10 Comments
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Virgin Monk Boy's avatar

The emperor isn’t just naked—he’s juggling nukes for applause.

That’s the hell of it. The act is absurd, but the weapons are real.

We keep thinking the clown makeup means the danger’s less. It doesn’t. It means the danger’s dumber, faster, and harder to stop.

This isn’t a master plan. It’s a carnival ride run by people who think the brakes are optional.

And the tent flaps are already tied shut.

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Jay Johnson's avatar

TACO. Trump is gargling Putin.

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Stacy DePue's avatar

I wish you were not right about this but it’s beyond terrible that it’s spot on :(

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Karen's avatar

Surveillance capitalism-check

Predatory monetization-check

Socially engineered asset stripping-check

Reckless clowns-check

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Randy S. Eisenberg's avatar

Yeah, that there sort of puts a realistic spin on those who think they might prefer to be expats. If this is unclear, read “Nuclear War” by Annie Applebaum, in my years of being fascinated by these devices this is one of the best scenarios I’ve seen laid out. I took it personally when I heard that “boomers” were being moved close to Russia, and a moment later remembered this is the charming euphemism for one of the most horrifying death machines ever built. And there are many of them. “Bend over, grab your ankles….” I suspect you know the rest.

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Kris Otto's avatar

You’re such an amazing writer!

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Jennifer Anderson's avatar

Growing up in the 80s meant a childhood of waiting for the bomb to drop. That constant feeling of looming annulation was not one I expected to have to deal with again.

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Stacy DePue's avatar

I’m in Argentina right now and I’m afraid to go back.

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Daniel Pareja's avatar

I agree that the US has taken a hard authoritarian turn, and I would term it protofascist, but I've seen an argument for why it's not--yet--correct to call the current government there a fascist regime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kduMuDvL1Tk (21 min)

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LM's avatar
3dEdited

Relentless propaganda-check

Selling a return to a utopian past that never existed-check

Fake strongman-check

Corruption of the judiciary-check

Destabilization of shared reality-check

Dehumanizing an “other”-check

I could go on all day. It’s fascism.

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