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Comment by watwut | Hacker News Reader

Why so abstract? It is because republicans in the Congress are supporting Trump policies. They are doing nothing, because they want this to happen.

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Why don't people rise up against dictators in other parts of the world?

They always do - eventually

I think the point was to refute "they are doing nothing therefore they want this to happen"

I mean if so many of them are scared they can just caucus with the nearly (but not actually) 50% of congress members that are democrats [1].

It's really just republicans are only unified in presenting a unified front so when it comes to actually doing something like electing a speaker [2] [3] the lack of alignment becomes obvious. So they aren't doing anything to counteract trump because they aren't as a whole unified in that it's something they want but they're unified in not fracturing and helping democrats.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2023_Speaker_of_the_Un...

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2023_Speaker_of_the_Un...

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

The democrats don't have the numbers - even if they did, the more ridiculous the whole thing gets the better for them it is.

Siting around and do nothing is going to come back and bite incumbent democrats in a couple years.

Sure they might not lose the general election to a republican but their primary is going to be painful.

Reactionary politics and hysterical screeching is what got the democrats into the problems they are currently face. Repeating the same mistakes over and over again is the definition of insanity.

Yes but that's basically the prisoner's dilemma in a nutshell. Who's going to to take the leap of faith and put their neck on the chopping block?

Liz Cheney? Adam Kitzinger? Mitt Romney?

> In an interview with The Atlantic published earlier this week, Romney fretted over his ability to keep his entire family safe from Trump’s ire, should he be reelected in November. (Trump has made it clear that his plans for a second term include seeking revenge on those who’ve wronged him.)

“How am I going to protect 25 grandkids, two great-grandkids?” Romney told The Atlantic. “I’ve got five sons, five daughters-in-law—it’s like, we’re a big group.”

I am saying "they are doing nothing, because they want this to happen". Trump policies are exactly what conservatives wanted and pushed for. The corruption and all that is stuff they are fine with, as long as it is one of them doing it.

To a large extent, insofar as Trump is a dictator, it is only because Congress have decided to allow that through inaction. At least for the time being (though, see, for instance, the Weimar Republic; this may end up being a use-it-or-lose-it ability), they still do have the power to largely put him back in his box if they want to.

Dictators around the world have supporters who do not rise against them, because they are completely on board with their agenda.

Trump and his policies are to large extend logical extension of what republican party pushed for and wanted for years. Conservatives wanted exactly this, pressed for exactly this, made this happen. Plus, they are not just tolerating, they are actively defending it, sane-washing it more then mainstream media.

And yet also, they all have choices. They are not at risk the same way people living under dictatorship are. They made choice to support this party again and again, because they agree with it.

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