“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” Obama told Jay Shetty on his podcast “On Purpose.”

“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she said.

“The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned,” she said.

Without naming Trump, she continued: “Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience.”

  • Peppycito@sh.itjust.works
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    10 months ago

    Even if Trump dies tomorrow, the problem still exists. Trump is the worm in the apple, but half the apple is rotten.

    • Leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      10 months ago

      That is true, no disagreement here. That’s the truly scary thing about the man - he clearly does represent a lot of people.

      But right now, he is the immediate danger.

    • tacosanonymous
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      10 months ago

      I’m not sure anymore. He got so elevated by some people but they hate so much. Idk if anyone could just slide into his place. I think they could be lost enough with the infighting that would try to fill in that hole. As in, that confusion could give us the gap to secure our processes and/or elect reasonable people.

      • vexikron@lemmy.zip
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        10 months ago

        The problem wit this reasoning is that it does not understand what Trump actually did.

        It is /worse/ than being a charismatic maniac.

        It is that by being a charismatic maniac… he revealed the entirety of the American society and political system to be a cruel joke.

        He essentially normalized extreme hatred and bigotry to the point that nearly every single other Republican had to either emulate him, or at least shift heavily toward his positions and rhetoric.

        Infighting is and will continue to happen, yes. But Trump transformed the Republican party into what is essentially fascist in all but name now.

        And the problem with this is that electoralism alone cannot defeat a rising fascist movement which shows no signs of slowing down.

        We, with history as a guide, /cannot/ defeat this only via voting.

        As much as it pains me to agree with Tim Pool on anything, to any degree: A civil war of sorts, or at least massive social unrest something akin to the Pre-Bellum American society is already happening.

        The core voters of the Republican Party are now driven by QAnon style insano-anti-thinking. There is no known cure for this, and it is very easy for any random dumbass that wants to be a politician to appeal to these kinds of people, /so there will be more and more of them/.