Gimme some evidence that anyone at all in the government is pushing back on Trump with any effectiveness at all. Someone throw me a bone here. 😬

The Inspectors General that Trump is trying to fire basically told him to fuck off.

Under a law passed in 2022 (you know, when the Dems were doing nothing 🙄) the president has to give Congress 1) 30 days notice of firing an IG and 2) enumerate the reasons why that IG was being fired. The second any reason is given to Congress these people are going to sue for wrongful termination since it's blatantly obvious to everyone Trump is trying to rid the government of anyone who could hold him accountable.

You are experiencing what they want you to experience in this situation: A state of shock.

This is "Shock and Awe." It's a blitz to make the enemy feel like the task to fight back is insurmountable and to give up before trying.

Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight

This is not a military battle, but it is clear that Trump is practicing rapid dominance. He is using the Project 2025 pre-written Executive Orders to execute rapid dominance over the US government and make us feel shocked, confused, and desperate.

Naomi Klein wrote The Shock Doctrine in response to the Iraq War, and this is the Shock Doctrine being used on the US citizenry to whip them into submission.

We must resist this shock. The feeling you have, that it is hopeless, that no one is pushing back, is exactly how they want you to feel.

Get involved in Mutual Aid. Give back to your local community. Check out of national politics, we can't affect it anymore. Focus on building parallel systems (food banks, community gardens, community mesh-networks, community first aid) for people to rely on since we can no longer rely on the systems that Trump is actively trying to dismantle or twist to harm the American populace.

Losing hope right now means losing the long-term battle against this. Losing hope is what they intend to force you into, broken, submissive, no hope. Do not go silent into that good night.

If you're asking for someone to push back with effectiveness, you can be one of the first by giving your skills to your community.

In Klein's own words:

Trump is a rolling shock machine, which a recipe for keeping us scattered and reactive to the latest shocking news. There will be moments when we need to react forcefully and meaningfully to protect one another.

EDIT: This also seems relevant right now:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

-Fred "Mister" Rogers

Who just knocked?

Some reporting is saying impeachment is being floated, suing the president has been a matter of course since Obama took office and hasn't stopped since, he's already issuing orders that are blatantly illegal and clearly violate the constitution. There are a lot of openings to fight back right now. Is anyone? Idk.

I dunno, man, it just feels like the ol' fascist/totalitarian tactic of flooding the zone with shit until people get exhausted from fighting it has worked, people are exhausted, and there's this energy of elated resignation, like, we can't swim upstream anymore, so fuck it, riding the current is kind of fun (and the inevitable waterfall is out of sight and out of mind for the moment).

There’s the Reagan-appointed federal judge who near instantaneously ruled that trump’s birthright citizenship EO was unconstitutional and expressed disbelief that anyone recognized by the Bar Association would argue for such a position.

It's the rich buying off both major political parties in the US. One is paid to implement a fascist oligarchy. The other is paid to pump the breaks on the fascist oligarchy when the population freaks out.

In both cases, political bribery has run amok and unchecked. Neither party is beholden to the will of the people. Low voter turnout means Republicans and oligarchy wins. High voter turnout means Democrats and the same oligarchy wins.

Most of the safeguards were removed in trump's previous term, and now the way's open.

Good luck.

I’m starting to really consider the whole “reality is a simulation” angle, and whoever is running the game has put in a cheat code. (not really really, but more than I ever have before)

🙄

I have some reeeeeeal bad news for you: the American voters handed Trump and the Republicans not just 1, not 2, but ALL 3 fucking branches of government, on top of a media in which at least 33% is in his fucking pocket and at least another 33% is too stupid to see through his bullshit.

I'm not sure what kind of push back you're expecting or who you're expecting it from exactly, but to whatever extent there IS push back it's gonna be 90% performative gesturing and hand-wringing until at least 2026. And that's the best case where people are smart enough to vote in their best interest, which knowing how fucking stupid you all are, I'm not gonna hold my breath.

GLHF.

Not a single soul in the government is going to help or save you. I'm sorry you're only realizing this now, but the U.S. government has never been your friend or given a shit about you. It was captured by corporate forces at least 20 years ago, and set down this path to fascism over 40 years ago by Reagan. At this point, you will have to be one of the ones to resist, and you should reach out to local organizations to resist with them.

I want to add a running theme in GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire is that doing gross and inhumane things may horrify us in the moment and make us feel overwhelmed but tends to turn around on those who would resort to such methods despite Tyrion Lannister's opinion that those methods are not to be taken off the table when considering options.

The most well known example in the series was the Red Wedding, the marriage of Edmure Tully, Roslin Frey, which was followed by the massacre of Rob and Catelyn Stark and many others, while under the protection of the tradition of hospitality. If we ignore the GoT Season 8 revenge by Arya Stark (which isn't canon but is based off an implied plot by Lord Manderly), reputation of fell deed figured in House Frey losing allies and trade, and Frey casualties numbered to exceed all its gains and those inflicted on Stark and its allies.

IRL, Trump's heavy-handed response to the George Floyd protests in 2020 only doubled the protest sizes in the following days. Notoriously after Putin-style LGMs (unmarked uniformed men in military gear abducting citizens without due process) and brutal police action at the Portland ICE building resulted in the moms joining the protests and then the dads (who brought their wireless leaf blowers, handy against CS gas).

An example that will be applicable to the US is the rise of the French Résistance during the German occupation of France. Despite efforts by German administrators to advice soldiers to stay polite, they couldn't help themselves and were brutal to the French civilians. The people started engaging in light direct action, tearing down or defacing German propaganda, slashing tires, cutting phone lines, until they found each other and organized. Within two years, they were a formidable fighting force.

Yes, the find out portion of the upcoming era is going to be harsh. People who need services and supplies will not get them. Police will be cruel to folks at the border, and may even hunt down migrants and Trans folks like the SS after Jews. It will be fucking scary, but it will turn bystanders into resistance sympathists, sympathists into activists and activists into militants. And yes, it appears police just can't help themselves but be brutal, and the resistance will not only feel justified in cutting them down, but will eventually hunt them to the ends of the earth to assure they see tribunal, even when the last guard and bureaucrat is ninety.

Buy a gun and practice marksmanship, you limp-wrist coward. Complain online while doing nothing and watch the world burn or do what I do and join an LGBTQ marksmanship club, protest, give back to local community with volunteer hours,.

You can't push back against the person who doesn't care. These "trump" things aren't likely coming from trump. All he wants is attention. So as long as someone spins an idea to him that will get him attention, he will sign it. He hasn't had an original idea in decades. So you won't see push back in public much. It will happen between the people behind the scenes.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

-- The Gospel According to Matthew Liberal Talking Points

I hate white Jesus

Project 2025 won't go exactly as planned, but at least half of it will and the rest will sow enough discord during the attempt to run the country into the ground. We will most likely still be the most powerful nation unless we split, just because of the massive population and resources available.

I AM the one who knocks _{out your nazi face to the pavement}

I don't have an article about it on hand, but there was one judge who blocked Trump's attempt to remove birthright citizenship.

MAGA ICE Jesus no hablo ingles

If it makes you feel any better, the reality of Biden and Harris being equally complicit in genocide as Trump reveals that the same people were in charge under the last Democrat administrations as well. It is in fact a simulation, a simulation of a Republican-run fascist takeover, when in reality the system was already completely compromised, and this is just an ideological pretext to expand authoritarian control.

As effective as they were in pushing Biden left

I actually have more hope. Every fascist regime ultimately fell and outside of the billionaire controlled media it will be difficult to burn the records.

The reality is that a two tiered justice system will always create a group of people who feel emboldened. The correct response is to document these people's crimes, and stay mad. If the opportunity to hold them accountable comes, take it.

The democrats still aren't taking this seriously because they will be among the last to be targeted directly. Their friends are still people like Netanyanhu who flout a similar multi tiered justice system.

Work toward building local governments who will push back and provide resources for people who need it.

You are still on the acid trip, just ride it until it's over. It'll be more fun if you just let it do its thing.

Can I ask a real question here? We know from being here on Lemmy that some people have a real hard-on for Marxism/Stalinism/Leninism. Why do these people think their pov is morally or ethically superior?

The whole DEI stuff seems a bit like a Trojan horse to sneak in Marxist propaganda. Forcing people to accept immigrants with different cultural pov in a democracy is dangerous because you can end up relinquishing your country to another country’s agenda.

Should people be more humane and considerate? Yes, fucking definitely. Should there be more regulations against some damaging effects of capitalism? Certainly.

Does that mean people want to give up the means of production? Absolutely not. Does that mean people want to live in a China-like situation where you cannot own the land your property is on? No.

Countries should be free to control immigration. That’s what sovereignty is. But the truth is simply this, all countries need immigrants, the natural competition created via the current state of capitalism demands this.

Who is Mike Pineapple?

I mean Jesus did literally walk into temples and flip tables over and kick people out for bad behavior, so this isn't far off.

Maybe constant new outrage bait “content” drama has caused people to emulate it in real life at scale unconsciously?

Open the fucking door!!