No, you should probably vote, just with different expectations of what can be accomplished. It’s why you should consider 3rd party options if the Dem in your area has demonstrated cooperation with fascists and feudalists. Besides, local elections are more important now that ever. Just because democracy can never again unseat our führer, doesn’t mean it can’t accomplish other things

We’re in a dictatorship. You can’t compare his last administrations to now. He’s destroying every check on his power, doing blatantly unconstitutional things, preparing to ignore anything the legislature might do to hold him back. You just don’t understand the level of fucked we are, nor do you get that there’s no electoral path to stop him.

Newsom is a neo-feudalist asshat who tried to lick fascist boots earlier this very year. If a corprocrat like him is chosen, Dems are cooked because voters have consistently not turned out for them recently. If such a flakey and uninspiring candidate is chosen, MAGA has a better chance due to base suppression. It doesn’t matter that you think voters should act differently, because what is =/= what “ought” to be.

I’m tired of people expecting voters to shape themselves to the party instead of the other way around. Trump didn’t dominate other Republicans by telling people to “be better,” but by agreeing to satiate their strongest emotions. People aren’t in the mood to hear “it can’t be done yet, be patient,” when everyone’s economic situation has gotten worse with every passing year regardless of who is in charge. Democrats have nothing but false promises, which is why they lost against the American Hitler.

It doesn’t hurt so long as we don’t expect it to have much effect. I also don’t think the midterms will make a difference, even if Republicans lose every possible seat in an absolute blowout. We’re in a dictatorship 6 that’s featuring domestic death camps 6 months in; violence against opposition is not unimaginable.

They wanted to do that, which is why they agreed to a nuclear deal. That is no longer the case and it’d be a wasted opportunity to not. It’s hard to even blame them much for it given the way their nuclear armed enemies act.

It’s all symbolic. They want to scare people with the symbolism of the “inescapable scary prison.” They probably hope it falls apart and kills prisoners.

I hate to say this, but Epstein/Trump stories feel like the real distraction. It’s long been known that Trump is connected with Epstein, that he’s a certified sex pest, and that he’s creepy about kids (including his own daughter). It’s been default knowledge that Trump is a pedo creep, yet people seem to think that even smoking gun evidence will make some sort of difference.

Almost nobody will seriously change where that stand based on anything that could possibly revealed. On the other hand, the economy is in shambles, the government in shreds, and there are actual fucking concentration camps that people are getting disappeared to.

There is too much horror in the moment for me to fret so much about these horrors from the past. Epstein will not harm anyone else, but unknown high level child sex rings will. Everyone around Epstein getting revealed will not bring retribution to many culprits, nor will it change the root causes of such unaccountable abuse.

and I’d rather those people do something to mitigate this mess than beg for forgiveness

Distract? Targeting a celeb is a distraction, but not from Epstein. It’s a power move saying he plans to strip rights from any enemy, regardless of what the law says. He plans to disappear anyone with his Gestapo, from famous people that cause problems to scapegoats the fascists tell him to.

As evil as his Epstein shit might be, it is a crime of the past that cannot be undone. Conversely, him sending anyone he pleases to deathcamps is an active danger in the present and future.

Steal from wealthy investors ==> actually face consequences.

It’s why Martin Shkreli and Elizabeth Holmes served time. You never get punished for fucking over the powerless, only those with power.

What pressure? Unless they’re about to take up arms, conservative voters have no way to have their concerns make a difference. Republican politicians have no ability to seriously question Trump, as he’s thoroughly shaped them into an army of yesmen by now. Even if they switched sides to join the Democrats, that party has already shown a complete unwillingness to meaningfully push back against fascism. There’s really not much they can even imagine to do.

I doubt that’ll do any good. Actively volunteering to help communities ravaged by fascism would be far more useful and humbling

Leading up to the election, they really could not make a single politically wise decision to save their lives. They doubled down on out of touch rich people as their base, and are only tripling down now. Despite left wing politicians doing well while centrists languished, they think that a more feudal future where the poors have died or can’t vote will save them. They’re doing everything they can to prevent left wing opposition from existing so people can only choose politicians who openly don’t represent them.

There is no law, only Trump’s will and wealthy interests

Translation: “most Americans will not be represented by our party”

Democrats and Republicans both seek to represent billionaire interests more than any other. The Democrats see billionaires unhappy with the fascist order not being totally under their control, so they seek to reshape the party to attract them.

This is why I say we need to leave the party behind; they are dead set on abandoning popular policies and that cannot go unanswered. By continuing to vote blue, we’d be embracing apathy. The dream of a better future dead in the water. Land of the slaves and home of the cowards.

Absolutely not. They were systematically shaped into cowardly yesmen before Trump reascended to the presidency. It’s why he drove out Kevin McCarthy out despite his loyalty, and why he chose JD Vance as his VP. It’s why billionaires and capitalists feel “politically homeless” right now; Trump is the party and no independent power is allowed. If they seriously threaten him, he has the full violence of a dictator with his own personal police force. He’s burning through America’s imperial power to solidify his own position, and that well is far too deep to soon run dry.

Assassination or more likely death from old age are the only way this nightmare ends.

Bold to assume this nightmare is still tied to 4 year election cycles anymore. He’s never leaving office alive, and after him there’s a gaggle of oligarchs who will be looking for new strategies of pillaging.

The only difference is how much damage each is currently capable of doing. The former would be just as bad given the means, while the latter currently has the means. I personally think it’s better to simply silence and shun fascists without means, while fascists with means should be dealt with in whatever way leads to the most success. That all depends on your own circumstances in relation to them. I suspect harming the interests that support fascism is more effective, as the fascist movement will probably only be strengthened by hurting foot soldiers.