It looks like Trump now has his Stormtroopers (Stoßtruppen)

I am beginning to wonder what he has got in mind with Putin. I’ve a terrible sinking feeling that they intend to stitch Europe up and carve Greenland up between them.

imaround

Honestly, I have had to take a step back and try to live as "normal" of a life as I can and tell myself that the World has survived dictators before. I can see where we are headed, but cant change anything. I worry about my children's futures as they are not white males. At least 22 states that my oldest shouldn't live in because she has no rights, including the right to life if she has a miscarriage.

My youngest has only about 5 states he can live in because he is LGBTQ.

This is not the world I promised my children.

Oh, and gay marriage is about to be overturned. We are actually going backwards.

I was just learning about the same sex marriage issues. First those identify as trans now those who identify as gay. Next those who see it as their right to have control over their fertility perhaps?

Two things really strike me. First, this sounds like "First they came" and that ends with the author/reader being taken as,

"... there was no one left
To speak out for me"

This seems to suggest that, although you may look askance at other groups beware; your time may well come. But even more that all the groups I have ever seen called out have all always existed (read about ancient Rome and Greece if you don't believe me) but yet again we are seeing them turned on - by other groups - meeting the needs of those searching for total power.

I expect everyone has these or similar thoughts but why do we never learn?

Sorry imaround. I didn't mean to sound depressing. Just know you are in my thought and, I imagine, many others on here.

You didn't. It is realistic and I feel the same way. Some days I let myself wallow, but that is fewer and fewer. We are all targets eventually.

He sent masked and armed Border Patrol agents to Gavin Newsome's press conference today. Nothing like an authoritarian show of force.

I keep recalling the rumours that the Russians have tapes of Trump’s behaviour in Russia, giving them power over him

imaround

You didn't. It is realistic and I feel the same way. Some days I let myself wallow, but that is fewer and fewer. We are all targets eventually.

He sent masked and armed Border Patrol agents to Gavin Newsome's press conference today. Nothing like an authoritarian show of force.

I wonder if this decent into authoritarianism is becoming inevitable😡

There is a poll today in U.K. showing that over 30% of young people would prefer authoritarianism over democracy.

What on earth is going wrong?

My guess is that they feel democracy hasn't worked for them. My guess is when they say they would like authoritarianism they mean an authoritarian regime which they agree with and reflects their beliefs, their is a tendency in all of us I think to be attracted to that.

There not their

I’m wondering if this demographic is particularly different from the rest of us (i.e uk older demographics)?

We have a fair representation of authoritarians on this site and I recall a lot of admiration for Johnson’s rule breaking to ‘get things done’.
We’ve some Trump admirers, too.
And those who are convinced that Farage would cut to the chase with some strong man solutions to the nation’s problems.

I’d be interested to see how the rest of us (30+ yr olds) would do if polled with the same questions.

Just popping on to share how it's going in the US right now. Sigh.

That's not the story the independent are carrying about it.

I went and looked at the story in the Independent.

Texas Republicans are forcing Democrats to sign something that says they will return to the Capital and forcing a police escort on them to keep them on task.

She is not a criminal to be brought to court by the police or else. She is an elected official and they are trying to limit her personal freedoms in order to force her to do what they want her to do.

Good for her for taking a stand and raising awareness to what Republicans resort to to get their way. It is authoritarian and not acceptable.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/nicole-collier-protest-texas-democrats-b2810142.html

She has been at it for 24+ hours. Good for her.

"The majority of the Democrats complied with the law enforcement escort, showing reporters what they called “permission slips” they received to leave the House floor and pointing to the officers escorting them around the Capitol.

But Collier refused to enter into that agreement and has been confined to the House floor since returning. She can only leave the floor to return to her office under the watch of a law enforcement officer, an aide said, and cannot leave the state Capitol unless she agrees to outside supervision."

amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/19/politics/nicole-collier-confined-texas-state-capitol-house-redistricting

Apparently it wasnt just illegal migration that bothers him. How many times have I heard, if they just come here legally. These 55 million did, so I guess it is about racism after all.

Which surprises no one.

www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-trump-deportations-us-visas-deportable-violations_n_68a76d66e4b03a473eb1c9e8

Here we go. The National Guard is being placed in 19 different states.

www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-national-guard-military-states-cities-b2812837.html

I have just informed my pen-pal in S Carolina that she will soon be honoured with their presence. We seem to get the news before she does! I have advised her not to get too sunburnt in what remains of the Summer, just in case...

The police state is now here. The military will now be sent out to quell protests.

www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2025-08-25/trump-hegseth-national-guard-18876673.html

Are there enough military to quell organised mass protests throughout the USA if they happen at the same time though imaround? You have some enormous cities which are strongly democrat, and it will surely be very hard to control if protests get out of hand.

There are a total of approximately 431,000 National Guardsman in the United states. If he runs out of those, he can bring all troops back into the country at any time. There are 1.3 million of them Worldwide. Add to that the now largest federal police force in the World, ICE agents who run around masked kidnapping people off the street. And local police forces that are typically overwhelmingly MAGA.

The onky way to stop this if for the 77 million who voted for him to use their 2A rights. Hard to do when he is giving a large portion if them what they want, the ability to hide behind masks and hurt people who are different from, them without any recourse. They are happy to be allowed to be thier most horrible racist, homophobic, dictator loving selves.

I can't see a way out of this regime honestly. People ask why Germans didn't stand up and now i see why. It won't stop what is happening, it will only get you killed at some point. I have young adult children who are going to need as much as I can do for them as they are losing rights every day. Other countries are not welcoming the influx of Americans who are fleeing. What are we supposed to do right now?

He is ordering the Gerrymandering of red states to give him a Super Majority in the House. Texas just gave him 10 reliable red seats. California is now redistricting to combat it but Missouri and Idaho aren't far behind.

He has taken control of all 3 branches if Goverment. There are no more checks and balances, only him and his minions ushering us out of Democracy.

He has taken control of Union Station in Washington DC away from Amtrak. He will control who is coming and going soon.

www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-extends-control-over-washington-131255867.html

Every day I watch with horror.

I am sure that we may well have the same fight on our hands within the next 10 years, and am coming to the conclusion, that violence (civil war) is inevitable in order to stop it.

What has happened is unbelievable, when you look back at our lives when liberal democracy was taken for granted and the rule of law respected and paramount.

Oh imaround, what a terrible place you find yourself in. I am so sorry for you and other citizens of the U.S who feel so powerless.

What is coming next, Defenestrations of political opponents?

No need to throw them physically out of windows - just destroy their reputations with very public arrests for minor infringements from decades ago, and if you can't find any, fake them.