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The reckoning (Original Post) orangecrush Dec 17 OP
There will be calls for healing and for "looking forward, not backward" Orrex Dec 17 #1
We know who will do this orangecrush Dec 17 #2
The wins will be hollow... llmart Dec 17 #15
Every contributor to Project 2025 put their name on that crap RetiredParatrooper Dec 17 #45
We CANNOT allow our electeds to pull that destructive shit again pat_k Dec 17 #47
The only way to heal from this is to hold every accomplice and criminal accountable.nt Trueblue Texan Dec 17 #51
In order to heal, Just Jerome Dec 17 #3
Co opting orangecrush Dec 17 #4
Would you absorb a cancer into your system to neutralize it? Lochloosa Dec 17 #55
Agree 100% orangecrush Dec 17 #61
There are too many sycophants, enablers and provocateurs to eradicate. sop Dec 17 #5
I disagree orangecrush Dec 17 #6
Yes, but let's not make the mistake that was made before. This time, go from the top down. Scrivener7 Dec 17 #10
All the Jan 6 insurrectionists like gym Jordan, MTG, etc JT45242 Dec 17 #7
There are so many more who have been criminals across ... pat_k Dec 17 #48
JUSTICE -- upholding Constitutional rule of law -- is required Martin Eden Dec 17 #8
Focusing on just him and his cabinet isn't enough. llmart Dec 17 #16
I wasn't suggesting we limit the scope. Martin Eden Dec 17 #17
Impeachment llmart Dec 17 #21
Gifts from billionaires with issues before the court Martin Eden Dec 17 #27
It's the racism and the greed. LuvLoogie Dec 17 #9
We need to be sure to choose someone who promises to do this. Scrivener7 Dec 17 #11
Everything is projection with this regime including the deep state thing. Dr. T Dec 17 #12
This thread is delusional. None of this will happen. Bluetus Dec 17 #13
Nonsense orangecrush Dec 17 #28
Amen, sister. No 'let bygones be bygones' or 'let's move on' shit. ACCOUNTABILITY. Joinfortmill Dec 17 #14
I remember when Obama said PatSeg Dec 17 #18
THIS orangecrush Dec 17 #29
I also remember catchnrelease Dec 17 #41
And I rather understand in a way why they avoided PatSeg Dec 17 #42
Obama began his presidency making speeches about bipartisanship and clean coal. Intractable Dec 17 #52
He was a very effective politician, PatSeg Dec 17 #53
Ideally, Biden and Obama should have switched places as presidents. Intractable Dec 17 #59
Wow, that was my feeling as well PatSeg Dec 17 #60
many of us agreed at that time, for the sake of political expediency, but we damn sure didn't agree in 2021! ecstatic Dec 17 #57
Eight years of Bush was just so exhausting PatSeg Dec 17 #58
Aw ffs. I was wondering when Obama would be blamed . Solomon Dec 18 #63
The word "If" isn't usually... littlemissmartypants Dec 17 #19
"If" orangecrush Dec 17 #30
Sounds wishy-washy, imo. littlemissmartypants Dec 17 #49
I agree, there needs to be a reckoning, a comeuppance, but no retribution like Mierda47 is doing .... aggiesal Dec 17 #20
Commendable orangecrush Dec 17 #31
As long as it's not Retaliatory or Retribution. Go after them based solely on the LAW. n/t aggiesal Dec 17 #36
There is no law now orangecrush Dec 17 #39
We can't be like (R)'s, it will only lead to anarchy. ... aggiesal Dec 17 #54
Kick. N/T Upthevibe Dec 17 #22
Thanks orangecrush Dec 17 #32
Absolute truth, and we've seen it slightlv Dec 17 #23
Thank you, Orange Escape Dec 17 #24
Most welcome orangecrush Dec 17 #40
I want to see assets seized. Alice B. Dec 17 #25
The failure of the Obama administration to arrest and prosecute the Bundy rioters and the failure of the Biden flashman13 Dec 17 #26
We now have incontrovertible proof that there can be no bipartisanship with Republicans - that was all a pipe dream (or Martin68 Dec 17 #33
"Date Rape" BurnDoubt Dec 17 #38
Need to make changes to SCOTUS if you want anything to stick. Bev54 Dec 17 #34
Are Democrats running on that message? WhiskeyGrinder Dec 17 #35
We can Heal... BurnDoubt Dec 17 #37
We all need to demand that of our next president that's a Democrat oldmanlynn Dec 17 #43
This should have been started January 20, 2021 RetiredParatrooper Dec 17 #44
For once MaineBlueBear Dec 17 #46
Eradication sounds good to me. AverageOldGuy Dec 17 #50
I get so mad everytime I think about how trump was let go ecstatic Dec 17 #56
Exactly. Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Latin America all stopped short of doing just that peppertree Dec 17 #62

Orrex

(66,810 posts)
1. There will be calls for healing and for "looking forward, not backward"
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 07:13 AM
Dec 17

And Republicans will stymie every attempt to correct or undo every single one of Trump's misdeeds.

We're in for a long couple of decades.

orangecrush

(29,363 posts)
2. We know who will do this
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 07:21 AM
Dec 17

And who did this last time.

We need to primary them so they can't do it again.

And that should be as much a priority as winning elections.

Because if you don't do it, the wins will be hollow.

pat_k

(12,817 posts)
47. We CANNOT allow our electeds to pull that destructive shit again
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:35 PM
Dec 17

All the looking forward not back is how we got here.

No more weak, mealy mouthed bullshit about "making sure it doesn't happen again," while guaranteeing that it does by refusing to hold perpetrators accountable.

Over, and over, and over the same names crop up in every criminal administration for a reason.

Never again.

It it up to citizen lobbyists to demand prosecutions. We the people must hold the criminals accountable for their crimes.

This is a moral imperative

Just Jerome

(453 posts)
3. In order to heal,
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 07:59 AM
Dec 17

the snake or cancer or infection or metaphor of your choice MUST be eviscerated. That’s where those “forward lookers” are pathetically short-sighted. Sadly, donors’ checks have a lot to do with that.

orangecrush

(29,363 posts)
4. Co opting
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:06 AM
Dec 17

"Co-optation means taking something (an idea, person, or movement) and absorbing it into your own group or system, often to neutralize its threat, gain control, or use it for your own purposes, sometimes by offering inclusion or rewards, while another meaning is adding a new member to a committee by existing members' vote. It's a tactic to assimilate opposition, adopt popular concepts, or fill roles without open selection, shifting the original meaning or power. "

Lochloosa

(16,686 posts)
55. Would you absorb a cancer into your system to neutralize it?
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:59 PM
Dec 17

No, you cut it out, bombard it with powerful killing drugs and radiation.

What we face is a cancer that must be eradicated. Period.

sop

(17,928 posts)
5. There are too many sycophants, enablers and provocateurs to eradicate.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:08 AM
Dec 17

I'll be happy if Miller, Hegseth, Noem, Bondi and a couple more accomplices are prosecuted.

pat_k

(12,817 posts)
48. There are so many more who have been criminals across ...
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:49 PM
Dec 17

...multiple administrations.

The "rank and file" must be held accountable too.

Immoral assholes like Alex Acosta and his like who have been obstructing justice and violating the constitution for decades.

And for the crimes against the nation that may not fit a specific charge, a truth and societal justice process to make the harms to this nation public and pass laws that bar the perpetrators of those harms from public service.

Martin Eden

(15,443 posts)
8. JUSTICE -- upholding Constitutional rule of law -- is required
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:25 AM
Dec 17

Not revenge, retribution, abuse of power, or done to satisfy the justifiable rage we all feel.

Undertaken as solemn sworn duty, not only to hold criminals accountable for their crimes, but to ensure nothing like this happens again.

And YES -- this is also necessary for HEALING. Horrible wounds must be cleansed and closed to prevent further infection.

llmart

(17,460 posts)
16. Focusing on just him and his cabinet isn't enough.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:27 AM
Dec 17

There are too many judges who have his back including the very top of our judicial system. They have appointments for life. If you're going to start at the top, it has to be with the courts, especially the Supreme Court. Unless some of them retire and/or die off while a Dem is President, the majority of them will not be supportive of our agendas.

Martin Eden

(15,443 posts)
17. I wasn't suggesting we limit the scope.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:37 AM
Dec 17

But I maintain it should all be done based on Constitutional law for just cause, and not motivated by retribution.

Supreme Court justices can be impeached, but it may require more than disagreeable rulings.

LuvLoogie

(8,644 posts)
9. It's the racism and the greed.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:27 AM
Dec 17

It runs through the veins of 10s of millions.

And this regime feeds and feeds off of this.

Dr. T

(548 posts)
12. Everything is projection with this regime including the deep state thing.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:59 AM
Dec 17

They accused liberal Democrats of creating one when nothing could be further from the truth. Then, they proceeded to rid the government of anyone and anything that did not swear allegiance to the Orange Influenza. They've created their own cancerous deep state that must be eradicated.

Bluetus

(2,488 posts)
13. This thread is delusional. None of this will happen.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:59 AM
Dec 17

There is too much big money paying people to make sure the people never are represented again.

PatSeg

(52,560 posts)
18. I remember when Obama said
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:38 AM
Dec 17

Last edited Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:30 PM - Edit history (1)

at the beginning of his first term that we need to look forward and not dwell on the past (the many crimes of the Bush administration).

So many of us were upset and it appears we were right. If there is no accountability, the offenders just come back and do the same things again and again, while encouraging newcomers to do the same. Some people never learn it appears.

catchnrelease

(2,139 posts)
41. I also remember
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 03:24 PM
Dec 17

during Bush's last year, people posted that there wouldn't be another republican president elected for many decades because he was so bad. But nothing was done to hold him and his cronies accountable for their crimes and here we are. Always looking forward. For the good of the country. Etc etc. BS!!

I can just hear the excuses that will be coming--'there are too many laws that are being broken to prosecute them all. It will be chaos. The country will be in turmoil, we need to get back to 'normal' governing. We don't want to alienate all of the r voters. The courts will be tied up for years.........'

Good. Make a special commission or whatever you'd call it. Prosecute all of them with televised trials! Do it all by the book but spare no one involved.

Do I think it will ever happen? No. Sadly no.

PatSeg

(52,560 posts)
42. And I rather understand in a way why they avoided
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:04 PM
Dec 17

prosecuting members of the Bush administration. Politically it would look very vindictive and petty. It certainly could be construed as divisive, but shit, look at what we have now. We are more divisive than ever. Not to mention, so many of us voted out republicans because of the crimes committed.

I don't think anyone expected (I know I didn't), that it would all just be swept under the rug. I agree that petty, frivolous prosecutions are inappropriate, as we're witnessing today, but no accountability at all is just an invitation to do it all again. So many of these people are repeat offenders and given the chance, they come back for more. Then of course, there are the copycat lawbreakers who will feel it is safe to push the boundaries because nothing ever happens.

I do understand why Obama as the first black president had to be very careful, being the "angry black president" was the image his adversaries and right-wing media wanted to promote. That was kind of ridiculous of course, as Obama was one of the most disciplined, cautious presidents we've had.

PatSeg

(52,560 posts)
53. He was a very effective politician,
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 08:44 PM
Dec 17

but I think at times he was a bit naive. This all might have worked at another time in our history, but not in this century. I think an older and more experienced Obama might have been more realistic.

I appreciate the optimism and lofty rhetoric during a campaign, but the White House is a far more pragmatic environment and the catchy slogans didn't get progressive legislation passed.

Intractable

(1,755 posts)
59. Ideally, Biden and Obama should have switched places as presidents.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 10:19 PM
Dec 17

> but I think at times he was a bit naive.



They worried about Obama's blackness. I worried about his "greenness."

At the time, of clean coal, I remember thinking that if he had mentioned that sh*t on the campaign trail, Hillary would have been president.

PatSeg

(52,560 posts)
60. Wow, that was my feeling as well
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 10:33 PM
Dec 17

Eight years of Joe Biden could have easily been followed by eight years of Barack Obama who would have been a far more seasoned and experienced politician by then. They were a great team, but it would have been better in reverse in the beginning.

ecstatic

(35,032 posts)
57. many of us agreed at that time, for the sake of political expediency, but we damn sure didn't agree in 2021!
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 10:03 PM
Dec 17

We were loud and vocal about wanting justice.

PatSeg

(52,560 posts)
58. Eight years of Bush was just so exhausting
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 10:10 PM
Dec 17

that many of us hoped there would be accountability, but yes, as exhausted as we were, quite a few felt it might be better to move on. I could see both sides at the time. Now I feel that there are some lines we cannot let out politicians cross if we want to protect and preserve our democracy.

Solomon

(12,640 posts)
63. Aw ffs. I was wondering when Obama would be blamed .
Thu Dec 18, 2025, 03:00 AM
Dec 18

This shit started with the end of the Civil War when they didn't hang the traitors afterward. Instead, they actually let the losers write the history instead of executing them.

That's why the mf' ers are still with us today.

littlemissmartypants

(32,803 posts)
19. The word "If" isn't usually...
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:47 AM
Dec 17

Recommend as a way to start a mission statement.

This suggests that a huge attitude adjustment is necessary in order for anything of substance to be initiated much less gained.

We've got a long row to hoe.

orangecrush

(29,363 posts)
30. "If"
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 02:12 PM
Dec 17

Can be a great motivator.

Because "if" we don't start fighting and stop with the strongly worded letters, we will fail.

aggiesal

(10,641 posts)
20. I agree, there needs to be a reckoning, a comeuppance, but no retribution like Mierda47 is doing ....
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:54 AM
Dec 17

No, we want to prosecute those that broke laws and can be indicted by a grand jury with evidence so compelling that the grand jury can't make any other decision but to indict. Then juries of 12 that will see the evidence and convict them all.

Next we'll have to change the Pardon Laws that a President can't pardon anyone in his/her administrations, that enabled the breaking of those laws. Those convicted can still be pardoned, but not by the President whose administration they were working for.

That's what I'm hoping for.

orangecrush

(29,363 posts)
31. Commendable
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 02:15 PM
Dec 17

Last edited Wed Dec 17, 2025, 03:07 PM - Edit history (1)

I say we give them back every bit of what they dished out on their own plate.


Seems fair enough.

aggiesal

(10,641 posts)
54. We can't be like (R)'s, it will only lead to anarchy. ...
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 09:21 PM
Dec 17

We need to go after those that violated the law, by using the law.
If we don't use the law, when (R)'s get back into power, they will do even worse.
We have to use the law and go after all the enablers.

Escape

(406 posts)
24. Thank you, Orange
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 12:46 PM
Dec 17

THIS is the most important lesson we all must learn. Every person who committed a crime, in their involvement with Trump, must pay their debt to society--in full.

And THIS TIME, we don't start at the bottom and work our way up.

There must be no Merrick Garlands.

flashman13

(2,220 posts)
26. The failure of the Obama administration to arrest and prosecute the Bundy rioters and the failure of the Biden
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 01:16 PM
Dec 17

administration, and in particular Merrick Garland, to arrest and prosecute Trump for inciting an insurrection and stealing secret government documents immediately in early 2021 clearly supports your contention that the monster will simply regroup and come back. Trump learned that he could get away with anything.

Martin68

(27,315 posts)
33. We now have incontrovertible proof that there can be no bipartisanship with Republicans - that was all a pipe dream (or
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 02:28 PM
Dec 17

an AI hallucination). We know that their only goal is to enrich themselves, imprison and/or deport all the people they hate (the list is endless), and punish their political opponents. The only way forward is to purge government of these maggots and put laws in place that will strengthen all the soft spots in our democracy that they have exploited. If they want "healing," let them confess their sins in the public square and heal themselves.

oldmanlynn

(793 posts)
43. We all need to demand that of our next president that's a Democrat
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:14 PM
Dec 17

And I would like to add that they should definitely revoke the license of Fox News because they have created this divide by stalking this hatred that we have today and manipulating all of these uneducated people into believing things that are not true. This has been harmful to our country and we can establish that and we have the evidence of that and so we should be able to revoke Fox News license

RetiredParatrooper

(120 posts)
44. This should have been started January 20, 2021
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:28 PM
Dec 17

Instead, the Dem leadership was feckless, which led to the ridiculous situation we are in. They need to wake the hell up and understand that the rules are different now.

At this time, I donate to candidates I like. Neither the Senatorial or Congressional re-election people will get anything from me unless and until I hear candidates saying things like the mem does.

MaineBlueBear

(445 posts)
46. For once
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 05:30 PM
Dec 17

Id like to see a Democratic lawyer(s) in charge of the investigation. Jack Smith and Robert Muller are both Republicans. Just once put a dem in charge, please!

AverageOldGuy

(3,563 posts)
50. Eradication sounds good to me.
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 07:36 PM
Dec 17

That was the failure on Jan 6 - Capitol Police should have issued automatic weapons and stacked the bodies ten high all around the Capitol.

peppertree

(23,187 posts)
62. Exactly. Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Latin America all stopped short of doing just that
Wed Dec 17, 2025, 11:06 PM
Dec 17

In some cases, prosecuting the top brass from their former fascist regimes and some of the most brazen cases - but not the fascist judiciary figures, yes-men and such.

In many cases, what resulted is that within a generation or so, these same miscreants (or, more often, their children) would come back to either interfere with their hard-gain democracies...

or - like in Argentina - basically re-establish the same dictatorship but under a "democratic" guise (complete with show trials, etc.).

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