I actually think they didn’t play the game that perfectly. It is a combination of luck and the so called left party in this country completely and totally selling out to corporate and their own self interests. Citizens United happened which allowed a drastic increase in corporate power. Then Donald Trump happened and the Republicans realized there was no real opposition and the rules weren’t really an actual hindrance. Once they learned the cheat code things have accelerated rapidly as a result.
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I genuinely think the turning point was Infact Ukraine and the EU putting pressure on them to join the EU, its when Putin said he would exact revenge and has.
He won, we lost, just how far we fall is still in question…
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Not a total non sequitur bc it was discussed up thread: UP Publishing is a great idea and its first great grift/work should be all the Orange is President threads put on the page with a gushy title and a subheading like “Commentary and Insight from Some of the World’s Great Thinkers and Commentators and Insighters”
We gonna be rich
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It’s amazing how his instincts mesh with a fascist takeover. While on the surface it appeared to be bluster I’m pretty sure the primary motivation for his denials of the votes was part and parcel of them data mining voters for more effective campaigning ie FB etc…
He obviously has strings and I think it’s irresponsible for posters to continually fall back to “There is no plan, Trump is a moron.” It’s diabolically brilliant if you think about it. Trump gives his handlers everything they want while simultaneously distracting the public. If fascist tools had player ratings Trump’s would be off the charts.
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For Russia it is not about winning as they are an economically weak and broken nation, especially with energy resource prices being where they are.
It is about losing less than everyone else.
As long as the other side is doing even worse, Putin can point at them and tell his people: see how bad they are doing? You should be glad for what you have.
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I’m starting to think that fascism is actually just politically implemented malignant narcissism. There is a fictional trope of the diabolical calculating supervillain as fascist dictator, but it seems more like simply behavioral patterns writ large via media coverage and cult status.
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Please reread my post. This is not what I stated.
Eh idk man, it kind of reeks of desperation to me. If you’re gonna rig it, you don’t put up a billboard and march around like a drum major announcing your plans. You keeps your mouth shut and then quietly rig it, behind the scenes, while fewer eyes are on you. Telegraphing your crimes before you commit them is indeed the stuff of morons. It could just simply be the case of a guy who knows he’s beaten doing whatever he can to keep from going down the drain.
Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean that as a counter point to your post. I was agreeing with you!
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He literally stood up on the podium last night and said he’s gonna steal the election.
He’s (they) found the pressure point. The dissonance is at critical mass. It’s like a super mario star. He can say whatever he wants right now with impunity.
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Yeah, I see now. Just felt a bit dirty there for a second.
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I think you are 100% backwards on this. It is a known behavioral/psychological flaw that humans tend to subconsciously diminish bad acts done openly, and exaggerate how bad things are when they are done in secret. Humans are socially conditioned this way.
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This works. The vast majority of people will instinctively think that it can’t be that bad if he’s saying it openly. That’s an emotional reaction and can’t be fought with reason.
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Definitely. Explains the seemingly baffling decision to do the Woodward interviews.
The real question is what’s the last minute maneuver that takes advantage of this hubris? I have some ideas and I will leave it at that.