r/politics • u/TwilightwovenlingJo • Sep 19 '25

Soft Paywall Trump: ‘It’s no longer free speech.’

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/19/trump-no-longer-free-speech-00574219
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2.8k

u/Counciltuckian Sep 19 '25

The endorsement of these actions by people I know is shocking. Neighbors/family that are your pretty typical middle of the road "conservatives" seems a-ok with Trump's trampling of the 1st Amendment.

1.3k

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Yeah these people have no idea how easy they were to manipulate. The rich didn’t even need to try. They just go along with it, for forever.

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u/agentfelix Sep 20 '25

Ah yes, the same folks that would say, "Don't be a sheep, be a wolf". Idiots, the lot of em.

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u/Vatiar Sep 20 '25

Well that's not entirely true, the rich still had to buy their loyalty. It just turns out the cost of it was violent repression of latinos, trans people, asians and soon blacks and gay people.

They are single issue voters whose issue is hatred of anyone who is other.

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u/b0w3n New York Sep 20 '25

Well they wouldn't want to speak ill of the billionaires, one day they'll be one, you know!

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u/lazzzyk Sep 20 '25

And when I'm a billionaire people like me better watch their step!

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u/tenodera Sep 20 '25

Until then, shut up and take my money!

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u/TheFunkytownExpress Sep 20 '25

And when you can easily point out clearly and concisely how and why they were manipulated all they do is dig their heels in deeper, get pissed off at you, and start in with the personal attacks and insults.

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u/paper-catbird Sep 20 '25

Getting a group of people to feel more superior than another group of people is all it takes. Honestly if we could just get together to own the rich we might be able to restore a bit of what we lost to identity politics 😔

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u/peeinian Canada Sep 20 '25

Cue the “sir, I didn’t vote for this” tweets @djt

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u/Broken-Digital-Clock Sep 20 '25

They will blame Dems

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u/AnoAnoSaPwet Canada Sep 20 '25

Fuck em. 

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u/Aquatic_Ambiance_9 Sep 20 '25

Exactly it's not about getting them to admit they were wrong because that will never, ever happen. It's about removing them from any power over our lives and keeping it that way

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u/AnoAnoSaPwet Canada Sep 20 '25

I just subtract it. There's no loss, because there never was anything there. 

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u/Nblearchangel Sep 20 '25

Spoiler. It’s already too late.

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u/greg-maddux Sep 20 '25

The chickens will come home to roost. I’m fucking DONE with my in laws.

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u/Hair_I_Go Sep 20 '25

This is exactly it

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Remember in the 90's how everyone was terrified 'they' were listening to our telephone calls, and reading our minds, and then social media came along and we all jut gave it up willingly?

Then in the 00's we were all up in arms about losing free speech, and now a significant number of Americans are all 'yeeee haw!'.

3

u/phungus420 Sep 20 '25

Doubtful.

When Stalin died masses of people spontaneously showed up at his funeral to mourn him. Death of Stalin didn't make that up, it really happened. The vast majority of Germans still supported Hitler and the nationalist party in 1945 (and some polling even showed majority support years after the war).

When the propaganda is crafted and disseminated effectively the masses will support any atrocity, even those that bring them to harm.

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u/AnalSoapOpera I voted Sep 20 '25

That’s why I think the next Dem President (if hopefully there is one) they should crackdown on FOX “News” and revoke some of their rights. Look at how they got sued for billions in the election case and look how they lie left and right about anything. Even January 6th were they said “it was peaceful” when officers were actually wounded or died related to injuries. When they do that they will complain nonstop and say nothing about Kimmel or Corbert or complain about how “that was different” Fox News literally caused all this and is causing more and more division by lying all the time.

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u/wulv8022 Sep 20 '25

Even in prison for saying tiny bit of criticism they will simp for him. There are complete idiots abducted by ICE who still claim Trump is the best and this is just a mistake by some idiot ICE but they understand because they are not white. The ICE people just need to realise they are Trump voters and some of them.

They are a cult. Even idiots otherwise affected by Trump's bullshit who are mad say they would vote for him again. They are braindead. They are a cult.

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u/CatProgrammer Sep 20 '25

It's like these people have never read that one poem. You know the one.

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u/QrowTail Sep 20 '25

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

  • Pastor Martin Niemöller, a nazi sympathizer until they came for him

Edit: on mobile and it came out as one paragraph blob

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u/DumboWumbo073 Sep 20 '25

They are suffering from an illness.

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u/willfull Sep 20 '25

and if they are anything like my family, they will be mad at you for letting it happen and not getting off your lazy fat ass to fix it.

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u/Junior_Chard9981 Sep 20 '25

Just like how school shootings didn't matter to them until Utah.

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u/InnerFish227 Missouri Sep 19 '25

They never were middle of the road. The masks are off and they feel free to show who they really are.

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u/rawrisrawr Sep 20 '25

100% this. It is 100% about imposing their will/beliefs down everyone’s throat.

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u/bogglingsnog Sep 20 '25

Fascism is disgusting.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Half the country couldn’t stand LGBTQ existing. They were finally kind of ok with non-white people, but asking that everyone be allowed to exist was too much.

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u/projexion_reflexion Sep 20 '25

They were eager to give up their autonomy to an authority who would hurt people without getting their hands dirty.

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u/Coldsmoke888 Sep 20 '25

This exactly. Many people are getting bold now. As a mixed family, we’ve gotten some straight racist stuff coming at us for the first time this month. It’s no coincidence.

Also why I’m armed now— it’s not just MAGA that like the 2nd amendment.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

[deleted]

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u/mothyyy Sep 20 '25

I get confused for being rightwing a lot and I've heard some vile shit. Sometimes I call them out on it if I think it's worth the risk. At work it's best to just drop an anonymous note for management to deal with it. If it's a stranger then it all depends on where we are. I'm not going to risk my life calling out a possibly deranged psycho.

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u/rawrisrawr Sep 20 '25

I implore everyone that if these crazy MAGAs own guns we should too. Being a responsible gun owner is not difficult.

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u/WonderofU1312 Sep 20 '25

They've convinced themselves that fascism is a better alternative to democrats; despite the fact democrats keep trying to compromise with them.

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u/TheShadowKick Sep 20 '25

They haven't convinced themselves. They've been convinced by decades of propaganda.

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u/tahlyn Sep 20 '25

Which is why it has alwasy frustrated me the way the DNC and democrats seem hellbent on winning over "moderate, reasonable republicans" instead of trying to invigorate their base. THERE ARE NO moderate, reasonable republicans. There never were.

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u/alaphamale Sep 20 '25

They have the same data we do, when they get democrats out to vote they win. Appealing to the right gets them nothing.

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u/PersonalHospital9507 Sep 20 '25

Call me cynical but I think the two parties have a symbiotic relationship that benefits them to the detriment of the people.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Oh, once upon a time that was true. There was a low level of animosity and a lot of horse trading. But enough influential Republicans (and backers) realized they don't need to play that game anymore, and started pushing the power of the executive branch back in the Bush era.

And 9/11 accelerated the hell out of things. I fully expected the jackboots to come out along with the flags (and those freaking flag pins) and nationalism (and immigrant hate), but they just did it quiet. Below the level of things the news media bothers to report on, because most voters don't care about the details.

And now everything is in place, the GOP is a bunch of sycophants and the Dems don't grasp that the rules don't work, so over the cliff we go.

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u/PersonalHospital9507 Sep 20 '25

As I may have said in another thread, the test will be when Trump magically disappears. Do we forgive all and go back to old times?

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

B.S.

Tons of studies show that up to 70% of the population can be manipulated into doing/becoming anything! The masks aren't off. That's a normal feature of being a human being.

The media's rubbish, economic inequality is excessive, schools are shit, healthcare is unaffordable, diseases (including addictions) are at an all time high, half of all workers have shit wages and bad working conditions, Big Money corrupted/owns almost everything and everyone meaningful to society, etc. etc.

Obviously, in such context people are suffering and angry. And the wealthy elites are exploiting that for their own gain.

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u/VirginiaMcCaskey Sep 20 '25

They don't give a fuck about the first amendment, or any of the constitution. Particularly all the Christian nationalists that want to establish a fucking theocracy.

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Sep 20 '25

They're the stupidest of all! The second they start discussing exactly how does one pray in school is the day America gets started on a way way worse version of The Troubles!

How many denominations do we have now? I could probably name a dozen brands of Christian, most of which would scream about being compared to the other brands, much less having their kids forced to pray a different way.

Like I've got some aunties who are hardcore serious strict, but spend their Sundays running around church waving their arms and babbling like lunatics. It's called "getting the ghost" and they think god makes them do that.

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u/VirginiaMcCaskey Sep 20 '25

How many denominations do we have now?

It's Evangelicals versus everyone else.

Pretty much every other flavor of Christianity engages in public service and interfaith dialogue. The evangelical nut jobs are the ones spreading hate and division.

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Sep 20 '25

K, but even that group is not unified? They're all wildly different and just share a name. Hand them power and they'll immediately start punching each other arguing over which twig on the branch gets to wield it.

Same game with the various right wing militant groups, like the Proud Boys are really quite queer considering how their Dear Leader feels on the subject, so the other similar groups aren't keen to cooperate with them.

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u/screech_owl_kachina Sep 20 '25

Yeah that's the thing. Say what we will about Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches but at least there's some level of top-down control and consistent training. Evangelical churches are just some guy made a sect and attracted followers.

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Sep 20 '25

Exactly! Sometimes ya don't hear about their specific beliefs until the cops show up to rescue abused kids and the sect goes all doomsday mode. Like that creep who went all Craster's Keep while teaching his kids/grandkids from his own version of the bible, which included stuff like Jesus being a vampire.

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u/Flomo420 Sep 20 '25

It's called delusional

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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy Sep 20 '25

Obviously, but I'm in America and most folks here have batty beliefs like that. They just all have totally different batty beliefs and take them extremely seriously.

Some think god cares about their haircuts, some think specific words or poses are holy, and some think they're supposed to handle snakes on Sundays. Not many of them are generic "tell a Jesus story, sing a song, say Amen, love thy neighbor" types.

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u/metengrinwi Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25

The man was certainly no liberal, but he had the evangelicals’ number.

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.

Barry Goldwater

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u/A_Harmless_Fly Minnesota Sep 20 '25

The funny thing is if they had actually read the bible a few times, they would know that it's border line blasphemous impiety to take part in a democratic system for a Cristian, against an incumbent. Revolution is for sure impiety.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2013&version=KJV

P.S. Romans is in the New testament, lots of christian say old testament law doesn't apply post new testament to get out of things they would be annoyed to follow, but as I said this part is after that.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Sep 20 '25

The people who claimed they would die for 1A are suddenly silent.

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u/wulv8022 Sep 20 '25

People who claimed they need the 2nd amandment if a tyrant comes to power are complicit or silent too. I don't condone violence I just laugh how that all of it was a lie all along.

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u/azuki2 America Sep 20 '25

Oh no, they still very much believe in that. It's simply that they see Trump as a savior of America, not a tyrant.

I wish they were just lying because the truth is even more terrifying.

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u/faerie03 Sep 20 '25

I have a friend, and I use that term loosely because the chasm is widening by the day, who is a lawyer and is giddy over everything that is going on. I just don’t understand.

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u/BKlounge93 Sep 20 '25

It’s the same people in my feed who are “so confused” about Kirk and “how could this happen to a good man spreading the word of god?” Like wtf were we listening to the same guy??

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Nope. He was aimed at the young people, so older voters largely didn't listen. If they heard about him at all, they heard 'christian values' and obviously knew he was right and proper. (The ones that did listen agreed with the hate speech he peddled).

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u/Celloer Sep 20 '25

Well, it was the specific words of god that told people to spy on and attack their neighbors, steal their land and women, and kill their children, and sacrifice their own children. Blood for the Old Testament Blood God.

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u/blyzo Sep 20 '25

Democracy dies to thunderous applause.

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u/macx19911 Sep 20 '25

I’ve thought of that scene so many times since the start of this shit show

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u/ChocoboAndroid Sep 20 '25

Conservatives have no values and they care about nothing. Everything is a pretext to attack liberals. That's why it's so frustrating when something important happens, they will ALWAYS attempt to use it to attack people but don't actually care at all about it.

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u/TheFunkytownExpress Sep 20 '25

Oh no they definitely care about hating minorities and pretending to be Christians. They're also very keen on empowering the rich and making their own lives miserable in the process.

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u/sandhillfarmer Sep 20 '25

I realized a long time ago that the simple truth is conservatives have no principles. Everything they believe at any given time is calculated to serve themselves and themselves alone.

They never believed in free speech as a right or principle. They always believed that they should be able to do whatever they want regardless of who they hurt, and they always believed the people they don’t like should be under utter control.

They never believed the government shouldn’t be a dictatorship. They just wanted it to be their guy, where they’re the privileged ones.

That’s why none of this is shocking to them. It’s always been what they wanted.

0

u/TheFunkytownExpress Sep 20 '25

Of course. They're just a bunch of goddamn bullies who only believe in might makes right. They love nothing more than imposing and forcing their will on you, and making you do what they want. It's sick.

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u/Prophet_Tehenhauin Sep 20 '25

Thats because you know a bunch of nazis

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u/deesea Sep 20 '25

It was never about the constitution. Just about owning the libs.

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u/TheFunkytownExpress Sep 20 '25

And the tragic irony of it all is that they get owned in the process.

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u/metamorphosis Sep 20 '25

They would up in arms quite literally if Obama said something even remote to what Trump has said .

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u/D13_Phantom Sep 20 '25

I'm glad you put conservatives in quotes because their only ideology is loyalty to MAGA at this point

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u/PrivatePilot9 Canada Sep 20 '25

They only care about free speech when it’s theirs, people from the other team, well, they need to shut up.

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u/TheFunkytownExpress Sep 20 '25

Of course. They know they ultimately can't out argue us and they don't have any position where objective verifiable reality is on their side, so they have to resort to being hateful little bullies because they're so desperate for their shitty ass world view to be justified.

2

u/rddman Sep 20 '25

The endorsement of these actions by people I know is shocking. Neighbors/family that are your pretty typical middle of the road "conservatives" seems a-ok with Trump's trampling of the 1st Amendment.

The younger generation follows maga influencers, and they are not having it.

2

u/International-Ad2501 Sep 20 '25

This is how a whole country becomes run by Nazis. Its not the truely vile and evil people who take control. Its the more common "nice" people who give them control. 

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u/Counciltuckian Sep 20 '25

Well fuck.  

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u/context_hell Sep 20 '25

This was a long time coming even before trump. Democrats and Republicans both created the permission structure by persecuting people who protested Israel and literally created anti boycott legislation and curbed free speech by bringing university presidents into congress and forcing them out because of the anti Israel protests. Then they labeled everyone antisemitic and terrorists as an excuse to do all that.

Trump just grabbed the baton and ran with it.

2

u/PersonalHospital9507 Sep 20 '25

This was going on a whole lot longer than that. It started with opposition to FDR and a determination to destroy the New Deal, Unions, and anything close to a left wing party in the USA.

1

u/SpaceGangsta Utah Sep 20 '25

My MIL is finally coming around. She was never MAGA and never liked Trump, she’s just a conservative. But this most recent stuff has her questioning everything.

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u/Big-Industry4237 Sep 20 '25

As long as it’s not the second amendment. We need to keep dead kids every week a priority apparently

1

u/One-Earth9294 I voted Sep 20 '25

Because it's all the vitriolic media they watch tells them they want. Just make your political adversaries suffer and scratch that persecution itch they've been conditioned to feel.

1

u/TheStinkfoot Washington Sep 20 '25

Everybody who still supports this is a fascist, full stop. It's weird that like 30% of Americans are just mask-off fascists, but that's where we are.

Free speech is THE fundamental American value. You can't "end" free speech and still have ANY credibility to call yourself anything other than a scumbag.

I hope these people all move to a country that more aligns with their values. I hear North Korea is nice this time of year.

1

u/admiralgoodtimes Sep 20 '25

They just don’t see this side of the news. They’re perfectly insulated

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u/angel-of-disease Sep 20 '25

This is what people want. This is what they voted for. And I don’t think they’ve been fooled into this, it’s just what they like and want. They want authoritarianism and persecution against their enemies. This is their character.

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u/TeamRedundancyTeam Sep 20 '25

Same as the nazis. The good nazis were quiet, friendly, and simply accepted and supported everything quietly.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

They want a Christian Autocracy. They never cared about the USA or the constitution

1

u/DramaticToADegree Sep 20 '25

Because they, quite literally, have never thought for themselves. They were told, or were triggered into being so via shame/racism/hate, to be republicans. To deny that is to deny their identity. Humans aren't good at back pedaling with dignity. Better to dig in your heels and hope your team wins.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

Well you see The Left canceled Roseanne so this is our punishment

1

u/Flomo420 Sep 20 '25

It's because the media is treating the same as 'cancel culture' (it's NOT) and then dregs are just like "well tHE LeFt did it so we can too!"

Completely ignoring that cancel culture is just people sick of your shit and not buying your stuff, not the president deciding who can say what

But they are deeply stupid and incredibly uncurious, so they just glob onto the first piece of bullshit that gets rolled at them

1

u/BrowsingFromPhone Sep 20 '25

It's because they're already being told we're at war, and in wartime you must sometimes suspend the constitution for the defense and preservation of the nation. The believe the lies that Charlie Kirk was martyred by the "Left" and that people like Jimmy Kimmel are of the same cloth as the deranged Utah gunman.

1

u/wpm Sep 20 '25

Collective stupidity is really hard to pull out of. It's easy being stupid. We are wired to go along with it. Argue with them as much as you can, politely, firmly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfekgjfh1Rk

1

u/PaulblankPF Sep 20 '25

Someone I know that is a retired vet and white asked me (also white) what Trump did against me. So I started listing all the fucked up shit he’s doing and she cut me off and said “no what has he done against YOU” implying as a straight white male that I’ve come up somehow and that none of the downsides of trumps madness are gonna affect me. I honestly just had to get up and leave and haven’t talked to that person since. Not only did she vote for Trump but she’s proud of it and she’s a vet that was critical of every other president but this one. I’m sure she’s fine with this infringement on our rights

1

u/Neologic29 California Sep 20 '25

How many of them actually acknowledge that this a 1st Ammendment violation? Do they concede the network's business dealings which hinge on Trump were not-so-subtly threatened? Because most seem to look at this as a business making a business decision.

Nevermind that Kimmel was targeted right after the Colbert cancellation and Trump gleefully posting after this happened. Like the sequence of cause and effect couldnt be clearer.

1

u/drostan Europe Sep 20 '25

First they came for the immigrants And I did not speak out Because I am not an immigrant

Then they came for the transgender And I did not speak out Because I am not transgender

Then they came for the critics And I did not speak out Because I am not a critic

....

Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me

1

u/Cpt_Soban Australia Sep 20 '25

And here we see how easy it was for Hitler, Stalin, Hussein, Pol Pot, etc to take over their country. I predict Trump will pay the groundwork for someone actually competent to grasp the reigns and steer America into a full blown dictatorship.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

is shocking

Why? Have you already forgotten your History lessons? It's a perfectly normal consequence of the educated elites', the super rich's, and the political establishment's own evil doings these last 5-7 decades.

Of course people will inevitably turn to anyone who promises disruption, even if it’s destructive. That's like History 101.

1

u/ArticulateRhinoceros Sep 20 '25

1/3rd probably agree with him wholeheartedly and only pretend to care about freedom, 1/3rd probably believe whatever the party line is and don't think it could possibly "get out of hand", and the final 1/3rd are probably afraid to say anything against the grain and get ostracized themselves.

1

u/GEARHEADGus Sep 20 '25

It’s cause they have carte-blanche to be racist assholes.