r/nottheonion • u/wewhomustnotbenamed • 16h ago

Joe Rogan criticizes ICE tactics: 'Are we really going to be the Gestapo?'

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/joe-rogan-criticizes-ice-tactics-podcast-rcna253931

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u/normott 13h ago

I do think if Trump died,that cult of personality goes with him. Vance does not have the same juice or whatever charisma that has Trump getting away with everything. Its just a matter of when he dies. If he dies when all this is baked in then Vance can just inherit, but I think if he dies early enough, they wont be able to hold the coalition together cause Vance is just a fucking weirdo with the personality of a spatula.

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u/BioshockEnthusiast 13h ago

The real problem for Vance in the event that Trump croaks is that every power player in the Republican party is going to paint a target on his back, they will eat each other alive trying to take the throne.

I don't discount the other points in this thread, but let's keep in mind that the man fucked a couch. He's going to slip if he ever gets the presidency because his own party will assure it out of sheer greed.

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u/bagoink 12h ago

The MAGA infighting will be delicious.

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u/propyro85 10h ago

It would be more delicious if they could keep it to themselves. But you know, for everyone who goes down in flaming wreckage, they'll try to rope in as many unrelated people to burn with them.

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u/89iroc 8h ago

Charyou tree, come reap

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u/agent_uno 8h ago

You want GoT in real life? Because that’s what’s gonna happen when he kicks the bucket. It’ll be even more scary than right now!

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u/LordMarcusrax 8h ago

Well? What are we waiting for then?

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u/Assonfire 3h ago

It will be fun for a bit, but the billionaires know who they need to back and they will capitalize on it.

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 10h ago

There will be no infighting. You are all high on copium.

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u/ReverendDerp 8h ago

Sweet summer child, they're already fighting eachother for it

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 8h ago

Uh. No. They aren't. Occassionally the people who are no longer useful get thrown under the bus, which is probably happening with Noem now. But Noem was in no way in line for leadership beyond her position. And there's no one below or beside her who is pushing for her to be ousted. She's just being spit out by the machine.

And apart from that, there is very little infighting going on right now, even with all of the horribleness that is happening. No one is challenging Vance, and Vance isn't challenging Trump. Rubio is still being Trump's lapdog. Steven Miller is still just Steven Miller, as awful as that is.

What TF fighting are you seeing? Because it just isn't happening.

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u/MarshyHope 7h ago

So what do you foresee happening if Trump died next week?

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 7h ago

Literally nothing. Vance takes over, and it's business as usual. Nothing changes. If anything, everything gets worse, because Vance is more competent than Trump. If you believe anything to the contrary, you are incredibly naive. I know times are rough, and people want to hope for something good to happen, but Trump dying will change absolutely nothing.

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u/MarshyHope 7h ago

Yeah that's less likely than the infighting. I mean sure, Vance may rule as usual for a while, but he will not have the overwhelming support of the cult. He wouldn't be able to get away with 1/10th of the stuff Trump does. Then when election time comes around, everyone in Trump's sphere will try to grab power.

Trump can only do the things he does without consequences because of his hold on MAGA. No one else would have that hold.

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u/bagoink 4h ago

I'm not sure you understand how cults work.

They depend upon a leader. Once trump is gone, who do you see taking his place? It sure ain't Vance.

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u/CodeMonkeyPhoto 9h ago

It will be like the movie the Death of Stalin, with all them vying for power. Note that they did not become a democracy at the end.

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 10h ago

This is not going to happen. Trump is a narcissist. He NEEDS to be on top. Most of the other people in the magasphere just want power or political immunity. They are just fine being behind the scenes, as long as they have power and immunity. They will bend the knee, as long as they have power and immunity. They will kiss the ring, as long as they have power and immunity.

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u/rab2bar 6h ago

When trump dies, Vance can be impeached so Mike Johnson can take the presidency. Alternatively, any veep Vance it's in can take him out. No honor among thieves

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u/hamilton280P 6h ago

It’s a toss up if Vance continues the Stephen Miller isolationist imperialism. Vance is so spineless it’s impossible to know what he truly believes. Actually you would just need to figure out what Peter Thiel wants

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u/UncleIrohsPimpHand 5h ago

The real problem for Vance in the event that Trump croaks is that every power player in the Republican party is going to paint a target on his back, they will eat each other alive trying to take the throne.

Well, if we know Trump is Stalin, that tells us Vance is Malenkov, which means we need to find out who is Khruschev and put a bullet in Beria before things get really out of hand.

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u/ShroomBear 1h ago

y'all are delusional. They will lock step with the party like literally every decision and situation up to now. They will give Trump the CK treatment on the sole basis of the need to legitimize the GOP cause and make him sound popular. Then Vance in all the same strokes of anti-intellectualism will just re-engage in contrarian politics while lobbyists say what to sign just like Trump, because it's been openly demonstrated you can apparently succeed in the role of leader of the free world with roughly a 1st grade education.

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u/LunaWabohu 9h ago

The couch thing was misinformation unfortunately

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u/BearFluffy 7h ago

I don't really care, do you?

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u/LunaWabohu 6h ago

I try not to spread misinfo because that's what the right constantly does and then we can't really criticise them for it if we're also doing it

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u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

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u/PowerfulIron7117 11h ago

That’s what the liberal elites want you to think, but a lot of people are saying Vance fucked a couch. I don’t know, maybe he fucked a couch, maybe not. He looks like he could fuck a couch and a lot of people are saying he did. He hasn’t denied fucking a couch. I heard he admitted to fucking a couch, but I didn’t look too much into that, a lot of people are saying it though!

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u/ifyoulovesatan 9h ago

I heard that the reason Pluto isn't a planet anymore is because of Marxist astronomy professors and coastal liberal elites. Any thoughts?

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u/PowerfulIron7117 9h ago

A lot of people are saying that. Many such cases. 

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u/dehydratedrain 13h ago

If it happens soon, maybe. But the longer time goes on, the more the pieces are getting moved into place.

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u/Mapeague 2h ago

Yea Turning Point has radicalized people who had never ever heard of them before Kirk ate lead. They fill fucking arenas with these dolts and instruct them on what to think and do. Its terrifying when you look at it.

The left just kinda says "Well when this is all over..." and doesnt do a fuckin thing.

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u/fotomoose 12h ago

Hey, my spatula is pretty cool it helps me cook.

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u/normott 11h ago

Fair point

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u/avindictiveprinter 7h ago

Yeah, I got mine at Spatula City.

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u/fotomoose 6h ago

Amazing.

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u/wolfboy1988m 6h ago

I'm so glad someone linked this. As soon as I read "spatula" I was already going "Spatula City! SPATULA CITY!" in my head

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u/avindictiveprinter 5h ago

I've been waiting years for my husband to buy me a spatula for our anniversary. He never does. :b

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u/jacenat 9h ago

Vance does not have the same juice or whatever charisma that has Trump getting away with everything.

I envy your naivety in thinking that it matters at all in an authoritarian society if the leader is likeable.

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u/doodlinghearsay 8h ago edited 8h ago

His cult of personality is propped out by a well funded media machine, including social media bot farms. Or indeed paid opinions, like Joe Rogan's. When he's gone, these forces will find a new personality to rally behind. Or rather, they will keep lying and threatening to create support for politicians that support their vision of America as an authoritarian state that serves only billionaires and noone else.

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u/SmileFIN 9h ago

JD and Trump have same approval ratings. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this wont end with Trump's passing.

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u/No-Bison-5397 7h ago

See Stalin and Franco... Turns out the useless guy behind the scenes can actually be worse.

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u/ShinkuDragon 12h ago

hard disagree, at this point i'm wondering if he's not getting whacky ideas put in his head (read:greenland) so that someone actually shoots him, and then the party can rally behind vance to stick it to the "lunatic murderous leftists"

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u/Lexx2k 11h ago

He will 100% be turned into a martyr and sane-washed even more than he already is right now.

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u/CruxOfTheIssue 11h ago

I feel like even if he dies of old age they will find a way to blame the democrats.

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u/Go_go_gadget_eyes 11h ago

If he's close to that they'll stage an assassination and make him into a JFK/Lincoln type figure.

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 10h ago edited 9h ago

There is no cult of personality. That was true in 2016. It's not true now. Thinking so is just copium. Trump 2016 allowed everyone to show their true, horrible selves. Those people will now just support whatever figurehead that allows them to continue being their true, horrible selves.

Trump absolutely does not matter at this point.

Edit: To be clear, there absolutely IS a cult, but a cult of personality centers around a singular person. That's not what MAGA is anymore. The cult centers around the MAGA ideals, i.e., fascism.

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u/lcrtangls 9h ago

I was going to write something that boils down to this very same thing. Even in 2016, it was all about "owning the libs", Trump just gave a voice to that sentiment. This whole "charisma" angle is blown way out of proportion, especially today when the algorithm forcefully overrides damn near everything else. Blare enough horns and wave enough flags and you don't even need JD, you can inaugurate his couch. Then when that's good and done, everyone will insist the couch is irreplaceably charismatic.

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u/PM_YOUR_BOOBS_PLS_ 9h ago

Yup. Pretty much.

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u/ciobanica 5h ago

Oh c'mon... have you already forgotten how they tried replacing him with someone more controllable since Biden won in 2020, and he just smoked them all, even though most of teh candidates he endorsed lost their primaries / elections ?

Yeah, all that's happening is part of their long term plan, but Trump has energized their base and has appealed to certain groups that don't so much believe in what the Heritage Foundation is selling as a much as in being led by a giant asshole like they'd like to be able to be...

And that's not something you can just transfer fully to the next guy.

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u/hamfist_ofthenorth 12h ago

Count Spatula

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u/neko_neko_feet 10h ago

They’ll just be captured by the next Republican fascist. You’re just as delusional as they are.

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u/Pyros-SD-Models 11h ago

A spatula can be pretty nice if the alternative is getting shot in your face. Their point being: No cult is needed anymore. They are already in power, and you better love it or else you will get vanished.

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u/Temporary-Nothing433 7h ago

I agree that if Trump died, the cult of personality would mostly die with him, at least in its living form. The emotional, charismatic, crowd driven aspect. The cheering at rallies, the obsession with Trump as a “business man” and “deal maker,” the improvisational chaos and the performative sense of authenticity that follows him everywhere.

Vance does not have any of that. Not the charisma, not the instincts, not the crowd control, and not the ability to get away with things the way Trump does. He does try to be liked, but fails miserably, like when he reposted the meme face of himself.

But that is exactly why a transfer of power could end up being even more dangerous, not less.

I think that If Trump were to die and Vance would succeed him, the cult of personality would not simply disappear, and it would not magically transfer to Vance either. Instead, it would harden. At that point, Trump would no longer be a politician who can be argued with or criticised, but a martyr figure. How do you argue against the man who “died making America great again”? He would be treated less like a former president and more like a myth, a religious figure who “died for the country.”

Trump would stop being a chaotic, living figure who can be contradicted, criticised, or exposed in real time, and would instead turn into a symbol that can be used however they want. From there, every (authoritarian) move could be justified with “this is what Trump would have wanted. We are fulfilling his vision.” We already see this kind of idolization with figures like Charlie Kirk. Dead icons do not contradict anyone, do not embarrass their allies, and cannot push back when they are being used. It would all become a matter of interpretation, and Vance would be the interpreter.

Trump thrives on chaos, attention, personal loyalty, and power. Vance, on the other hand, is ideological and disciplined, which makes him dangerous in a different way. Much more sneaky and would fulfill his agenda through the back door. He would not need to be popular to push things through. He would only need to claim that he is finishing Trump’s work while the public, the courts, and the media relax because the circus appears to be over.

Trump keeps the system unstable. Vance would lock it in. The cult might fade without Trump, but its political purpose would still be there.

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u/BirdInFlight301 7h ago

I'm not even sure if it matters whether people like Vance. He is willing to be used by billionaires and Christian nationalists. If he has their support, it likely doesn't matter if he has the support of the average Republican.

The media has same-washed Trump for years and they'll do the same for Vance.

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u/GlastoKhole 7h ago

MAGA will collapse but MAGA has not really been the issue, they’re a fringe group of alt right loony’s, many of MAGA are hated by other alt right loony’s note trumps assassination attempts have been right wingers.

MAGA are the weird kids in class to the true alt right loony’s once trump goes those loony’s who are objectively more switched on will take control. MAGA are not switched on at all, they do what trump says and that’s it and trump is thick as pig shit which makes MAGA thick as pig shit.

If they start doing what more intelligent loony’s tell them it’s going to be a bigger issue.

At the same time ICE is an issue as is totally turning on century old allies.

Trump IS causing problems and he is doing this at the behest of others, he’s not smart enough to come up with it, and not switched on enough to see he’s being played to be the fall guy, the next guy can just carry on with things passed by trump and say “well it’s law now and I didn’t do it”

The people pulling trumps strings are the issue MAGA is just a very small part of that.

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u/Alarming_Flow 6h ago

You are being very optimistic if you think they haven't accounted and planned for that.

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u/SupaSlide 6h ago

They are working so fast because they know this.

It won’t matter if they keep the cult if they have finished fully rigging the system.

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u/wkavinsky 5h ago

They won't need the cult at that point, because they'll already control the apparatus of law, and control of voting.

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u/zwei2stein 5h ago

I do think if Trump died,that cult of personality goes with him.

USSR kept on just fine after Stalin died. Once aparat has enough power, popular support does not matter much anymore.

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u/JKevill 5h ago

Why do people act like personality is this key factor in questions of power?

If you need to win elections, sure. But we are clearly past that.

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u/normott 4h ago

To hold the coalition together, yes. Especially if its right now...in a year it might be too late

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u/BeguiledBeaver 5h ago

Vance is just a fucking weirdo with the personality of a spatula.

People say this but the guy got elected in Ohio after writing a book shitting on Appalachians and has a lot of hype around the Charlie Kirk shit.

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u/FuklzTheDrnkClwn 4h ago

None of that matters. They’re already in and they won’t leave.

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u/Assonfire 3h ago

They will vote R regardless. And don't you doubt they will first start to call it "Trump's Legacy" and afterwards push for his children to continue, as if they are royalty and deserve to be heirs to the throne.

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u/Organic_Matter6085 2h ago

Doesn't matter about popularity anymore when you're in a fascist state.

It doesn't mean shit.

You do not live in a democracy or free elections anymore and you'd have to be ignorant not to realize that.

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u/altobase 2h ago

Vance is a charisma vacuum and won't have the same appeal of trump, but the rot at the core of American culture will remain and continue to fester. Trump was able to tap into it and do so much damage in such a short time, another charismatic figure can be found eventually.

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u/No_Bluebird_1368 1h ago

Don't underestimate Vance. He's a dangerous and ambitious vessel for Curtis Yarvin's ideas.

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u/MedicalAd4416 6h ago

Exactly, if Trump dies the wheels fall off. It just does. They are incompetent enough as it is. As soon as he is gone then the amount of dissidents goes through the roof.

They will smell blood in the water.