[scarface_74]

It doesn’t matter if you write or call your representative. He knows that if he goes against President Musk, Musk will throw his unlimited funds at someone so he gets primaried and even before that Musk will use his bully pulpit - Twitter - to berate him.

He is in a D+3 district that usually votes Democratic. That would usually moderate him. But see above about he would have to first survive a primary.

[hypothesis]

Threats of violence is what drives all those inexplicable last minute vote changes in congress, simple as that.

[kccoder]

And why the senate didn't convict trump in the second impeachment about the insurrection he fomented. There is reporting of Mitt Romney that several republican senators indicated they didn't vote to convict because they were afraid what his minions would do to them and their families. They also mentioned they didn't have the funds to pay for private security the way that Romney had been doing for some time.

There's a word for achieving political ends via violence or the threat of violence. We should've been using that word heavily then, and we should be using it heavily now.

[scarface_74]

The Musk+Trump duopoly seems insurmountable. Trump has an a cult like hold on the Republican Party and Musk has enough money + Twitter to control the narrative/scare politicians in line to convince enough independents to keep them in power.

Our only hope is that the Cheeseburgers and high cholesterol gets the best of Trump.

And that Democrats grow a spine.

[computerthings]

What you're not mentioning the personal and intellectual flaws of these idols and their followers, and the tens, if not hundreds of millions of people in the US, and billions all over the world. How the chances "seem" right now is rather moot and very likely to be wrong one way or another; historians can say that later on. It is what it is now. It's not like you're suggesting to invest energy into A rather than B, so instead of idly musing about chances of success, try to focus on what increases them.

[DonHopkins]

The next Luigis could be the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese, who aim directly for his heart and don't miss.

[mullingitover]

This isn't Musk+Trump, it's Musk+Thiel+Yarvin+Heritage+Vance, with Trump as a hood ornament. His job is simply to sign whatever they put in front of him and play golf.

Cholesterol getting the best of Trump isn't going to derail this, since Vance is more than happy to continue the amassing of unchecked executive power.

"You won't have to vote again."

[scarface_74]

The difference is that it is never about policy with MAGA voters. It’s about Trump.

You see how quickly MAGA voters went from “America first. No foreign entanglements” to “let’s send troops to the Middle East to clear out Gaza” as soon as Trump said we should do so?

Anytime that Trump hasn’t been on the ballot since 2018, Trump voters stayed home.

Presidents have always been about personality and not policy. Biden and Bush I being the exception in my lifetime - or at least since Reagan.

[mullingitover]

> The difference is that it is never about policy with MAGA voters. It’s about Trump.

This is why there's an effort to centralize power in the executive at a blistering pace, so the opposition can be permanently defeated even without Trump.

Watch for three things: ignoring the courts, snuffing out the influence of non-party sources of authority (the press, academic institutions), and centralization of police power. I don't think they're going to wait past April before they do all three.

[toomuchtodo]

When Trump dies, do you think they will they stay home forever? Because he will die eventually (and is already past male US life expectancy), and I’m curious if the cult disbands at that point (if facts and policy don’t matter to them). If so, we’re really just defending against harm caused during his remaining life expectancy (unknown) and term (<4 years).

[dmvdoug]

The other wannabe Trumps don’t have the draw/sway with MAGA folks that Trump does. DeSantis tries and tries but he’s perceived as just a weirdo for the most part. Vance likewise. There’s something uniquely compelling about Trump to the MAGA crowd.

[scarface_74]

Look at all of the other Republican candidates in the last primary. None of them would have ever gotten the cult like following if they had made it through the primaries.

I’m not saying another Republican will never win. But they will be your bland mostly inoffensive Republicans like Haley (2024), McCain, Romney, Bush I and II and Dole.

You might disagree with them on policy around the edges. But they won’t bring the destruction of Trump.

Desantis tries his best to be Trump and he flamed out marvelously on the stage. Even in Florida (where I live), he is losing his grip on the legislature.