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Sedition fatigue: For Trump and many Republicans, betrayal is now politics as usual


aubiefifty

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7-9 minutes

It was one thing when the steady drumbeat of stories about the sleaze of President Donald Trump and his Cabinet made us fear we would all succumb to scandal fatigue and wrongs would no longer be noticed. Then we worried that the shock of constantly being misled by that same president would fade as we sank into liar fatigue. Gradually, as scandals and lies were overtaken by assaults on the rule of law and on our standing in the world, and by damage done to our people, we discovered that there was a greater risk — that Trump fatigue would numb Americans to the death tolls and other costs of a presidency gone terribly wrong.

Even as all this was happening, however, did you ever think America could grow so numb that we would fall victim to sedition fatigue?

Did you imagine that we could reach a moment when not only Trump but a major portion of his party could betray the people, Constitution and values of the United States and actively become the most dangerous enemies of American democracy our country has faced since the Civil War … and that for tens of millions of Americans, this development would just be shrugged off as politics as usual?

Betrayals rewarded from the start

In his own way, Trump warned us this would be happening. And worse, every time he revealed that he in fact was a traitor or that those around him supported his betrayals, Trump was not penalized. He was not held accountable. He was not required to answer for his crimes. He was actually rewarded by his base with more rabid support.

Even before Trump became president, he publicly called out for the aid of a foreign nation, one of our foremost enemies no less, to break U.S. law so as to assist his election. What was the result? They did, and he was elected. Then he lied about what he and they had done and began to condemn those who would question his actions. The result? The whistleblowers and witnesses were fired, and he gained more support within his own party. In the Gallup Poll, he never reached a 50% approval rating with the public at large — but his party was in his thrall.

When he betrayed the country again by seeking to extort a foreign ally on a mob-like “I would like you to do us a favor” call to Ukraine, what happened? Laws were broken. His oath was violated. But his party ensured no evidence of his crimes could be presented at a Senate trial, and he got off scot-free.

From left, Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Now, in the wake of his electoral defeat in November, we have seen a treacherous president behaving precisely as his party had effectively trained him to behave. Be Trump, they implored. You are above the law, was their message. And: We said we embraced you because you were a business leader, but it was really because you had the flair and ruthlessness of a mafia don.

The GOP had made it clear. While once, the Party of Reagan embraced family values, the Party of Trump was now about Gambino family values.

So when the popular vote went heavily to President-elect Joe Biden and the electoral vote went Biden's way, too, Trump stayed true to form. He challenged results in lawsuit after lawsuit. That there was no evidence of fraud did not bother him. That denying a voice to the people was profoundly un-American and actually an attack on everything the country stood for was irrelevant. Ludicrous conspiracy theories were embraced. His lawyers seemed to have graduated not from law school but clown college. And despite loss after loss after loss in court, rather than accepting reality, he became more bitter, attacking American institutions with a virulence our worst enemies in the world had seldom done.

Blueprint for an overthrow: Trump challenge to Biden win exposes massive democracy flaw. Next time it just might work.

And he was not alone. He reached out to many party leaders and they helped him. The attorney general of Texas floated a specious legal argument with the assistance of 17 other Republican state attorneys general and supported by an amicus brief that included the names of a majority of Republican members of the House of Representatives.

Some said it was all just part of the democratic process. But of course, that stopped being true when it was clear that there was no evidence of fraud, no reason to overturn the results, when 30 then 40 then 50 and then 59 courts ruled against Trump … and Trump and his supporters kept on. At some point then, he and his enablers went from sore losers to mounting an organized, well-financed effort to steal an election. The goal was disenfranchising voters, especially voters of color. It was now not “part of the process.” It looked like sedition. It looked like a coup.

That was clear when Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas disingenuously argued that the Constitution should be violated and the results of the election investigated and set aside despite having no evidence of crimes. That’s what happened when Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas led a lawsuit saying the vice president had the power to choose which votes counted and which did not. And that is assuredly what was going on when the president in his role as mob boss in chief called Georgia's secretary of state and threatened that bad things would happen to him if he did not “find” enough votes for Trump to claim victory in that state.

Protecting us from our own president

The threat posed by Trump grew so great that all 10 living former Defense secretaries felt compelled to write a column calling for the military not to assist in Trump’s assault on democracy. These men who had devoted their lives to protecting us from threats to our national security felt a duty to protect our country from our own president.

Trump and the Trumpists are, indeed, the most insidious enemies we could possibly face, enemies from within. But as dangerous as they have revealed themselves to be, just as threatening to the future of American democracy is the degree to which many of us have lost the ability to be outraged by them. Indeed, apathy and ignorance, numbness to the lies and scandals and to Trump and in the end to the betrayals of Trump and Trumpists, are their greatest ally.

On his way out the door: Congress should impeach Trump again and bar him from holding any future public office

In order to restore our democracy, we need to reclaim our outrage. We must reverse the trend of the past few years and demand that those like Trump, who abuse their office and undermine our system to cling to power, be investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted. We cannot let our system be anesthetized to threats like these by partisanship or apologists or how unpleasant they may be to contemplate.

It's time to wake up and to recognize that our future will depend on remaining keenly vigilant against further such threats be they from Trump, from his supporters or from enemies of democracy in the years to come.

David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) is host of "Deep State Radio" and CEO of the Rothkopf Group media and podcasting company. His new book is "Traitor: A History of American Betrayal from Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump."

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump and his supporters are dangerous enemies of American democracy

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On 1/5/2021 at 11:29 AM, I_M4_AU said:

So, when does this healing I hear about start?

probably when some of you idiots quit listening to trump. hows that?

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19 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

probably when some of you idiots quit listening to trump. hows that?

Yesterday’s events have got everybody on edge, so I’ll not hold your personal attack as your usual self.  The point is Trump will be out of office in 13 days and, because of yesterday, any further attempt at politics for him and his family is over.  It is time to come together, but attitudes like I have seen on the board will prevent that from happening.  JMO.

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4 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Yesterday’s events have got everybody on edge, so I’ll not hold your personal attack as your usual self.  The point is Trump will be out of office in 13 days and, because of yesterday, any further attempt at politics for him and his family is over.  It is time to come together, but attitudes like I have seen on the board will prevent that from happening.  JMO.

when you folks get honest and quit taking up for trump which enables him to pull this crap i will. but you guys have basically called the left liars or fake news and not a single one of you has offered any apology. not one. some of you are just now finally starting to see trump for what he is. but how much harm has been done? i hope the bastard dies in prison. and i might burn for that but i have kept up with trump for years and years and the facts on him are out there and available to all if you cared enough to look. too many of you took it as a smear campaign against him. i mean jesus the man stole money from cancer kids and wounded vets. that is fact. he can never start a charity again. how do you vote for someone like that? i honestly want to know. how do you claim to be a patriot when someone steals from kids that gave limbs and body parts for their country? i think before you jump me you and others need to admit you made a mistake. i argued with folks on here about him being a racist to no avail. and now people claim the election was rigged. lol some of the biggest dem hating repubs in this country have come out and said the election was fair and square.

and if i get time out for hoping he dies in prison so be it. it is how i feel.

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3 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Yesterday’s events have got everybody on edge, so I’ll not hold your personal attack as your usual self.  The point is Trump will be out of office in 13 days and, because of yesterday, any further attempt at politics for him and his family is over.  It is time to come together, but attitudes like I have seen on the board will prevent that from happening.  JMO.

Are you willing to admit that supporting Trump was a huge mistake?

If not, you have no standing to criticize other's attitudes.  You need to look within yourself.

 

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1 minute ago, homersapien said:

Are you willing to admit that supporting Trump was a huge mistake?

Supporting what Trump stood for early on (standing up against the media/Democrats) was why I supported the man.  Since the morning of Nov 4th, there have been less and less to support.  Yesterday was the end of the support.

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2 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

@aubiefifty I see your healing heart in this post.  :drippingsarcasm7pa:

and i have yet to see you show ANY remorse or apologize for being a trump supporter. and yes i have tried. you look back the past few weeks i have said very little to nothing. you helped put the idiot in office and cannot sack up and admit you were wrong? i am sorry trumpers are a cult as they just showed. it is sad when trumps own judges he appointed threw his bogus crap out and people still claim the election was stolen. but per typical trump supporter i guess i am supposed to just sit back and let the lies continue and taking over our nations capitol without saying a word. but you can think what you want. as long as the repubs keep pulling this crap i will speak out. and you think it is over? the thing is repubs trampled the constitution and you guys did not care right?

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4 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

and i have yet to see you show ANY remorse or apologize for being a trump supporter. and yes i have tried. you look back the past few weeks i have said very little to nothing. you helped put the idiot in office and cannot sack up and admit you were wrong? i am sorry trumpers are a cult as they just showed. it is sad when trumps own judges he appointed threw his bogus crap out and people still claim the election was stolen. but per typical trump supporter i guess i am supposed to just sit back and let the lies continue and taking over our nations capitol without saying a word. but you can think what you want. as long as the repubs keep pulling this crap i will speak out. and you think it is over? the thing is repubs trampled the constitution and you guys did not care right?

Look at the post above yours, I explained my thinking.  You don’t have to like it, but it’s my thoughts.  Your issue is you (and a few others) lump all people who said anything good about Trump as one entity. Try to think a little bit that not all people are alt-right wackos.

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1 minute ago, I_M4_AU said:

Look at the post above yours, I explained my thinking.  You don’t have to like it, but it’s my thoughts.  Your issue is you (and a few others) lump all people who said anything good about Trump as one entity. Try to think a little bit that not all people are alt-right wackos.

did you see the poll posted on the reg politics board showing where the majority of repubs were glad the capitol was stormed? all you guys have to do is say we were wrong about trump. besides, when you say not all righties are cultists why not say all dems were not lying about trump all this time among all the other things your side accused us of.

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1 minute ago, aubiefifty said:

did you see the poll posted on the reg politics board showing where the majority of repubs were glad the capitol was stormed? all you guys have to do is say we were wrong about trump. besides, when you say not all righties are cultists why not say all dems were not lying about trump all this time among all the other things your side accused us of.

There you go, lumping all Republicans as cultists which is not true.  Pols are opinions that have no merit to the way I or many other Republicans think.  Why do you stereotype people?

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i told people way back about trump and the charities stealing from wounded vets and children with cancer. you saw him make fun of a handicapped reporter. he called pow's losers. he bashed five star families and made fun of one cat in particular that saved the lives of a dozen or so men. women came out claiming assault and you guys said oh just chicks wanting to get rich. where were you then hoss? hell he gassed a peaceful protest to wave the bible. and the lies. and all the folks he made fun of with lies when they were not truths. did you call out anything he said? anything? if you did i never saw it. and most of the repubs and righties are avoiding the political boards because they know they were wrong and harmed the country doing it. i have apologized to several folks on here. apologies are not a sign of weakness they are a sign of character and trying to do the right thing. and the more people that speak out that got snockered into believing trumps crap means less cultists and they maybe will crawl back into their dumpsters.

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well you went along with the status quo for four or five years so why should i not lump all of you together? people told you from the get go all about trump and you ignored it. you shot plenty of daggers at me and the left tho i never book marked anything. you laughed when one of your buddies said something cute or did a face palm or a smilie face when it turns out we were right on most stuff. if you cannot say you were wrong how am i supposed to believe you are sincere in anything? i have to run to the store but i will check back before i log on to elder scrolls. my point is among other things is when i am wrong i can apologize on here and have done so many times. why can you not do the same? it is not a sign of weakness it is called strength of character. not one single person who was a huge trump supporter has come out and said" i was wrong and i am sorry" after making fun of "alarmist" dems.

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3 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

well you went along with the status quo for four or five years so why should i not lump all of you together? people told you from the get go all about trump and you ignored it. you shot plenty of daggers at me and the left tho i never book marked anything. you laughed when one of your buddies said something cute or did a face palm or a smilie face when it turns out we were right on most stuff. if you cannot say you were wrong how am i supposed to believe you are sincere in anything? i have to run to the store but i will check back before i log on to elder scrolls. my point is among other things is when i am wrong i can apologize on here and have done so many times. why can you not do the same? it is not a sign of weakness it is called strength of character. not one single person who was a huge trump supporter has come out and said" i was wrong and i am sorry" after making fun of "alarmist" dems.

The media from the get go told me he was a Russian asset and I took a wait and see on that one. It turned out not to be true.  The Dems told me he had a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian President, taken to trail and the Senate disagreed.  I was hoping Trump put enough people around him to tone him down a little and that worked until recently.  The election was the final straw his ego couldn’t handle and he stopped listening to the people he should have listened to and only listened to his paid henchmen.

I will say some Republicans seemed to encouraged some rhetoric that there were fraudulent voting, but they said it wasn’t enough to overturn the election.  Trump’s ego has gone unchecked since the election and it manifested in what we saw yesterday.  This could be a coming together moment, but it appears the *I told you so* people won’t allow it.

Now you will have to defend the plagiarizing, lying dog faced pony soldier and his side kick who is also a plagiarizing, lying dog faced pony soldier.

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21 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

Supporting what Trump stood for early on (standing up against the media/Democrats) was why I supported the man.  Since the morning of Nov 4th, there have been less and less to support.  Yesterday was the end of the support.

Here's what Trump stood for, even if you don't acknowledge it:

"You might think it odd that the hardcore Make America Great Again crowd would damage a beloved symbol of the country they profess to support. But not if you understand the deeper dynamic. This was never about who wins elections and the right to govern. It has always been about ownership. Trump’s cult believes that they are the sole, legitimate owners of the country, and if that’s true, then there can be no sin in damaging what is rightfully yours, right?

Which explains why the nation’s capital went into a defensive crouch last summer and enlisted the military to put down peaceful demonstrations, when multiracial crowds gathered to demand that the country live up to the promise of its founding documents. These were outsiders, aliens, invaders. But when the Congress met to formalize the peaceful transference of power, suddenly one of the most fortified buildings on the planet was defenseless against amateur insurrectionists.

In the doctrine of white supremacy, articulated in the deeds, acts, executive orders and repellent speeches of the president himself, some people legitimately own America, while others are merely suffered to live here by the consent of men like Trump and his supporters. Police will mostly defer to the former with circumspection and polite restraint; they will beat down and gas the latter even before the hour of curfew has arrived.

In this most recent escalation of a four-year putsch — abetted by some of the same representatives and senators whose chambers were attacked by the mob — we see the last few threads of Trumpism that were never explicit now made manifest. Trumpism was never about governance or stewardship of the country. It was about a right to possess so deep that it includes the right to destroy.

That is what is so sickening today, what will sicken us for decades to come and what has shamed us before the world in perpetuity. There is only one way out of this, only one redemption. We must see what has happened today for what it is, with no mincing of words and no obfuscations. A minority of Americans, encouraged by a reckless, cornered and irresponsible lame-duck president, sought to take full possession of what they feel they, and they alone, legitimately possess, which is the right to run the country without a Constitution, without laws, without equal rights for all people."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/images-trump-mobs-at-capitol/2021/01/06/87324ae4-5061-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

 

 

 

 

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@homersapien, your post sounds like a personal opinion to me.  Can you separate the people that supported Trump and the rioters and thugs that stormed the Capital?

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On 1/7/2021 at 8:49 AM, I_M4_AU said:

Yesterday’s events have got everybody on edge, so I’ll not hold your personal attack as your usual self.  The point is Trump will be out of office in 13 days and, because of yesterday, any further attempt at politics for him and his family is over.  It is time to come together, but attitudes like I have seen on the board will prevent that from happening.  JMO.

my attacks are not really attacks. i do not know you. you are a computer name and that is about all i know of you other than you were a trump guy for a while. call me dumb but i assumed very little i have ever said would hurt you or anyone. i am not on a first name basis with you like many of you are. and folks are right when they say i reallly dislike trump. the truth is it is hard for me to reconcile that anyone that likes trump as vile as he is to not have a touch of that vileness as well. but the truth is this. while i have a major dislike for trump it does bleed into the person some in my eyes which may or may not be fair. i do not wish you anything bad. i do not hate you. when i see you in the sports forum i try to be as nice as possible to all. but for my own comfort zone in my heart i wish more folks would say trump was a bad mistake. and i am all for healing but i should have mentioned it goes both ways. at the end of the day even if i do not show it you are my brother in all things orange and blue. and auburn is one of the biggest loves of my life and that makes you part of it. i just think it takes both sides coming together to heal. i have never once wished you any ill will at all. hell me and mikey have had some huge knockdown drag outs but i like him and sent him some auburn memorabilia. so sometimes i can get mad but most of the time i am just blunt and it comes off mad. typing is a chore for me enough that sometimes i do not explain myself well because i do not want to type any more than i have to to get my point across. so we can disagree but i do not consider you an enemy or really anyone on these boards and i wish you well in all things. does this help?

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1 minute ago, HarsinVOL said:

Work on astuteness. Sorry too late and don't believe you. At best, you are the definition of a “ Domestic Enemy”. At the worst, your cradling of sociopathy and cynicism got people killed yesterday. You have carved your name into the inerasable hard granite of permanent ignominy. Too bad. So sad.

Really, is this the new society you want to live in?  Someone disagrees with your politics and they should be eliminated?

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On 1/7/2021 at 1:46 PM, I_M4_AU said:

Supporting what Trump stood for early on (standing up against the media/Democrats) was why I supported the man.  Since the morning of Nov 4th, there have been less and less to support.  Yesterday was the end of the support.

That's a sad statement on your research and critical thinking skills.  But at least you have lots of company.

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17 hours ago, HarsinVOL said:

Seriously, is it a nervous twitch or do you regularly misquote? 

 

21 hours ago, HarsinVOL said:

At best, you are the definition of a “ Domestic Enemy”. At the worst, your cradling of sociopathy and cynicism got people killed yesterday. You have carved your name into the inerasable hard granite of permanent ignominy. Too bad. So sad.

 

17 hours ago, HarsinVOL said:

I want a society free from Donald Trump, free from his supporters/co-conspirators and co-traitors.

Please show where I misquoted you saying you wanted me not to exist.

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On 1/7/2021 at 12:56 PM, I_M4_AU said:

Look at the post above yours, I explained my thinking.  You don’t have to like it, but it’s my thoughts.  Your issue is you (and a few others) lump all people who said anything good about Trump as one entity. Try to think a little bit that not all people are alt-right wackos.

let me ask you this with no name calling or that kind of stuff. why is it half or maybe a little more of the country saw trump for what he was and you guys are just now feeling let down by him? i am dead serious.

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35 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

let me ask you this with no name calling or that kind of stuff. why is it half or maybe a little more of the country saw trump for what he was and you guys are just now feeling let down by him? i am dead serious.

I can’t speak for all Trump voters, but the let down came after the election. He did his usual *I was cheated* routine and, like always, there was some smoke that he exploited.  After about 3 weeks it basically was over and most knew it. Bill Barr, who is a straight shooter, said the fraud wasn’t at the level that it would overturn the election and Trump fired him.  This told me he was not listening to the people he should be and the one person that was telling him what he needed to hear was no longer there.

I hoped this would all die out and he would finally concede to Joe Biden. The Jan 6th meeting was a flash point I thought would never happen.  

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34 minutes ago, HarsinVOL said:

If you recognize any of these people, you are legally bound to report them. If you are found failing to do so...only God can help you.

https://streamable.com/2zxv8d

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence

Would it be in poor taste to do a look a like thread? 

I think I saw Terrence Williams on video in the chambers, could be wrong though. 

 

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