FransApr 15
Heidi Li Feldman
We in the U.S are not on the brink of a constitutional crisis nor are we headed toward an authoritarian coup. Both are here now.
Apr 15 at 7:44pmIvory for iOS
Show threadFuse ViewsApr 15

@heidilifeldman
Yep... but here's the kicker:
77,302,580 voters (more than half of those who voted in the previous presidential election) couldn't be happier.

The election (and re-election) of Trump is now a permanent stain on the USA, and that stain was provided by a majority of the American people.

RIP USA.

Show threadcameronbosch Apr 16

@TimePencil @heidilifeldman Untrue. His approval ratings are below 40%. A good number of people didn't vote for either candidate for stupid reasons. (Like Gaza, but did they REALLY think that he would be ANY better than HER!?)

That's also a problem. Too many voters just do not vote. They treat it like a joke.

I didn't. Not once. Never will. (I voted for Trump ZERO times; I voted for Clinton in 2016, Biden in 2020, Harris in 2024.) Remember the era of literacy tests, poll taxes, etc.?

Show threadMrEdgarBassApr 16
@TimePencil @heidilifeldman The majority of Americans never voted for Trump in any election. Too many people don’t even participate.
Show threadxs4me2Apr 15

@heidilifeldman

True, and it will not be stopped by sit ins and demonstrations… more is needed.

Show threadWapsApr 15
@heidilifeldman and in about 4 years (or before) it will be civil war.
Show threadMyViewApr 15

@heidilifeldman

Yeah but ... we on the outside saw its beginnings a decade ago ... and despite warnings we saw Americans ignore it or ridicule warnings as conspiracies ...

Show threadtoddsmithlandApr 15
@heidilifeldman we are here for you during this time
Show threadbluerootsradioApr 15
@heidilifeldman Way to bury the lede.
Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 15

@heidilifeldman

They won the coup in 2000 when the will of the people was ignored. They put the topping on with the Patriot Act.

This has been in motion for decades

Show threadcameronbosch Apr 16
@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman The dominos fell when Al Gore won the 2000 election but the Supreme Court stopped the counting before he would have won Florida and thus the election. They stole it.
Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 16

@cameronbosch @heidilifeldman

Yep

Show threadGeorge Liquor, AmericanApr 16
@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman I get so goddamn tired of telling people this.
Show threadViolet MadderApr 16

@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman

In the 70s, with the assassinations.

Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 16

@violetmadder @heidilifeldman

Good point

Show threadViolet MadderApr 16

@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman

That's when neoliberalism kicked in and wages were de-coupled from productivity, a trend that stays remarkably steady under every administration since.

Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 17

@violetmadder @heidilifeldman

Roy Cohn

Show threadMrEdgarBassApr 16
@violetmadder @DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman I think you mean 60’s. JFK, RFK, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King jr, Fred Hampton, Medgar Evers, others.
Show threadViolet MadderApr 17

@MrEdgarBass @DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman

Right

Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 17

@violetmadder @MrEdgarBass @heidilifeldman

So much for so long.

Show threadcyApr 17
Just don't forget the question is how to stop them now, not when they started. Very few adults in the 60's are even still alive today. There's a reason their chosen leaders are all very elderly men.

CC: @MrEdgarBass@mastodon.social @DoNotPunchDown@mastodon.social @heidilifeldman@mastodon.social
Show threadViolet MadderApr 17

@cy @MrEdgarBass @DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman

Stopping them now requires understanding what we're dealing with and how it works. Most people have no idea how to connect to the big picture of history or the overall system, since we're being trained to see the orange jerk as the isolated source of our current problems.

Show threadcyApr 17
That's true enough. I think it's sufficient for people to know there are people out of the spotlight who really need to be stripped of power, and they use angry clowns to distract us from that. Doesn't even matter who they are specifically, just that we need ways to defend ourselves against people like that. So in short, keep up with your neighbors.
Show threadCome On Giant Asteroid!Apr 16

@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman

Hey now. Shrub won that election fair and square, 5 votes to 4.

Show threadDoNotPunchDownApr 17

@VE2UWY @heidilifeldman

😂😂

Show threadMrEdgarBassApr 16
@DoNotPunchDown @heidilifeldman Decades, true. But you have to go back farther. Check out the Powell Memorandum written by a future Supreme Court justice.
Show threadMs. Missy 🇺🇦Apr 15

@heidilifeldman

This is a hair-on-fire Constitutional crisis!

Show threadDoreen32128 ready to rumble!Apr 16
@heidilifeldman Exactly!
Show threadJeffandthekidApr 16
@heidilifeldman Enjoy the ride.
Show threadSnoopytheonlyApr 16
@heidilifeldman time to take um down
Show threadDave VolekApr 16

@heidilifeldman
They will try for the brass ring of total power, maybe sooner than later.

So what do we do?

Maybe build a new democracy?