Authoritarian countries (dictatorships, elected or not) in which political opponents can be declared foreign agents, jailed on false charges, and murdered, are supported by Trump, Musk, Vance, and Witkoff.
Can people see where this is going? Do the deer-in-the-headlights Democrats see where this is going? Are they willing to act? Is it too late and have people given up?
The gathering storm, folks, the gathering storm.
And if China attacks and annexes Taiwan (which could happen when the war in Europe worsens or when there is horrific domestic turmoil in the US, two distinct possibilities that might intersect, but either could be sufficient encouragement to China), my guess is that Trump will not act. Perhaps he will…drum roll…posture about or enact yet additional tariffs “on China,” which are actually paid by US importers of products from China and passed on to US consumers who have no purchase options. Trump never explains that part of tariffs.
Meanwhile, the US and countless Western democracies are reliant on manufacturing in China. Allowing that to happen was a tragic strategic error.
The US better hope that TSMC can escape from Taiwan, avoiding extreme export restrictions or even nationalization. They’ve already started their escape, and I wish them and the free democratic world well in their efforts to survive this shitstorm.
I would not be at all surprised if Trump has already been assured of asylum in Russia in the event that things get so serious in the US that even his minions on the Supreme Court cannot rescue him.
One major issue in the United States is whether the military will remain under Trump’s control, and whether they will be willing to point their guns at American citizens. This is usually a concern only in Third-World countries, but that is where Trump is leading the US.
The above is not hyperbole, and this is not a drill.
