This Can’t Last

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

They say when you come to a fork in the road– take it. I suspect that at some point between now and mid-April, some pretty fucking dramatic things are going to happen.

Probably martial law will be declared and Trump — and Musk — will rule as a full blow tyrannical dictator. The rest of the government will continue to act as if they have some sort of purpose, but in reality they won’t be jack squat.

One thing we need to keep an eye on is who is going to get arrested for no damn reason in the near future. I think Trump might start to arrest a lot of people he just doesn’t like and they will officially be political prisoners.

But I do think we need to keep an eye on Elon Musk’s skullfucking of the government. When those Social Security checks don’t go out as expected, that’s when the shit will hit the fan. That’s when martial law will probably be declared.

We just have to accept that the America that we once knew is imploding and something new is going to take its place. Either an autocracy or some sort of new, Third Republic. Regardless, things are probably going to get very, very messy.

I’m kind of trapped in the United States at the moment, so it’s not like I can escape. But I am, in general, a survivor, so, lulz. we’ll see.

Renegades of Funk

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

All I got at this point is I’m a survivor. That’s it. I have an obsession with making my abstract fears concrete, so, I really have a tendency to game out things in the future, given if a lot of magical thinking is involved.

It seems as though, for the moment, what is going to happen is Trump will rule as a dictator on a Federal level while leaving the states alone for the most part. This will inevitably change, but, for the time being, the rather decentralized nature of American government will continue.

So, Trump — and Musk — will rule by decree on a Federal basis with Federal elections being moot and meaningless. What are they going to do to Trump? Impeach him? Ha. Of course, the issue we need to think about is who will be Trump’s successor?

I think Trump is going to run for a third term, no matter how illegal it may be. And even though Musk is not a “natural born” citizen, he has billions, so I’m sure we can ignore that requirement as well. It’s at least possible — at this point — to see some scenario where Musk becomes the actual president? Maybe?

I have my doubts about Vance ever becoming president barring something unexpected. I think either Musk or another Trump becomes POTUS and they are Trump’s “true” successor.

Did I Call This Tyrannical Clusterfuck?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have be writing for years — years — about every possible scenarios involving Trump as a dictator. And now that it’s finally come, I find myself gauging how much I got right.

The key thing I got wrong was the involvement of Elon Musk. Because he is younger and more focused — and tech savvy — he is doing a lot of the things that Trump wants to do but is too stupid and lazy to pull off. How could I have possibly know this was going to happen?

What I got right was Trump would rule by decree and try to be a dictator. What I got wrong was the idea that someone, somewhere, would care. At the moment, at least, it seems Trump is going full tyrant and…lulz?

I suppose we could say there’s still a huge amount of slack in the system. America is a nation of 330 million people and it’s going to take time before a lot of people even notice that something is awry.

The question is — will it be too late when that happens? When people get woke to the fact that we’re a dictatorship now…what happens? The fear is, of course, that there will be massive protests that Trump uses Red State National Guard troops on…and away we go.

But that hasn’t happened yet and hopefully, won’t.

‘The End’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

An old order is dying and a new order is being born. What that new order will be, we don’t know yet. It could be that Trump will establish a dictatorship. We will still have elections, but they will be meaningless.

Now, this is where things get curious — we are making an assumption about the U.S. Military. We are assuming that they will sit by and watch as Trump does all of this. And they very well may.

But if things get really bad and Trump makes good on his promise to use Red State National Guard troops on Blue State protesters….oh boy. Things might get a lot more hairy than we could possibly imagine.

It could be that some pretty astonishing things might happen. I have the fever dream that Trump — and Musk — might be deposed. That, of course, unfortunately, would cause a civil war because Red States would promptly leave the Union.

So, who knows. I think Trump is, for the time being, pretty secure in being a dictator. He can just ignore the courts and, with Musk’s help, do whatever the fuck he wants. Who is going to stop him? And how?

I keep blathering about the possibility of a General Strike but…lulz. Blues just don’t have it in them to risk things in the real world and by the time they get around to being willing to do it, it will be too late.

Collapse: Chatter Is, Social Security Checks Are In Danger

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There is chatter online that the cutting of Social Security checks might be in danger. So, in a sense, we have about a month before we find out if Elon Musk really does want to destroy the social fabric of the United States.

Something like that is what would cause severe upheaval across the United States. Given that old people vote and they usually vote Republican there is a SMALL CHANCE that a lot of very conservative people might have their support for Trump and Musk…fray just a little bit?

And, yet, MAGA is a Nazi death cult at this point so….maybe even the loss of something as basic as Social Security checks might not even budge things. It’s going to be interesting to see how things develop.

I just don’t know. At this point, it could go either way. It really could. It could be that we will be a true dictatorship with perfunctory elections. If that happens, then we would be a lot like the early Roman Empire.

The Ultimate Crisis: Irrelevant Courts

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

When it becomes clear that Trump and Musk, “Trusk,” are going to ignore court orders — that’s when things get really serious. There are already indications that Trusk plans to do just that.

Then, I don’t know what to tell you. If the traditional recourse of the courts is mooted, the already severe crisis the United States is in will be taken up a notch. That will be the moment when a lot of people who haven’t been paying attention might just sit up and take notice.

Maybe.

The American news media is doing such a bad job of covering this developing crisis that…maybe Trusk gets aways with it and we become a true dictatorship. And, yet, without any form of accountability, it’s inevitable that they will get greedy and do something so bad that people get really, really upset.

But we still have some time yet. There continues to be a lot — A LOT — of slack in the American political system and most people are totally oblivious to the crisis we’re in. When that changes — look out — there are going to be some pretty pissed off people.

Now, I have long suggested that what might happen is Trump gets deposed somehow then there’s a civil war because Red States get mad and leave the Union. That, unfortunately, seems like at least a possibility at this point. MAGA long ago became a Nazi-like deathcult so there’s no reason not to believe they would rather destroy the country than accept the end of Trumplandia.

And, yet, it could go the other way. It could be that, lulz, we become an actual dictatorship with meaningless elections and Trusk rules the country until Trump shuffles off this mortal coil and Musk names himself Emperor or something.

Who knows what is going to happen.

The United States Is In A Severe Crisis

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Holy Shit. I have to say, in a sense, that I predicted all of this some time ago. And, yet, I didn’t. The part that I missed was that it would be Elon Musk , not Trump, who would go full tyrant on us.

Or, I suppose, it’s a combination of Trump and Musk — TrumpMusk, if you will. Mump? Trusk? We need some sort of pithy nickname for this particular diabolical duo.

Another thing I missed is how much political slack Trusk has. These two malignant ding-dongs pretty much have complete leeway to do whatever the fuck they want for the time being.

What’s more, there is going to come a point where it becomes clear that Trusk is going to defy the courts to the point as to moot their power. That will be the moment when things really get out of whack because the traditional blunting and mitigating force of the courts will no longer apply and people are going to start to get angry.

That’s the thing I don’t know about — how much can the populace take before something really bad happens. We are in a crisis with no obvious endgame. Relative to the WW2 analogy, I would say what’s going on right now is the Fall of France – 1940.

It’s going to take a while for the Good Guys to get the fucking act together. And while they do, a lot of crazy bad shit could happen. And, sad to say, I fear for the Good Guys to be victorious, they’re going to have to become Radical Moderates.

They’re going to have to show some grit in the real world. This is not going to be settled in the court of Twitter opinion — this is bigboy shit in the real world where people have to risk their lives and sacred honor.

I Guess We’re Just Going To Lulz Our System Of Laws Now

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Welp. It seems as though the for the time being the bad guys are in control and they’re all…12? Anyway, there continues to be a huge amount of slack for Trump to exploit in our political system

We’re just going to have to wait and see.

But what really is beginning to aggravate me is how all these otherwise smart, sane AI community people are all-in for Elon Musk’s putsch. I am at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say.

I guess we’re just going to be fucked for the time being, maybe for the rest of my life. I thought maybe, just maybe, the American spirit was still strong enough to throw off the chains of techno-autocracy….but maybe not?

Trump Is A Russian Agent

I have no proof that Trump is a Russian op, but he definitely is doing all the things a Russian agent would do to destroy the West. You never can tell with Trump if he just loves Putin’s autocratic power or if there’s more to it.

Anyway, buckle up, folks. This is getting real and it’s only going to get worse. Every day, Trump — and Musk — are going to find new and exciting ways to fuck with things in ways we didn’t even know were possible.

I still think Musk is going to do something so bad that Trump pays a severe political price for it. But time will tell, huh.

Late Night TV Is Next

By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner


I keep expecting to here that Stephen Colbert has either quit or been fired. That particular shoe is probably going to drop pretty soon. The man has nads of steel and I just can’t see him taking an order to “soften it some” too well. So, in a sense, Colbert’s fate is kind of the canary in the coalmine.

Stephen Colbert

But it will be interesting to see how things play out. We are in the middle of a massive political, economic and cultural crisis — anything could happen out of the blue. We have to accept that the old order is collapsing and a new order is being born. What that new order will look like is anyone’s guess.

So, keep an eye out for some big, big news in late night TV pretty soon.