USA Political Discussion

So let me ask you, in your opinion, why did it take so long?

(This is a pretty liberal post, just a warning.)

I don't claim to be a political expert. I'm just a man who watches the news, and I watch it from all manner of outlets, both liberal and conservative and anything in between. And what I've been seeing has soured my stomach for the last four years.

After the attempted coup a few days ago, Trump has been banned from Twitter and Facebook and has lost a lot of political allies. But the thing is, he's been pulling some very disgusting stunts and has said horrendous things on social media for years now, so why did it take so long for people to recognize that he isn't a fit leader? Did it really take inciting a mob to storm the capital for people to realize this?

Why did it take so long? Was it media portrayal? Was it Trump's apparent charisma that swayed the masses? Or was it the American mindset to only follow one political avenue to not see another opinion?

I think the most straightforward answer is that Trump was profitable for a lot of people. When it comes to social media, he kept users engaged on the platforms, which generates more ad revenue. Now that the winds have changed, people are jumping ship to distance themselves from him.

Seems like a really obvious answer I didn't think about. But of course, everything is about money, no matter how despicable the sources.

(Also, unrelated, I like the pride colors of your profile image)

I think it is a bit deeper than just $$. Too many have bought into the whole 'fake news' and conspiracy with in the 'mainstream media', which the trump and the extrimists who have been empowered by his words have come up with an acronym... MSM.

The whole procession of January 6th and what keeps coming out about it in the investigations by Capitol Police and the FBI is truely scary.

It really is. I was listening to the BBC stream while working when it was happening and many people interviewed said that it was a moment of opportunity and it wasn't actually planned. But for others it WAS planned, and there's so much coming out. I was having a discussion with an old friend last night about this, and she told me about the man in SWAT gear with zip ties who had the intent of citizen's arresting some Democrats and taking them hostage. I didn't know abou thim. I also didn't know that the Pentagon issued orders to disarm DC Nat. Guard beforehand. I did know that the Nat. Guard from neighboring states were refused initially. At least the bombs in the truck investigators found weren't used.

A lot of information I'm getting is from various sources, so I can't verify its integrity, though.

Most of the information is fairly consistent on the major media outlets even if they tend to add a bit of slant to it. Sourcing outside the USA tends to be more objective, though the narrative is still fairly consistent. It’s the ‘fringe-media that is peddling the doctored photos and throwing disinformation out there. There is a credible report from a New York Times photo-journalist who was accosted when she was asked who she worked for. They broke her camera lens and pushed her to the ground.

And the myriad of videos that are coming out shows just how radical and rabid these people were. There was a cop caught in a door where the mob was doing an organised push which was closing the door, not opening it, and he was yelling in distress. Very disturbing. And the video where the woman was shot was also terrible. That happened at the doors of the Senate chamber where the plainclothes police security had barricaded the door with desks and anything and had their guns drawn.

I had to take a break from engaging with trumpshirt “friends” on fecebook today and instead patrolled their pages. Instead of any condemnation, the general attitude was throwing ‘whataboutisms’ out about Seattle and Portland “burning all summer” and that this was nothing.

And then there are the ‘politics as usual’ people who don’t seem to be bothered by it saying it happens all the time. This wasnt ‘just an argument’...

The whataboutisms are definitely flowing freely from my more conservative acquaintances. It's like people can't just admit that what happened was horrible.

I watched some of the videos that are coming out. It's one thing to watch the live stream but it's another to see these visuals that people put out there, uncensored and unedited. It was like watching a stampede, and that poor man who was trapped in the door and nobody would help was disturbing, you're right.

The fallout from this is going to last a long time, in my opinion, if not for the even greater rift in the US.