Show of hands. Did anyone here NOT BELIEVE that Trump would eventually cause physical harm to Democratic politicians?

[Miles Archer]

I've been working on a few projects this afternoon and just saw the news about Senator Padilla.

And trust me, I'm as pissed off and outraged as anyone here. But what bothers me the most is that I am not surprised that this happened.

REMEMBER Trump's MAGAt rally remarks, in his first term, telling cops to "not be too careful" when handling protesters?

Trump is cruel, if nothing else. HE LOVES TO SEE OTHERS PHYSICALLY HARMED.

So did anyone see this story today and say "I never thought that would happen?" Because for me, I thought it was just a matter of time.

[3catwoman3]

1. You just KNOW he's getting off on it.

No doubt at all.

[nuxvomica]

16. I'm sure he is, but the point is to terrorize

Leaders who engage in cruelty are tacitly admitting that their authority is illegitimate and use force to terrorize because they have no other way to ensure they'll stay in power.

[SARose]

37. It shows weakness

Not strength. You are correct.

Trump’s whole shtick is his supposed strength - from his shoe lifts to his hideous fitting suits.

Pfffttt

[progressoid]

39. His (hopefully shrinking) cult following sees it as a sign of strength.

Anything that 'owns the libs' is good.

[vapor2]

2. Schadenfreude !

[Wounded Bear]

3. Had to happen eventually. trump is a Hitler wannabe, he wants his Night of the Long Knives...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives

The Night of the Long Knives (German: Nacht der langen Messer, pronounced [ˈnaxt dɛɐ̯ ˈlaŋən ˈmɛsɐ] ⓘ , also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird (German: Aktion Kolibri), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ordered a series of political extrajudicial executions intended to consolidate his power and alleviate the concerns of the German military about the role of Ernst Röhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Nazis' paramilitary organization, known colloquially as "Brownshirts". Nazi propaganda presented the murders as a preventive measure against an alleged imminent coup by the SA under Röhm – the so-called Röhm Putsch.

The primary instruments of Hitler's action were the Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary force under Himmler and its Security Service (SD), and Gestapo (secret police) under Reinhard Heydrich, which between them carried out most of the killings. Göring's personal police battalion also took part. Many of those killed in the purge were leaders of the SA, the best-known being Röhm himself, the SA's chief of staff and one of Hitler's longtime supporters and allies. Leading members of the Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, including its leader Gregor Strasser, were also killed, as were establishment conservatives and anti-Nazis, such as former Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher and Bavarian politician Gustav Ritter von Kahr, who had helped suppress Hitler's Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The murders of SA leaders were also intended to improve the image of the Hitler government with a German public that was increasingly critical of thuggish SA tactics.

[Johonny]

4. He tried to kill them all on Jan 6th

He is never leaving that office alive, if he gets his way. And penis boy Johnson is all in. Don't look for help from a house led by him. The mid-terms cannot be lost.

[usonian]

5. Fascist playbook.

The administration's strategy is to break laws repeatedly until held accountable.
Laws are merely "suggestions" until and unless they are enforced.

The Fascists’ Playbook 
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/05/08/the-fascists-playbook/ 

10 Small Steps:

Executing the Fascist Playbook 
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-small-steps-executing-the-fascist-playbook_b_585dfec2e4b04d7df167cfab

[newdeal2]

6. Paul Pelosi...

Gabby Giffords…

[Evolve Dammit]

15. Who they laugh about. The GOP is a sick, depraved and violent cult.

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. I figured he would

BUT (and it's a big one) I'm pretty sure Stephen Miller is telling him what to do. He's pulling all the strings and pushing all the buttons now that Eloon is gone.

Tell the truth. Is there anyone here who wouldn't be upset if Stephen Miller were shot dead in broad daylight?

[slightlv]

30. I agree with you that most of the suggestions and instructions

on what to do are coming from Stephen Miller. In saying that, I'm acknowledging that the United States is being led by a trueform, dyed-in-the-wool Nazi. THIS should not stand. I don't care who he is. If he's a Nazi and he's governing or influencing the governing of this country, someone needs to at least arrest him and charge him with being an enemy of the State, as well as a domestic terrorist. And, while they're at it, they can stop by Bannon's office and add him in to the mix, as well. And if someone would shoot any of these people, the shooters would get as good PR as the guy that took out the health care CEO. Of course, he IS in massive trouble from doing it, but there were a lot of people taking his side, for whatever reasons. I think this would be the same way. In fact, that's where jury nullification might actually come in handy.

[ZDU]

8. Haven't we all expected this from the Authoritarian in Chief and the Red Ties?

[Dan]

9. And after reading all the posts of this thread

What happens now, or later after the next outrage of this administration?

Where is the line in the sand?

[BattleRow]

11. Lines disappear in quicksand.

[Dan]

17. I like your comment....

[BattleRow]

41. Thank you!

[slightlv]

31. Mine were several "lines" back...

but we're not an organized group to do anything. We're several disorganized groups and individuals. Goals are more likely to be achieved when there's an organized group to gather around, and a leader who listens to all, but makes decisions and acts. That's why the coup happened so easily and in plain sight. The R's had been planning this since at least Nixon was in office. And each election they moved closer and closer to achieving their goals.

Our problem is not only are Democrats not an organized group with a charismatic, active leader willing to put everything on the line for the country, but we're time-constrained, too. What R's took decades to achieve, we have weeks... months. A midterm election, if we're lucky. The lines have been drawn in the sand over and over, and the R's just say "make me". What do you do beyond what we're all trying to do right now?

[bluestarone]

10. Hell, he and a bunch of his special CROWNIES would

Secretly allow russia to send their nuclear missiles at us, as long as they could make it to a fallout shelter first.

[swong19104]

12. I had my money on AOC

Female AND a latina.

[BaronChocula]

13. He WAS prepared to watch

his veep get lynched by a neo jim crow mob. And that didn't shock me.

He. Is. A. Psychopath.

[Evolve Dammit]

14. He was talking about this shit in 2015 rallies. And he relished it then. We had our chance at accountability.

Timidity is why we are here.

[electric_blue68]

40. Um...and All the People Who DIDN'T Vote in '24!!!

unless you had a medical, or family emergency you had No Excuse for not voting! None, nada, zippo!

THAT'S where I place most of the blame!

In fact I made sure I voted 3 days early in case something might have happened to me on Election Day - my vote was already in!

[0rganism]

18. It's true: many of us did Not See this coming

I weep for the millions of Americans who will never see it leave

[debsy]

19. I could not agree with you more.

I am totally not surprised. Sick to my stomach and livid, yes, but surprised? Nope.

[Figarosmom]

20. I still think he'll try

To jail them. Maybe try them as traiters.

[MustLoveBeagles]

21. I'm only surprised the Senator wasn't arrested

These people are out of control.

[kwolf68]

22. I once joked

As we all know opposition political parties were banned in Nazi Germany. I was joking with my wife that could happen here. They may not ban the Democratic Party, but they can sure render it useless by jailing its members, impeaching judges, etc. Ultimately the same goals will be met as were in Nazi Germany, complete fealty to Der American Führer.

[slightlv]

33. Didn't Florida already try to pass a law banning Democrats?

[Karasu]

23. A number of people in this regime have called for execution of prominent Dems, which is the ONE line there I'm still

waiting to see if they'll cross.

[orangecrush]

24. K&R

[ultralite001]

25. Krasnov will always incite violence, particularly against Dems...

but he'll not actually get his tiny hands dirty...

He'll always leave the dirty work to his minions...

[red dog 1]

26. Senator Alex Padilla may be the first US senator to be arrested by the thugs who've taken over the Republican Party,

but he sure won't be the last.

[CrispyQ]

27. Just like climate change, everything's happening much faster than I thought it would.

[dchill]

28. I feel that I wouldn't be surprised - until it happens, but...

...I always end up believing the unbelievable.

[surfered]

29. I thought it would be one of his Kool Aid drinking followers.

I didn’t expect it to be law enforcement.

[slightlv]

35. I actually thought it *would* be law enforcement

or the military who crossed the line first. After seeing the way they acted in his first maladministration, it was obvious there has been either a sea-change in personnel or hiring notations had changed, to where they only hire those on the more violent side of personality traits.

[Bread and Circuses]

32. I expected all this...and more. We haven't seen the worst....

I said to friends that republicans want to kill us and they will start with those who stand up and challenge them..
Some thought I was going way too extreme.

Guess what? Not at all. Republicans will shoot us down because they want a complete autocracy.

[PatSeg]

34. I expected it

It is straight out of the dictator's playbook. Putin has tutored him well.

[B.See]

36. It has ALWAYS been my belief that Trump would cause physical harm TO US ALL.

[donheld]

38. Its only begun.

If tRump isn't stopped soon. He's going to do a lot worse, and incite others to more violence.