It\u2019s been a tumultuous 6 months with Donald Trump inhabiting the presidency, with a weakened federal authorities now incapable of addressing monumental issues like local weather change, pandemics, schooling, fundamental safety and security, and even forecasting the climate.<\/p>\n
As the USA reaches its 249th yr of existence, it\u2019s in a really precarious place. So how did we get right here?<\/p>\n
Elon Musk\u2019s propaganda machine<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe 2024 election made it clear why Elon Musk leveraged billions of {dollars} to buy Twitter, which he has since rebranded as X. The wealthiest man on the planet turned the location right into a propaganda machine, amplifying conspiracy theories and bigotry.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1412320\/large\/AP25081862504539.jpg?1742827626\")
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhen he threw his help behind Trump, the location went all in on amplifying his marketing campaign whereas escalating lies and falsehoods about Democrats, notably President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
After Trump gained the election, liberals and progressives mounted a mass exodus<\/a> to Bluesky. Conservatives responded with anger\u2014as a result of they vitally must troll liberals, which they like over talking with one another.<\/p>\nAssault on range<\/strong><\/h3>\nTrump is a racist and the largest promoter of the \u201cbirther\u201d conspiracy idea about President Barack Obama. In his first time period, he praised Nazis<\/a> as \u201cvery positive individuals.\u201d And now in his second time period, there\u2019s simply extra of the identical.<\/p>\nHowever as an alternative of merely throwing around rhetoric<\/a> the place \u201cwoke\u201d is an alternative to the N-word, Trump is utilizing his energy to roll back the very notion<\/a> of range. He\u2019s used govt motion and inside authorities coverage to purge range, fairness, and inclusion applications and has even taken to easily erasing the achievement of Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ individuals.<\/p>\nOn the identical time, he\u2019s fulfilled\u2014partly, no less than\u2014his marketing campaign pledges to essentially the most virulent racists by affirming his support<\/a> for the pro-slavery Confederacy. Trump and his lieutenants like Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth are relitigating the Civil Battle and coming down firmly on the facet that considered Black individuals as property.<\/p>\nMusk\u2019s authorities sledgehammer<\/strong><\/h3>\nBy empowering Musk and his so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity to infiltrate a number of authorities businesses, Trump superior the longstanding right-wing mission to undermine efficient authorities. Musk and his staff of damaging operatives\u2014like \u201cBig Balls<\/a>\u201d\u2014have tried to take down<\/a> authorities businesses that thousands and thousands of individuals depend on.<\/p>\nThere was vital resistance and a string of courtroom losses for Trump. However due to DOGE, the federal government\u2019s capability to do issues like ship out Social Safety funds and monitor hurricanes has been compromised.<\/p>\n
Belief within the authorities was already in bother, however Trump and Musk made it worse\u2014all within the identify of \u201csmall\u201d authorities, even when that implies that individuals should die.<\/p>\n
Scared males and predators<\/strong><\/h3>\nOn the Pentagon, former Fox Information host Hegseth continues to be the dwelling embodiment of the toxic masculinity<\/a> that he represented on the right-wing community. The one downside is that it\u2019s manifested within the mismanagement of essentially the most highly effective army in recorded historical past.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1424683\/large\/cbe250423c.jpg?1745424534\")
A cartoon by Clay Bennett.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith Trump\u2019s blessing, Hegseth kilos the desk on so-called \u201cwarrior\u201d ethos whereas gossiping on group chats<\/a> about missile strikes and making a multitude of worldwide diplomacy.<\/p>\nConcurrently, the Trump administration has continued its outreach to the poisonous right-wing manosphere by reportedly advocating for the release<\/a> of influencer Andrew Tate, a misogynist who has been accused of rape in a number of nations. In different phrases, he\u2019s the right hero for the Trump administration.<\/p>\nBy no means cease pushing conspiracies<\/strong><\/h3>\nTrump is a conspiracy theorist. For many years, he\u2019s supplied up half-baked, debunked theories on a litany of subjects\u2014like when he stated that local weather change was a Chinese language \u201choax\u201d. Regardless that he and the GOP are in cost, the Trump staff still insists<\/a> that the \u201cdeep state\u201d is out to get them.<\/p>\nThe conspiracies are even worse this time round as a result of they\u2019re being fueled by Musk. He and Trump bandied about the notion<\/a> that gold at Fort Knox had been stolen, though Trump\u2019s final Treasury secretary did a bizarre photograph shoot there just some years in the past.<\/p>\nThere isn’t any such factor as \u201cwhite genocide,\u201d however Trump spent days harping on it<\/a>, throwing a rhetorical bone to white supremacists who’ve pushed the conspiracy.<\/p>\nThey love abusing and bombing individuals<\/strong><\/h3>\nConservatism has a long-standing love affair with abusive habits. The road goes again to figures like President George W. Bush, who promoted torture as U.S. coverage with the euphemism \u201cenhanced interrogation\u201d on the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Now Trump has introduced it again to the forefront by abducting and detaining immigrants, crowing about detention camps, and having his subordinates like Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem stage photo shoots<\/a> in entrance of packed jail cells.<\/p>\nThe <\/a>Republican custom of gleefully bombing people<\/a> has resurfaced with Trump\u2019s resolution to inject the nation into the battle between Iran and Israel. Like Bush, Trump is now complaining about the media<\/a> precisely masking his questionable declarations of success in his bombings.<\/p>\nKilling the financial system<\/strong><\/h3>\nTrump inherited an financial system from Biden that was on the mend, following years of Trump\u2019s mismanagement throughout COVID-19. As an alternative of simply taking credit score for it, like he did with Obama\u2019s financial restoration in 2017, Trump has gone on the assault.<\/p>\n
He unilaterally imposed tariffs that have already contributed<\/a> to a fiscal slowdown and sticker shock. Companies have had their hiring impacted<\/a> whereas nations around the globe are anticipating the shockwaves of an financial slowdown.<\/p>\nThe previous couple of Republican presidents\u2014Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bush, and Trump\u2014have all presided over financial pullbacks that had been cleaned up by Democratic presidents. <\/p>\n
Trump and his staff, who spent years complaining about costs below Biden, have now said<\/a> that price will increase are good for the financial system, lest they offend Trump.<\/p>\nBattle on immigrants<\/strong><\/h3>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1451559\/large\/AP25182619948020.jpg?1751398390\")
President Donald Trump excursions \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d an immigrant detention facility in Florida harking back to Nazi Germany\u2019s focus camps.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTrump hates immigrants. He launched his preliminary bid for the presidency primarily based on bald-faced lies about Mexican immigrants being rapists and has pursued a coverage of cruelty ever since. In his first time period, he separated immigrant households. Now, he\u2019s abducting<\/a> immigrants and even forcing military occupation<\/a> <\/a>on American cities<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe need to demonize immigrants or people sympathetic to immigration<\/a>\u2014a convention that has been ceaselessly intertwined with U.S. historical past\u2014is evident<\/a> in all of Trump\u2019s actions. <\/p>\nHowever now that the general public has seen that Trump and the GOP overstated the specter of \u201cimmigrant criminals,\u201d he\u2019s shedding floor on what previous polls discovered had been his strongest points.<\/p>\n
America is in a nasty place, however that didn\u2019t occur in a single day. The fitting plotted and deliberate for the Trump-powered onslaught, though he pretended that he was not related to initiatives like Project 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\nIf the nation recovers, it can take a really very long time. Trump has a complete system behind him, from the Republican Celebration to propaganda machines like X and Fox Information.<\/p>\n
They are often defeated, however the combat should be sustained.<\/p>\n
When he threw his help behind Trump, the location went all in on amplifying his marketing campaign whereas escalating lies and falsehoods about Democrats, notably President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
After Trump gained the election, liberals and progressives mounted a mass exodus<\/a> to Bluesky. Conservatives responded with anger\u2014as a result of they vitally must troll liberals, which they like over talking with one another.<\/p>\n Trump is a racist and the largest promoter of the \u201cbirther\u201d conspiracy idea about President Barack Obama. In his first time period, he praised Nazis<\/a> as \u201cvery positive individuals.\u201d And now in his second time period, there\u2019s simply extra of the identical.<\/p>\n However as an alternative of merely throwing around rhetoric<\/a> the place \u201cwoke\u201d is an alternative to the N-word, Trump is utilizing his energy to roll back the very notion<\/a> of range. He\u2019s used govt motion and inside authorities coverage to purge range, fairness, and inclusion applications and has even taken to easily erasing the achievement of Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ individuals.<\/p>\n On the identical time, he\u2019s fulfilled\u2014partly, no less than\u2014his marketing campaign pledges to essentially the most virulent racists by affirming his support<\/a> for the pro-slavery Confederacy. Trump and his lieutenants like Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth are relitigating the Civil Battle and coming down firmly on the facet that considered Black individuals as property.<\/p>\n By empowering Musk and his so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity to infiltrate a number of authorities businesses, Trump superior the longstanding right-wing mission to undermine efficient authorities. Musk and his staff of damaging operatives\u2014like \u201cBig Balls<\/a>\u201d\u2014have tried to take down<\/a> authorities businesses that thousands and thousands of individuals depend on.<\/p>\n There was vital resistance and a string of courtroom losses for Trump. However due to DOGE, the federal government\u2019s capability to do issues like ship out Social Safety funds and monitor hurricanes has been compromised.<\/p>\n Belief within the authorities was already in bother, however Trump and Musk made it worse\u2014all within the identify of \u201csmall\u201d authorities, even when that implies that individuals should die.<\/p>\n On the Pentagon, former Fox Information host Hegseth continues to be the dwelling embodiment of the toxic masculinity<\/a> that he represented on the right-wing community. The one downside is that it\u2019s manifested within the mismanagement of essentially the most highly effective army in recorded historical past.<\/p>\n With Trump\u2019s blessing, Hegseth kilos the desk on so-called \u201cwarrior\u201d ethos whereas gossiping on group chats<\/a> about missile strikes and making a multitude of worldwide diplomacy.<\/p>\n Concurrently, the Trump administration has continued its outreach to the poisonous right-wing manosphere by reportedly advocating for the release<\/a> of influencer Andrew Tate, a misogynist who has been accused of rape in a number of nations. In different phrases, he\u2019s the right hero for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Trump is a conspiracy theorist. For many years, he\u2019s supplied up half-baked, debunked theories on a litany of subjects\u2014like when he stated that local weather change was a Chinese language \u201choax\u201d. Regardless that he and the GOP are in cost, the Trump staff still insists<\/a> that the \u201cdeep state\u201d is out to get them.<\/p>\n The conspiracies are even worse this time round as a result of they\u2019re being fueled by Musk. He and Trump bandied about the notion<\/a> that gold at Fort Knox had been stolen, though Trump\u2019s final Treasury secretary did a bizarre photograph shoot there just some years in the past.<\/p>\n There isn’t any such factor as \u201cwhite genocide,\u201d however Trump spent days harping on it<\/a>, throwing a rhetorical bone to white supremacists who’ve pushed the conspiracy.<\/p>\n Conservatism has a long-standing love affair with abusive habits. The road goes again to figures like President George W. Bush, who promoted torture as U.S. coverage with the euphemism \u201cenhanced interrogation\u201d on the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.<\/p>\n Now Trump has introduced it again to the forefront by abducting and detaining immigrants, crowing about detention camps, and having his subordinates like Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem stage photo shoots<\/a> in entrance of packed jail cells.<\/p>\n The <\/a>Republican custom of gleefully bombing people<\/a> has resurfaced with Trump\u2019s resolution to inject the nation into the battle between Iran and Israel. Like Bush, Trump is now complaining about the media<\/a> precisely masking his questionable declarations of success in his bombings.<\/p>\n Trump inherited an financial system from Biden that was on the mend, following years of Trump\u2019s mismanagement throughout COVID-19. As an alternative of simply taking credit score for it, like he did with Obama\u2019s financial restoration in 2017, Trump has gone on the assault.<\/p>\n He unilaterally imposed tariffs that have already contributed<\/a> to a fiscal slowdown and sticker shock. Companies have had their hiring impacted<\/a> whereas nations around the globe are anticipating the shockwaves of an financial slowdown.<\/p>\n The previous couple of Republican presidents\u2014Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bush, and Trump\u2014have all presided over financial pullbacks that had been cleaned up by Democratic presidents. <\/p>\n Trump and his staff, who spent years complaining about costs below Biden, have now said<\/a> that price will increase are good for the financial system, lest they offend Trump.<\/p>\n Trump hates immigrants. He launched his preliminary bid for the presidency primarily based on bald-faced lies about Mexican immigrants being rapists and has pursued a coverage of cruelty ever since. In his first time period, he separated immigrant households. Now, he\u2019s abducting<\/a> immigrants and even forcing military occupation<\/a> <\/a>on American cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n The need to demonize immigrants or people sympathetic to immigration<\/a>\u2014a convention that has been ceaselessly intertwined with U.S. historical past\u2014is evident<\/a> in all of Trump\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n However now that the general public has seen that Trump and the GOP overstated the specter of \u201cimmigrant criminals,\u201d he\u2019s shedding floor on what previous polls discovered had been his strongest points.<\/p>\n America is in a nasty place, however that didn\u2019t occur in a single day. The fitting plotted and deliberate for the Trump-powered onslaught, though he pretended that he was not related to initiatives like Project 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the nation recovers, it can take a really very long time. Trump has a complete system behind him, from the Republican Celebration to propaganda machines like X and Fox Information.<\/p>\n They are often defeated, however the combat should be sustained.<\/p>\nAssault on range<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Musk\u2019s authorities sledgehammer<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Scared males and predators<\/strong><\/h3>\n
By no means cease pushing conspiracies<\/strong><\/h3>\n
They love abusing and bombing individuals<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Killing the financial system<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Battle on immigrants<\/strong><\/h3>\n