You responded to a post that was literally saying the 22nd amendment *would not* be amended! The panicked & inept doomer you are gesturing at doesn’t exist is my point. You’re yelling “calm down” at a (mostly) empty room when you could be shouting “this way” to the folks behind you.

If we just stipulate that any hyperventilating hordes should indeed calm down, do we get to instead have a discussion about what Americans should be concerned about, and why they should vote, and what could be the real consequences of complacency?

Tom is just absolutely wrecking these straw men. Exactly who is seriously concerned about a trump third term enabled by a duly passed *constitutional amendment*? It’s your last sentence, and the civic damage of even just the attempt, that would be concerning.

Equal suffrage but make the senate ceremonial. Post offices and maybe confirming ambassadors.

Yes. And we are thus not debating how to America, we are fighting whether to America. Enlightenment: yay or nay.

The enemy of our human project has denied us this time the courtesy of presenting itself as exogenous to our republic — by e.g. bombing Hawaii or seceding.

But it is that evil, again.

And his stated motivation is that (a) it’s factually incorrect to describe America as a fully realized fascist state and (b) it’s defeatist and enervating to exaggerate in that way. (But (a) isn’t mostly what his interlocutors are claiming and (b) naming the *threat* is the opposite of enervating.)

This is an annoying non-argument dragging on. If I’m not mistaken, @radiofreetom.bsky.social agrees that trump is fascist or at least so oriented. He’s narrowly arguing that the “regime” is not yet fascist which (a) hinges uninterestingly on the meaning of “regime” and (b) is mostly a straw man.

Isn’t the whole point of that metaphor to encourage early remarking on the trend of the water temperature and the intent of the chef? “I think they’re boiling us!” “No silly, if this were boiling we’d be dead and the temp would be 100C…”

As a Marine, yes. And also as a POG… he’s a POG.