“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum

r/Conservative reacts for 6 to 12 hours before shutting everything down and moving on to a new set of talking points. The really significant development would be if the narrative remains broken for a few days

I forgot about that cesspool, is it even relevant anymore? Like...is this deadass? Aren't they literally talking about themselves?:

(All 23 replies aren't available to view btw, if anyone was curious. That sub suppresses it's users like they live in a majority black district)

God, I hope he runs in 2028.

I really hope you are right.

Depends on how they see the politics, Trump being such a loser means there might be a few Rs willing to flip if they think it'll help them. The house can file trials just based on a simple majority which dems have with a lot of wiggle.

I really don’t see any way the GOP wins the presidency in 2028. That’s just not how US politics work. People always hate Congress, but they blame the president for bad economies and bad news.

Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974. Regan trounced Carter in 1980. Never underestimate the American public's willingness to forget about past crimes. I hope you're right that 2028 becomes a second drubbing of the GOP over their failed policies and corruption. I also doubt that what we saw last night will have any durability. It wasn't all that long ago that Democrats were talking about the the Blue Wall. And that fell apart almost as fast as it got named.

Swing and low info voters simply don’t give much of a shit about the work Congress actually does on a daily basis. They’re going to blame the president for their problems like they always have.

I agree that most voters don't care about politics. And more importantly, they don't want to hear about it. And this is why I see an impeachment (which will ultimately fail) is such a dumb play. It will force people to deal with politics. It will be the news cycle for months. And ultimately the votes just don't exist in the Senate to convict. Which means the public has politics shoved in their face for months and the end result is a propaganda win for Trump. He will push a failure to convict as him being "INNOCENT of any wrong doing" (of course it will use ALL CAPS). And the Democrats get what out of that? No one is held accountable, nothing useful gets done to begin the process of fixing the country, and the public just sees the Democrats being useless for months on end.

We need to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. But it's not really possible right now. Once he is out of office and we have a DOJ which isn't filled with criminals, then they can pick apart the criminal empire. Until then, the Democrats need to show the public that they are working to make the lives of the public better.

This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement.

WRONG. Blocked.

I kid, I kid.

On serious note, agreed. And we have to keep working outside of the main elections. The primaries are where we get to vote for progressives. No progressives? Getting them to run in the primaries is how we get them :)

It's massive work, but yesterday was a good day.

What's there to examine? They are white and racist

OK yeah, it just really hits my eyes and ears strangely.

Like that spinning ballerina silhouette... I really gotta squint and fold my brain to make her spin the other way kinda thing.

you're right though: those quotes do heavy lifing and in a specific direction.

I hyperfocused on "maximizing" and "safe". The concept of "safe" in the context of electoral districts has a real definition in political science. Which is probably exactly why they put it in quotes.

It's like calling a Chihuahua "big dog".