Ideas & Opinions Where is the Rubicon?

Personally i'm of the mind it's already been crossed. The US is standing on the South bank already, and has been from the moment the man behind the Washington putsch won the election, it largely just can't see it yet. Hell, part of me thinks they crossed the Rubicon when the Supreme court granted the president the powers of a king. That in and of itself was the death knell for democratic accountability, regardless of who won, nevermind when that winner is a convicted felon linked to countless fascist talking heads, and an even more fascist agenda.

I'm not interested in arguing with those who want to pretend that the current presidency isn't what it is, but for those who can see what's coming, where do you think the Rubicon is located? What's the point where you decide you're there? For anyone interested in engaging with that question earnestly, the advice of the video is good, so this is also your prompt to take it.

In case we forget what happens when you cross the Rubicon

I’ve been chewing on this for a little while, and I really think the point of no return, for him, was when he announced his candidacy. He was never going to back down after that.

For his supporters, it feels like it must have happened long ago. Everyone knew what he was beforehand. Even those who claimed to support him for other reasons are not deterred in the slightest by his anti-lgbt anti-minority stance, or by the literal nazis supporting him. That sort of hate doesn’t develop right away.

He is more a symptom of what’s wrong with this country rather than the cause. It feels like half the country lost their minds when we elected a black man, and they haven’t calmed down yet.

As a whole country, I don’t know if we’ve crossed that point yet, but the only way to course-correct (if that is still possible) is to punish him for his misdeeds and make an example out of him for the next person who gets similar ideas.

Seriously, i was disgusted when i saw that the CDC has had to start banning terms like "transgender, LGBT, nonbinary" etc, and that they've started expunging their information on HIV. Trump is literally trying to take the US back to the ignorance and AIDs epidemic of the 80s, in hopes it'll go back to killing the entire queer community. I'd call it a soft genocide if it was about race. And speaking of race, don't get me started on the deportation plans. There are elementary schools preparing to get ICE raided, ffs. I don't know how someone can see all this and seriously believe this represents a good direction for the country, without already being complicit with fascism, at the least.

That's still so strange to me. I have my criticisms of Obama, but his presidency represented the most progressive societal attitudes America has ever had. I still remember all the braying of "He's a Muslim, that's why he won't swear on the bible. His middle name is Hussein! Why won't he show us his birth certificate?" stuff, but that was always a bunch of fringe weirdos. Then as you say, it's like half the country was so incensed by such a progressive move, they grabbed the steering wheel and veered the entire bus off a cliff into fascist waters.

Yeah, i'm in agreement that would be the only way to turn it around at this point. I'm not optimistic though. Hitler got a 5 year jail sentence he served 9 months of after the Munich putsch, and even then, he just wrote Mein Kampf and came back with renewed vigour and a changed plan. After Trump's own putsch, he never saw a single day behind bars, and that just sends the message that these ideas have such a strong foothold in the US, you can commit treason in the name of fascism and get away with it. A message that's only been strengthened now Trump's pardoned all the Jan 6th insurrectionists.

Folks, this is way too political for SF.

Locking this.