Terrified of USA

[ToastMarmiteButter]

Anyone else pretty scared for the world?

USA gone completely rogue. It's terrifying. This massive nuclear powerhouse that was once a big brother/dad/bodyguard for the free world has now gone rogue. Like your loyal German shepherd or Rottweiler deciding to turn on the family. From protector to aggressor.

Trump is ripping up the rule books, trampling all over law and order and wreaking havoc with the world.

What is worse, is that he cannot be stopped.

There is literally no way anyone can do anything about him. I am strongly of the opinion that by the time his official term ends he will have got the USA into some kind of war and then will halt elections because 'its wartime'. He's very quickly becoming a dictator. The only saving grace is his age and the possibility natural causes will prevent world wide catastrophe.

This man has no respect for law or convention. I can't believe he just does what the hell he likes against his own country's actual laws.

And ... There are people that defend him and his actions, that are getting sucked along. It's 1930s Germany again, but this time the country involved has nuclear weapons and much MUCH more power and military might than Germany had in 1930s. When I look at Trump defenders. His inner circle, and those that sing his praises it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I'm reminded of the Nazis all over again.

I am genuinely very very worried for the state of the world.

I'd like to move to New Zealand which I think may be safe and act as a sanctuary from the rest of the world. But DH says no!! AIBU to want to stop the world and get off?

He’s not a dictator by any measure though. If you don’t agree with something he’s done (I personally don’t agree with a lot of it) say so. But I tire of calling everyone a dictator or fascist etc because you don’t agree with them

They might not be “unthinkable” but are they really likely? I genuinely don’t agree with much of what Trump says but I think there’s quite a bit of hyperbole here.

After all Biden appeased Iran and even gave them substantial amounts of frozen assets. Everyone does things you might not agree with- it doesn’t mean we need to overthrow democracy

Do you k kw what's weird?

When he lost last time he refused to give up power, and his supporters violently tried to overthrow parliament. People died, police got badly injured, they even hung up a noose to hang Mike Pence.

Has everyone forgot that happened?! That's obviously not what someone who believes in democracy does.

Also, Nancy Pelosi and AOC managed to hide but what if those gangs of violent men had found them? What, genuinely, do you think would have happened to them? It's a serious question.

Trump fanned the flames of all that, he knew what he was doing. That's the guy with ultimate power now, and he's currently talking about invading Canada. Just saying. It's not normal for a democracy is it?

Has everyone forgot that happened?! That's obviously not what someone who believes in democracy does.
Many Americans have been brainwashed by Fox News (whose anchors readily admit Trump's transgressions in private - as shown in the course of discovery in the Dominion lawsuit - but remain willing to gaslight the public).

What does that mean? Can't you see the risk?

@ToastMarmiteButter I think that anyone that enjoys freedom is worried. I hate watching the news. This morning it was about how the US and Russia are going to have a phone call regarding Ukraine… wait what? It’s so insane that you almost feel like you’re in the twilight zone - don’t even know how to even begin expressing thoughts and feelings

Dictatorships always start in the same way - find populist issues that they are not going to fix (except possibly via global genocide), but that nobody else can fix, either. Then they rabble rouse and appeal to people’s basest instincts, telling them it’s the status quo that is causing all their problems and that the would-be dictator has all the answers, and that the answers are simple, so long as people stop listening to any established wisdom or “so-called” experts. Then, when they’ve convinced enough people the problem is anyone who disagrees with the new Messiah, they start to dismantle the protections put in place over centuries of relative stability and replace the protections with new structures which enable the “strong leadership” necessary to get rid of the status quo and the “corrupt elite” who created it. Because, by now, they’ve got a nice gang of clever psychopaths on board who see the personal advantage in assisting them in the process. Then, when people inevitably change their minds about whether this strong leader “Messiah” was actually a good idea, they find they can’t actually do anything about it, because having positively encouraged their psychopathic Messiah and his equally psychopathic entourage to do whatever they thought necessary to achieve their fantastical claims, they find that the “elite” they voted to get rid of was actually democracy itself.

Once nuclear weapons are in the frame and actually being used nowhere is safe.

Insofar as dismantling the written constitution itself goes, trying to remove birthright citizenship on the day he was sworn in is right up there, along with invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants in the last week. The administration then completely ignored a court order regarding the latter and deported them anyway, with the first line of defence to that being that the Judge Boasberg's written ruling didn't mention turning the planes around even though he cleary stated it in his verbal ruling. Boasberg's reward for upholding the constitution? DOJ asked a federal appellate court to remove him from the case.

Much more cynical and corrosive is the shredding of the unwritten constitutional conventions. President Biden pre-emptively pardoned members of the committee that investigated the January 6th coup attempt, so Trump suggests out loud that these pardons are void and that the administration may prosecute them.

There's been the intimidation of the judiciary: anonymous unsolicited pizza deliveries to judges which US Marshals are describing as 'we know where you live' threats. There's been Musk's call for Congress to impeach judges who rule against Trump.

There's a good summary here https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/17/trump-presidential-power-courts-test-00234173

As for the idea that the Supreme Court will defend the constitution - that's for the birds. It is stuffed with Trump appointees and does his bidding. It wasn't even asked to (re)rule on Roe vs Wade, but overturned it anyway. And it also ruled that any acts carried out in the course of Presidential duties are immune from prosecution. Do none of you find that chilling?

I'm calling him that on the basis of what he does, not because I disagree.

To those who think this is hyperbole, do you think China and Russia are democracies or dictatorships? I know what I think about that question, but whatever your answer, I believe that the US is heading for the same category as those two.

😉

I like the fact he is clearly showing who he is so his supporters cannot pretend to be anything other than what they are.

Also I like that the whole “DEI panic” is being shown for the nonsense that it is. As if removing details or war heroes from the Pentagon site is a genuine pushback at “DEI” (which is really just s racial / gender slur stand-in).

What is scary is how he seems determined to rip up the lawbook and how USA society seems not to realise they can actually uphold the law.

Good to see the Supreme Court lead justice FINALLY making a statement on one of the Orange Man’s mad pronouncements today.

But his supporters support him to “own the Libs” which is so incredibly childish.

He is not a dictator yet.
While I do think there is merit to some of the things he is doing ( I think looking deeply into government spending and inefficiency is a good thing) it can't be denied that his behavior displays classic traits of someone aspiring to dismantle democratic values.
Trying to dismantle the constitution( Birthright Citizenship), disobeying judicial orders and curtailing the freedom.of the press.

He has already crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed.
Chief Justice Roberts has just said as much.

I’m going to say it - people overstaying visa, or in USA without a visa, are committing an illegal act.

This is what passports and visas are all about. All over Europe, Asia, the Americas - visa overstayers are jailed, deported and never allowed back.

If you think people can move freely and just stay & work in any country … you are mistaken.

A word - illegal? should really not make you upset, that’s so weird. Undocumented makes you feel better? They can still get deported. It’s illegal to be in most countries “uninvited or unapproved” - you get fined, jailed, deported.

That British benefits influencer woman in Thailand - a visa overstayer. She is locked up because it’s an offense.

Pizza again?

Not eyeing. Eyed.

Same with certain parts of Europe.

Well said

Not everyone who has been deported was illegal though, and that's a big issue. First of all, even illegal migrants deserve to be treated humanely. Second, even though legal aliens who got expelled might be in the minority, a democracy with functioning rule of law should not summarily deport a foreigner with a valid visa for no reason, or reasons that are opaque at best. History has proven again and again that undermining the rights of one group invariably leads to undermining the rights of all. You can have strict rules and enforce them but the point is, follow the rules! Don't just arbitrarily throw people out.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judges-face-rise-threats-musk-blasts-them-over-rulings-2025-03-05/#:~:text=Another%20person%20familiar%20with%20the,a%20target's%20address%20is%20known.

Yes, pizza.

NZ is as good a bet as any. That’s why Peter Thiel has an escape compound there.
www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-zealand