r/politics • u/jhkayejr • 15h ago
Possible Paywall An election chief lost. Then he padlocked the ballots and called the FBI.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/04/shasta-countys-election-chief-lost-then-he-locked-up-ballots/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f0022.2k
u/jhkayejr 15h ago
Ultimately, this will be the worst of Trump's legacy. It used to be considered undignified and weak to question election results like this. Now, every maga candidate around acts like a shiftless child who was trounced by the better athlete.
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u/Justame13 13h ago
They have been working on it for a while.
In 2010 the Minnesota Republicans managed to wage a huge legal battle that delayed seating Al Franken until July
Which also cost the Democrats 7 months of their supermajority.
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u/apathy-sofa 12h ago
"Hanging chads"
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u/Global_Staff_3135 10h ago
Exactly, this goes back further than that. Arguably Watergate…
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u/The_public_vomit 8h ago
I’d say 1960. As I recall the GOP thought Chicago Mayor Daley cost tricky Dick by tossing a bunch of ballots in Lake Michigan.
Likely these accusations feature in every campaign since the revolutionary war.
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u/Snobolski 7h ago
1948 election of LBJ to the Senate. Johnson ultimately won a statewide election by 87 votes. Ballot Box 33 from Jim Wells County, Texas added 200 votes days after the election was over. Nothing hinky there.
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u/Purplociraptor 4h ago
It goes back more than that. Half the country wanted to make their own country when Abe Lincoln won.
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u/cereal7802 7h ago
just seems like such a childish way to dispose of votes. seems like shredding and burning would be such better ways to do it instead of tossing in the lake.
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u/Purplociraptor 4h ago
It wasn't so much the hanging chads as it was the butterfly ballot, which was designed by a Republican to intentionally trick Democrats into voting for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore.
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u/THElaytox 9h ago
Not to mention, you know, 2000, where a coup led by 3 members of our current SCOTUS successfully changed an election
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u/Smirky-McLurky 14h ago
Well maga is undignified and weak sooo
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u/Desert_Aficionado 12h ago
They have the Legislative, Executive, and the Judiciary. They are killing American citizens with impunity. They are not weak.
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u/Recipe_Freak Oregon 11h ago
They are weak. Bullies always are. Their perceived strength is only to mask their weakness.
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u/axazajjj 11h ago
The problem is the rest of us are also weak. We should not be tolerating this shit but we just let it go. Over and over and over we just let it happen.
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u/atemus10 11h ago
Bullies notoriously hold power for centuries after they take it. Your philosophical stance fails in the face of history, unfortunately. They will tear each other apart but no person of noboe intent has a shot of fixing this.
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u/SinisterCroissant 10h ago
Centuries? This regime and movement won't last past one big beautiful obituary - the only reason it coalesced was that Trump had the benefit of name recognition and the PR the Apprentice did to make him seem like a sane shrewd businessman.
You think Rubio or Vance could take up the reigns? pfft.
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u/MovieGuyMike 12h ago
Just wait. Once the fix is in, questioning election results will become a serious crime.
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u/SnooSongs2996 11h ago
Putins boy done good for pootin now he can point out how corrupt elections are in the USA
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u/furthemor 8h ago edited 7h ago
This☝️, remember when you where like 11 and that one kid on the block always ruined a board game you where playing or something cause they couldn't handle that they losed. Theyed accused everyone of cheating and just killed the whole vibe in the room throwing a tantrum and refusing to acknowledge that they actually lost, This is the gop.
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u/Unfair_Elderberry118 10h ago
This guy's claims of election fraud go back to the 20th century and he has never proven a damn thing.
The GOP has been screaming fraud since the 1960s, everytime they don't win.
Trump just takes it to the level of insanity.
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u/LysolTreats 9h ago
Election meddling is horrendous, as is it creates distrust in the whole system.
But with ICE (including various recorded murders), reducing the rights and support for the poor, elderly, disabled, and lgbtq+, open and out loud corruption, personally profiting from wars and tariffs, and paedo behavior (just to name a few)…. There’s a lot of competition.
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u/Wild_Harvest 2h ago
Hell, I'm looking back at the Roman's when a guy complained that he bribed more than needed when he got acquitted by two votes.
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u/AdPsychological8883 15h ago
Ah, Shasta County. Who consistently votes red, 80% con/20% Dem, and then blames “Libruls” for their problems. They should forfeit the right to run their own elections and this shit bird should spend a copious amount of time in jail. The whole county should be taken into conservatorship until they can grow up and act like fucking adults.
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u/TransitJohn Colorado 14h ago
Sounds like Wyoming
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u/SanDiegoDude California 7h ago
Very similar actually. Driving through it's like a different world compared to SoCal. Aw, our own little slice of ignorant bible belt, right here in CA.
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u/CommieMartyr 14h ago
I only had to see the headline to know the subject was Clint Curtis and Shasta County.
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u/Physical-Dare5059 Pennsylvania 13h ago
I’m pretty sure Shasta county is the same one that wanted to bring in Tina peters. Same Tina peters who was jailed in Colorado for election fraud.
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u/CulturalChampion8660 12h ago
Everytime I end up in Shasta county Im always blown away that such a shit-hole exist in california. Straight up hill billies red necks.
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u/matthieuC Europe 14h ago
It's never about fraud, it's about being a sore loser.
The guy was put in charge, fired existing people, hired ducking Tina Peters, added a camera to see the votes, ran the election and he's still going on about fraud. Because he was on the ballot and lost.
Bloody wankers can't take a loss and they won't let reality get on their way.
He doesn't start with facts and then deduce their might be fraud.
He starts with believing in fraud then make up facts to support it.
Exactly like flat earthers. Disprove one theory and they'll make up another.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 11h ago
💯 And so many of them live in blue states! Like when they did similar in that jungle primary California just had. They’re aware that they live in blue states as they probably complain about that for some reason or another every day. But then at the same time they’re always shocked lately when their unpopular views continue to be unpopular and they lose elections. Why can’t they just move to red states that theoretically already have everything they want instead of always trying to force their bullshit on everyone else in blue states?
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u/dinosnysus 10h ago
Because even though they complain about blue states, they reap the benefits. The red Californians that moved to Texas suffered higher taxes, higher utilities bills, and a much lower and smaller safety net, on top of locals hating them from just being from a blue state.
They don't really want to move to a shitty red state, they want to make the blue states shittier
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u/matthieuC Europe 11h ago
The issue here might be voluntary segregation.
Their friends and family are probably all republicans.
They consume conservative medias that them democrats are a noisy minority.So when the results hit, they're completely flabbergasted.
It was similar on this sub when Trump won in 2024.
People were freaking out because they didn't know anyone who voted trump.6
u/TheOtherWhiteMeat 9h ago
People in America increasingly don't interact with people who have opposing political opinions (can't blame them), unless forced through work or other obligations. People who have opposing political opinions don't raise them for fear of reprisal.
People don't talk irl. People get banned for talking/arguing online. Pollsters are incapable of getting a representative sample of voters. No surprise that nobody knows wtf the prevailing opinions really are anymore.
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u/Efficient_Falcon_402 15h ago
Just read the history of Hitler's rise to "legitimate" power (he was elected...) the past is prologue.
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u/irradiatedcitizen 15h ago
I am awaiting the Reichstag fire that will inevitably be blamed on Iran.
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u/Mateorabi 15h ago
It will be blamed on “woke trans socialists” or some other internal boogeyman.
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u/trickninjafist 13h ago
The migrant caravan excuse is already being used again since we're 30 days from election
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u/SomeGalNamedAshley 13h ago
If I were vaguely smart I'd at least buy a bunch of stock in the private for-profit company that will be running the concentration camp they'll eventually throw us woke trans socialists into. That way my family will be taken care of somewhat.
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u/ShibaLover227 4h ago
Look up May 6, 1933 and rethink how we're treating the LGBTQ+ as a nation right now. Protections are being stripped and we are deeper in the repeat than you all realize
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u/noncongruent 13h ago
They already tried turning Charlie Kirk into MAGA's version of Horst Wessel, a minor member of the Nazi party who was murdered by a couple of communists and turned into a galvanizing martyr by Hitler's propagandist Goebbels. It didn't stick, but neither did Goebbel's first attempt with Albert Leo Schlageter. I have no doubts that Trump's followers, including Steven Cheung, will try again given the opportunity, they are following Hitler's playbook that closely.
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u/BalanceOrganic7735 12h ago
Past is prologue indeed!
From an article written by Goebbels in 1928:
“If we do not succeed in making our dangerous men immune to legal prosecution, they will all find themselves behind bars sooner or later.” And:
“We do not beg for votes. We demand conviction, devotion, passion! A vote is only a tool for us as well as for you. We will march into the marble halls of parliament, bringing with us the revolutionary will of the broad masses from which we came, called by fate and forming fate. We do not want to join this pile of manure. We are coming to shovel it out.
Do not believe that parliament is our goal. We have shown the enemy our nature from the podiums of our mass meetings and in the enormous demonstrations of our brown army. We will show it as well in the leaden atmosphere of parliament.
We are coming neither as friends nor neutrals. We come as enemies! As the wolf attacks the sheep, so come we.
You are not among your friends any longer! You will not enjoy having us among you!”https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/angrif06.htm
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u/Hurtzdonut13 9h ago
And there was "Big Balls" as well. He was out late, was harassing an underage girl, got beaten up because he wouldn't leave her alone, and then Trump used it as an excuse to take over DC.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 11h ago
I’ve also been waiting for their Reichstag Fire but I always assumed it would be used against our own people: blue states, democratic politicians, PoC, “antifa”, etc.
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u/Althestane 12h ago
The only glimmer of a silver lining is that this administration is so inept, their Reichstag moment will be ridiculously and immediately debunked. Still horribly destructive, no doubt, but no one of rational mind will believe the spin.
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u/PjAllDay26 13h ago
He didnt "legitimately" (by election) rise to power - he was appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg. It was a precursor of the many appeasements granted hitler throughout his upcoming reign of terror. Not that I dont disagree with the general spirit of the thread.
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u/polishedcooter Kentucky 8h ago
This kind of makes it sound like Hindenburg appointed Hitler out of nowhere. The Nazis had gained a plurality of Reichstag seats (38%) about a year prior to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor, meaning the Nazis were the largest party in Germany at the time.
If that was under a first-past-the-post system like in the US, and you allow for some naïve assumptions to translate the election to such a system, Hitler would have been elected President. Of course, in a parliamentary system like in Weimar era Germany, a plurality isn't necessarily enough to form a government, so Hindenburg didn't have to do that.
But it was the Great Depression, the Reichstag was gridlocked because the moderates were unwilling to work with either the Nazis or Communists and didn't have enough seats to form a majority themselves, and Hindenburg was an elderly "centrist" (right-leaning) who was susceptible to persuasion, in part due to his age, existing Nazi violence and an increasingly desperate public. So he made basically the worst decision possible.
Just thought that needed clarification.
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u/polishedcooter Kentucky 8h ago
Also, on the elderly centrist trying to appease right-wing extremists: doesn't that sound familiar? We're so fucked lol
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u/Eggy-in-a-basket 13h ago
Yes and no, MAGA is significantly more comfortable and complacent than Germany's citizens in the 1920s and 30s. We should be paradoxically thankful theyre mostly lunkheads who are all talk, because desperate men (like ones who need food, clothes, houses, not just ones who lose an election) are capable of way worse shit than what we've seen thus far.
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u/copropnuma 15h ago
Why do you think he was elected?
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u/wooops 14h ago
Because there was an election where he was voted into his initial position
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u/Waste-Time-2440 15h ago
This is what the GOP is really counting on for the midterms. Sowing enough confusion and distrust that the actual results don't matter. They'll contest every loss, baselessly claim fraud, and tie up the courts for years while clinging to power. Social media will erupt into full flower, protest will be used as a pretext to bring in ICE or the National Guard or even the US Army to our streets. Election power will end up in the hands of the doubters, not the voters, and democracy will effectively end.
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u/canadiuman 15h ago
Only if we let it.
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u/bramley36 14h ago
The blue wave in the midterms needs to be too big to rig
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u/tryanothernewaccount 13h ago
They'll take Democrats performing better than (their) polling suggests as "evidence" of cheating.
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u/FellowHumanNo404 10h ago
Whatever happens will be cited as "evidence" of cheating, no matter what it is.
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u/BarkerBarkhan 13h ago
And these are state level charges, since elections are run by states. This will be a major weakness for their pardon-all strategy; most of the major swing states have Democratic AGs, Sec. of State, and governors. If they commit crimes in an attempt to steal an election, they will be prosecuted at the state and local level.
I also expect the next Democratic president to nominate Jack Smith for AG.
I know the Republicans may attempt to disrupt and disregard the midterms, but there is no guarantee of success for them. They are not all-powerful supervillains; they are arrogant, sloppy, and sycophantic.
The numbers right now, in the generic ballot, Trump's approval, and in individual races, are potentially catastrophic for Republicans.
Until the new Congress is sworn in, they may keep us on edge. Still, the most likely scenario is that the Republicans received a well-deserved, proper ass kicking across the US.
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u/zixaphir 12h ago
They are not all-powerful supervillains; they are arrogant, sloppy, and sycophantic.
Fundamentally I agree with this, but I still expect them to try. Unfortunately the quote, "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper!" has aged like fine wine, and federal government overreach is the new standard, not the exception. To this day I know people who aren't even aware of the fake electors plot.
People need to be ready for Trump to declare a national emergency and pull all kinds of imaginary Executive Branch powers out of his ass.
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u/BarkerBarkhan 11h ago
We are preparing. Some people will stay lost in the sauce, but many of us are doing what we can to be ready for the worst.
They will try, but they will not succeed. They do not have the people behind him the way they did in 2024, and even then, it was a tenuous, narrow coalition.
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u/ofWildPlaces 14h ago
We aren't doing "nothing"
So many people are pushing back and working hard to ensure this election happens. You may not see it, probably because you don't live here, but there are millions bof us working to fix this shit.
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u/Randleifr 13h ago
It’s a bot, we all know that the GOP is paying for thousands of bots to try to demoralize us. The only thing though is that the vast majority of left wing activists aren’t chuds online so it doesn’t matter how many shitty foreigners they get to talk down to us online
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u/winstondabee 13h ago
I've noticed that trend, also. A lot of "Europeans" talking shit and trying to demoralize. Always have their post history hidden. It's crazy how many angles these bots are hitting.
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u/DangusKahn 14h ago
What's the suggestion EU folks have when LE is more than happy to mag dump anyone in the US?
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u/winstondabee 13h ago
Last time I confronted one of these "do something" eurobots for a suggestion, they just said "do some" and continued to talk shit. They're just bots.
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u/Madroxx9000 14h ago
My suggestion will get me banned, again.
There's a whole amendment about it.
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u/DangusKahn 11h ago
Ah yes Alex Pretti was exercising that amendment. I wonder what happened to him.
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u/United-Coach-6591 14h ago
What are you doing about the rights increasing rise in power in Europe?
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u/DeeMinimis 14h ago
Agreed. I'm an American and the truth is, and Trump knows it, we are a bunch of wimps that won't punish criminals if they have enough money. So he has been given immunity by SCOTUS and his access to money insulates him further. We are a joke of a country. Spent decades talking tough but can't back it up.
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u/Hoblitygoodness 14h ago
Kind of like Russia.
If you look at how Trump handles everything, inside and outside of the country, it's very Russia-like. It's as though Trump & Putin have talked about how to get things done.
If America is lucky, Trump's grip on things will start show cracks and will just have to watch how Putin works through it to see how they will too.
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u/OrbitalOutlander 14h ago
Speak for yourself. I'm not a "wimp". I've been fighting.
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u/DeeMinimis 14h ago
In all fairness, you don't get much credit for fighting. You get credit for winning. And, no one is winning against Trump. He is never going to prison and the GOP will not permit him to be removed from office.
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u/jizonida 14h ago
What would you have most Americans do? Who should we start shooting? Be specific
Mods: this is obviously facetious to point out that there's nothing actionable most individuals can do against rising fascism
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u/ElasticFutures 13h ago edited 11h ago
Don’t worry though; snarky Europeans will shit on us all the same, as if we should watch our children starve and become homeless, go without medical care they need, while we become victims of the state (which has drones, mind you) in order to fight the way they would deem acceptable. All while the same threat grows within their neighborhoods.
I’m so tired of it.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 10h ago
At this point, internal pressure and pushback from us isn’t enough as republicans have completely dropped the mask and aren’t even pretending anymore that they gaf about what we want. When you tell people in other countries that yes we do have a problem but unfortunately it’s grown too large to handle ourselves so we need additional pressure from the international community no one wants their own country to get involved either because we’re ruled by madmen with the largest army in the world. They can understand that threat against themselves but they still try to push average American citizens to just take that on ourselves as if we haven’t already been getting murdered in public and on camera by our government with absolutely no repercussions. Did Alex Pretti’s murder stop all of this? Did Renee Goode’s? Or did our government just keep doing what they’re doing? Yes, our protests largely aren’t doing anything but unfortunately neither are our deaths. Wtf else are we supposed to be doing?
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u/crinkledcu91 13h ago
Certain users on this sub will bitch to you about why aren't you trying to attempt suicide by cop, and then mock you when shocker individuals who own all of a fucking .380 pistol don't do it.
It's fucking exhausting.
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u/Althestane 12h ago
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt in that you probably don’t understand the intricacies of our governing systems- much as we don’t understand other nations’ systems. Despite what you see as our national government, our system is actually pretty decentralized, highly varied internally, and ultimately very localized - and we are a geographically big country, meaning lots and lots of localities.
What has happened in the US is that our national government has become divorced from our distributed local governments. The people can only directly put pressure to change or hold powers accountable on our local governments, which in turn should bring that same pressure to the national stage. But the national government has been taken over by illiberal ideologies (yes, that our localities PUT there, but that’s a topic for another discussion) and they’ve entrenched themselves enough that they can ignore/suppress the pressure of local governments.
Internationally, you only see the national government. You do not see the efforts of the people at the local government scale. We aren’t “doing nothing”, there is immense pushback by the people, and we are making headway in the long-game. The problem is that in the short game, there’s not much we can do against the entrenched illiberals short of violent rebellion. And trust me, neither we NOR YOU, want it to go that way - what would a fullly military ruled US look like to the EU? Because that’s what would happen, in a heartbeat.
Truly, we need your help for the short-game. We need the rest of the world to treat Trump and the current iteration of the US for what they/we are and not give in out of fear or profit loss. Why did the EU agree to open its diesel reserves to the US, for example?? Our people are the pressure from within, but that takes time - you’re our hope of pressure from without, and a little bit can go a long way to help us all out of this.
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u/VocalCord Europe 12h ago
Thank you for taking the time to write this. It was very eye-opening.
You're correct in that all we see is the national government stomp over your democracy. I've seen little to nothing else, unfortunately. I see day after day of the situation getting worse and worse, and I see your window for action closing.
I truly hope you can free yourselves of this. We want the America that stands up for the weak, that promotes democracy, that was a net beneficiary for good, back. Not this foul repugnant, plain evil America.
I sincerely hope to see that again
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u/Weekly-Role-1132 12h ago
We are out there protesting daily and calling on our government representatives to do something. The news corporations have been bought be MAGA's and they are not reporting our push back. I am fortunate that our Governor is actively speaking out against this regime but it is really hard when the National Government is breaking laws left and right about our Supreme Court is corrupt and allowing the constitution to be disregarded left and right.
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u/Cancel_Culture_Club 10h ago
Adding onto the previous comment I get the impression that many people in other countries are frustrated but don’t know the many different dumb ways our government is set up. Which isn’t an insult because why would guys know all that in the first place?
Our biggest problem that I don’t think most people outside of our country don’t realize is that we essentially have no real method of removal for our federal officials -not the president, congress, or even our openly corrupt supreme court. Most other countries all seem to have ways for their people to recall rogue government officials so I can understand the frustration because as we’re finding out now it is very fcking stupid.
The only real legal path for removing anyone is with our congress and even that is a long, drawn out process that can be ratfucked any step of the way. The way it works is: congress members submit a formal request to even just begin an investigation and then congress votes if they want to do that. Then they do an investigation into what the official is being accused of. Then if they think the evidence is there they again vote on if the official should be convicted. Then if the vote for that then they all vote again on if the official should be removed. That’s how Trump had 2 impeachments that did fuckall to him. Votes also aren’t just a simple majority, they need to be 2/3s of congress agreeing. And again at any step of this process congress can just vote no and stop all proceedings. Obviously this isn’t functional anymore.
The long shot effort is the 25th amendment but for Trump only as it only applies to presidents. This ones even harder as Trump’s own cabinet are the only people that could start it. The amendment is for if the president is too incapacitated to do his job but means like if hes in a coma or something and not just blatantly out of his fcking mind. If Trump’s cabinet does try this then Trump is asked if he agrees that hes unable to do his job. If hes physically able to say yup then that’s it and he can keep serving.
So if it seems like Americans are paralyzed rn that’s because we are. We have no mechanism for the people to recall anyone or do a vote of no confidence or whatever. All we can do is nag our congress members to impeach but obviously they don’t have to listen to us. On the rare chance that they do it still doesn’t do anything if 2/3s of the rest of congress refuses. Then we can’t remove a rogue president or any rogue congress members who support him. All we can do is wait for the next election and hope it goes well. If it doesn’t especially so after republicans’ newest gerrymandering then we’re back to square one again and have to just wait and hope for the next election after that.
Our system literally is set up to make us just sit and wait for someone to do something. Even if we could pull off a national strike or changed anything about how we’re currently protesting, even the best case scenario would still have to go thru the whole impeachment process which wouldn’t be immediate and would allow Trump to remain in office continuing everything that hes doing. I know it must seem like a cop out to say we’re doing all that we can. But unfortunately this is the system that we have and there isn’t any other mechanisms we could be doing. In hindsight yeah this is all pretty fcking stupid to run a country but unfortunately we the people have no power to change that. It’s even worse that republicans also seized control of many federal courts including the supreme court so even trying any new novel theories to remove anyone will most likely not be ruled on in good faith by republican judges. The republicans control every level of government and have us surrounded. I understand that the rest of the world is also severely impacted by our bullshit and it must ring hollow hearing Americans repeat that theres nothing we can do. But unfortunately it’s not entirely cowardice or apathy holding us back, we’re ham strung by our own system.
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u/Althestane 9h ago
Thank you. We all hope to find our way again to some version of positive, constructive idealism. It won’t ever be what we used to be - that USA is gone for good and we and the world need to come to terms with that - but if we play our cards right we might be more balanced going forward.
To be fair, we got ourselves into this mess, and there is a lot more we could and should be doing to fix it. It has been SHOCKING to see how fast our system was co-opted and started falling apart, even before the intentional dismantling of it. And it’s been even more disheartening to discover how much we’d let the National Gov become insulated against our local control. We found everything was running on “good intentions” alone, leaving us vulnerable to conmen willing to break every social-contract and behavioral normalization we were apparently relying on. Those same conmen now wield a crazily imbalanced power dynamic against us - voting is nearly all we can do to affect the national stage at this point. If even that falls apart in the next few months (elections are in Nov. but power doesn’t transfer till Jan.), then we need (and i would say beg) the international community to step in whatever way you can.
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u/DillBagner 14h ago
What the fuck are you even on about with this "doing nothing?" This coming election is our first since the guy came to power.
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u/tmeurk Europe 14h ago
Wasn't he reelected?
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u/anal_pudding 14h ago
You're right, but I think he means the first one since he came back into power.
ie. the first election since he was re-elected.
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u/Erisian23 14h ago
Yeah that's kinda how our system works. As far as we're aware so far legally he is the elected president. There's no proof of stolen elections he might be doing illegal things but that's up to Congress to stop and his buddies in power aren't doing their job this is our 1st legal chance since he came into power the second time
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u/throwaway5882300 14h ago
That's a very easy thing to say from the other side of the globe residing in a country that does not have over half a billion privately owned firearms and police forces with military equipment.
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u/DeathFood 12h ago
Courts don’t get tied up for years when the outcome of an election is contested
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u/Waste-Time-2440 12h ago
Perhaps not. But compare to the 2023-2024 election where 300+ distinct voting and administration were lawsuits filed nationwide. With that kind of noise, it's especially hard for some people to tune it out and see the results as fact.
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u/DevilYouKnow 14h ago
Vote count suggests Republicans will lose. Shut it down and shred some ballots!
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u/coconutpiecrust 14h ago
We’re living in the House of Cards show.
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u/adjustgod 14h ago
It is so, so far worse than that. There is a convicted rapist and notorious pedophile at the helm of the nation
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u/AlexRyang 10h ago
Samuel Alito is reportedly preparing a national injunction that would require all ballots be counted by the end of the day on election day, and any uncounted ballots would be disposed of.
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u/WeatheredSteel37 9h ago
In response to what?
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u/OneTripleZero Canada 8h ago
Does it matter? Don't get bogged down searching for evidence the other side clearly never cared about. Just be ready to react to the consequences of their actions.
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u/brommpot 11h ago
They'll also commit actual fraud, and then will shout these are baseless claims. Using your own reasons against you.
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u/WeatheredSteel37 9h ago
None of this will happen. None of it. Election night will go by as it always does, trump will claim there was fraud, nothing will come of it, and the great wheel will keep turning.
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u/thepartypantser 15h ago
Anyone remember birtherism? Trump built his political capital on conspiracy theories, and his party has fully embraced them with zero evidence.
I suspect this timefrane, likely going back to 9/11 truthers will be described by future historians as the "conspiracy theory era".
If there is a Jannah, and that son of a bitch is there, Bin Laden must be smiling.
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u/Willthisaccountlas 14h ago
It’s because the meaning of truth has become inverted. Things were true because they were accompanied by evidence, but now everything is true until it can be shown to be false.
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u/arwinda 12h ago
Even worse. Even if it's shown to be false, the evidence is no longer accepted.
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u/Silent-Act191 11h ago
Even if it's shown to be false, the person spreading the initial lie has already told 5 different lies.
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u/8fenristhewolf8 14h ago
I've heard a few outlets call it "post truth era" and I use it. Social media and algorithmic info feeds skewed everyone's reality, and ruined the ability to trust or find common ground/definitions/standards.
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u/Automaton_General 15h ago edited 11h ago
I'm referring to it as the Rape of America
He has raped children, his wives, his daughter, and now he is raping Washington's buildings and pools and future
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u/TheWorldEnded 14h ago
https://youtu.be/SLgYBONsxGk?is=WzwBFErYzKcCgkSq Remember this? 2011.
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u/thepartypantser 10h ago
Of course.
That was after Trump pushed the racist birther bullshit even further into the mainstream, by bringing it up in March of that year.
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u/dmh1984 14h ago
So not only do the Democrats have to win, they have to endure this bullshit too. I'm so fucking tired.
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u/eeyore134 11h ago
We had a judge in North Carolina lose and fight for like a year. He ordered at least three recounts then sued to have the exact number of ballots he needed to win thrown out. They will not go quietly even if their cheating somehow fails. I think Trump is going to go all out coup if they lose power.
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u/FreeChickenDinner Texas 13h ago
Yahoo has the WAPO story without a paywall.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/election-chief-lost-then-padlocked-123922725.html
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u/jmchao 10h ago
Claiming fraud and refusing to certify, then using the uncertainty you caused to ignore the will of the people is a fun way to speed run civil unrest.
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u/Hadrian23 9h ago
Also incredibly dangerous and stupid. Law and order breaks down, I doubt Trump and Co would protect him, lol.
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u/OneTripleZero Canada 8h ago
The oft unspoken part of the "one group that the law binds but does not protect and one it protects but does not bind" dynamic is that the line between the two is determined exclusively by the power hierarchy of the latter group and subject to change the second they decide it, by design. It's either a feature or a consequence of not being bound by laws, depending on what side of the line you fall on. It should be obvious but the rank-and-file right never seem to understand it
If you choose to flaunt the law, don't be surprised when it's not there for you when you need it.
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u/bitchcoin5000 7h ago
I think calling the FBI used to actually mean something. it meant that you were going to get an even handed objective ruling
but I think calling the FBI now is a dog whistle for Asking the Trump administration to step in With their underhanded tactics
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u/SoggyBoysenberry7703 2h ago
I can’t believe republicans believed this kind of thing was normal corruption done all the time by the government, without actual evidence, but now that their own president is openly doing it with ample proof and an attitude to match, they just can’t fathom that it’s happening and real. No hyperbole or anything
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u/bitchcoin5000 35m ago
That's very well put. This is their belief that what is happening now - this outrageous Partisanship, this Self serving inside information profiteering And open corruption - is normal
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u/Shag1166 15h ago
This bullahit! What comes to mind, is the Bush/Gore Election. When they were counting the ballots in the election office, and Karl Rove, and other obstructioists, were raising hell outside the office, trying to shutdown the count. We Democrats may have to raise hell in a similar way, if Republicans try to steal elections.
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u/usernamerob California 11h ago
Knew who it was about without even clicking. Seeing this play out in real time in my city is actually bonkers. The security video of him moving things around the office shirtless is particularly wild and the fact that county officials see all that and do nothing is very telling. MAGA chuds here complain about state overreach here all the time but then they pull shit like this that draws state attention and they point and say “see see, that’s what we’re talking about.” No stupid, you’re bringing this on yourself by breaking the law. The best part about this is this maga moron doesn’t even go here, he’s someone the county brought in from Florida to fill a position that already had a highly qualified person lined up.
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u/ChiliFreetos 14h ago
Its always nice to see my home town on reddit for being a shit hole maga town. Its truly a mess politically right now.
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u/Jaded-Kangaroo569 10h ago
Mental illness with delusions run deep in this crowd. We put stupid people in charge and our reward is stupid.
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u/travelinTxn 14h ago
Well that was a hell of a read. Just about every paragraph had something crazy.
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u/Glittering-Hour9012 9h ago
I grew up in Redding and got to watch the descent into madness realtime. It’s like a group hysteria. Dudes used to walk up to me in coffee shops and start talking about deep state conspiracies and illegal immigration. It was fucking wild.
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u/lasthopel 3h ago
Can we please mandate pay walled posts must be linked with a ad free version like archive
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u/VocalCord Europe 14h ago
So everything is rigged?
The votes are rigged,
the polls are rigged,
your opinions are rigged,
reality is rigged.
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u/19chris9609 14h ago
This country is rigged to the gills.
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u/biopunk42 14h ago
Always has been. The electorate system, how the number of house seats are determined, all of it is rigged to favor rural areas over population centers. The vote of someone in a blue-wing district has always been weighted at about 70% the weight of what a person's vote in a right-wing district gets weighted, all things factored in. Votes aren't equal. Not everyone gets an equal say. It's been that way from the start.
The right complaining about the system being rigged is just projection.
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u/choicemad 14h ago edited 14h ago
The juries are rigged,
the oils are rigged,
the newton's are figged,
the kermit's are pigged,
the f-15's are migged,
all your base are zigged3
u/Ozzie-Isaac 14h ago
Reality is rigged. Post-truth world, the simulacra, hyper-normalization. when will it end.
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u/SignificanceShotc 12h ago
It’s only a one-way relationship too. It’s only rigged when they lose, but never when they win lmao
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u/Real-Document-6577 6h ago
I support a national divorce.
Between chosing between their conservative values and democracy….they will abandon democracy.
They are a cancer best to isolate them.
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u/PopBulky7023 3h ago
No. A divorce means they still get money and resources from us. That's why they want one.
The union cannot survive this cancer without cutting it off.
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u/TomorrowLow5092 9h ago
These are weird times, the people in power can't take your rights if you show up and vote. You can't see the crack in their armor, but the crack is widening everyday. There are plenty of heroes that will step forward and challenge this threat to the Republic. It's a shame people are easily fooled by stupid greed. Every American in battle fights to protect the constitution, not the dictator. There will be a huge effort to remove all the rights we already fought for very soon. Be ready to vote blue before they permanently end voting.
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u/GarmaCyro 5h ago
WAPO is especially rigged. Owned and controlled by the world's fourth riches guy.
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u/RedditPickedMyName0 14h ago
Republicans are such hypocritical cucks. Bitch and moan about the "media" but yet they can't think for themselves coz they listen to the media
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u/mushpuppy 7h ago
The proper question to ask is: when both parties lose confidence in election results, who profits?
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u/artquestionaccount 6h ago
You would think, if you were legitimately trying to find fraud and issues with ballots, you would take the ones that are suspicious (heavy or bamboo or whatever), see who the listed voter is, and then check with said voter on whom they voted for.
If it matches the ballot, then clearly the vote is legitimate. Wouldn't that be extremely easy to prove if there's some sort of actual inconsistency going on?
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u/duskyletters_ 3h ago
did the post say why he called the fbi after locking up the ballots seems like a big move for losing an election
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