to assuage your fears, and become an activist or something.

Maybe send me some of your healthcare and I'll get right on it.

Or maybe I am extremely tired, have no hope for this broken country, and could use the services of someone who can smuggle me into Canada or something.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (18 children)

If you are homeless, reach out to a shelter to see if they would be okay with you declaring them as your residence for the purpose of mail/voter registration. You can obtain ID from the state and have it sent there, and then that enables you to register to vote. Or if you have a bit of cash, you can also register a PO box through USPS for your mail.

It may be too late for you to vote in the primary depending on where you live, but you've still got plenty of time for the general election in November.

I can only encourage you to keep trying, because disenfranchising the socially vulnerable means that the Republican strategy is working.

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[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 24 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Even if Trump dies tomorrow, the problem still exists. Trump is the worm in the apple, but half the apple is rotten.

[–] leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 10 months ago

That is true, no disagreement here. That's the truly scary thing about the man - he clearly does represent a lot of people.

But right now, he is the immediate danger.

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I’m not sure anymore. He got so elevated by some people but they hate so much. Idk if anyone could just slide into his place. I think they could be lost enough with the infighting that would try to fill in that hole. As in, that confusion could give us the gap to secure our processes and/or elect reasonable people.

[–] vexikron@lemmy.zip 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The problem wit this reasoning is that it does not understand what Trump actually did.

It is /worse/ than being a charismatic maniac.

It is that by being a charismatic maniac... he revealed the entirety of the American society and political system to be a cruel joke.

He essentially normalized extreme hatred and bigotry to the point that nearly every single other Republican had to either emulate him, or at least shift heavily toward his positions and rhetoric.

Infighting is and will continue to happen, yes. But Trump transformed the Republican party into what is essentially fascist in all but name now.

And the problem with this is that electoralism alone cannot defeat a rising fascist movement which shows no signs of slowing down.

We, with history as a guide, /cannot/ defeat this only via voting.

As much as it pains me to agree with Tim Pool on anything, to any degree: A civil war of sorts, or at least massive social unrest something akin to the Pre-Bellum American society is already happening.

The core voters of the Republican Party are now driven by QAnon style insano-anti-thinking. There is no known cure for this, and it is very easy for any random dumbass that wants to be a politician to appeal to these kinds of people, /so there will be more and more of them/.

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[–] bedrooms@kbin.social 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

I live in Japan and I'm sure Kim literally considered nuking my country during that dick measurement contest Trump held.

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[–] GoodbyeBlueMonday@startrek.website 11 points 10 months ago

It’s difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state.

To add to this: while it may sound hyperbolic to some folks, for plenty of us we've seen this brewing for decades. White evangelicals and right-wing politics unified in the 1980s in a way that was a clear danger to democracy, and they've only solidified their power since, given how mainstream their views are now.

IMHO Frank Zappa said it best in 1986: he got called out as being hyperbolic, but he clearly saw the writing on the wall. He's of course not the most scholarly source, but damn it Jim I'm a biologist, not a historian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlePLLlfH4Q

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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 63 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I feel like this is so understated in this context it is almost physically painful:

Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted

Stop talking about trump like he's just another bad candidate. Jesus Christ.

[–] Lesrid@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If they acknowledge the depth of his depravity then they go too far in tarnishing the office. They desperately want to maintain prestige so they'll never go as far as they ought to.

[–] Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago

If you talk about it in the way that you should, you will sound alarmist.

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately to Trump supporters this is a grandiose endorsement and exactly what they want.

[–] metallic_substance@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The true trump idiots fucking love it. They are salivating for it. She's black, a woman, and liberal which is the exact opposite of the people they care about. It represents everything they hate

[–] rusticus@lemm.ee 26 points 10 months ago (5 children)

As much as I share the same concern with Michelle, I would selfishly respond to her that if she just fucking ran for president she would win in a landslide and put an end to fucking Trump. Barack can spend the entire 4 years ridiculing the orange bezoar as first man.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'd be concerned whatever the outcome.

You reckon Jan 6th was a one off?

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[–] chitak166@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago (3 children)

If the democrats ran just about anybody but Joe, they'd be a shoe-in.

Brace yourselves for Trump 2.0, everyone. The Clinton lineage must go on!

[–] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

He was popular enough to beat Trump the 1st go round, why would people not vote for him now when the alternative is 4 more years of god knows what fresh hell?

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Anyone who votes like that really doesn’t understand the difference between the two at all.

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[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Can she run for VP and we just swap her out instead of Kamala Harris? Hell, they could go back to reusing old Obama/Biden signs from the 2008/2012 campaigns. Otherwise Harris is just deadweight for this campaign, she's been absolutely useless the past 4 years (though that's probably been the traditional role of VPs anyways).

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