Category: Trumplandia

When Trump’s Tyranny Is No Longer Abstract

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There are so many elements of Trump’s potential tyranny on a practical basis that we just don’t know the endgame of. What will be the reaction of Blue States if Trump goes full tyrant and does all these bonkers things he keeps ranting about?


One thing I find myself thinking about way too much these days is what the U.S. Military will do.

If Trump really goes full tyrant…I just don’t know. If Trump demands that the U.S. Military do patently illegal and political things domestically against the Blues…oh boy. There is a greater-than-zero chance that they — or least the officer corp — will balk at such a move.

Do I think Trump might be “deposed” in some way? I just don’t know. Probably not. But if Trump *is* re-elected, holy shit are we in for a type of political turbulence we’ve not seen since 1865.

‘Skullduggery’


By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

My real fear at this point is we won’t know one way or another who the winner of the 2024 election is for a lot longer than necessary — and / or the whole thing ends up at SCOTUS.

Any such scenario involves the country being a lot more unstable than I would prefer to think about. I’ve been so wrapped up, worried about these issues that I’m kind of locked in neutral. I just don’t quite know what to do.

I am worried that at some point in the next few months that I’m going to be driven from my home by crazed MAGA people. I just don’t know what I’m going to do about that if it happens.

Anyway, I am typically a survivor, so, lulz?

Imagining A Trump Second Term

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Here are some random thoughts on a potential second Trump term.

Foreign Policy:
I think there’s a good chance that the United States will pull out of NATO if Trump wins. I also think that the United States may pull out of at least South Korea as well. The US will grow amazingly tight with Russia in a way that is going to upend the global order.

Domestic Policy
This is a bit more murky because I don’t know how much Trump could actually get away with. But I do think he’s so stupid and lazy that he might go “full tyrant.” If he does that, then, all bets are off. The United States in 2024 is not Germany in 1933. It’s a lot less centralized and homogenized to the point that if Trump goes nuts and tries to, through brut force, to turn the country into a “hard” autocracy…there are bound to be consequences. If Trump starts to round people — like me! — up along with all those undocumented people then that is going to really stir people up. Add to this the possibility that Trump might use Red State militaries on Blue States….yikes.

Pondering What Any Possible ‘October Surprise’ Against Trump Might Be

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

  1. Laura Loomer Sextape
    This wouldn’t hurt Trump and his supporters would call it a deepfake, anyway.
  2. Proof of Trump saying the “N” Word
    Lulz, racism is the point for MAGA people.
  3. Pee Tape
    This one is funny and might hurt him on the edges, but, in general, nothing would change.
  4. FOTUS Is Real?
    If it turned out that FOTUS was real after all the bullshit we went through….

An ‘October Surprise’ Against Trump Is Impossible

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

American politics is so fucking tribal at this point that there just is nothing — absolutely nothing — that will change the minds of people voting for Trump. Every possible bad thing you could say or reveal about him is backed into the political cake.

Which makes me again wonder if, in the end, this is who we are in 2024. Is this is it? Is the free, democratic America I grew up in, over? Have we finally reached the point where, generally, people want to live in an autocratic state of blood and soil?

Is that what’s going on?

At the moment, less than two weeks away from election day 2024, I just don’t know. It’s a mystery. And, what’s more, even if we defeat MAGA this cycle, I just don’t see MAGA going away — we’re going to have to face it in 2028 and 2032.

And, in a sense, things could get even worse with the rise of AI and androids. Maybe, if we defeat MAGA racism in 2024, it will be MAGA bigotry against sentient AI androids in 2028 or 2032. Something like that is very possible.

I Just Don’t Know

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I continue to be locked up mentally and emotionally about the 2024 election. I just don’t know what is going to happen to the point that I am stuck in mental neutral for the time being.

It’s difficult for me to do anything productive on a creative basis because I’m so focused on what may — or may not — happen in the next few weeks. There’s such a wide-range of things that could go wrong between now and January 20th that it’s really difficult for me to process.

And, yet, I have to get SOMETHING done. I can’t just stay frozen like a deer in the headlights. I have to get back to being creative in some way. If I don’t I will do nothing at all until I know for sure I’m safe from roving bands of MAGA Incels looking for Blue blood to shed.

Yikes!

But…I could be not only wrong but overthinking things even if I am right. It could be that while on a macro basis Trump will become a fascist dictator, I, on a personal basis will have nothing to worry about.

At least for the time being.

But who knows. It could go either way.

My 2024 Election Fear: A Last Minute Deep Fake

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

My current fear is that at some point between now and Election Day, there will be some sort of deep fake sex tape released of Kamala Harris going at it with her ex-boyfriend Montel Williams.

Early voting is already happening in a number of states and there IS a blind item about such a tape existing, so it would make a lot of sense that someone might spring that on us. It would take 24 to 48 hours for everyone to figure out it was a fake, but by that point it might be too late.

Hopefully, of course, I’m just overthinking things and this won’t be a problem — at least not in the 2024 election cycle. But I am concerned, going forward, that AI is going to somehow royally screw things up.

Worried That MAGA Is Who We Are In 2024

I’m reading the book “The Death Of Democracy” which details the lead up to the Nazis victory in Germany in 1933. My fear, of course, is that when all is said and done that yet again, Americans will want to live in an autocracy.

That’s what’s happened in 2016 — people really wanted to live in an autocracy. But, that go around, at least, Trump turned out to be just an empty suit that couldn’t get the job done. This time, however, I fear Trump 2.0 will be much, much more effective as an autocrat, given the opportunity.

And, remember, there is a big difference between Trump being a tyrant in the abstract and him being an actual tyrant in ways that changes individual personal lives. The conservatives I know are very blasé about Trump being a full bore tyrant in any sort of practical manner.

They just want to deport millions of undocumented people, make Trans people “go away” and bring back the America they remember from their youth. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens Trump has the opportunity to do all the tyrannical things he keeps ranting about at the moment.

But, I suppose, only time will tell. There’s still a chance that he won’t get elected. Yet, if he does get elected, I’m really, really worried that people simply won’t stand for his tyrannical bullshit and he will, in some way, be “deposed.”

I hate violence of any sort, so all of this is just in the abstract — I’m definitely not advocating anything. But it is something to think about.

*STILL* Stuck In Creative Neutral, To Some Extent

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m still stuck in something of a creative neutral of late. I just don’t quite know what to do, given that American democracy hinges on who wins the election. So. lulz?

Ugh.

I’m just very unable to game out who is going to win the election. In general, I would say that Kamala Harris does seem as though she has a lot of momentum at the moment. And, yet, even if she wins, there a real risk that the country will collapse into chaos because Trump will demand a National Divorce.

And I do think that Texas would at least seriously think about leaving the Union if Trump did so such ranting. The whole thing makes me so nervous that it’s difficult for me to do anything creative. I hope that won’t last forever.

I just don’t know. Things are so tight that my fear is that I’m just going to be in a haze for the next few weeks while I wait for the election to happen. It just seems like we’re careening towards some sort of dark void that could lead to tyranny if Trump wins and civil war if he loses.

Stuck In Creative Neutral

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

For the time being I fear I may be stuck in something of a creative neutral while I wait to see if the country collapses into civil war after the 2024 election. i don’t think it’s going to happen, but, as the song goes, “the waiting is the hardest part.”

It’s the not knowing that is really getting to me.

It’s just a general sense of angst about the fate of the country that has me mentally preoccupied for the time being. I have all these creative things I want to do, and I’m locked in neutral in my mind and heart while I wait to see what happens next.

But hopefully — hopefully — I will shake out of it sooner rather than later. It would suck if I simply stared out into space for the next two weeks while I waited to see if the country collapsed into chaos or not.