Are we now in full blown fascist totalitarianism?

[Elixir]

I think they will rule against it but my biggest fear is the administration's willingness to move in the direction of defying the courts,

I think they will once again rule ostensibly against Trump while providing that the contingencies heretofore specified in Dobbs must be met to enforce the ruling. These are all "official acts" for which they have provided immunity. It's literally "Do whatever the fuck you want, as long as you have more than a third of Congress in the bag". Unless they overturn themselves, what else does Cheato need?

 

[Toni]

You are the one who introduced Obama into the conversation. I understand this as a typical tactic: you cannot call out whatever egregious sanction or statement by a MAGA because ( insert name), your hero was not perfect ( by my standards).

What Obama did was egregious too. Your false equivalence excuses don't fly.

It’s weak ass bullshit, intended to distract from the validity of whatever criticism or observation is being made of one of Putin’s buddies—or Putin himself.

Again, both (Trump and Obama) were wrong, I told you that already.
Your inability to acknowledge that is amusing.

Your unwillingness to acknowledge that some wrongs are relatively inconsequential/little harm and others are extremely damaging is absurd.

 

[barbos]

You are the one who introduced Obama into the conversation. I understand this as a typical tactic: you cannot call out whatever egregious sanction or statement by a MAGA because ( insert name), your hero was not perfect ( by my standards).

What Obama did was egregious too. Your false equivalence excuses don't fly.

It’s weak ass bullshit, intended to distract from the validity of whatever criticism or observation is being made of one of Putin’s buddies—or Putin himself.

Again, both (Trump and Obama) were wrong, I told you that already.
Your inability to acknowledge that is amusing.

Your unwillingness to acknowledge that some wrongs are relatively inconsequential/little harm and others are extremely damaging is absurd.

Well, Obama's wrongs are not inconsequential/little. He started two illegal wars (On Syria and on Russia)
Trump started to deport illegal immigrants (Obama did that too)

 

[Axulus]

Trump's illegal authoritarian war on universities and foreigners continues:

Exclusive: Trump's "pro-Hamas" purge could block foreign students from colleges​

The Trump administration is discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are "pro-Hamas," senior Justice and State Department officials tell Axios.

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/27/trump-palestinian-hamas-purge-colleges-protests

The huge drop in foreign students due to the terrorism from ICE, regardless of whether these illegal actions work or not, will gut university budgets and raise tuition (foreign students subsidize tuitions of citizens since they typically pay full amount), which is another feature to this regime.

 

[Axulus]

Yet another innocent that appears to have been sent to El Salvador due to a paperwork error. Married father here legally going through asylum process, no criminal record in any country, no tattoos.



It is abundantly clear the goal was to send innocent people there, as part of a campaign of state sponsored terrorism. The message is clear: cross our border or show up at one of our port of entries, and we'll ship you off to El Salvador regardless of your circumstances if you aren't a citizen.

 

[Torin]

If you call the current situation fascist totalitarianism then you will not have a term to use for fascist totalitarianism if and when it actually arrives.

If for instance Congress were to enact an enabling law granting Trump unchecked power, or if Trump were to begin imprisoning people for expressing liberal political opinions publicly, we would be approaching fascism. But you would have no term for that which was more severe than the term you're using here. You have already ramped up your rhetoric as far as it can go.

 

[Jarhyn]

If you call the current situation fascist totalitarianism then you will not have a term to use for fascist totalitarianism if and when it actually arrives.

If for instance Congress were to enact an enabling law granting Trump unchecked power, or if Trump were to begin imprisoning people for expressing liberal political opinions publicly, we would be approaching fascism. But you would have no term for that which was more severe than the term you're using here. You have already ramped up your rhetoric as far as it can go.

You are entirely wrong. People are being picked up on university campuses without warrant and being disappeared.

What's worse is that, people are impersonating SS ICE agents, too, so it's impossible really to know whether they are kidnappers or kidnappers real agents.

I wouldn't recommend going out unarmed, or failing to defend oneself if unidentifiable individuals attempt what could be a kidnapping.

 

[Elixir]

If for instance Congress were to enact an enabling law granting Trump unchecked power

So you have not been paying attention.
Congress has NOTHING to do with it now, or ever, as long as the Emperor has ONE THIRD of the Senate supporting him. Right now he has about a 15 seat pad above that. TRUMP HAS UNCHECKED POWER TODAY.
Consider; You say something about Trump’s hair or his diapers that he doesn’t like. He shows up at your door in person surrounded by the press corps, pulls out a gun and shoots you in the face. Nobody contests what happened. He says he did it because your insults were impeding his function as president, so blowing you head off was an “official act”. He CANNOT be held criminally responsible until and unless he is impeached by the House AND convicted by 2/3 of the Senate, removed from office and THEN criminally charged.
There is ZERO chance of getting 2/3 of the senate to convict him, so case dismissed - in fact there never was a case.
THERE IS NOTHING HE COULD EVER DO FOR WHICH HE COULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE UNLESS DEMOCRATS GAIN AT LEAST 12 SENATE SEATS.
No sign of that happening in our lifetimes.

 

[bilby]

The message is clear: cross our border or show up at one of our port of entries, and we'll ship you off to El Salvador regardless of your circumstances if you aren't if you don't match our agents opinion of who looks like a citizen.

FTFY.

With no due process, it's only a matter of time before a citizen gets included. What is there to prevent it? How would we know if it has already happened, and there's already a US citizen (or several) in El Salvador?

If you were picked up off the street by ICE thugs, how would you prove your citizenship?

 

[bilby]

If you call the current situation fascist totalitarianism then you will not have a term to use for fascist totalitarianism if and when it actually arrives.

If for instance Congress were to enact an enabling law granting Trump unchecked power,

Congress doesn't need to; SCOTUS already handed him unchecked power, and the only defence against its abuse is the Senate, which is in his pocket.

or if Trump were to begin imprisoning people for expressing liberal political opinions publicly,

I take it you are even less interested in keeping up with the news than I am. This is happening.

we would be approaching fascism.

That ship has sailed. Your inability to detect it is alarming.

But you would have no term for that which was more severe than the term you're using here.

Really, how much more severe can it get? Anyone can be snatched by goons and sent to a prison camp in El Salvador without trial or due process of any kind. From here on, it's just a matter of volume, not of severity.

You have already ramped up your rhetoric as far as it can go.

This administration has already hit peak fascist authoritarianism. They just haven't had time to fully scale it up, yet.

Your failure to recognise it is, I suspect, symptomatic of the whole problem with fascism - it's boring and ordinary. So nobody opposes it until it's far too late, because they are raised on Hollywood depictions of it which are spectacular and extraordinary - not because that's what most of fascism is like, as an experience for ordinary citizens; But because nobody wants to watch a boring movie.

Of course it's not boring or ordinary for those people in El Salvador. But if you wait until most people know someone who has been sent to the camps, it's far, far too late.

 

[Elixir]

If you were picked up off the street by ICE thugs, how would you prove your citizenship?

Show them your SS card, your birth certificate, your drivers license, your lifetime membership to Sam's club and your military medals for bravery.
But they don't like how you scowled at the sound of Trump's name, so they tear it all up, burn it, throw it in the trash and ship your ass off to the gulag. Who's gonna stop 'em?

That ship has sailed. Your inability to detect it is alarming.

Totally.

Anyone can be snatched by goons and sent to a prison camp in El Salvador without trial or due process of any kind. From here on, it's just a matter of volume, not of severity.

Yup. The test has been run, and democracy has failed. We are IN a totalitarian State. Not "in danger of becoming".

 

[bilby]

Show them your SS card, your birth certificate, your drivers license, your lifetime membership to Sam's club and your military medals for bravery.

Just don't forget to carry all of these around with you at all times.

And remember, the price of freedom is immediate and unquestioning obedience to the authorities.

 

[Toni]

You are the one who introduced Obama into the conversation. I understand this as a typical tactic: you cannot call out whatever egregious sanction or statement by a MAGA because ( insert name), your hero was not perfect ( by my standards).

What Obama did was egregious too. Your false equivalence excuses don't fly.

It’s weak ass bullshit, intended to distract from the validity of whatever criticism or observation is being made of one of Putin’s buddies—or Putin himself.

Again, both (Trump and Obama) were wrong, I told you that already.
Your inability to acknowledge that is amusing.

Your unwillingness to acknowledge that some wrongs are relatively inconsequential/little harm and others are extremely damaging is absurd.

Well, Obama's wrongs are not inconsequential/little. He started two illegal wars (On Syria and on Russia)
Trump started to deport illegal immigrants (Obama did that too)

Illegal immigrants have always been subject to deportation. Yes, if memory serves, Obama deported more illegal immigrants than Trump but unlike the current administration he did it legally.

Under Obama, the US did interven in the Syrian civil war. Obama did not wage war against Russia. That’s mob boss talk for not laying back and thinking by of England whenever a bully does whatever he ( (Putin—or Trump for that matter) wants.

 

[Elixir]

Show them your SS card, your birth certificate, your drivers license, your lifetime membership to Sam's club and your military medals for bravery.

Just don't forget to carry all of these around with you at all times.

Why bother? If they don't like you they can seize and destroy them all.

And remember, the price of freedom is immediate and unquestioning obedience to the authorities.

RIP, America.

 

[Torin]

I take it you are even less interested in keeping up with the news than I am. This is happening.

There are an enormous number of people expressing liberal political opinions publicly without any repercussions at all. You can argue that Trump is doing some bad stuff, but it would be obvious to everyone if we lived in an actual fascist totalitarian state. If you have to tediously follow the news 24/7 to tell whether you live in a fascist totalitarian state, you don't.

 

[bilby]

There are an enormous number of people expressing liberal political opinions publicly without any repercussions at all.

Yet.

 

[bilby]

You can argue that Trump is doing some bad stuff, but it would be obvious to everyone if we lived in an actual fascist totalitarian state.

Apparently not to everyone.

If you have to tediously follow the news 24/7 to tell whether you live in a fascist totalitarian state, you don't.

If you never see any news at all, or you ignore what you see, then you need never admit that your personal experience might not be the sum total of all that is happening.

 

[Torin]

Yet.

I'm trying to be polite here, but you claimed it was happening right now in your last post. That is what I was responding to.

You can argue that Trump is doing some bad stuff, but it would be obvious to everyone if we lived in an actual fascist totalitarian state.

Apparently not to everyone.

If you have to tediously follow the news 24/7 to tell whether you live in a fascist totalitarian state, you don't.

If you never see any news at all, or you ignore what you see, then you need never admit that your personal experience might not be the sum total of all that is happening.

What do you make of the massive outpouring of dissent to Trump? I can't so much as fire up my web browser without coming across two or three editorials arguing against a policy or a decision that he has made. Trump is doing an unprecedentedly feeble job of suppressing dissent for a totalitarian fascist dictator. He hasn't even outlawed the opposition party or assassinated his political rivals.

You can present a particular news item that you think is objectionable if you want to discuss that, but there is too much widely available evidence against the claim that we live in fascist totalitarian dictatorship for it to be credible.

What you must mean is that Trump is doing some undesirable and alarming stuff which doesn't rise to the level of fascist totalitarianism. That is something I would agree with, I just don't think it's smart to use an inaccurate term for what is going on. (As I said, if you use that term now, then when someone actually does shut down dissent and freedom wholesale, you will not have a term to use.)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yet.

I'm trying to be polite here, but you claimed it was happening right now in your last post. That is what I was responding to.

You can argue that Trump is doing some bad stuff, but it would be obvious to everyone if we lived in an actual fascist totalitarian state.

Apparently not to everyone.

If you have to tediously follow the news 24/7 to tell whether you live in a fascist totalitarian state, you don't.

If you never see any news at all, or you ignore what you see, then you need never admit that your personal experience might not be the sum total of all that is happening.

What do you make of the massive outpouring of dissent to Trump? I can't so much as fire up my web browser without coming across two or three editorials arguing against a policy or a decision that he has made. Trump is doing an unprecedentedly feeble job of suppressing dissent for a totalitarian fascist dictator. He hasn't even outlawed the opposition party or assassinated his political rivals.

He has sanctioned major law firms, exported people without due process to a prison in El Salvador, he is restricting funding to school and firms that have "DEI" policies, and Marco Rubio suggested that American prisoners could go to El Salvador.

No, concentration camps don't exist yet.

What you must mean is that Trump is doing some undesirable and alarming stuff which doesn't rise to the level of fascist totalitarianism.

Exporting people that didn't commit a crime in the US without any due process to be imprisoned in El Salvador is a very fascist thing to do.

 

[RVonse]

So was wondering if anyone could help me out here. We have clear evidence right in front of our eyes that we have people in power willing to send innocent people to slavery and torture for the sole purpose of creating a propaganda reel and create terror, for the sole purpose of entrenching their power. Even if you are one of the sickos that gets hard watching the videos, isn't there any kind of "oh shit" realization that these people have absolutely no limits on what they will do when it benefits them? Even if you enjoy seeing immigrants being tortured, why doesn't the thought cross the mind that supporting this kind of power is like playing Russian Roulette? It's all fun until the bullet blows through your brain?

I just don't see how delusion is enough to explain it away. They know exactly what is happening (which is why they jerk off to the video). Maybe some sort of psychiatric condition to believe they could never be a target? Maybe a willingness to collaborate and therefore be useful? A delusion that the guy in power will always target other people no matter what?

From a self preservation standpoint, it just doesn't make sense. Maybe they are being led by their sadistic dicks and are so nihilistic they couldn't give two shits if humans go extinct? Any psychologists that can chime in?

For all of you dramacrats going on about this, what we at least no longer have is a border problem anymore. As Trump himself said at his inaugural address, congress did not need to pass any more laws. All our country needed was a new president. The illegals flooding through the gates during Biden's term are thinking twice about doing it now. Trump has resolved at least one of his campaign promises. He has fixed the border already.

You can call all this cruel and bad and you may even be right. After all, no one likes to see criminals get punished. It is unsettling for someone so dignified as yourself to see. But this punishment is the exact deterrence preventing more crime over the border. Illegals just aren't coming across anymore and for good reason.

Conflating the deportation of legal immigrants and legal visitors with illegal immigration is, at a minimum, unhelpful.

Defending illegal behavior by the administration is pretty rich coming from a whiner of “lawfare”.

You say one has nothing to do with the other but it really does. The performance of Biden and the Dramacrats had everything to do with this. If Biden had done 1/10 of a job that Trump has done on border patrol, none of this drama would have needed come to pass. The criminals would not even be here to begin with so Auxlus would then have no tears to shed on their departure today.

It is very probable that Trump might not have even been elected if our government would have been functioning in some kind of basic manner in the first place. This was all totally predictable IMO. And the Dramacrats have no one to blame but themselves and their own poor performance with border patrol.