The answer is that America now resembles Turkey or Hungary much more closely than it does 2014 America.

Caesar was supposed to have said that the Roman Republic was formless, nothing but a shadow. Yeltsin said of Russia's developing institutions in the 90s that they were titles and offices without substance. Institutions that are either too old or too young seem very brittle. Democracy is fragile.

The family held a vote on whether to allow the abusive father back into the household. Both sons voted yes after being convinced by texts from him which said "maybe mom deserved it." One of the daughters missed the vote but rumor is she was in her room scrolling TikTok. Popular vote dad's back.

You would think that what happened to the "after him, us" people would be counsel for all those consciously or subconsciously repeating the strategy and yet history is so sticky it always needs repeating.

Trump threatening Zuckerberg with prison for life unless he behaved then shipping Andry Romero off to be raped in a Salvadoran gulag played an underrated part in this institutional collapse. Doesn't matter what independent powers you've got if the big guy can disappear you and get away with it.

Kind of a problem when 99.5% of the folks in Washington are empty suits and skirts. Morally empty. Also "The People" don't give a shit either. Not a good combination.

Yes and no. Mostly no. Trump's also broken many laws in secret only to be discovered later and got away with those, too. It reminds me of the argument that it turns out we just need to turn all the old norms into laws to fix this. But now he breaks all the laws too and there's still no consequence.

We have so many institutions and people capitulate who don't technically have to but do anyways. Reasons include that a leader who can ruin your life or disappear you without consequence makes your genuine power to resist still perilous, also most people seemingly just don't want the smoke.

How the democrats agreed to coalesce around calling LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS a diversion is so strange.

Not sure why when Caesar won so many senators over to his cause just by personal obligation, winning a lot, cutting deals with them, or looking like the better bet to ensure their safety after the war. Not hard to foresee enough defectors from a democratic body to make that body unable to function.

One reason why it's too easy to make out antidemocratic actors using democratic systems to destroy them as an inherent flaw. Voters and leaders have choices. Biden, Garland, Schumer, Jeffries make awful decisions. We've had plenty of democratic leaders in history who would have chosen differently.

The times are going to having to build the men and women ready for this moment because preciously few of them seem to exist right now. It's truly maddening how much of the national conversation around upholding ethics and democracy was just empty lip service inspired by good times.

The collapse of every single institution (including "the people"!) the very second it all ceases to be perfectly safe performance or cosplay would be funny if it weren't dooming everything.

It's the same policy that Cicero instituted to handle Octavian. Usually ends the same way, too. It has a rich history of failure and it's never going away.

The fact he's doing posts about how so and so is a traitor somebody should look into it thank you for your attention to this matter instead of bringing goons into the Oval and ordering them to go to their houses and put them in chains when he could now totally get away with it is sure something.

Lots of talk of how elections are state-run so it's safe but what if on election eve Trump announces ICE will be outside polling places in dem states/counties to block "illegal voters." Very next day they harass dem counties, create huge lines and fear, dem turnout way down. Just one example.

Given the current mood of dem voters the unfilled demand is for the first 28 hopeful to declare "On day 1 I'm transferring Ghislaine Maxwell to the toughest supermax" and then a liberal media that spends hours detailing and exploring which one she might be sent to. Repeat for all Trump associates.

Optimum path is buy a used EV because the depreciation is real and merciless.

Yes. What's wrong with it?