This Storm *Is* Coming - by Charlie Sykes
By: Charlie Sykes
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Nice democracy you got there...
Periodically over the last six years, we've been told that we worry too much about the dangers posed by the former president. The worthies of anti-anti-Trumpism, who populate the media formerly known as conservative, caution against being too alarmed by Trump's "personality," or his "mean tweets."
To take him too seriously, they insist, is evidence of TDS, or Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Days after the election the Wapo quoted the new maxim of the Smart Kids in The Room: "What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time … he'll tweet some more about how the election was stolen , and then he'll leave. "
As my colleague Tim Miller wrote, the argument from unnamed (but ubiquitous) Senior Republican Officials "was premised on the (wildly off-base) presupposition that the former guy was just gonna stomp his feet and smear his ketchup on the wall and then move on from the whole coup thing after a few weeks of sucking on his Bedminster-branded pacifier."
The corollary to the denialism was the insistence, it can't get any worse, can it? "Whatever damage he was going to do," Ben Shapiro explained in October 2020, "he's already done, and it's not going to help if I don't vote for him this time."
As I wrote back in July 2021:
By then, of course, we had already seen more than enough to get a good idea of who and what Trump was, and what he was capable of doing. Shapiro had seemed to understand Trump's character even before he was elected in 2016. Since then, however, he had watched the lies, corruption, bigotry, and mendacity of Trump's presidency, and decided — "let's have four more years of that."
What more damage could he possibly do with a second term? Shapiro asked. Hadn't we seen the worst?
What could possibly go wrong?
Of course, that was before the Big Lie.
Before Trump's attempt to overturn the election. Before he delayed the transition. Before he demanded that his vice president nullify electoral votes.
Before military leaders feared he might stage a coup.
"Whatever damage he was going to do, he's already done," Shapiro argued.
Since then, he incited the January 6 Insurrection.
Since then, Trump praised the rioters as "patriots" and "peaceful people." Since then, he made delegitimizing the election a litmus test for the GOP.
I regret to tell you that the worst is yet to come.
**
ICYMI over the weekend, the former president went full, wooly Q.
The "just mean tweets" crowd might be tempted to dismiss this "re-truthing" image as mere Trumpian lulz trolling. But it was just the beginning.
It was followed by rallies, finger salutes, and… the music. The message was unmistakable.
Via AP:
After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grow s. On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words "The Storm is Coming." In QAnon lore, the "storm" refers to Trump's final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.
None of this is subtle.
Earlier this month, Trump chose a QAnon song to close out a rally in Pennsylvania. The same song appears in one of his recent campaign videos and is titled "WWG1WGA," an acronym used as a rallying cry for Q adherents that stands for "Where we go one, we go all."
And lest there be any doubt…
The New York Times @nytimesDonald Trump appeared to more fully embrace QAnon on Saturday, playing a song at a rally in Ohio that prompted attendees to respond with a salute in reference to the cultlike conspiracy theory's theme song. Trump Rally Plays Music Resembling QAnon Song, and Crowds ReactIn Ohio, a dark address by the former president featured music that was all but identical to a theme song for the conspiracy theory movement.nyti.ms
September 18th 2022
309 Retweets722 Likes
The finger salute was… something.
Will Sommer @willsommerThis Trump rally finger salute is curious. Some on Twitter are calling it a QAnon salute, with 1 finger for "Where we go 1," and Trump is playing a pro-Q song as he talks. I've never seen this happen before, though, so if it's a Q thing it's new.
Aaron Rupar @atrupar
this is one of the most bizarre things I've seen at a Trump rally. All it is missing is passing around Kool-Aid right after. https://t.co/BmPOztb7kA
September 18th 2022
670 Retweets2,883 Likes(Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
**
Still doubt that the storm is coming? Here's a few more data points to consider:
The Threat
Last week, Trump offered this not-very-veiled warning against indicting him:
"I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it," he said. "I think if it happened, I think you'd have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we've never seen before. I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it."…
The MAGAverse understands the signal perfectly. Here's Trump's former acting attorney general on Newsmax, predicting "mass chaos and anarchy" if the rule of law is applied to his former boss.
David Edwards @DavidEdwardsNewsmax's Carl Higbie floated "civil war" over a Trump indictment. "Let's say they indict Trump. What does this country do? Is this the beginning of the dreaded, dare I say, civil war?" Matthew Whitaker predicted "mass chaos and anarchy."
September 18th 2022
4 Retweets8 Likes
Writes David Graham:
Like a Mafia don's warnings, this Don's warnings serve as a kind of intimidation, trying to make authorities who care a great deal about the government, civil peace, and the reputations of their agencies (as Attorney General Merrick Garland clearly does) wonder whether it's really worth enforcing the law against this particular would-be defendant.
As we've already seen, such threats "might also actually occasion violence."
Sometimes, the violence comes from mentally disturbed individuals who think they're doing what Trump wants, such as Cesar Sayoc, who sent bombs to Trump critics shortly before the 2018 midterms, or Ricky Walter Shiffer, who was killed after attempting to attack an FBI office in Cincinnati just days after the Mar-a-Lago search. Other times, the violence comes from Trump backers who simply listen to what he says: the kinds of people who slugged protesters at campaign rallies after he waxed nostalgic for the "good old days" of rough treatment and offered to pay legal bills, or who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, after Trump called on them to "fight like hell."
**
Election Trutherism
After six years of marinating in disinformation, denialism, and political thuggery, the threat now extends beyond Trump himself. Consider these reports from the last few days:
The AP reports: "Support of false election claims runs deep in 2022 GOP field."
Nearly 1 in 3 Republican candidates for statewide offices that play a role in overseeing, certifying or defending elections supported overturning the results of the 2020 presidential race, according to an Associated Press review. They include contenders from one end of the country to the other, often in pivotal swing states, for positions that are the linchpins of democracy.
Meanwhile, Via the NYT:
When asked, six Trump-backed Republican nominees for governor and the Senate in midterm battlegrounds would not commit to accepting this year's election results, and another five Republicans ignored or declined to answer a question about embracing the November outcome . All of them, along with many other G.O.P. candidates, have pre-emptively cast doubt on how their states count votes.
**
The Crisis Is Coming
Make sure you also read David Leonhardt in Sunday's NYT : "'A Crisis Coming': The Twin Threats to American Democracy."
The first threat is acute: a growing movement inside one of the country's two major parties — the Republican Party — to refuse to accept defeat in an election…. The second threat to democracy is chronic but also growing: The power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion.
**BONUS: Reuters offers this explainer: "What election deniers could do in 2024 if they win U.S. November midterms."
Refusing to certify election results would immediately be met by lawsuits and pleas to state courts to reverse such unprecedented actions, and there is no guarantee these Republican office holders would ultimately succeed in overturning results if they decided to try. Yet at a minimum such radical action would delay election results, likely throw the country into chaos, undermine faith in the voting system and potentially lead to civil unrest.
So, yes, it can get worse. And almost certainly will.
Exit take : Don't count on "respectable" Republicans to resist.
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Its no secret what's going on. An election is coming up. The President whoe hides from interviews embarrassed himself in the most favorable setting possible when he actually gave one last week. Inflation is high, the economy is in a recession and the President is not mentally competent. There is no positive case to be made for electing Democrats.
So what option do the Democrats have?
Fear. Fear of Trump in particular. Nothing excites the Democratic base like Trump Trump Trump Trump, so that's all we are going to see for the next 6 weeks. Trump's under your pillow! All Trump all the time in a desperate bid to get Democrats to ignore what Democratic governance is doing to our country and vote to get the meany Trump.
Sean, you are a hopeless case.
It came out the other day that Trump's approval rating among all people is 34%. That sounds like a very low number until you realize that the 34% is almost surely nothing but people who are devoted to Trump no matter what. What that means is should Trump decide to run for president, he will get the GOP nomination. That 34% translates into a high enough number of votes for Trump to win the majority, if not all, the primaries. He will more than likely be the Republican nominee if he wants it and campaigns for it.
So what is not to like about Trump? How about that 3 DAYS AGO he turned his rally into a Q Anon rally?
In other words, dude, get serious.
How many hundreds of millions will the Democrats spend on his behalf?
ther words, dude, get serious.
Sure. Because serious people claim Trump and his supporters are existential threats to Democracy and also give them 50 million plus to win elections.
Democrats havent spent a dime to get Trump - suckers elected. The election is in November and the Democrats will be all out to defeat all those people.
You need a way better argument.
Of course they did. Don't deny reality.
Democrats think they are easier to beat, so they spent 50 million plus on helping them win elections. And now Democratic backed candidates like Kari Lake in Arizona are winning.
So which is it, did Democrats platform and help threats to democracy with their elections, or do they know their rhetoric is bullshit designed to manipulate their gullible supporters because it gives them a slightly better chance to win in November?
Would you spend money to give a platform to actual Nazis and help them win elections?
One could make a reasonable argument that Donald trump is insane, or at least profoundly mentally ill.
Your party would be ok with him being nominated for president again and winning. Every one of you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Trump is supported by Republicans who think he is good for the country. Democrats spend millions and boost candidates they claim to believe are threats to the country.
The latter is much more shameful.
You are proven wrong in a simple search.
If Trump backed Republicans are such a threat to Democracy why did Democrats, including Pelosi and Schumer, funnel millions in ads to back them in Republican primaries against far more moderate candidates? In Peter Meijer a Republican moderate that Democrats supposedly like? By the way Meijer lost to Gibbs. W/O Democrat money Gibbs wouldn't have stood a chance.
Democrats scream about those that Trump backs being traitors; and then do everything in their power to help them win their primaries.
Democrats need to STFU every time they even think about opening their fucking mouths about Republicans being traitors.
Trump is supported by Republicans who think he is good for the country. Democrats spend millions and boost candidates they claim to believe are threats to the country.
The latter is much more shameful.
If Republican voters are dumb enough to fall for it, then the shame is on them. Why don’t Republicans use the same tactic? It doesn’t work because Democrats aren’t so stupid as to believe anything they read or see on tv.
I'm amazed that I have to explain this so much . Primary's do not elect an office holder, they choose a nominee. The democrats have not given any money to anyone from the right to help them win a general election... Period.Stop.
It's like if you burn your house down and you blame it on the fact that someone gave you a book of matches
What a simplistic view. In some districts, who wins the primary all but decides the general. Dems are so stupid that they would spend over $50 million dollars in Repub primaries if they didn't think that it helped them in the General.
It's like if you burn your house down and you blame it on the fact that someone gave you a book of matches
If only the hoplophobes would apply the same logic to guns!
But we all know they lack the integrity or intellectual honesty to do so.
Biden recently said, "We’re all called, by duty and conscience, to confront extremists who will put their own pursuit of power above all else. Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans: We must be stronger, more determined, and more committed to saving American democracy than MAGA Republicans are to — to destroying American democracy.”
The Dem leaders that spent $53 million on Repub primaries probably didn't get the Biden memo or understand its message that voters should put their party identity aside to preserve democracy.
Hmph. Maybe I should hang on Biden’s every word and convert to Republican over my disgust with these low road Democrat tactics. And maybe pigs will fly out my butt.
Please tell me you are joking. The Democrats havent helped any far right nut cases in safe districts, that would be a waste of money. They have helped the nutcases get nominated in contested districts and states.
Then they are as nuts as he is.
Oh, so you’ve changed you mind and they are trying to affect the general,
As for joking, no, helping to get the extreme right winger elected in a contested primary help bleed the moderate candidate of cash and improves the odds of the Dem candidate.
The ends justifies the means and alls fair in politics and war.
According to some, we should forget the fact that we have an insane person who wants to run for president, because "Joe Biden".
What the hell has happened to this country?
Brandon is unqualified to be president. His VP Harris is even worse.
Democrats have run this country into a ditch. Without Trump they have nothing.
You are right. WTF has happened to this country when Democrats can weaponize the IRS, FBI, and DOJ against their political opponents. Throwing executive privilege and attorney/client confidentiality out the window. And some still back them.