GOP History: 1981-Present

@wajoma said
So you concede it was a joke, now you want to debate joke categories.

What is funny, what isn't funny, the root of humor.

I find it funny there are people taking what he said seriously, which makes them the butt of the joke. In the same way anyone attempting some ludicrous impossible feat in a serious manner is funny.

There's also an uneasy tinge of pity there too, ...[text shortened]... l for lil sunstroker fella when he goes on a rant, like a cockroach on it's back flailing it's legs.

No, I don't think 'dictator for a day' was a joke. I think he slipped and said what was actually on his mind, and then tried to walk it back.

Generally his humor is mocking some other group and (if you are loyal) you are expected to laugh with him.

@spruce112358 said
No, I don't think 'dictator for a day' was a joke. I think he slipped and said what was actually on his mind, and then tried to walk it back.

Generally his humor is mocking some other group and (if you are loyal) you are expected to laugh with him.

You don't have to be loyal to appreciate the humor in people taking an obvious joke seriously, in fact the more obvious the joke and the more seriously you take it the funnier it gets.

Another essential element of humor is originality, you've got to go out on the edge. Perhaps you're envious of Trump for having that ability.

@wajoma said
You don't have to be loyal to appreciate the humor in people taking an obvious joke seriously, in fact the more obvious the joke and the more seriously you take it the funnier it gets.

Another essential element of humor is originality, you've got to go out on the edge. Perhaps you're envious of Trump for having that ability.

Now you’re just taking the pish.

@averagejoe1 said
I read first sentences above, could you square away in no uncertain terms how Donald Trump is going to destroy democracy. Not your opinion, but what he is going to do. You see the difference I hope. Then it will give us all of footing with which to follow reading your post.

One of these days, you might, just might, pull your head from your ass.

I keep waiting, but, good thing I'm not holding my breath.

@kewpie said
The whole post is credited to Heather Cox Richardson. Instead of doing your usual rubbish post here, you should consider looking for a commentator with equal gravitas and community standing who can refute her arguments competently. Sonhouse, the same applies to you: not a rant, just a sober statement, please.

Good luck with that.

The woman has the pulse of America in her hands.

Real America, not the demagogues.

@averagejoe1 said
YOu silly goose. He tells jokes, littel feller. Since you absolutely hate his guts for liking women and having 24% of his many businesses go under, etc, you cannot fathom that he tells jokes. Since he does, then your entire post is a waste of ink. What was your favorite? Oh, the " I will Be A Dictator". It was too much for your closed mind, it literally fell into you ...[text shortened]... inkle in his eye.

https://theweek.com/articles/836330/what-all-president-trumps-jokes-have-common

If you honestly thought Donald Trump was kidding, you deserve the America you'll get.

You're already half-way there.

The rest of us hope for better.

@averagejoe1 said
Many people use humor for different things to make a point. Reagan did it, and did it perfectly. So, I can only surmise tht you are not in agreement with the ppint he is making? You ought to get together with a guy named Sonhouse, he absolutely hates his points.
Do you are uncomfortable with humor, Tell us about that.

Reagan was as afraid of communists as Joe McCarthy was.

Don't piss on us and tell us that it's "trickle-down".

@AverageJoe1
So he is joking when he says this:

https://democrats.org/news/in-trumps-own-words-there-has-to-be-some-form-of-punishment-for-women-who-have-an-abortion-and-for-their-doctors-too/

Was he joking when he said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country?

Joking when he says he would institute a 10% tariff on anything coming from overseas, like he doesn't realize such a move would raise OUR prices 10%.
Joking?

Joking when he said Media is the enemy of the people?

Sound familiar? It should, comes right out of Mein Kampf, but of course he is just JOKING?
What the hell is wrong with you ultrarightwingnuts anyway? Giving your religious leader a bye on everything he says?

@sonhouse said
@AverageJoe1
So he is joking when he says this:

https://democrats.org/news/in-trumps-own-words-there-has-to-be-some-form-of-punishment-for-women-who-have-an-abortion-and-for-their-doctors-too/

Was he joking when he said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country?

Joking when he says he would institute a 10% tariff on anything coming from overseas, like he do ...[text shortened]... wrong with you ultrarightwingnuts anyway? Giving your religious leader a bye on everything he says?

Mein Kampf is, quite literally, the ravings of a madman.

Give it a try and see how far you get until you want to puke.

Trump didn't fall that far from the tree.

@phranny said
There are really two major Republican political stories dominating the news these days. The more obvious of the two is the attempt by former president Donald Trump and his followers to destroy American democracy. The other story is older, the one that led to Trump but that stands at least a bit apart from him. It is the story of a national shift away from the supply-side ideo ...[text shortened]... /2024/04/10/theyre-still-playing-games-ex-prosecutor-warns-may-face-asset-seizure-over-invalid-bond/

This summary of the GOP over the last 40 years leaves out a critical juncture: the rise and assimilation of the Tea Party. The Tea Party was initially an attempt to inject a third party into the broken two-party system in the USA. The GOP at that time realised that the Tea Party would likely split the Republican vote and severely reduce their ability to maintain their hold on power. So, the GOP leadership tried to assimilate the Tea Party, thinking that sensible Republicans (Cheney, Romney, Sass, etc.) would moderate the more radical Tea Party elements. The opposite occurred: the Tea Party has dragged the traditional Republican agenda far far to the right, and polarised the political climate in America to such an extent that an experienced, politically savvy, and reasonably moderate speaker of the house (McCarthy) was ousted simply for securing bi-partisan support for a necessary finance bill. The current speaker (an inexperienced and incompetent toady) is in no less peril from a challenge by another inexperienced and very radical member of Congress who is holding him hostage to an ouster-threat.

The bizarre result is that a non-elected person is now holding the entire US Congress hostage; if Trump tweets 'kill the bill', then Congress is hamstrung, and the continued existence of a sovereign nation invaded by superior military forces now actually hangs in the balance, depending on whether one man, not an elected official, says 'yes' or 'no'. This is not how domestic democracy is supposed to work, much less international diplomacy.

The really really Big Lie is not that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. That's just a fib. The really really Big Lie is that Donald Trump is fighting for the rights of the Jane Doe and Average Joe. He's interested in no such thing. What he's fighting for is the privilege of his fellow plutocrats to make endless profits (e.g. $2 bn. Jared Kushner from the Saudis for unknown services 'rendered' nudge nudge wink wink).

@spruce112358 said
I like Heather Cox Richardson a lot and have been reading her regularly for years now. She is a historian from Boston College and very sharp.

Donald Trump has tried to overthrow an election, wants to replace the entire government with flunkies that will ignore the law and do his bidding, has appointed partisan justices (whom he thinks will support him no matter what), ...[text shortened]... alists.'

Trump literally wants to get rid of American democracy and replace it with dictatorship.

“ Trump literally wants to get rid of American democracy and replace it with dictatorship.”
As do:- mott, Joe and numerous other MAGAs on here. They know exactly what trump has in store for the country and they back him on it 100% These extremists cannot rely on democracy in the long term so they are hoping a confluence of factors allow trump to sneak into the White House with a minority vote and then they can stop worrying about that pesky democracy thing

@sonhouse said
@AverageJoe1
Why don't you believe what he SAID he will do? Oh, I forgot, you think he is joking. Guess what. He NEVER jokes. If you don't take him at his word don't come crying to us who KNEW what he will do if elected again. You will not like what kind of governing he will do. Unless you WANT voting to disappear and personal rights gone like the freedom of assembly, you m ...[text shortened]... ely legal as of now. Trump will not allow that. Then you will see other rights disappear one by one.

If he is a weak president, or cannot do his job, quick on his feet, I will definitely come crying to you, I promise. Probably will not say I should have voted on Biden, but I will come running and crying.

@kevcvs57 said
“ Trump literally wants to get rid of American democracy and replace it with dictatorship.”
As do:- mott, Joe and numerous other MAGAs on here. They know exactly what trump has in store for the country and they back him on it 100% These extremists cannot rely on democracy in the long term so they are hoping a confluence of factors allow trump to sneak into the White House with a minority vote and then they can stop worrying about that pesky democracy thing

It is not only Trump who wants to deconstruct democracy in America. Many evangelicals want to too, and they are not even hiding their intentions.

"Putting Christian nationalism front and center in Trump’s second term is also a key part of Project 2025, the very public effort by Trump allies to reshape the executive branch into a tool of unchallenged one-man rule. Trump’s Christian nationalist allies don’t hide these efforts because they don’t view them as something shameful. Rather, they consider themselves the vanguard of a so-called “moral restoration” of the United States, which can only be achieved by destroying the democratic structures that allow non-Christians to immigrate, vote and seek public office in this country.

According to Project 2025’s authoritarian manifesto, “Freedom is defined by God, not man.” In the Christian nationalist reading of American history, too many non-Christians enjoy too much freedom, and even unconstitutional actions are justified if they return America to Trump’s imagined national past. "


https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4479354-america-is-facing-a-threat-of-biblical-proportion-the-rise-of-christian-nationalism/

@moonbus said
It is not only Trump who wants to deconstruct democracy in America. Many evangelicals want to too, and they are not even hiding their intentions.

"Putting Christian nationalism front and center in Trump’s second term is also a key part of Project 2025, the very public effort by Trump allies to reshape the executive branch into a tool of unchallenged one-man rule. Trump’s ...[text shortened]... ampaign/4479354-america-is-facing-a-threat-of-biblical-proportion-the-rise-of-christian-nationalism/

And if you point out what a bad Christian DJT is, they are unfazed. Because, they will say, "God can use even a flawed instrument."

Americans have always been very susceptible to waves of religious revivalism. We have a long history of it. Such waves can give birth to whole new religions - Mormonism, for example. Trump-"ism" has a lot more in common with religion than it does with politics.

@spruce112358 said
And if you point out what a bad Christian DJT is, they are unfazed. Because, they will say, "God can use even a flawed instrument."

Americans have always been very susceptible to waves of religious revivalism. We have a long history of it. Such waves can give birth to whole new religions - Mormonism, for example. Trump-"ism" has a lot more in common with religion than it does with politics.

Evangelicals know perfectly well The Donald is no model Christian and that Trump himself even mocks them in private. He’s a useful tool, unwittingly doing God‘s work. They cite the fact that he stacked the Supreme Court, which then overturned Roe. The logic of this is stupendously stupid. If God had wanted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, God would’ve stacked the Supreme Court in the 1970s and they never would’ve made that decision in the first place.