After going to post

[solarbird]

This happened.

Link is to Trump's official Instagram. It's one of his favourite photos and is captioned "HOPE YOU ENJOYED INVESTIGATING ME / NOW IT'S MY TURN." It's widely being interpreted by QAnon and rightists generically as the beginning of at very least a round-up of Democratic Party leaders, most particularly from the Obama administration, who are, of course, responsible for everything bad, including COVID-19, and who are all guilty of treason. The attempt to investigate the Russian interference is a "soft coup." Dinesh D'Souza is one of the better-known neofascists calling for Obama's immediate arrest.

You're also seeing a revival of all the conspiracy theories during the Obama administration, including that he's secretly gay/Michelle is secretly a man, that he was never an American and not eligible for office, that everything about the Obama presidency will be undone full stop, and so on.

Really, it's the Flynn travesty at the Justice Department - which to them "proves" that Russian interference was a hoax and that it was being run by Obama personally - primed them for this. QAnon in particular is flipping out, saying "it's really happening!!!" as they have many times before.

Christ, this absolute idiocy is depressing. Moreso when you realise how much they mean it.

Cascadia Now.

Comments

[jessie_c]

52 Republican Senators could have prevented this.
They didn't.
It's on them.

[wrog]

statehood for Puerto Rico, DC and every last rock in the Pacific with warm bodies that'll vote Democratic. It's the only way we get out of this...

[solarbird]

And then how long until they just start shooting?

You think they'll take being out of power without a fight?

[wrog]

Who knows? But we're not going to get anywhere by rolling over, playing dead, and hoping they go away. (That's kind of what they want, actually.)

[solarbird]

Of course not. It just strikes me as somewhere past unlikely. Puerto Rico has a long history of not even entirely wanting statehood, and I don't see how you just impose statehood without public approval.

DC does want it, so that's okay. But the various Pacific islands - do they even want it?

(That's NOT sarcasm, I legitimately don't know.)

And then what do you end up with? A country where you have absolute continued dysfunction on every level, where there is zero consensus on anything policywise, where the Republicans move to pure, continual sabotage on every level.

What I'm saying is that while this election matters and while extension of power matters for our own protection, even if you pull it all off, you still can't (re)build a country that way. Not a functional one.

The goal is what it has been: Republican rule by any and all means necessary, including minority rule, forever, and fuck everyone else. And even when you do see the Baby Bexit start to hit really hard, where do you end up? A rump GOP with a militant fascist military wing, and then a split Democratic Party (Blue Dog Party, Socialist Party) that gives a 32-percent victor control of three branches of government?

Or what?

I'm just having a really, really hard time seeing any way out of here that isn't somewhere between "pretty horrible" and "completely and totally nightmarish."

[wrog]

various things:

(1) Yes, 40 years ago Puerto Ricans were ambivalent when Gerald Ford proposed it, but after Maria, they should have a pretty clear understanding of just how fucked over they are without representation in DC. It's either statehood or independence and, as far as I can tell, they really don't want independence.

And it's 3 million tax-paying (*) US citizens that have no voice in the Senate. This should be a no-brainer.

(1a) If we can only get DC, fine. Anything that keeps Mitch McConnell from regaining control in 2022. That's a prerequisite for getting anything else done Federally.

(2) re absolute dysfunction at every level, we're not there yet. Lots of states still have their shit together (WA, CA, New England,...). I'll agree it won't last if we can't get the Federal government back, but, all the more reason to at least try.

(to be sure, there are states that are going to lose it and we're going to have to be ready for migrations anyway; e.g., South Florida is going away and will not be coming back any time soon. And we'll be a lot more fucked if we don't have a working Federal government by then...)

(3) I think by the time the Baby Bexit hits, the Blue Dogs (who are basically the Democratic Baby Boomers) won't be a factor (well okay, that's more a question of hope; I guess we'll see...)


(*) yes there are tax issues to work out. Right now they're mostly exempt from US Income Tax, but (a) there's a substitute tax that's *higher* and goes towards stuff the Feds would be taking care of if they were a state, and (b) at their median income levels FICA hits a lot harder and they're already paying that, and (c) at this point, I'm for whatever it takes to sweeten the pot (e.g., 10 year continuance on the current exemptions, etc...) so that they vote yes and we get the Senators.

(...and yeah, this is kind of stooping to the Republican level, but you know what? (1) they've been saying all along they want "a Republic, not a Democracy" so we fucking show them what that looks like, (2) they've been making it a gunfight; we have to bring guns...)

[solarbird]

40 years ago, and long after. I checked the polling the last time this came up a couple of years ago and the ambivalence had remained very high with no majority for statehood.

I have not checked post-Maria. Probably should.