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points by dylan604 3 days ago | 0 comments

It's less about who is doing it rather than that a US president is doing it at all. Obviously, once you find the right person, things can change quickly. Finding the right person when the other two branches of government are controlled by the same party, you can speed run the end of democracy. This is the part that's really shameful to me more so than just a single megalomaniac POTUS. The fact Congress has just capitulated its duties while overtly corrupt members of SCOTUS flaunt jurisprudence is something I thought we'd never have to see.

[–] gwerbin 3 days ago

Congress didn't capitulate, it facilitated by obstructing any resistance. And we all saw this coming with SCOTUS as far back as the Obama administration. It's certainly horrifying to see it play out, but we've seen the warning signs since the W Bush admin.

[–] dylan604 3 days ago

I think it's a combo of both really. McConnel denying Obama's rightful SCOTUS nomination was not capitulating, but Johnson's rolling over for this administration is. Clearly, the situation we find ourselves is not the result of a single action. I think the speed run really started back with Speaker Gingrich.

[–] smackeyacky 3 days ago

The trend of ignoring convention and pushing the boundaries of what is legal certainly seems to stem from Gingrich but from an outsider view it seems to have its origins with the Nixon administration

[–] mrtesthah 3 days ago

At a certain point we just have to consider them all participants in a single oligarchic conspiracy to overturn democracy. If we cannot get justice through the system then it will have to be done by the masses themselves.

[–] hammock 3 days ago

Careful, one or two more paragraphs down that slope and you might be accused of describing a Deep State and/or an insurrection

[–] mindslight 3 days ago

Yes, the reactionary movement has been very successful at abusing real criticisms and frustrations to motivate their supporters, while doing nothing to actually address those problems (and often even shamelessly leaning into exploiting them for personal gain). It's a one-two punch of directly making the problems worse, while arbitraging away the political capital that had built up around trying to reform them.

[–] mrguyorama 3 days ago

Congress is capitulating it's duties at least partially because anyone who tries to block Trump as a republican gets voted out. Oh sure, they stirred this shit up for 50 years and just reaping what they sew, but the train is free-running now and they can't really stop it.

The Voters want a Trump King. A government cannot ignore it's own people forever.

If the voters reward corrupt and horrific behavior, and punish law and order behavior, what the hell can you do about that?

[–] AngryData 3 days ago

With congress I feel like they have been capitulating their duties for atleast a few decades now. They don't care at all about their job, they only care about the personal power and wealth and benefits that getting elected provides. In which case it was only a matter of time before someone like Trump comes along. With the only saving grace being that he is an utter moron.