The future of the US

[nigel99 550]

It’s been 30 days since the inauguration and things have moved faster than I think anyone could imagine. 

I think most people are pretty shocked at what’s happening and globally countries are starting to distance themselves from the US. There is a growing movement to boycott US products and travel. 

Trump is barely in the news cycle and Musk is dominating it, to the extreme that Musk’s 4 year old ‘shushed’ him in the oval office. 

Trump’s behaviour is something strait out of a third world dictatorship, with the official Whitehouse putting out pictures of him as king and him doing laps of Daytona and flypasts. There are open calls for him to serve a third term. 

From the outside I don’t see a political solution. The judiciary and other government institutions appear powerless to intervene and mid term elections are a lifetime away in terms of the changes and damages that can be done. The Democrats seem completely out of their depth and the republicans around Trump (Vance and Johnson) are likely to exploit rather than curtail Trump’s abuse of power when they take the reigns.

As an Australian citizen, I’d like us to rapidly pull away from the US and any close military and intelligence ties with the USA. Remove any American bases and make it clear to China that we are sovereign and neutral. We should revisit buying military equipment from Europe and continue to build our trade relationships with Asia. 

But I’m curious what you see as the future, and if you disagree with my assessment of the direction of the US why I’m wrong and the you see it going in.

[JoeWeber 2,790]

40 minutes ago, nigel99 said:

It’s been 30 days since the inauguration and things have moved faster than I think anyone could imagine. 

I think most people are pretty shocked at what’s happening and globally countries are starting to distance themselves from the US. There is a growing movement to boycott US products and travel. 

Trump is barely in the news cycle and Musk is dominating it, to the extreme that Musk’s 4 year old ‘shushed’ him in the oval office. 

Trump’s behaviour is something strait out of a third world dictatorship, with the official Whitehouse putting out pictures of him as king and him doing laps of Daytona and flypasts. There are open calls for him to serve a third term. 

From the outside I don’t see a political solution. The judiciary and other government institutions appear powerless to intervene and mid term elections are a lifetime away in terms of the changes and damages that can be done. The Democrats seem completely out of their depth and the republicans around Trump (Vance and Johnson) are likely to exploit rather than curtail Trump’s abuse of power when they take the reigns.

As an Australian citizen, I’d like us to rapidly pull away from the US and any close military and intelligence ties with the USA. Remove any American bases and make it clear to China that we are sovereign and neutral. We should revisit buying military equipment from Europe and continue to build our trade relationships with Asia. 

But I’m curious what you see as the future, and if you disagree with my assessment of the direction of the US why I’m wrong and the you see it going in.

That and more. We need a good, swift, kick in the ass. Trump is impenetrable. The only hope is waking up some of our Congress people and Senators and best of luck with that.

[David Wang 63]

There's just no way he's going to run again in 2028, right? There are some things floating around about this, and it's at least a little concerning. But logically, I I know I shouldn't be concerned because repealing the 22nd amendment is borderline impossible. 

[gowlerk 2,236]

22 minutes ago, David Wang said:

There's just no way he's going to run again in 2028, right? There are some things floating around about this, and it's at least a little concerning. But logically, I I know I shouldn't be concerned because repealing the 22nd amendment is borderline impossible. 

What makes you so sure there will be a presidential election in 2028?

[nigel99 550]

38 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

What makes you so sure there will be a presidential election in 2028?

I’d be willing to bet that there will be an attempt to avoid it. 

[David Wang 63]

44 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

What makes you so sure there will be a presidential election in 2028?

Because there's no real reason to think otherwise. I want to believe in the resilience of the system. 

Edited February 21 by David Wang

[nigel99 550]

2 minutes ago, David Wang said:

Because there's no real reason to think otherwise. I want to believe in the resilience of the system. 

One of the reasons for my post was to get views of people like you. I’m not holding you to any predictions, or assuming you’re a Trump supporter (and even if you are I don’t mind). 

How do you see things playing out?

[JoeWeber 2,790]

1 hour ago, David Wang said:

Because there's no real reason to think otherwise. I want to believe in the resilience of the system. 

Would that be the resilient system that gave him a second term? Hedge your bets.

[BIGUN 1,366]

5 hours ago, nigel99 said:

How do you see things playing out?

Trump is creating an entire class of other than Trump votes in the next election. I believe that if the Dems put up a fiscally/somewhat conservative Democrat that communicates well - the pendulum will swing back. It is the nature of our two party system. 

But, they need to start strategically planning now.

[gowlerk 2,236]

8 hours ago, David Wang said:

Because there's no real reason to think otherwise. I want to believe in the resilience of the system. 

Many nations have put off elections due to a declared "state of emergency". I am not predicting but I can see a possibility of the MAGA madness going in a direction that leads to such an emergency being created. And the Supreme Court although not completely co-opted does lean in favour of Trump.

[jakee 1,553]

8 hours ago, BIGUN said:

Trump is creating an entire class of other than Trump votes in the next election. I believe that if the Dems put up a fiscally/somewhat conservative Democrat that communicates well - the pendulum will swing back. It is the nature of our two party system. 

But, they need to start strategically planning now.

Problem with fiscal conservatism is that the Federal government is going to need truly unprecedented levels of investment just to get back on an even keel after Trump is through with it.

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

9 hours ago, BIGUN said:

Trump is creating an entire class of other than Trump votes in the next election. I believe that if the Dems put up a fiscally/somewhat conservative Democrat that communicates well - the pendulum will swing back. It is the nature of our two party system. 

But, they need to start strategically planning now.

Hi Keith,

I agree 100%.

The Dems have the elections in in their pockets in 2026 & 2028.  They just need to find an agenda & a candidate that people like you & I will support.

Jerry Baumchen

[wmw999 2,507]

That’s the key. Whoever it is, they need to be willing to break with both Republican and Democratic orthodoxy.

Wendy P. 

[JoeWeber 2,790]

45 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

That’s the key. Whoever it is, they need to be willing to break with both Republican and Democratic orthodoxy.

Wendy P. 

Conservative, White Male, Democrat from a Mid west state. Anyone pop into mind?

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

31 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Conservative, White Male, Democrat from a Mid west state. Anyone pop into mind?

Hi Joe,

Hmmmm, is his first name Tim?

Jerry Baumchen

[wmw999 2,507]

42 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Conservative, White Male, Democrat from a Mid west state. Anyone pop into mind?

Not identity, ideology. They need to be able to say “this piece of SDP or SRP” is BS. They need to be able to back that up. If nothing else, virtually every American thinks they’re an independent thinker. That’s what they identify with. Many people are willing to back someone with what they see as backbone. Trump is an aberration; the machine that’s enabling him is a construction and a plan. Attack it

Wendy P. 

[David Wang 63]

17 hours ago, nigel99 said:

One of the reasons for my post was to get views of people like you. I’m not holding you to any predictions, or assuming you’re a Trump supporter (and even if you are I don’t mind). 

How do you see things playing out?

The election will almost certainly happen if not with absolute certainty. In the history of the republic since George Washington was elected, US presidential elections have never been canceled, and I genuinely don't see how 2028 would be any different. One of the worse case scenarios I could see is that the election becomes "less democratic" and more "controlled", which could signal that the US is indeed on the path to a dictatorship, but it would most likely be a slow process. 

That being said, I believe things will get a lot worse before they get better with all the Trump & Musk & DOGE stuff. Resistance against the Trump Administration has started everywhere - people are speaking up and protesting, states are filing lawsuits, judges are blocking Trump's orders, and there are internal conflicts among Republicans on various issues. 

It's really easy but also deeply understandable to have a "doom and gloom" attitude. Heck, I was reading some news about the "Nazi Salute" at CPAC the other day, and I even hypothetically thought about what I would do personally if I were living in Nazi Germany 2.0. In the meantime, I have been learning about human emotions recently, and emotions pretty much always come before logic. People tend to react emotionally first and use logic later, and this is especially true on social media. The thing I've been taught - and am trying to do - is to use both emotion and logic to form a more balanced perspective, which is why I want to choose intentional optimism. Current American democractic institutions are being tested, but it's not hopeless. 

[JoeWeber 2,790]

23 minutes ago, David Wang said:

The election will almost certainly happen if not with absolute certainty. In the history of the republic since George Washington was elected, US presidential elections have never been canceled, and I genuinely don't see how 2028 would be any different. One of the worse case scenarios I could see is that the election becomes "less democratic" and more "controlled", which could signal that the US is indeed on the path to a dictatorship, but it would most likely be a slow process. 

That being said, I believe things will get a lot worse before they get better with all the Trump & Musk & DOGE stuff. Resistance against the Trump Administration has started everywhere - people are speaking up and protesting, states are filing lawsuits, judges are blocking Trump's orders, and there are internal conflicts among Republicans on various issues. 

It's really easy but also deeply understandable to have a "doom and gloom" attitude. Heck, I was reading some news about the "Nazi Salute" at CPAC the other day, and I even hypothetically thought about what I would do personally if I were living in Nazi Germany 2.0. In the meantime, I have been learning about human emotions recently, and emotions pretty much always come before logic. People tend to react emotionally first and use logic later, and this is especially true on social media. The thing I've been taught - and am trying to do - is to use both emotion and logic to form a more balanced perspective, which is why I want to choose intentional optimism. Current American democractic institutions are being tested, but it's not hopeless. 

History is indeed a great subject. While not an identical parallel to Ukraine what transpired with the Sudentenland is worth a review.

[nigel99 550]

27 minutes ago, David Wang said:

The election will almost certainly happen if not with absolute certainty. In the history of the republic since George Washington was elected, US presidential elections have never been canceled, and I genuinely don't see how 2028 would be any different. One of the worse case scenarios I could see is that the election becomes "less democratic" and more "controlled", which could signal that the US is indeed on the path to a dictatorship, but it would most likely be a slow process. 

That being said, I believe things will get a lot worse before they get better with all the Trump & Musk & DOGE stuff. Resistance against the Trump Administration has started everywhere - people are speaking up and protesting, states are filing lawsuits, judges are blocking Trump's orders, and there are internal conflicts among Republicans on various issues. 

It's really easy but also deeply understandable to have a "doom and gloom" attitude. Heck, I was reading some news about the "Nazi Salute" at CPAC the other day, and I even hypothetically thought about what I would do personally if I were living in Nazi Germany 2.0. In the meantime, I have been learning about human emotions recently, and emotions pretty much always come before logic. People tend to react emotionally first and use logic later, and this is especially true on social media. The thing I've been taught - and am trying to do - is to use both emotion and logic to form a more balanced perspective, which is why I want to choose intentional optimism. Current American democractic institutions are being tested, but it's not hopeless. 

Thanks for your perspective. I admire your optimism and the fact it isn’t based on blind ignorance. 

I completely agree about the emotions trumping logic. Unfortunately there are people who are able to harness that and use it to manipulate people into blindly following down a dark path (think cults and the like).

I believe one of the reasons the dems struggle is that they appeal to logic and not emotions. 

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

37 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

History is indeed a great subject. While not an identical parallel to Ukraine what transpired with the Sudentenland is worth a review.

Hi Joe,

You mean the Munich Betrayal:  Munich Agreement - Wikipedia

I was just thinking about that the other day.

Always easy to give away what the other guy has.

Jerry Baumchen

 

[wmw999 2,507]

Thanks for your perspective, David. 

Wendy P. 

[nigel99 550]

2 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Joe,

You mean the Munich Betrayal:  Munich Agreement - Wikipedia

I was just thinking about that the other day.

Always easy to give away what the other guy has.

Jerry Baumchen

 

This is an interesting article about how the military may be reluctant to disobey illegal orders https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/trump-executive-order-military-justice/index.html

Maybe “Checks and Balances” is the new “Thoughts and Prayers”

[JerryBaumchen 1,415]

39 minutes ago, nigel99 said:

This is an interesting article about how the military may be reluctant to disobey illegal orders https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/trump-executive-order-military-justice/index.html

Maybe “Checks and Balances” is the new “Thoughts and Prayers”

Hi Nigel,

Re:   how the military may be reluctant to disobey illegal orders

Hegseth [ Trump ] is replacing generals right & left.  I am very sure the new people will not consider those to be illegal orders.

Ever hear someone say, 'I have thoroughly reviewed that document,' when you know they have only read the first three pages?

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  Re:  Maybe “Checks and Balances” is the new “Thoughts and Prayers”

Welcome to the World of Trump 2.0.

 

[David Wang 63]

4 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

History is indeed a great subject. While not an identical parallel to Ukraine what transpired with the Sudentenland is worth a review.

Will do!

[nigel99 550]

On 2/21/2025 at 12:33 PM, David Wang said:

Because there's no real reason to think otherwise. I want to believe in the resilience of the system. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-declines-let-trump-immediately-fire-agency-head-2025-02-21/

Here’s a sliver of hope for you and your beliefs. It’s not over yet, but at least the SC didn’t roll over immediately.