Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.

Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.

In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.

“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.

“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

  • Yor [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe

    Bro will absolutely let himself be jailed under belief that the system works and everything will turn out okay lmao

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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    8 months ago

    LMAO I love how all the libs who’ve been salivating at the idea that Trump might get jailed are now appalled at the idea that Trump would jail his opponents. This is what happens when you start weaponizing your legal system. And before you come here to tell me that the charges against Tump are totally legitimate, I guarantee you that when Trump goes after his opponents, he’ll have no trouble finding dirt on them because all US politicians are corrupt as fuck.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      The difference being that trump is a criminal who BROKE THE FUCKING LAW COUNTLESS TIMES. He committed multiple frauds, this is not an 'if", he did, period. He sexually assaulted at least.one person, proven, likely many more. This is not a question, this happened. He stole too secret documents from the government, refused to return them, his them and gave them away to god knows who. None of this is open for debate. Other people releasing secret government documents are in prison for life, trump is still free, last I checked.

      None of this has to do with politics, his political opponents had nothing to do with this, this is all his own fucking doing.

      Should I talk about January 6th? I recall trump tweets from the days leading up to that, I remember what he wrote, I remember preparing popcorn to watch the mayhem unfold. I remember him egging them on. EVERYONE INVOLVED IS OR IS GOING TO JAIL. Trump is still out there, still free. Nothing of this has to do with political opponents, these people were judged by the US law and jailed for their crimes.

      Nearly all of trumps cronies friends and people who worked for him are or have been jailed for proven crimes. Nothing to do with politics.

      What does trump want to do? He wants to jail his opponents because they are his opponents. Reality check: being a political opponent is NOT a crime, unless you have a dictatorship, which ding ding ding, trump literally said he wants to have. His words, not mine.

      Seriously, I don’t get it, I don’t get your mental gymnastics. You says that trump will jail them because they are criminals, but WHAT CRIMES? If they committed crimes, they’d already be in jail. These trump cronies are in jail because they committed crimes. Commit a crime, you go to jail. Political colors have nothing to do with that. You literally claim “he will find something”, are you kidding? Are you that daft?

      Come on already, stop behaving like a child.

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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        8 months ago

        Buddy, your legal system won’t even prosecute literal pedophiles on Epstein list, and here you are pretending that it’s going after Trump because he’s a uniquely terrible criminal. Grow up child.

    • phx@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Oh yeah, all the people happy to see somebody gave justice for a series of criminal acts should be worried that said individual will assume power of the country and jail them as revenge. Totally a great thing.

      You sure do love the idea of a dictatorship, as long as it’s YOUR guy huh?

    • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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      8 months ago

      Letting corrupt politicians go to jail is the opposite of weaponizing the legal system. Letting ONLY everybody but the corrupt politicians go to jail is weaponization.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      he’ll have no trouble finding dirt on them because all US politicians are corrupt as fuck.

      And this is the problem with "both sides"ism.
      “Sure these Republican politicians are corrupt as fuck, but all politicians are corrupt as fuck. How do I know? Look at the Republicans!”

      They tried this with the whole impeachment of Joe Biden: start an investigation on bullshit and surely they’ll find something because everyone is just as corrupt as they are.

      They found nothing.

  • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    “We’re taking this seriously”

    Then why have they not arrested (and hopefully executed) Trump and most of his toadies yet? Seems like they’re not that serious.

    • skooma_king@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Adam Schiff can’t arrest Trump. He doesn’t have the authority to. It doesn’t mean he isn’t taking the threat seriously.

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        America has executed tens or hundreds of thousands of black and brown people all over the world, without trial, for much lesser acts of alleged terrorism than publicly threatening to kidnap US legislators.

        • JimmieJam@lemm.ee
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          Yep, I think it’s time to play by republican rules. If they want to play dirty, let’s play dirtier. Time to re-open Gitmo. We kept accused spies, traitors, and terrorists locked up for decades without trial. Trump has sold US secrets to the Russians, incited a violent attack on the U.S. capital, and openly stated he would let Russia take Ukraine, a U.S. ally.

          That’s 3 for 3. Cuff him, put a bag on his head, and leave him rotting in a cell in the humid heat and isolation until he starves to death.

      • DefinitelyNotAPhone [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Either Trump is an existential threat that requires the strongest possible response, or he’s just another corrupt asshole in a country dominated by others like him.

        And before you go “but America doesn’t do that sort of thing!”, I’d encourage you to look up Fred Hampton.

        • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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          I’m familiar with COINTELPRO and more recent black sites used by CPD.

          My point is that we shouldn’t sink to their level. We can neutralize the threat of a wanna-be dictator man child without murder. The man is sick and he deserves to be treated for his illness.

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              8 months ago

              The sentence in prison should be as long as is needed to rehabilitate them.

              Prison isn’t a place to “convert” or “torture” or “punish” someone. Its s place for them to get care and education until they are safe to return to society without being a risk to themselves or others.

              • radiofreeval [she/her]@hexbear.net
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                8 months ago

                Those three methods are taken from the FBI suppressing Black revolutionary thought. I’m this model, prisons are absolutely places to torture, punish and convert people.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                8 months ago

                There is no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do.

                The purpose of a system is what it does.

                • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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                  8 months ago

                  There are countries where prisons are used to torture and there are countries where prisons are used as rehabilitation centers. Both exist.

                  My point is that we should build the later, not the former.

                • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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                  8 months ago

                  The US is the most violent and one of the most classist societies in the world. Slavery is still legal in US prisons.

                  Its hardly a benchmark.

              • space_comrade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                8 months ago

                I very much do not give a shit whether Trump is rehabilitated or not, he’s an existential danger to many groups of people, if somebody decides to put a bullet in his head I’m not gonna cry over it.

          • JimmieJam@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            No. He deserves death. Hitler in a bunker with soldiers on his doorstep style if we’re lucky. Unless you think Hitler didn’t deserve death, in which case go suck my fuzzy sack you fucking Nazi.

            Trump is not a ‘wanna-be dictator.’ If he wins he WILL get rid of his political enemies and fully capture our government. Then he WILL lock up the Trans people, then the gays. Then send his secret police forces to terrorize the general public into obedience as they erode and shit on every freedom you’ve ever had.

            This is not hyperbole. This is the future they have publicly announced. Read about Project 2025. They mean every word.

              • JimmieJam@lemm.ee
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                I’m a Nazi because I want Hitler 2 dead? Jesus christ you fucking sympathizer. All you can do is say ‘No u’ because you know that fucker doesn’t deserve life.

      • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Doesn’t treason carry the death penalty? If they seriously think he’s going to become a dictator and end democracy, he should be killed. The US government has had 0 problem doing it to leaders of other countries who did far less; why should Trump get special treatment? Just because he’s a rich white guy? Hell, they’ve even set precedent under Obama that it’s legal to drone strike US citizens on foreign soil for being terrorists. Get him next time he leaves the country.

        • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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          Can we instead join the ranks of most countries and not do capital punishment?

          Just disqualify him from becoming a public servant, and lock the man in a nice prison with access to educational programs and other social services. He needs a good history teacher and therapist.

          Also, yes, stop all funding to the military and send the generals and their henchmen to the ICC to see if they should receive the same treatment.

          • Rom [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            He needs a good history teacher and therapist.

            Absolute lib shit lmao. The man is 77 years old and has never faced consequences for his actions in his entire life. That’s who he is. He’s not going to suddenly reverse his entire personality because you made him talk with a therapist for a couple hours.

            Like I understand the desire for rehabilitation, but some people are just fucked.

            At any rate he deserves it for his war crimes alone.

            • JimmieJam@lemm.ee
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              Not lib shit, just an actual ficking idiot. I’m a raging fucking lib and I’d drag Tump into the street and shoot him myself if I could. We literally had a world War over this shit and people still want kid gloves.

              Owl here is clearly just a fucking sympathizer trying to muddy the water.

            • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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              8 months ago

              A couple hours? He’s very sick. I think he would need to see a therapist and study history every day for at least 20 years…

          • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            8 months ago

            Look, it’d be great to abolish the death penalty, the army, and the current version of the government in favor of something more equitable and humane. But that’s not the world we live in. Last year cops killed over 1000 people. In the america of today, under the laws that exist today, why should Trump not be killed?

            • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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              I dont hear an argument for why we can’t lock them all up in a nice facility with access to educational programs and other social services to help them be rehabilitated.

              Trump and most police need a lot of therapy and a proper education about US and world history.

              Empty all of the prisons of folks charged with victimless “crimes” and you have plenty of space for white collar criminals and 99% of the police officers

                • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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                  Aren’t most people in US priosns convicted of “victimless crimes”?

                  Sorry, but white collar criminals embezzling from pension funds and doing mortgage lending fraud causes immense harm. Possessing a specific species of flowers doesnt do harm.

              • duderium [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                8 months ago

                None of what you advocate can happen without revolution, and as a certain philosopher and activist said, “a revolution is not a dinner party.” It will be violent, and many people will die.

                You can either have that, or you can have the Democrats/Republicans pretending to be the party of civility while they commit genocide. No ruling class in history has ever given up power peacefully.

              • blakeus12 [they/them, he/him]@hexbear.net
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                8 months ago

                hey, i can tell you’re a good faith user and that’s really great, we need more of those. thank you for that.

                nobody is saying that what you’re arguing for isn’t a good thing, most people on hexbear would agree. their point is we can’t just have that for rich assholes like trump, we should have that for everyone, and that’s what should be happening. but the Democrats aren’t going to do that. so to deal with him, at least for now, treat him like they do everyone who’s jailed in america

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    They’re preparing to do what? Tut tut and issue a statement? Impeach him a third time and fail again to remove him from office? The Democrats don’t believe in anything

    If they actually believed Trump is the next Pinochet they’d hire someone to kill him. Or they’d go after one of the legit crimes he did rather than anything he’ll just slip out of. Biden could get the national guard to burn down Mar-a-lago but he won’t.

    They don’t actually believe in anything. They’re spineless dorks who want to pretend they’re saving democracy or whatever. It’s all theater to these people. In fact, they probably want Trump to win so their districts will throw more money at Democratic fundraisers. What a bunch of goofy nerd libs.

      • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Invertebrate slime? I could call them a bunch of stuff. I mean to say the Democrats are cowards who have no beliefs except cynicism. I don’t mean to catch anyone in the crossfire. If you’re into coding or Gundam or something that’s cool, don’t worry, I don’t mean you. I own an entire shelf of manga and I repair cassette tape players so I’m a dork too.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Let me get this straight… The reason you dislike the Democrats is because they won’t assassinate their opponents? Can you imagine what this country would be like if politicians were ordering hits on each other?

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        8 months ago

        Where did they imply they wanted them to do that? They were just saying that they talk like he is modern Hitler about to be in power, if they really believed that they would take more serious actions

  • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Kind of rich how you guys are against arresting your political opponents after what is currently happening to trump and the jan 6th prosecutions. You guys dont give a shit about justice, you just want to win, and its going to screw all of us.

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        8 months ago

        From what I see, the people in control are not good or acting like the grown ups we want. But the targeted prosecutions are going to make everything much worse.

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              8 months ago

              Fortunately that’s not what’s happening, but Republicans will lie about it anyway because they know their audience has no idea how much more crime they commit

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      The people who were arrested were arrested for breaking laws not simply “being Republicans.” Don’t let some dumb shit media propagandist make you think you’re being persecuted for being Republican, it’s absurd.

        • Holyginz@lemmy.world
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          Ahh there’s the whataboutism and strawman arguments magats use when they are expected to use a brain and come up empty lol.

        • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Not anyone’s responsibility to imbibe your low-quality research.

          Intent is equally important in deciding the morality of an event; action to stop targeted harassment because of skin color, vs action to stop a democratic process of voting in spite of well documented, battle tested voting processes.

          Truly unfortunate that such a simple comparison seems difficult for you.

              • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                8 months ago

                And then you get the society you want which is one where laws dont matter and people stop following them. Look at places like SF and you will get your leopard ate their face city.

                • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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                  Oh I love San Francisco.

                  Most people were very nice, bought some coffee for a couple of homeless people I got to chatting with, the food scene was great and the mass transit was super fast and up to date, even late at night.

                  Continue enjoying the taste of your conservative shitwater 😂.

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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              8 months ago

              They are obviously different but they are an illustrations of two different ideologies and how one was much more severely prosecuted. But I agree, lets do apples to apples, how many people were arrested and convicted on the May 29th attack on the capital by the leftists?

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                Moving the goalposts much?

                That event was way different that Jan 6. On Jan 6, we had armed people in the Capitol building threatening to hang the VP. On May 29, we had some people cross a barricade. They’re not comparable at all.

                • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                  8 months ago

                  So you are going with the “BUT INSURRECTION!!!” argument. It was not a insurrection, and you have yet to compare the quantities of people arrested and convicted with the different events.

    • resin85@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Thank you for reminding us that the maga brain is utterly incapable of critical thinking. Actually breaking the law is quite a bit different from Fox news throwing wild accusations at someone.

      • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        I love how you guys default to “BUT YOU ARE A MGAGA THAT LOVE TO SUCK ON SEAN HANITIES DICK!!!” Shocker for you, I am not going to vote for trump. I actually think and care about the future, and am not a mouth breather that just repeats the lines you are told.

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            Or maybe you should try to look at things outside of your cult and realize what is actually happening, not just repeat the lines you are told.

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                As if you actually provided any sort of argument. The maga people equally in a cult as you are dude.

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                  Lol cupcake you’re implying that the jan 6 prosecutions and trump’s prosecutions are, despite the mountain of evidence about them, not justice and just political stunts. You’re so full of shit your eyes are brown. At this point maga cultists like yourself probably have a worse grasp on reality than scientologists

    • Holyginz@lemmy.world
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      Grow a brain, then reread the stupid that is your comment before interacting with humans again.

    • Facebones@reddthat.com
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      They’re working overtime to pre-emptively blame the upcoming loss on everybody left of mid right Genocide Joe to cover up the fact that their only talking point is “Yeah Joe does it but Trump will do it more!”

      Does that count?

      • Jake [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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        The diaspora of the crusaders are their primary funding source without which they will lose for sure against the unlimited funding from Russia and the criminal billionaire oligarchy. It pays to privateer.

        Not justifying it.

  • D61 [any]@hexbear.net
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    “We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

    They just have a bunch of Trump merch in hidden safes in their offices… “We’ll just blend in! Tell them we were always one of them! Its a fool-proof plan!” inconceivable

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    8 months ago

    His cult will eat that shit up, completely forgetting he promised to lock up Hillary Clinton and they all ate that up too.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      Yup, I highly doubt he’ll actually do it. I really don’t believe he actually cares that much about politics, he just wants his name repeated in every household.

      That said, they are credible threats, and they should be treated as such.

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        8 months ago

        He might not care about politics but I can assure you he absolutely cares about his ego, and not being humiliated in legal proceedings.

        He would absolutely lock someone up just for revenge, to demonstrate his power, and to have them ask him for forgiveness.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          IDK, I think he’s a coward and a bully, and actually locking people up would be a big step for him. However, if he sees it work, he’d keep doing it.

          But it doesn’t matter what I think he’ll actually do, what matters is whether the threat is credible.

          • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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            Cowardice doesn’t really work like that though.

            A coward who is POTUS wouldn’t be worried about locking up opponents.

            One thing that has become very clear over the last several months is that Trumps only strategy to answer the many legal and criminal cases against him is to delay until he’s president. This pretty much means that if he does become president, then he must remain so until he dies or else he will go to jail.

            This means, if he becomes pres there need be no consideration for repercussions once he’s no longer pres.

            • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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              Nah, he can probably pardon himself and get away with the worst of it. The fifth amendment prevents him from being tried twice for the same crime, so he’ll probably be fine.

              That said, I think he’s dumb or narcissistic enough to believe “his people” will keep him in office past his term. Why would they? He has, what, 10 decent years left (probably less), and they’re going to all gamble their political future on promises he hasn’t kept in the past?

              I do think he should lose the election, and maybe go to jail (needs to go through court first), but I also think he’s not as big of a threat as liberals seem to think he is. He’s a buffoon, and his main downfall is that he thinks he’s smarter than he is.

              • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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                “If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

                This is from the article.

                Are you claiming to have a better understanding of trumps mode of operation than someone who was on the Jan 6 committee, studied trumps behaviour and various utterances, and had the benefit of expert opinions?

    • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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      8 months ago

      Random federal agents like when Trump’s admin sent a bunch of anonymous feds against protestors to stir shit up and make secret arrests

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      8 months ago

      If he wins it will be the loyalist puppets who he installs in the DOJ and other top positions in law enforcement and the courts. This is one of his campaign promises.

    • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      He doesn’t need anyone to arrest his opponents. He just needs the fervent MAGA base to be whipped up into a frenzy like on Jan 6th. To be so angry if no LEO arrests Trump’s opponents that they go out kill them, because hey it’s totally cool now because Trump’s a dictator.

    • SpeakingColors@beehaw.org
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      8 months ago

      That’s kind of how the whole thing could/should fall apart. “Authority” gives a command and someone down the chain has to enact it, if that person or persons above the chain refused to act - there would be conflict, but hopefully the opportunity for realization that authority gave an objectionable command. The cynical take is that any number of enthusiastic appeasers would enact the command to engratiate themselves to the authority in the system, defeating the message of the refusal.

      Unfortunately, much of American machismo includes stepping on others to get a better view, or to be viewed more prominently by favored authority. So to answer your question, there’s probably a dishearteningly large pool of people who would jump at the tasks Trump would dictate.

    • quindraco@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      The FBI, DHS, ATF, or similar member of the alphabet army. The POTUS has a lot of minions with the authority to arrest you.

      • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Can the president simply order them to arrest people for no good reason?

        Last time I checked, the alphabet agencies weren’t Trump’s “minions”, and they actually didn’t like him very much.

        • quindraco@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Can the president simply order them to arrest people for no good reason?

          Yes. Just like you can. It’s not hard to give an order.

          If you want to know whether or not the agency will listen and obey… that’s a whole other question and gets into dangerous territory when we know the POTUS loves being a dictator.

          Last time I checked, the alphabet agencies weren’t Trump’s “minions”, and they actually didn’t like him very much.

          Then you checked wrong. The POTUS is the head of the executive and the alphabet agencies are within said executive. POTUS is at the top.of their food chain, same as the military. As I said, though, it can get arbitrarily nuanced when you ask if a given agent will obey an illegal order or not.

      • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        Which was the one shoving people into unmarked vans in 2020, DHS? That’s the one it will be, I’d put money on it.

        • quindraco@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          I don’t think we ever got a real answer on that one, since the vans and the agents were unmarked. So just straight-up kidnapping.

  • quink@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Non-American just double-checking I’ve got his right…

    Private citizen makes actionable credible threat to unlawfully detain legislators, legislators choose to do nothing for about half a year before slowly murmuring without specifics other than “yeah he said it” and “I think he means us”.

    You OK USA? Just checking in.

    • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      https://images.app.goo.gl/fQWwqgb2CPyjUDkM7

      Jokes aside, if the US falls to fascism, it’s gonna be a massive problem for Europe. Imagine fascists in charge of the biggest nation with a history of colonialism, and the world’s largest stockpile of nukes.

      It would be awesome if the other first-world nations started taking this threat seriously, before it’s too late.

      • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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        8 months ago

        We need the world to issue sanctions against the US. Please sanction us. We lost control of the government and need your help

      • tarmarbar@startrek.website
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        8 months ago

        European here.

        This comment takes assumption that by “US falling to fascism” you meant Trump taking control of the USA. Please ignore everything if I misunderstood.

        Trump’s among the few US presidents that didn’t start a new war. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2A22QR/

        He also scaled down wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. I AM NOT SAYING THOSE ACTIONS WERE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE USA, or for the rest of the world for that matter. And I’m really not qualified to discuss that.

        This comment is ONLY a direct reply to a concern that Trump’s rule should have Europe worried in the sense that he’ll nuke us.

        Maybe someone else nukes us as a consequence of his inaction, idk. But Trump nuking Europe is what you said, and I disagree.

        • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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          8 months ago

          I’m not talking about trump, actually. He’s just a carnival barker. If he wins the next election, he’ll do whatever his handlers want him to do, which will hasten things. But him losing will not stop the fascist movement in progress. There’s a group of actual fascists who have been working on this for decades. Some are in Congress, some are high up in organisations like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society (writing bills and selecting judges), and others are consultants and advisers.

          I’m actually concerned that when trump loses, people will think the threat has passed. His loss will mitigate it somewhat, but it won’t stop them. A large part of the threat is Christian nationalists in Congress, the Supreme Court, and in many other seats of power throughout the country.

    • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      We are not okay. Nothing will happen to him about it, though. He can be literally court ordered to not talk shit about courtroom staff or families, then talk shit about them, and he gets nothing other than a reduced bond and an extension to pay that.

    • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      No we’re not ok.

      On the one hand moderate and liberal voters, the DNC, establishment Democrats, centerist corporate news stations, past presidents and Biden himself are talking about how dangerous Trump is. He cannot be allowed to win.

      Okay, sounds serious. Serious enough to make some big moves in order to get the votes necessary to win by a comfortable margin? If you check out Biden’s insistence on continuing to ship weapons to Israel the answer is “no”.

      And really this encapsulates the problem with so called moderates and liberals. When faced with a choice between left or right when the center cannot hold they just fuck around, stall or outright sabotage leftist efforts. Effectively cementing a rightward victory.

      It’s pretty pathetic how often they play this game and considering they actually do seem sincerely worried about Trump it’s bewildering why they aren’t seeking more cooperative efforts with leftists and progressives. They remain steadfastly confident stern lectures, as if leftists and progressives owe their votes, are all that is necessary.

    • Rom [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Going after Trump for his crimes would set a precedent for going after the rest of them for their crimes. It’s in their interests to not open that door.

      • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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        8 months ago

        Yes this is exactly why the impeachments failed. It would have been easy to take him down for the violation of the emoluments clause (profiting from their office), buy nobody in power would do it because then they’d dace corruption charges for it too

    • pingveno@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      There is, unfortunately, no law against saying you’re going to be a power abusing jackass. And the Republicans have decided that if he gets into office, they’ll protect him from impeachment and removal no matter what. His lawyers have literally argued that the president can order assassinations of their political rivals.

      So no, we’re not okay.

      • quink@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        I see. I should have my lawyers argue buying a $1,000,000 house for $0 is reasonable, that way a deal for $500,000 is perfectly reasonable. In the same way that threatening to illegally detain is a halfway compromise between nothing and threatening murder.

        And it seems that imprisoning political opponents goes beyond carting down a hill in a shopping trolley which is what we here overseas associate with “jackass”, but what do I know.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        There is, unfortunately, no law against saying you’re going to be a power abusing jackass.

        I would argue that Trump committed sedition and terroristic threats. The trouble is that everyone in the Federal government is either too chickenshit or too traitorous themselves to prosecute.