• SirDerpy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    If Trump were dead then the big money would choose the next candidate behind closed doors next week at the convention. It would reunite the current polarization of the Republican party. The “masses” that were so easily co-opted will be more easily misled with the symbol than the fallible man.

    You’re making the same mistake as the user above. Evil isn’t stupid. You underestimate them even as they’re nearing a milestone victory.

    • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      Evil isn’t stupid, but no one else has been successful in wielding Trump’s base like Trump. Yes, they will coalesce around some other turd, but that might not occur before the election. The organizers will be going full tilt, but just because they choose someone doesn’t mean the herd will flock. The organizers tried to prevent Trump from winning the nomination during his first election. Their influence is great, but not as great as his. Who knows. Another attempt is unlikely at this point. So, it’s all speculation.

      • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        no one else has been successful in wielding Trump’s base

        No one else has done so in a shallow enough manner for you to care to notice. Start with Reagan.

        • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          Trump doesn’t only wield them in a subtle way, he wields like a mallet. Yes, there are successful patterns of manipulation probably going back to ape days or before, but those are not what you need for a candidate NOW. They need a whack-a-mole player. They just don’t have one lined up.

          • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            1 month ago

            Look up to meta tactics instead of down at muddy short term details. In this way we can vaguely understand and predict without specific facts and as things happen.

            The apparatus of manipulation specific to Trump’s cult will continue to exist, and in fact be amplified, by martyrdom of the fallible man. He didn’t create it. He doesn’t maintain it. He doesn’t even benefit from it anymore beyond propping up his ego. A symbol is whatever you make it, eternal.

            Many of his contrarian actions were and continue to be the input for exercises is doublethink: a useful tool. But, he’d make a shitty puppet dictator because he simply can’t follow the script. Even an intelligent fascist wants literally anyone else, just as everyone left of them except the accelerationists.

            I’m applying the basics of Bernays, Herman, and Chomsky. I’m not an expert. But, this isn’t rocket science, either.

            • ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 month ago

              Nothing you are saying suggests that the manipulation you are loosely referencing would actually create the lightning rod they need in such a short period of time. Maybe they can find that person, but it would need to happen quickly–very quickly. They usually require a lot of trial and error, which they don’t have time for. That’s the problem the Dems are having with whether to replace Biden. Will Kamala be able to rally folks to the polls? It’s all manipulation. The speed is the key here with such short timeframes.

              • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                1 month ago

                Here, I’ll do the hard one: Gary Newsom with AOC selling out principles for lifetime admission to the club as VP. If not AOC then another Justice Democrat will go for it. This would short term quickly and easily unify the big tent under a compromise platform with long term certainty of fully neoliberal outcomes. It’s not much different than the last two cycles.

                It’d be even easier for Republicans with a dead Trump as a symbol. Give it a shot. Show me you’re worth engaging with.

              • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 month ago

                Just with me, that’s twice that you’ve repeated a shallow perspective, then ran away when it was time to learn.