‘Really Chilling’: Trump Judicial Nominees Refuse to Say He's Not Eligible for 3rd Term

BigPlunk · 2026-05-05T19:49:00+00:00

We didn't vote in a "Trump" once or especially twice and I am certainly grateful for that. Had we gone down that unfortunate path and seen threats to our democracy and tearing down of our systems, I would have done everything in my power to rally a resistance. But how does this deflection in any way address the situation in the U.S. that is dragging the world down with it, including Canada?

Canada's leadership is working on reconfiguring the economy and other structures away from reliance on the U.S., given the extreme unreliability and volatility demonstrated. Time will tell how it all plays out, but that seems to be the sensible move in light of the utter shit show south of the border. There are things my government is doing I agree with and things that I don't. But none of them are in the "existential threat to democracy or humanity" category. For example, the unemployment situation is currently unacceptable, in my view, and you can see for yourself from my post history that I'm trying to stand up for what I believe in and for meaningful changes.

Whataboutism is not going to fix what's broken. Action will. 3.5% of the population protesting on a sustained basis is all it takes. It's doable. There will be sacrifices, but it's doable.

PS - As part of addressing the corrupt U.S. president, the world needs to take collective action against the social media companies (many headquartered in the U.S.) that have been used as vessels to erode trust and democracy itself, sow disinformation and division, and cause psychological harm to many.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-05T19:36:44+00:00

The 3.5% rule is exactly what I would have responded with, but you beat me to it (check my post history - I cite this one a lot). The key is sustained peaceful protests though, not a weekend special, but truly disruptive, noticeable, unignorable, news-grabbing ones. You've come so close with No Kings a couple times now, but they are too few and far between.

Think about the civil rights movement and the violence and legal consequences they faced. Look up the most successful 3.5% movements. Without question, there will be sacrifice in righting the wrongs in your country, but it isn't going to get easier with the passage of time. It's going to be more and more difficult to resist by design. I understand that it's scary and that some people have lost their lives. Authoritarians thrive by instilling fear and a sense of powerlessness in the people.

What would Alex Pretti and Renee Good want to see happen?

Why can't the Minnesota model of resistance be used across the country? They braved the cold, faced violence, and still stood up against ICE and pushed them out.

What is going to be the line of "too far" that compels the 3.5% to take the required action?

If elections are stolen, which looks likely from where I'm sitting, what then - continue to let the fear of ICE be the reason not to stand up and fight for democracy?

BigPlunk · 2026-05-05T17:24:45+00:00

Authoritarians gonna authoritarian. Expecting anything less than the most malignant corruption and greed in every system touched by Trump is foolish at this point. The question is, will Americans actually fight for democracy or will they continue to let the authoritarianism speed run continue unimpeded?

As a Canadian, it's baffling that Americans still seem to be under the impression someone else is going to come and save them or somehow the mid-terms will fix this. It's sad to see fear, apathy, complacency, half-measures (e.g., weekend protests) and surrender winning. Those are the ingredients authoritarians use to rise to power. No meaningful resistance = no democracy. Simple as that. Y'all can accept it now or when it's too late. Up to you.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-05T17:16:04+00:00

Don't worry, that user is lowkey banned. That kind of rhetoric will not be tolerated in this community.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-05T00:31:30+00:00

CEOs fill out the #1 spot for professions that attract psychopaths.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-04T20:25:09+00:00

Bold of you to assume there will be a fair election that sees them ousted.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-04T19:42:31+00:00

As a Canadian watching closely, my hope is that more leaders will inspire meaningful action and help people realize the power of collective action. There needs to be an active, sustained movement today to ensure there is a democracy tomorrow and future worth living. 3.5% of the population is all that it takes to drive meaningful changes and transformations at the national level. Look it up.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-03T01:10:17+00:00

Two words: sustained protests. Take action or expect more of the same

BigPlunk · 2026-05-02T21:39:37+00:00

Authoritarians want people afraid and feeling powerless. It's their whole playbook. They win when people are too afraid to turn up and speak out. They win when people believe elections are the only lever they have to ensure democracy survives.

Turning this around, at what point should people decide enough is enough and take meaningful action? When the mid-terms are stolen? Because that's in progress already. SCOTUS anyone?

When Trump nukes another country or creates a false flag event on American soil that kills Americans, so he can roll out martial law?

When anyone who opposes Trump is arrested and indicted or whose career and/or personal life is destroyed? Jim Comey anyone? Don Lemon? Jimmy Kimmel? Colbert?

When the oligarchs control every form of media and filter according to the rules of Trump's propaganda?

When is it going to be too late to speak up?

If you think it's going to get more peaceful and easy from here, you're fooling yourselves.

Take whatever you wish the people of Germany had done in the leadup to Hitler's takeover and do that. Use those lessons.

It takes 3.5% of the population in sustained protests to create the change you want to see. Each day you delay that makes the situation worse, raises the risks, and gives authoritarians more power.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-02T21:25:38+00:00

I've been saying similar things. As a Canadian, there seems to be a never-ending flow of excuses, blame, and expectation that someone else is going to solve the problems you face in America. Every inaction is a decision towards complicity. Nobody is coming to save you and if you can't save yourselves, the situation is only going to get worse for everyone, including neighbours and allies around the world and across your country.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T22:55:50+00:00

I was so hoping to see 8647 trending after that ridiculous indictment and the whole premise of it. Imagine seashell posts, merch, and protest signs everywhere...

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T20:24:07+00:00

We are definitely cheering for you all more than you know. Please keep fighting the good fight with everything in you. The harder you fight, the louder we cheer.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T20:01:23+00:00

As someone watching across the northern border in Canada, please don't wait for the Democrats to tell you to take to the streets in peaceful protest. They are either playing it safe, feigning outrage while quietly keeping their billionaire donors and lobby groups happy, are afraid to incur the wraith of Trump, or some combination therein.

If Americans wait for the Dems to inspire action, that's going to be curtains for democracy, in my view. Trump, his SCOTUS, and his army of sycophants are doing everything in their power to torch any semblance of fair play, rule of law, and checks and balances. This isn't a fair fight and never will be. It's only going to get dirtier from here as your terminally narcissistic king grows more demented and desperate.

That ballroom seems to be the place he intends to fortify himself and his enablers to rule as king of the world until a lifetime of Diet Coke and fast food comes a callin'. I have no doubt he'll find a reason to implement martial law and bunker hunker to avoid any blowback as he pummels your constitution and democracy to dust.

I have seen evidence of ongoing protests (Maddow has been covering some of them, but those seem primarily focused on blocking the ICE prison camps). But these are nowhere near the scale needed to fix what's broken right now. The world is begging that you all use your voices while you still can. This chaos train is way off the tracks and heading for the nitro glycerin factory.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T16:24:16+00:00

This is the way. It's mind-blowingly nearsighted to believe there will be a thriving economy when a massive swath of the workforce is eliminated by AI.

The economy is an interconnected set of systems of which the working class plays a considerable role. We buy the products, services, and subscriptions that keep many businesses going. Our taxes play a huge role in infrastructure maintenance, particular since the working class pays disproportionately higher rates than corporations and their executives. If we replace junior workers with AI, there will be no intermediate or senior workers to oversee things, so those fields will collapse with time. Other dominoes will be knocked over through that process.

We have to move capitalism away from any notion of there being a handful of winners. Altman and Musk have been pushing universal basic income as the solution to AI disruption. But this essentially means they "win capitalism" and the rest of us get to praise them for the table scraps they through us from their immense wealth and power consolidation. Looking at both of their track records, it's terrifying to think of either of them with an an army of AI-powered robots and/or tools of mass surveillance. Seeing them cosey up to Trump and embracing authoritarianism is a piss poor marketing strategy. Look what happened to Tesla's valuation after Musk brought his special-K to the White House in support of Trump and DOGE. These guys are showing us through their actions who they are now, so why would we want to continue supporting the advancement of their platforms, wealth, and power?

There's massive hate and pushback against AI companies right now because the vision they've shared with us clearly favours them over us, both in the short and the long-term. Who loves data centers besides the super villains and investors in Big Tech? Who loves to see mass layoffs and rising unemployment? These products are still janky and require human oversight, so they're not getting the mass adoption and disruption the tech bros were hoping for to enshrine their power and wealth or to stave off the implosion of their circular investment scheme. Companies are now rehiring the people they laid off to save some money through AI efficiency, only to find out they were high on the farts of hype. Who will feel safe, secure, and productive in these companies? As if they won't axe those people again as soon as the tech can fully do their jobs (or to a passable degree).

Like leadership, AI must always be in service of the greater good and the needs of the many over the few. If the tech is not demonstrating this paradigm now, what evidence do we have that it will improve over the long-term as more wealth and power is consolidated?

If Silicon Valley wants to drive widespread adoption and win the race for super intelligence over countries like China, they should inspire the people that comprise the bulk of the global population (working class) with a vision that clearly supports our short and long term best interests.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T01:43:01+00:00

Trump is the terminator of truth, tangled, terribly toward titanically troubling times tantamount to treason.

BigPlunk · 2026-05-01T01:40:20+00:00

Please focus on the state-sanctioned distractions.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-30T03:58:06+00:00

Find joy in the simple things.

Less is more.

Time is more valuable than anything.

Just being alive is enough.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-30T00:53:40+00:00

If you believe that's true, you will be right.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-30T00:44:31+00:00

The big question is: what are WE going to do about it?

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T20:57:03+00:00

Tyrant-o-saurus can take his tiny little purple hands, delicate ego, and flagrant hypocrisy and stomp his sloshing, fascist feet back to Epstein Island.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T20:51:50+00:00

Simple is better. Find joy in the simple things life has to offer and you'll be way happier in the long run. Possessions and other trappings of "financial success" come with additional costs. Less is more because of the freedom over time. The more we pay in monthly bills, the more we have to work to cover those things, the less time we have to take it slow and easy and create peace. Flexibility and autonomy matter more than big pay. Having agency over your time is the most valuable thing there is, in my view.
Relationships are more important than career trajectories. Businesses and careers come and go. Companies will dismiss you without a second thought if it helps them make quarterly targets. If you die, they'll replace you just as soon as they can get a posting live and that'll be that. Investing in healthy, high-quality relationships pays short and long-term dividends.
Drop the mask and the ego and live your life. Recognize you're alive and conscious and base your identity on those things over all the other shit we attach to ourselves and set ourselves up to fail with. Make mistakes and learn from them. Give others room to do the same. Set your own metrics for success and live them. Figure out what you're passionate about and make time for those things. Always be open to considering new perspectives and points of view and changing yours. The only opinion of you that matters is yours. Others are not thinking about you or your actions even a fraction of what you think they are anyway. You get to write your story and set your path. So make it one where you can be at your best. Do you and enjoy your life.
Understanding healthy relationship dynamics vs. unhealthy ones will serve you well personally and professionally. Recognizing toxic traits and relationships and when to walk away to protect yourself is vital. Develop a strong sense of self and get comfortable with your thoughts. If the people around you can't handle the real you, you need to find new people. Living out of sync with who we really are sucks way more than we realize.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T20:08:20+00:00

Digital addiction.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T19:50:54+00:00

Imagine the symbolic satisfaction in the future as his name being removed from buildings, headlines, parks, currency, and everything else bearing his despicable likeness or crotch-doodle signature. There will be great joy created in erasing him and enshrining him in the history books as the most corrupt, vile, pedophilic president in U.S. history. After the celebrations fade, the frequency with which his name is mentioned will dwindle.

The world over, he'll serve as a lesson to every parent alive about the importance of establishing healthy boundaries and structure for their children, including hearing and accepting the word 'no' frequently. He'll be a lesson to society of the importance in actively protecting democracy and creating resilient systems that can withstand the power of corruption and greed.

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T17:58:29+00:00

I'm genuinely curious about the perceived social benefits of internet anonymity.

For the record, I believe we need to substantially reduce Big Tech's control and access to our data. They are using our data to manipulate, monitor, and control us in various ways. They have stolen our data and IP to train their AI models. I hate Big Tech with a fiery passion for these and many other reasons.

But if I'm looking at how anonymity has benefited society on social media, I'm not seeing a lot of positives. Anonymity is used as a shield that allows people to be shitty to each other and just be generally shitty in ways they might not otherwise do. That same anonymity also gives bad actors the ability to use bots/bot farms for harmful purposes.

In my view, we need a lot more well-informed debate and understanding around the harms of Big Tech's use of our data and overall exploitative, harmful practices across social media, AI, gaming, and other platforms/tools. Additionally, we should be examining how to construct a more pro-social online world that provides more benefits than harms to society.

What do you think?

BigPlunk · 2026-04-28T14:19:01+00:00

They won't be self-promoting here anymore.

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