US democracy is about to die

[StandFirm]

... So many indicators for this, the most recent is Trump calling for the DoJ to go after his enemies:

Dear American friends, I hope you find a peaceful way out of this. As for us here, I can only hope we keep the contagion at bay.

It's horrifying.

The so called leader of the free world is a convicted felon, an ignorant bully in a cheap suit, turning the USA into a pariah state.

2029 seems a very long way off. 😥

I am glad that I'm old and won't see the eventual results of the US horror show. My children and grand children will though.it really make me despair.

All is not lost but some form of organised resistance better take shape very soon.

They’re basically trying to achieve what the original Pilgrim Fathers wanted when they moved over there during the reign of James I, that is to create a true Puritan theocracy.

Interestingly, I think this is a case of the Pilgrims' legacy (the dark, superstitious, theocratic underbelly of the country's foundation) versus the legacy of the Enlightenment which is embodied in the constitution and various institutions. Note their loathing of Washington DC. The references to evil forces aren't just the usual rhetoric, they serve a deep-rooted metaphysical belief that the State is evil. This is The Pilgrims' America v the USA. This will have far-reaching implications for the world.

You'd think that Jesus Christ was a bit too lefty Liberal for their taste though? Almost a socialist. Odd to think if JC was around now the USA Christians would be first in line to stone him. Or shoot him, I suppose, Guns for God.

Remember the backlash Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde received for her sermon asking for compassion.

Puritanism was deemed heretical, wasn't it?
I'm not a theologian but being partly American-educated, I remember being weirdly fascinated by The Scarlet Letter (which I do recommend, although it's not an easy read). The essence of Puritanism (which transpires from the book) is how unforgiving it is. It seems to reject the very notion of forgiveness as that would somehow mean double-guessing or questioning God... The Puritan God is vengeful and unforgiving. Think that explains a lot...

Do you know Dostoevski's The Brothers Karamasov and the story in it in which Jesus comes back and immediately gets arrested by the Grand Inquisitor? That's a great story for right now.

This is horrific

https://whyy.org/articles/segregation-federal-contracts-far-regulation-trump/

Segregated facilities’ are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts

The Trump administration cut a clause from federal contracting rules that had been on the books since the 1960s.

After a recent change by the Trump administration, the federal government no longer explicitly prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains.

Fucking Hell.

Definitely, also thinking of the Scarlet Letter earlier. Amazing really, if I suggested that USA has its own equivalents of Ayatollahs, many would argue the point. But there's little difference. Religious fanatics are the essence of repression.

In my Southern friends' group, we call them the Y'all Qaeda.

This is almost unbelievable

Thanks Elon, apartheid imported from your homeland. Watch out you don't erroneouly repatriate yourself as an undesirable immigrant.

Almost, until you remember the racism Trump openly spouted during his election campaign and the Musk salute.

Bannon's strategy is a classic shock-and-awe. By the time everyone fully gets that this is the new reality, it will be later than it should.

There were a lot of threads asking this pre-election, it came down to trans, immigration and Trump is the saviour.

Project 2025, abortion rights, racism, january 6th, Musk were all brushed aside

If Jesus returned to earth and visited the US today he would be denounced as a communist.

Yes, the Puritans were heavily influenced by the Reformers in Switzerland, where a lot of them lived in exile during the reign of Mary I. The Reformers there persecuted Anabaptists, drowning many of them. Particularly Zwingli. Calvin was very zealous, too.

We focus so much on ‘Bloody Mary’ burning Protestants that we forget that both sides were equally zealous in their persecution of those they perceived to be ‘heretics’.

I believe this is way the Christian right in the US want their country to go, and it’s terrifying.

Does this not all mean that the US will increasingly be seen by the rest of the world as backward and unenlightened, they will lose their ability to dominate and the rest of us will move on and leave them behind?

They're now using it for other nationalities too. They're also just declaring people to be terrorists with no evidence presented, no hearings, no proof - often based on things like a person being young and male and from a part of the world where actual known terrorists operate. If you listen to the most recent Pod Save America there's a good explanation of what's happening.

Those Venezuelans who were removed, there's no evidence they were gang members and Trump hasn't released their names so his claims can't be verified. It's against international law to send people somewhere they could be tortured - not that he cares.

Some of the detainees have been identified as Venezuelans seeking asylum picked up.during their asylum meetings. People with no criminal convictions sent to a prison where torture is the norm.
This is Trumps "Cracking down on illegal immigration"

Just when I thought it's hard to sink any lower, this regime keeps digging:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-ukraine-children-russia-war-kidnapping-evidence-b2717730.html

They are a stain on US history.