Could any of you have imagined, four years ago

[Chainfire]

That our nation could possibly have had the drama over a national election the likes of which we are experiencing? I have to admit, I was naïve as hell about the state and strength of our Democracy. I could not have dreamed that any President, even a Trump, could have pulled such a tantrum and been supported by the United States Senate and a substantial proportion of the population.

I thought we had seen the worst with the Florida fiasco of 2000. Boy was I wrong.

A dictator wannabe sitting at the head of the United States government, with the blessings and support of tens of millions of Americans. Who woulda though it?

[Runningdawg]

1. I did and I know I can't be the only one.

He's been talking about coups, the deep state and rigged elections since he was just another dog in the pack. When he was elected, I absolutely saw this for 2020.

[byronius]

2. +1

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

24. +1...

... yep. eom.

[thenelm1]

26. Same here. Least we forget, he whined mightily back in 2016-17....

that it was inconceivable that he actually lost the popular vote by 3 mill. That it was all 'fake' and 'corrupt' and whatever other BS spewed from his yap at the time. And, as you said, he was pushing the same BS even before the election. But because he won the EC, and the big prize, he kind of let that whole schtick drop after several months. Then again, the whole last fours years have been, in one way or another, a constant whine fest and petulant statement of grievances against anyone who wouldn't 'bend the knee', so to speak, to his most stupendous self. How does all that grandiosity fit into one very thick skull?

[BlueMTexpat]

37. +1! eom

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

3. I used to post a graphic on DU called "Trump's Race to the Bottom."

Even though I was using the smallest font available, I stopped doing it once it was as long as the height of my screen -- and that was only nine months into this living hell.

[Silent3]

4. Not the exact details, but oh yeah, I imagined it

It was obvious to me from the start that Trump had all of the behaviors of a wannabe dictator, and he already established the theme in 2016 that the only way he could lose is if he was cheated.

That Trump can never admit defeat or error was also clear from the start.

So I knew he'd either cheat his way to victory in 2020, or if his cheating was insufficient to win, he'd claim he'd been cheated, deny his loss, fight it tooth and nail against leaving power, and make as big a mess on the way out the door if possible if he didn't figure out a way to cling to power.

We aren't out of the woods yet. I'm pretty sure Biden will be President come January 20th, but I am not 100% sure Trump wouldn't start a foreign war and/or a civil war, even drop nukes on American soil to create the chaos he needs. I hope that's just my imagination running away with me, but there's no 100% certainty about the limits with this monster.

[Runningdawg]

7. The only thing Trump has not accomplished that I expected was a war.

He wants to provoke a 911 style attack on American soil or blow some FOB in the sandbox off the face of the map. On the home front he keeps stirring the pot hoping it will boil over before he leaves office.

[winstars]

5. I did. I predicted a shootout between Secret Service and FBI agents to eject tRump!!!

Farfetched then and now but I said in January of 2017 this asshole will only leave kicking and screaming from the White House.

Lets see how wrong I was/am!!!

[MyOwnPeace]

10. Love 'ya, but.............

I'm really hoping you're wrong!

[winstars]

13. Me too. But as a NY'er, I know this jerk for 40 years and have NOT been surprised at all.

He's a freaking a-hole, always has been and always will be...

[MyOwnPeace]

16. Ya' know, you New Yarkers.......

really seem to be standing up and saying: "WE TOLD YOU!!!!!!"

And GAWD DAMN, you were SO RIGHT!!!!!!!!

And to think, there's still 70 million people out there that can't hear you......

[patphil]

32. I live about 60 miles from NYC on the west bank of the Hudson.

I've know what a jackass Trump was for about the same 40 years. I couldn't believe a NYC billionaire could get all these rural right wingers to embrace him.
They actually think he gives a shit about them!
They're just suckers and losers to him, but as long as they fill his rallies with adoring supporters, and take to the streets for him, he will pretend he cares.
What they don't realize is that they are the very people he would never associate with unless he needed them.

Right now he needs their money, and they will contribute to his cause (Trump enrichment fund) until it hurts because he's their God.

Too bad he can't help them gain heaven after they die. He can assist their downward journey though.

Hate has its price.

[brush]

6. I'm with you. Our democracy is weaker than we thought. Changes have to be made...

to the Constitution itself, which is blasphemy to many but it's true. The 25th Amendment has to be strengthened and the Electoral College has to be eliminated, or at lease changed to allocating one vote to the winner of each Congressional district as Nebraska and Maine do instead of the winner of the state takes all of its EC votes.

Both of course are a near-impossibility as changes to the Constitution require a three fourths approval by state legislatures.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. Democracy by its nature is weak, unnatural - it needs to be constantly nurtured, progressed.

When a society gets fat and lazy, doesn't have to make sacrifices, doesn't work together - the door to authoritarianism opens.

the 24 hour news cycle, right wing hate TV and radio, social networking all exacerbated this downfall.

[brush]

12. Unfortunately you are so right. It has to be nurtured. Let's hope that getting rid of trump...

is a first step.

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. It will be worth it, but will be hard work, will take patience, and take a long time.

The world in general is moving in the wrong direction.

[NRaleighLiberal]

8. I knew it would be very bad. It has managed to be even worse than my worst imaginations.

[XanaDUer2]

11. I had a feeling of dread

I thought he'd start a war.

[MyOwnPeace]

18. Unfortunately...............

we've got a few days left until he's REALLY gone........... (well, at least out of OUR HOUSE!).

[True Dough]

15. It's cost America badly on the world stage

The beacon of democracy and leadership by example is no longer. It will take a while to rebuild that reputation.

[MyOwnPeace]

19. I truly believe.........

that we've elected the best person to help us get that "beacon" lit and working again. Yes, we could have been pushing more for progressive ideals, but we first needed to get the "seat" back - and Joe is such a well-known/trusted leader that we should have a rather easy time getting ourselves squared away in the international community, especially with our former/once/future/still allies (yeah, IQ45 made all of those different categories possible).
I'm believing he'll have an easier time with international issues than he will with domestic issues, especially if we don't take Georgia. We've given him (Joe) a challenge in asking him to "make it all good again" without giving him the Senate.
Go, Joe!!!!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

17. The last four years have been like a collaboration of Tom Clancy and Steven King.

I knew it was going to be bad, but never did I dream THIS bad.

[Chainfire]

20. I could always imagine a nut in the White House

What was surprising is the support he has gotten from the other powers that be.

[rainin]

21. I actually hoped the Senate would convict him. My thinking was that they could free themselves

from the stranglehold trump has over them. I thought they'd prefer Pence over trump. I underestimated the degree to which the republican Congress is all in for trump.

I still don't understand it, unless they're hiding crimes trump knows about. But all of them? Couldn't they agree to let one or two take the fall for all of them, just to be rid of him?

Maybe McConnell is all in, and the rest of them are powerless to go against McConnell.

[Mariana]

25. The Republicans in the Senate were never going to convict him.

Even if many would have been glad to be rid of him, Trump's fervent cultists would never forgive them or forget. Every Republican who voted to convict would be primaried, and most of them would lose their seats. On top of that, so many of Trump's cultists are fucking crazy, and the Senators would also have to deal with the death threats on them and their families from the cultists. I think that's the same reasons so few of the Republican Senators and Representatives are willing to say publicly that Biden won. They're terrified of the cultists.

[JHB]

22. Unfortunately, yes. What this really amounts to...

...is a continuation and escalation of the standard Republican playbook: knock things over to get waht you want and brazen out the protests afterward so that your way becomes the new normal. Reagan did that plenty of times, Newt and Rush turned it into a business model, Dubya did it with how his people jeered at "the reality based community" (about the election, war, and economy), McConnell did it by making obstruction the paramount Republican way of dealing with Obama, etc.

The only real surprises are that I hadn't anticipated Trump, so I figured this kind of thing would be done by someone smarter and better able to pull it off, and by how hard the Republicans cling to the Trumpster ffire.

[bucolic_frolic]

23. Where does all this hatred lead?

After they own the libs ... what's the end game? Better lifestyle? Divide the spoils?

Maybe we're lucky, in a dark, perverse universe kind of way, that covid is along for the ride. It will cramp many plans and hinder the imprudent, which is mostly THEM.

[JackHughes]

27. I admit I never thought it would come to this

I assumed that Trump was so shockingly ignorant and incompetent that either his cabinet would remove him via the 25th Amendment or that enough Republicans would join Democrats to impeach him.

Jeeze, was I wrong.

[Brainfodder]

28. The fact Fox News is still a thing, told me what I need to know?

Meanwhile the politically ignorant and/or willing sheeple listen to the likes of Rush and M.L. and until the freedom to be a lying sack of provable shit on our airways/internet is taken away, here we are?

Continuing to just take mis/disinformation as just part of life/the game, is even dumber?

Fox News should be sued into oblivion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all know it!

[Chainfire]

39. And now, Fox News isn't crazy enough for the Trump supporters

They have found new places to get their news that have even less journalistic values. Pure hate fests.

[Brainfodder]

54. ...and the Donald at his rally just now spoke of them very highly like he owned stock in them!

He's probably already recorded praises for his headstone to spew when it's touched.

[lunatica]

29. What has shocked me the most is the depth of corruption in our government

But that doesn’t mean I’m not also shocked about the blatant abandon of criminality sown wide and far by the Trump family.

[NJCher]

30. no, I didn't imagine it would be this bad

Where I went wrong in my thinking was that there would be enough adults to keep him in check. As it turns out, there have been quite a few of those types of people (heroes, IMO), but what I didn't foresee was how many of them would quit and if they wouldn't quit, they would be fired.

I imagined he'd start a war; I never imagined a pandemic. A pandemic is a totally different ball game. If you'd told me this many Americans would be dying and he'd still get 7 million votes, I would have never believed it.

[blueinredohio]

31. And if nothing is done to these criminals its going to get worse. Lock them up.

[Warpy]

33. Bill Maher, for one.

Me, for another, because I've dealt with a lot of malignant narcissists over the years. I know how they operate. He's playing 100% by their rulebook and when bullying and cheating no longer work, he will start to hit back. Since he's a total coward, he will use his fan club as his weapon.

That's not going to work any better than bullying and cheating did, but it will be pretty miserable short term.

[Canoe52]

36. Same here, ex spouse, tRump will continue until he's stopped.

Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

[birdographer]

34. Not me

Kudos to all you who say you saw this coming, perhaps you had kept up with Trump and his activities on a far deeper level than a lot of Americans cared to. We were uneasy with Trump's win in 11/16 but did not realize, despite Hillary basically telling us, just how deep his anti-America stance went. And never thought that the Senate would allow corruption and criminal acts by our president to go unpunished. And that we were neighbors with some pretty twisted people. So no, I did not imagine THIS.

[lpbk2713]

35. I honestly never thought Trump would make it four years.

I really thought our other elected officials would come to an agreement
on recognizing Trump as a shameless traitor regardless of party affiliation.

Boy was I wrong.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

41. Yes, that was the more surprising aspect for me.

Trump is clearly a fascist, but I assumed even the Republican representatives would mostly stand up to the behavior eventually.

[JonLP24]

38. I couldn't

Studying right wing populism I understand why better. Trump is the natural result of 50 years of Southern Strategy.

[samsingh]

40. after 2000 and bush i know that repugs in charge leads to disaster

[Woodwizard]

42. I know a few trumpanzees

Their grasp of an alternate reality is very firm, it wont change at all during Biden's term. They hated President Obama with a passion.

[Roc2020]

43. No shock here. Considering the Russian interference

FBI investigation basically naming Trump a Russian Asset in the WH his desperation and fear in losing is about what I expected.

[intheflow]

44. I think most DUers who were around four years ago could imagine this.

Easily. We may have been divided on Clinton & Sanders, but we were united in loathing Trump & understanding the danger of a Trump presidency. I've been watching the rise of the right unfold over 20 years now. It's been tragic.

I blame the conservative takeover of media for a nation of people, like you, who couldn't have imagined this. And that's everything from Fox News to Rush Limbaugh to Parler to Clear Channel to only six corporations controlling most of the media we ingest. It's not at all surprising to me that so many people didn't know how absolutely corrupt the Republican party has become.

[disalitervisum]

45. Yeah, I've tried to warn people about this filthy excrement t**** for forty years

Nobody wanted to listen though, he was considered to be just an amusing aberration/entertainment.

[Victor_c3]

46. I'm not surprised. I expected worse

I believed that there would be much more support within the Republican Party for trump’s attempted election steal. I expected mass protest and a much more visceral response from the right.

[COL Mustard]

51. If It's Not Been Said, And If It Isn't Trite

Thank you for your service. You are a true American patriot!!!

[Victor_c3]

55. Much appreciated

It’s taken me a while to get to where I am with how I feel about my service. I used to harbor a lot of feelings of guilt and shame for what I was a part of in Iraq, but now I see that those experiences have made me into a more compassionate and caring person and a better father to my two daughters.

Thanks

[COL Mustard]

57. I Got Out In 2003,Before It All Went To Hell

I sometimes think I should have stayed, but can’t rewrite history.

[ramapo]

47. Hard to believe but then again...

I always wondered how Hitler did it. Now I see

[Ahpook]

48. I think we all knew

this thing would bring all kinds of chaos. We certainly didn't know what it would be, though. Doubt he did/does either.

I'm more blown away how our gov't can be brought to its knees by a few assholes. We seemingly can't do shit about it. We better go after these people when this is over or I will never trust the politicians in D.C. again.

This has to have an answer or the next jerk is going to be even worse. Bank on that!

[COL Mustard]

49. Yes, In My Darkest Dreams

That's why I, as a former Republican, voted for Hillary. What's going on now scares the crap out of me. And I say that as a retired military officer and current DoD civilian employee.

[Alhena]

50. Kind of, have been heartened that a lot of Republican federal judges have opposed him though

[Blue Owl]

52. 2020 is FUBAR

Just completely FUBAR

[GoCubsGo]

53. Yes. Anyone who has paid attention to this asshole over the past 30 years knew

we were about to be screwed big-time. I figured he would trash the economy, which he did. I also knew he was going to destroy the country in other ways. I wasn't quite sure how, but I knew it was going to be bad. Really bad.

[spanone]

56. I feared the worse and got it

the central park five and birtherism told me all I needed to know about the despicable 'man'

[jimlup]

58. It is interesting to me that many Americans expressed their fear of the extreme left yet ...

this most serious threat to our democracy ever has come from the extreme right.