If Trump wins, do you think he will shut down Democratic and Liberal websites?

[smirkymonkey]

That is one of my greatest fears, because I don't know what I would do without a community of other Dems/Liberals to commiserate with in a time of crisis. Imagine how isolated you would feel under a Trump dictatorship with nobody to talk to openly and honestly.

I think I would go completely mad.

[Iliyah]

1. Yes.

[MontanaMama]

2. Why wouldn't he?

[milestogo]

3. What's stopping him now?

[smirkymonkey]

9. There are still laws in place.

There won't be if he wins.

[milestogo]

20. There is no AG to enforce the laws.

[lapfog_1]

4. I'm sure this will make the facists happy

but I'm getting my passport ready and going someplace else.

[lpbk2713]

5. He'll do his best to shut down those sites on election night.

We've certainly seen that happen before.

[smirkymonkey]

11. We need to find a way to circumvent this.

We can not let him cut us off from each other.

[texasfiddler]

29. I was On DU when it happened in 2016

It was a weird video of trump looking like a gangster and at the end he points a handgun at me and says get on board. DU was down for a while. That was a very terrible time in our history. Not looking looking forward to anything like it again.

[TDale313]

6. Dunno what he'll actually do...

But he’s threatened to pull CNN and MSNBC’s broadcast licenses... so censoring the internet wouldn’t surprise me

[onenote]

45. CNN and MSNBC don't have broadcast licenses.

He says stupid shit. Why do you think he knows what he's talking about.

[Girard442]

7. Sites will be at risk in direct proportion to how effective they are.

Any site that pisses off Trump will definitely be shut.

Had to shut it down. We found terrorist activity and child porn there.

[smirkymonkey]

10. Do we have a backup plan?

[Girard442]

13. Needs to be something distributed and decentralized.

Think in terms of the old Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes).

[bdamomma]

58. We certainly

need one. Any dissent will be squashed. Unless we all vote we can knock out this bully.

[LiberalFighter]

8. He will shut down sites on election day.

Like the Russians did or someone did to DU in 2016.

[smirkymonkey]

12. We need a plan.

It's time to start now. I'm not the best organizing type, but someone here needs to come up with a backup plan. We can't allow him to cut us off from each other.

[Generic Brad]

15. We can use homing pigeons to communicate

I'm flipping a bird in his direction this very moment.

[Ilsa]

28. But then they could intercept and tag

the birds with GPS monitors! They could find out everyone on DU!

[Generic Brad]

33. I just like flipping birds at Trump

[Paladin]

14. Yes, if he can get away with it.

What's to stop him, at this point?

[MFM008]

16. He will do

Whatever he can get away with.

[Jake Stern]

17. Jeezus the conspiracy theorizing on here is reaching Infowars levels.

He's gonna stop the election

He's gonna nullify the results

He's gonna barricade himself in the White House with the support of rogue military and thousands of armed supporters

He's gonna send in the marshals to arrest Hillary and Nancy on January 20th

He's gonna shut down all liberal stations, websites and publications

Yet nobody on here can give a concrete constitutional way for him to achieve ANY of the above.

My prediction: on January 20th 2021 he will leave as the law dictates if he loses. If he were to win you will see more impotent investigations by the Republicans into Hillary and Nancy coming to nothing.

[TwilightZone]

18. Agreed.

We should probably spend our time trying to figure out how to beat him instead of wasting it on a bunch of nonsense that has zero chance of happening.

Trump says stupid shit like "I'm going to be here 26 more years" solely to get a rise out of people. And it works every single time.

[Jake Stern]

19. Trump says outrageous shit because he enjoys watching our side get whipped into a froth

He's living rent free in the heads of far too many folks, especially on here.

[VOX]

38. Do you honestly think Trump gives a damn about the Constitution, and that it protects us from him?

He doesn’t care. He’s the loosest of ideological cannons. And his inner circle has been whittled down to “true believers” as well. The adults (such as they were) have long ago left the building.

The Trumpist criminals have been breaking laws left and right without a hitch. There is no backstop, no protection or buffer by the Constitution, or Senate, or SCOTUS, or laws, or whistleblowers, or free press. In spite of his lawlessness, he is ironically the freest man in America. He can (and will) say/do whatever his agitated moods dictate. And his lickspittle lieutenants will jump at his command.

You seriously underestimate this insane, vengeful man. He is psychologically weak, but has amassed considerable power in the executive branch. Those two facts alone make him very dangerous.

[bdamomma]

59. ha,

26 years??? not really he is rather delusional.

[smirkymonkey]

21. Don't believe me, just watch.

We'll see. There is nothing I put past him. He doesn't give a flying fuck about the constitution or the rule of law.

[VOX]

31. Never underestimate a far-right, drug-addled autocrat with a cadre of insane supporters.

Assess the damage done already. Walls. Lifetime right-wing judges. Regulations trashed. Voter suppression. Damning of the free press. Children in cages. Persecution of political opponents. Thinly-veiled threats of physical violence to dissenters. A cult-like following that has made documented death threats to critics. Lawbreaking in broad daylight without consequences. Withholding critical security information. Complete ignorance of the Constitution, and no evidence of adherence to it. Using the nation’s highest office for personal financial gain. Inserting close family members into high-ranking, sensitive positions of immense diplomatic responsibility. Conspiring with a hostile foreign power to tilt an American election, and preparing to repeat that act. Going to the brink of war with Iran. Continuing intent to destroy national healthcare. Plans to move funds from Medicare and Social Security. Steady accumulation of power to the executive branch. Inability to learn from mistakes. Unable to consider advice or direction.

These (and more) distinctly un-American events have already happened. Imagine this: If defeated, Trump will congratulate the winner, thank his staff for their loyalty and simply leave office, like all other presidents have done before him.

Does the the above scenario ring true? Does it describe a situation that’s in keeping with what we have witnessed for the past 3-plus years?

Trump does *nothing* quietly, or fairly, or legitimately. Nor does he surrender any ideological ground. It would be very consistent with his demonstrated behavior to contest the results of an election, especially if all the Republican machinations don’t pan out.

I put *nothing* past this insane, bitter criminal. Nothing. It would be wise to have a plan in place that deals with Trump either not recognizing the results of an election he does not win, or not surrendering the office per the law. Because, as has been witnessed repeatedly, the law means nothing to Trump or his circle.

[DashOneBravo]

43. +1

[AncientGeezer]

57. Right??

If you are going to shut down opposition sites do it while you are running...to help you win.
Not after you win..

[hughee99]

22. I don't think people have a reasonable understanding of what

Things the president actually has the power to do.

[smirkymonkey]

23. Yes, I agree.

And that is just now. Imagine how bad it will get if he wins a second term. It will be a full on dictatorship. He will impose his will on the entire nation.

[hughee99]

24. I'll bet he will repeal the laws of gravity and thermodynamics,

Rendering all machinery inoperable.

[rzemanfl]

26. Nah! He has no idea what the fuck those are. n/t

[smirkymonkey]

27. Laugh now.

Just wait until he has absolute power.

[VOX]

34. Indeed.

Because it’s been a bed of roses so far.

If re-elected, 45 will be a holy terror with NOTHING to stop him. Not the law, not the press, not the Senate (they’ll be cheering, if they remain Rs), not the House, not the SCOTUS.

It’ll be a four-year fascist’s holiday, all downhill with no brakes, to mix metaphors. I don’t expect the U.S. (as we know it) to survive it.

[ecstatic]

25. Yes, and I think journalists he doesn't like will be poisoned.

Who in the hell would stop him?

Congress would be safely back in GOP hands.

The Supreme Court would be fully stacked with right wingers.

Any remaining career officials will be fired and replaced with trump sycophants / white supremacists.

The final steps will involve constitutional amendments, starting with removing presidential term limits.

[delisen]

30. No! The sites will be operational because they can be monitored nt

[smirkymonkey]

35. Really, were you here for the last presidential election?

We went dark.

[delisen]

37. I understand and I think it was probably an attack but not by government.

However I think modern authoritarian regimes will let sites operate because it allows them to spy.

I could see a modern authoritarian state occasionally and unpredictably taking down a site as a form of terrorism -to spread a sense of despair, anxiety and isolation-but I think in general sites will be up and be tampered with.

[smirkymonkey]

39. I hope you are right, but I still don't like the idea of being monitored.

I just don't put anything past them. There is no low to which they won't sink.

[delisen]

41. Iagree with you totally. ...and monitoring leads to people being afraid

to post honestly so we devolve into a police state

[Chainfire]

55. Exactly

It is such an easy way to gather information on who is actually and enemy of the state.

[virgogal]

32. No.

[smirkymonkey]

36. Really?

You have a lot of faith in our future totalitarian overlords.

[budkin]

40. Not sure but you'll see a huge change in libel laws

He'll start going after the press like Russia does.

[Hoyt]

42. No. He might want to, but won't get away with that.

[onenote]

44. no

[kentuck]

46. If Trump wins...

He will try to shut down the Democratic Party.

We can only imagine the turmoil.

[Hotler]

47. In a heart beat. nt

[sarisataka]

48. Putin would never allow it

Think of how Russia's unemployment rate would jump without those sites

[Raine]

49. No nt

[Happy Hoosier]

50. I think if he wins, all bets are off.

The GOP has proven they will hold him accountable, and the courts will be well and truly packed.

We will be well and truly fucked.

[Democrats Ascendant]

51. Probably, BUT

a beautiful resistance movement will rise up from here on DU!

[Codeine]

52. Come on, dude.

This is silly.

[still_one]

53. Nope, but the entire judicial branch will be destroyed

[AncientGeezer]

56. No.....why would "it"?

If you want a benefit from shutting down sites..do it while running to stay in power...not After you retained power.
It makes no sense to wait.

[LanternWaste]

60. I see no objective evidence he would.

Regardless, idiot trump and his heroic band of dull-witted techno monkeys would look more dignified (and have more success) playing whack-a-mole blindfolded than they would any real attempt to remove web sites.

[malaise]

61. He's not winning shit

Take that to the bank