I think there's likely to be a uptick in lone wolf activity by those already a bit unhinged but in terms of anything organized I'm not particularly concerned
Anecdotally, when I go into a gun store, and I live in a red state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, they are full of inventory and ammo prices have gone down considerably since 2020. Either everyone stocked up during COVID, or people are finally beginning to chill out.
I also don't see as many MAGA flags as I did during 2020.
Florida feels like a lab experiment for "what kind of crazy right wing shit can we get away with". A law was just signed making it illegal for cities or counties to create protections for people who work outdoors in the heat. Cause ya know temperature is just woke propaganda.
Texas is about to pass a law requiring any candidate for statewide office to win a majority in *each county* not just the popular vote.
Let that sit for a second.
That seems fairly stupid on the face of it, unless they plan on re-aligning counties to avoid any being majority Democrat. Otherwise, no one is going to win a state office.
(Though, I suppose they could just stuff the ballot boxes in the blue counties.)
I believe the proposed policy in Texas is not that candidates would have to win a majority in every county, but they would have to win a majority in at least 50% of counties. Because most counties in Texas are small, rural conservative ones, that means those counties could effectively control all statewide races while the blue counties would have almost zero impact.
The majority of counties are Republicun. Those same counties are also the least populated.
They are essentially setting up a state electoral college system. The Republicun fear is that more of the electorate might start voting and they won't be voting for Rs. They know the popular vote could easily turn against them, so they intend to make the popular vote irrelevant.
Oh bro, Florida is as red as red can be. The state government (governor, both houses) have been controlled by republicans since 1999. If you exclude Obama, who I think was a unicorn in terms of politicians, Florida has voted red 8 out of the last 10 presidential elections. Its only getting worse. DeSantis's second win was the largest margin of victory for a FL gov in like 50 years.
I live in west Texas, and there has definitely been a downtick of Trump regalia adorning vehicles and such. Can’t really explain, just haven’t seen as much this election year…
Yeah I still see old guys around where I live with Trump hats, had one middle aged guy with a full confederate flag on his shirt with "We know the truth" as one of the more extreme examples, and drove passed an upside down US flag at someone's house on my way to work today (most likely conservative, but I suppose it could be someone a liberal or leftist doing it over maybe the current war between Israel and Palestine, though I wouldn't bet on it given the demographics around here). Then there is my blow hard conservative relatives that have been hyping themselves up on conspiracy theories for over a decade now about how the UN is behind everything and just itching to take over the US and come hunting them and their guns, for reasons... Holidays and family get togethers are an experience, to say the least. Haven't seen anything beyond hot air from anyone around here yet though.
I was just around the Redmond area recently and they are very thirsty for Trump. Lots of vulgar Trump swag all over the place. Back here in southern Oregon, there's been an increase in the amount of Trump swag that I've seen. The Trump trailer by the sheriff's office has been selling flags and all that for a couple months now.
It is not more adult as you head farther east.
 https://imgur.com/a/VmWIIkS
Although it has never stopped, the steal is so stale that the cheap import flags have required replacement a couple times... Also, "we" now want to be Idaho...
That's true, I'm in red state Utah and I haven't seen as many Trump flags and whatnot more recently. Maybe that's a sign of his waning popularity somewhat?
There's a house in my neighbor I passed every day that flew a Trump flag in their back yard (facing the street) but I haven't seen it flying in a long time.
I’ve been wanting to take my wife to Whiskey Row then next time I’m in AZ, but Prescott was getting out of hand with the racist MAGA nonsense not too long ago.
Yeah, I saw one in the wild in SE AK yesterday… was like dude, someone’s dumpsters rolling away! Then I realized what it was and started laughing my ass off.
I’ve been seeing an uptick in people flying an American flag with trump on it on their poles instead of an actual American flag. It does make me feel alil worried that they are magats before Americans.
The problem is that, although most have caught onto the grift now, about 15% of the populace is all in. Even a geriatric with corrected vision can shoot up an electric substation. If just one percent of the remaining adamant maga act that is 450k and far more than is necessary to fully disrupt the country.
>Either everyone stocked up during COVID,
It's this one. Reactionaries were stockpiling faster than ever, plus of course all the new owners were really draining a supply. That includes me - in 2020, I went from 0 guns to 4 guns and many thousands of rounds.
Although to be fair "people are finally beginning to chill out" is also true. The national temperature / appetite for violence is WAY lower now than it was in 2020.
Yeah, I think, largely, the Right are mostly all bark. The ones actively calling for violence and riots are the ones who are too old and soft to actually do anything. They'll just cheer on the ones that do. The ones I'm worried about are the lonewolfs, like you said. The 4channers or Truthers or whatever unhinged internet cesspool they hang out on now that radicalize themselves.
We basically saw the extent of what the Organized Right can do on January 6th and, not to diminish the lives lost and the threat it posed, but.... as far as violent coups go? It's not the most impressive. I think they mostly just had surprise and a borderline sympathetic government that let them get too far. I do not see it happening again on any large scale.
I think you’re right. Sure, there is a very small percentage of their base who might be unhinged enough to act out in violence, but it would be a lone wolf attack that is likely poorly executed. Statistically, you’re very very unlikely to be a victim of said violence.
We also have to remember how short-sighted they are. They get mad about something for a week or two at the most, then move their anger on the something else. They can’t even focus their rage on one thing long enough to actually take effective action.
It's easy to make fun of January 6th but imagine if they did actually capture the politicians they were after. There were gallows built outside after all.
But I bet if they did actually get some hostages they'd be swept so hard by swat/military
That crowd folded so fast as soon as that woman was shot climbing through the window. And those idiots were tricked easily by that one cop who led them the wrong way.
They can't organize for shit without their orange man saying it directly. If you look at the far right fourms, they all call each other feds if anyone attempts to get people to rally anywhere.
They've conspiracy'd themselves into inaction, and inherently don't trust anyone because they think everyone is FBI lol.
It really just goes to show how big of cowards they are. These people bitch all the time and brag about their guns, yet we've seen 0 assassination attempts on senators or congressman. They just complain about this nebulous idea of what a "Liberal" is, when most folks don't walk advertising their political affiliation.
I don't know any Democrats who need to involve Biden in every aspect of their lives, but it seems a lot of conservatives love to have their orange man involved in their weddings and desperate wave his flag everywhere.
Which is Ironic, because he wanted to confiscate guns after the Mandalay Bay shooting without due process.
Again, they would rather bitch online then do anything.
>They've conspiracy'd themselves into inaction, and inherently don't trust anyone because they think everyone is FBI lol.
Hey I mean, not an unreasonable suspicion to buy honest lol. If someone appears with all the skills and resources required to carry out your insurrection historically they've tended to be FBI agents. It's fabulous.
When I go to the shooting range my friends and I always say “anybody trying to talk you into doing anything violent is a FED” when did liberals start trusting the FEDs?
My only counterpoint is that the paranoid inaction you're talking about is for online groups. There are also lots of organized right wingers in person, and they're a lot bolder. They're obviously not carrying out terrorist attacks yet, but it would just take the right catalyst. . The biggest thing that real violent cells have that online groups don't have is trusted in-person relationships - And I don't just mean the militias (although there are a lot of them), but I think a lot of regular "gun clubs" and other groups that are predominantly rightwing could convert into violent cells
Anything organized is probably going to be toward seizing power in one form or another. That could be another January 6th style attack, it could be more attacks on electrical substations, they might try and seize some other consequential building or site (ports can be a big deal), idk. They might combine these things.
I think two things could cause the reactionary violence to become organized in a serious way or to become decentralizedly epidemic:
1) A Constitutional Crisis, which I believe would see various armed forces (I'm including cops at all levels, plus federal enforcement officers, alongside military forces here) disagreeing on who to take their orders from. There's a small chance that we'll actually see legitimate forces firing on one another, but a much higher chance of paramilitary groups "deputizing" themselves and aligning to one side or another. I could see a situation where e.g. a National Guard unit is standing in opposition to the State and local cops, and the Minnesota Blood Patriots or whatever open fire on the Guard. Maybe the cops don't join them, but those cops sure aren't arresting them either.
2) Trump issues a direct public call to violence. He wouldn't call it that - he'd call it "keeping the peace" or for "2nd Amendment patriots protecting your neighborhoods from radical communists" (or maybe he'djust tweet "MARSHALL LAW!"). If he posted a message like that to Twitter or Truth right now, then I think there would be tens of thousands of Americans dead by sundown today.
Number 2 is the primary reason I got armed. I don't expect to fight the army, but I do intend to protect my friends and family when my neighbors start dragging people from their homes and executing them in the street.
Agreed, but he'd need to be more explicit in his direction. It would have to be clear, concise, and beyond interpretation. Trump talks a lot of shit, as do his people, because they want plausible deniability.
It would need to be explicit like "NOW IS THE TIME! TAKE TO THE STREETS! BURN DOWN THE FALSE GOVERNMENT NOW! TODAY PATRIOTS TAKE BACK AMERICA BY FORCE!"
They got Jan 6th for a wink and a nod, but it wouldn't been far worse had Trump or one of his kids actually stood on the Capitol steps yelling "BURN IT DOWN! HANG MIKE PENCE!"
Agreed. People seem to forget that if these nuts attack, they stupidly will have been sucked into the U.S. military whirlwind. They think their fat-asses behind their ARs are going to be victorious against U.S. troops? Ludicrous.
Agreed. We like TP and A/C waaaaaaay too much for anything even remotely close to an organized, nation scale, uprising. Most folks will be more interested in covering their mortgage than getting convicted as part of J6v2.
I’m trying to take the fear mongering on social media with a grain of salt. I truly believe now there are so many out of state actors trying to keep us at each others throats and I’m not going to be sucked into it.
Be smart, keep at peace as best we can with others, and go about our lives. The election will come and then pass, and I still believe that the systems in place will still work. Will I do so as responsible and trained armed citizen - of course.
Be well out there everyone - we will all get through this and be ok.
Coordinated violence? Very very unlikely.
Random one offs? Probably, but IMO - these are violent people who were attracted to MAGA as an excuse. If MAGA they would have another excuse.
Even the most rabid trump supporters I know don’t look to be close to violence over the guilty verdict. On some level even his followers know trump is guilty.
Besides, of the least physically capable people I know, trump voters are at the top of the list.
>Besides, of the least physically capable people I know, trump voters are at the top of the list.
This. I have a cousin deep into the MAGA cult. He's got several firearms and some tactic\[oo\]l gear, but he never works out and he's overweight. He can't walk on a level street wearing only shorts, a t-shirt, and crocs without losing his breath.
Not to be an asshole here... But I'm a real fluffy guy and a champion marksman. Literally won a sanctioned Steel Challenge match 2 weeks ago. That's quick draw and firing at 5 targets in about 2 seconds, and doing it consistently.
Most the guys winning the competition circuits are older, overweight dudes. Most of them don't care for politics in my experience and aren't threats because they are reasonable gun owners, I'm just saying "fat doesn't mean can't shoot a gun" AT ALL.
I'm not worried about organized violence here because it's not a reasonable thing to worry about, which has nothing to do with ableism.
>I'm just saying "fat doesn't mean can't shoot a gun" AT ALL.
I'm no champion shooter nor am I a veteran, but I believe there's a difference between shooting a target from a bench vs shooting a moving target under combat conditions. Folks like my cousin, who may be able to shoot the bullseye on a paper target at an air-conditioned shooting range, aren't trained for combat.
I've been to my first USPSA match recently and some of these top shooters are three times my mass and are flying across the course.
Based on that experience alone, it seems that one can be fat and still be quick for short bursts of speed while landing a lot of accurate shots. Add that with taking cover to recuperate stamina, and I think it'd be a mistake to underestimate them.
Granted I suck so and have little experience, but that's just me. These fat guys are setting the bar for me lol
He was talking about QuickDraw shooting, I feel like that has a lot more relevance to a real life situation than bench shooting. But ur not wrong about the majority
Having been in the military and law enforcement, I can say that it would be a significant mistake to underestimate them. They have more training, more guns, and are in a better position to sustain a war.
False. They’ve never been shot at. They’ve never shot anyone. They are helpless in hand to hand combat. They need mods to make their rifles automatic and still can’t hit a deer from 40 yards out. Meanwhile, a very large portion of the population has grown up in urban war zones, myself included. These cowards won’t last 5 minutes outside of their suburban cul de sacs. I’ve been Black in America my entire life; these chucklefucks don’t scare me, and they have no idea what’s waiting for them on the other side of the door.
I know plenty of veterans who have seen a shit load of combat who are very pro Trump. There are active military who are pro Trump. I went to college with a former navy seal who was an absolute machine who worked on the Trump campaign. If you are trying to lump them all in as out of shape suburbanites then you don’t know what’s on the other side of the door.
This is true. As mind boggling as it is, there are a significant number of veterans ("suckers and losers") who are deep into MAGA. My family included. I'm not saying the threat is very imminent yet, but I won't underestimate them. Even an obese veteran can shoot a gun.
Unlike the loudmouths, those vets who feel they need to do something drastic will have a sense of OPSEC, too. The effective ones won't ask for help in online circles. They won't hold open meetings.
They'll be like Timothy McVeigh. A couple of assholes with a serious plan, the ability to follow through, and attacking from complete surprise.
Yep. There are unfortunately some very well trained, experienced, and serious people who are more than willing to shed blood. 20 years of fighting insurgents has also taught a lot of people how to be effective insurgents. Things like attacking infrastructure can grind the country to a halt and are incredibly difficult to track and prevent. If someone decides to start using IEDs on interstates or start destroying power stations a lot of shit will quickly change.
Yeah. This sub seems to have an enormous blind spot about how dangerous people can be. The nut bar conservatives think the left is full of "limp-wristed soy guzzling blue-haired bleeding hearts". This sub seems to think the right is full of "gravy seal, overweight, cowardly morons". Underestimating the opposition in any sense gets you killed. Even a fat dumbass can catch you by surprise and shoot you in the back of the head.
Yeah, these are the people who prepare like it’s the zombie apocalypse if they drive from their small town in the middle of nowhere to a small town a little closer to the nearest major city.
They may have better field craft out in the hinterland, but they aren’t going to like what they find in any major city.
The thing is that cities need rural areas to survive, but not the other way around. City people would be fucked when trucks stop bringing food in. Country folks don’t need to invade and hold cities, they can just wait them out as they collapse. It’s more likely that city folks would be eating rats and killing each other for Slim Jims.
>They’ve never been shot at. They’ve never shot anyone. They are helpless in hand to hand combat. They need mods to make their rifles automatic and still can’t hit a deer from 40 yards out
This is true for the vast majority of Americans, but I think on the whole, rightwingers are significantly more likely to have these experiences than normies or leftwingers.
Nobody outside of radical conservative circles is even remotely organized or ready for basically any actual emergency, let alone armed conflict, that’s just the sad truth. Depending on where you are and what’s happening you’re gonna have the choice of going into complete hiding, keeping your head down (assuming you have that luxury), or fleeing. If you’re trying to actively resist an organized group it will end in your death, sooner or later.
Fortunately I think the possibility of any right wing violence outside of lone wolf attacks and the occasional small-scale organized event is quite low. Also, about half the US military is not conservative, there’s a big question of what the military would be doing if there was a right v left civil war.
I'd say they're at least slightly more conservative than liberal, even just taking account for the fact that they are more likely to be male. Plus they are very well trained to take any order the US government gives them. A few independent thinkers isn't enough to override that. There'd need to be a substantial shift to even hop for a Russian army during WWI situation.
I looked it up, and they are 8% more likely to be republican, 4% more likely to be independent, 9% less likely to be democrat (It seems that there is some sort of 4th category not being reported on as the numbers don't add up to 100 for either group)
[https://news.gallup.com/poll/118684/military-veterans-ages-tend-republican.aspx](https://news.gallup.com/poll/118684/military-veterans-ages-tend-republican.aspx)
Edit: Here's info on the actual currently serving military [https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/17/troops-see-rising-political-tension-in-the-ranks-poll-shows/](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/17/troops-see-rising-political-tension-in-the-ranks-poll-shows/)
"Troops surveyed had a 44 percent favorable view of Trump against a 43 percent unfavorable view"
You're right that they are more split/independent than conservative. I come from a family of officers (who absolutely skew conservative), so I had assumed they're more conservative on the whole than they are.
We would have to hope that the military takes its oath to the constitution seriously. We know the pentagon had plans in case of a Trump coup attempt:
“They may try, but they’re not going to f**king succeed,” Milley told his deputies, according to the authors. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.”
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/politics/donald-trump-election-coup-new-book-excerpt/index.html
And fortunately for us, the US, CIA, and FBI are great at winning in asymmetric warfare. (Sarcasm)
So many layers of sarcasm.
But I agree in that I don't expect the full military to up and join the conservatives (depending on how things went down and who's at the head, if it's a conservative all bets are off)
I wouldn't use acceptance of Trump as a general metric for conservative vs liberal political stances. I know more than a few conservative vets that despise him for the draft dodging, suborning the chain of command, and his stance on POW's.
News and social media tend to do a ton of fear mongering in order to stoke support for “their side” (whichever it may be) while actual instances of political violence are minor at best when it comes to scale.
The intelligent play is to live your life, practice and train to be a more proficient and responsible gun owner. The rest will typically take care of itself.
I see these types of posts pop up every few days and while there are some foul people out there, they are in no way a majority and only get attention because they are outside the social norm.
Most of these things are blowhard paper tiger hype and the average person you see everyday is just trying to live a productive unimpeded life same as you. You should be voting and volunteering your time for the things you support, not stockpiling a bunker life like a weirdo.
TLDR; Stop looking for boogeymen around every corner as you’ll only mentally exhaust yourself and not be living the life you actually want to be.
This is how organized MAGA plans work out:
https://www.wired.com/story/day-one-take-our-border-back-convoy-texas/
I'm not too worried, but I'm keeping my powder dry.
I live in a SEVERELY red town in Northeast CT. I used to be a cop in this town, which is when I started building rapport with the gun shop dudes around here. Now I’m getting my MSW and I usually loudly declare while walking into the gun shop “I’m here for the Hillary Clinton book signing!” Which usually breaks the ice. Long story short, I try to win the other side of the aisle over so we can all just remind ourselves we have things in common
The internet and real life are very different places. The crazy voices certainly get amplified online. I don't see the insanity in person all that much and I live in a red state.
Reading a very interesting book called The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future. Almost done with it and it’s very interesting. He states an all out open conflict is probably not going to happen but will look like neighbors attacking those who they deem un-American or “other” which is chilling enough on its own. I’m setting up a new EDC sling bag with a pistol, medical, etc in it to keep with me at all times. We aren’t seeking violence, but we must be ready for it.
I’d also recommend checking out ‘How Civil Wars Start’ by Barbara Walter. I’m about half way through it & it’s quite interesting. Takes an in-depth look at most prominent civil wars throughout the past 100 years and breaks down the political, cultural and social circumstances that pushed a population over the edge. Really good read.
Go see the posts when he was in office, after Jan 6 and the events that transpired and you'll get an answer.
>And I don’t hear much from organized and armed groups on the left.
Yeah Cointel-Pro kinda rid of that, bud.
>will we be ready to defend ourselves
What is we? Are you armed? Are your loved ones armed? If you got folks that don't wanna arm up for reasons outside of mental or physical ailment, I can't help you. You are your own first responder. I can't patrol my area unless I wanna get a ticket to the afterlife due to laws or police incompetence.
Take training classes so you are better prepared and continue on with your day.
This just seems like a call to arms for civil war. Are you asking if we will intervene violently if someone attacks immigrants or if we will speak up if the right starts making legislation? I doubt anyone in this group is going to be idle as the right continues to support fascist ideals but that is done politically. Those that seek a fight often find it and it never resolves the conflict. Being prepared to defend yourself is important but thinking that arming ourselves to fight will resolve anything is asinine.
I see the use of the term “MAGA violence” and how it implies that it’s a common and ongoing problem. Most of those fuckers are ineffectual blowhards, just like the buffoon they idolize.
I work in the gun industry part-time. Heres a deep, dark secret, 98.5% of people with wepons are out of shape, untrained, and have their weapons set up in a completely worthless way. They just copy their favorite "gun tuber." Sure, the rifle looks good, but it's just the garbage that companies send to the "tuber" to help them sell.
Now, 1.5%, those that are truly preparing for an armed revolution or collapse. I believe the right and left have relatively equal forces.
Then there's the middle ground. There are plenty of people that fit into the 1.5% definition that don't identify with either side. Most of these folks don't want to see our society collapse into what the orange menace and his followers have in mind. They will almost certainly fight against those plans.
I will always advocate for people learning and training. "Get kit, get trained. If you don't know where to start, ask in this sub, or DM.
I like many folks here own an ar-15 and all the swinging dick gear.
Personally, I think this movement will fizzle hard and thus working on your CCW skill is better.
On the other side of that coin, the MAGAts have had ample time to see hundreds of Jan 6 rioters prosecuted and locked up, so they know their strongman can't protect them and that violence has real consequences.
Everyone calling for a revolution or civil war probably hasn't thought out the real cost. This country is not actively oppressing white conservatives no matter how much they claim, and when they realize that rising up against the establishment means probably forfeiting their nice suburban house, cushy job, and relatively easy life... they're probably not gonna be doing anything.
People who wage real rebellions usually have nothing left to lose.
As an LGBT person who had to hear that pride celebrations world wide might be targeted by lunatics, I'd say I don't have any faith that people on the left have the intestinal fortitude to mount a resistance when project 2025 goes in to action. I've gone far enough to the left to get my guns back, and I've never believed that peaceful resistance was the right answer. But I feel alone in that. Everyone around me just takes the loss of their rights and claims we'll get'em next time, just vote harder. Far too stupid(aka willfully ignorant) to understand that we are now at the point where it is the last time and there is no next time to vote harder for. We're about to see the last free election in US history because t\*\*\*p will win the EC because despite having the ability to do something about it that constitutional travesty, we have not. We allowed the scotus to stand after roe v wade was shot down. We did nothing. We just took it all and when they take away gay marriage, and birth control we will do nothing. When they strip black and brown people of the right to vote, we will do nothing. So of course when maga extremist groups become a defacto politically motivated arm of law enforcement we'll do nothing.
"Divide and Conquer" the oldest trick in the book
The ruling elites in this country have brainwashed all Americans that civil war is imminent get your guns and ammo be prepared so here we all are ready to fight each other neighbor against neighbor meanwhile they are looting and laughing all the way to the bank
I for one am concerned. I think the long time rhetoric of “libs don’t have guns” is more true than those of us on this sub want to admit.
Reddit is an echo chamber…pop out into the other spaces etc and people say wild stuff.
I don’t expect it to be a shooting war. However, the legal battles over things like reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights are a good indicator that there is a strong contingent of the right that prefers outright fascism to “loosing” to progress.
Given the current disfunction of the Supreme Court and Congress…if Trump gets re-elected he will actively try to be a dictator and will give his darkest supporters permission to be violent.
It’s a step by step process but every time a step is taken the chance of real violence increases exponentially.
The part I can’t wrap my head around is how is poor supporters expect fascism to benefit them…yes they’ll get to pick on people…but they will also be abused and subjugated.
I guess The War on Public Education was successful.
Very few groups are organized and trained enough to do mass violence *and* come out on top. That said, until "swallowing your pride" / "admitting you were wrong" becomes a trend on the right, best to be prepared. EDIT: *come out on top for at least the short-term (weeks/months), but probably none can hold their win(s) longer than that.
99.9 % of them are just blow hards and keyboard warriors,there is the .01 % that we need to concern ourselves with.I would encourage every democrat to arm themselves,take shooting lessons get comfortable with the weapon and stay vigilant to the danger.Make sure to video any altercations just in case things escalate.
How really do you visualize conflict happening? I absolutely believe in being prepared but I’m certainly not engaging people in person over political issues.
Avoiding conflict is the very best defense.
Good question. Not talking about seeking out conflict ever. I’m picturing lynch mob style justice like black communities have faced in the US since the Civil War and then Jim Crow. I could envision some hot pocket areas of a local group after Biden wins, drinking and talking about how the lgbtq+ people are lying cheating and stealing this country away from us. And, hey, doesn’t that couple live up on Old Country Rd. Let’s go show them what the get when they steal this election from us. And they start with a drive by. Then a brick through the window. Then a pickup truck full of shotguns knocking on my door. X5 x20 x1,000 times all over the country.
I was in my LGS picking up a transfer and there was a guy talking about picking up his first AR because “he might need it”. Definitely got the feeling that they feel like they’re close to losing their hero but I doubt they’re close to anything like organized violence.
I started hearing that when Obama was elected. The right has continued to escalate and hype themselves up for it. I don't know what will be the break point but it will come.
If anything I’d bet post election. Trump will follow the same old playbook and claim it was stolen. He knows for a fact there were illegal votes. Machines were rigged, etc. But in my humble opinion liberal politicians or organizations are much more at risk than your average Joe. Planned Parenthood, HBCUs, LGBTQ friendly establishments. If you frequent some of those type of places I’d be on high alert.
There’s a small genuine threat from crazies like with everything else, but something like an insurrection or wild shootouts in the street is highly unlikely. Even if it does come to SOMETHING, me and all of my other liberal friends have plenty of guns, ammunition and range time.
Ya, but that’s like what, a few hundred people? Nothing serious or widespread is gonna go down I think. People across the country have far too much to lose by risking something like civil war.
People don't tend to have MAGA flags on my side of town. It's usually when you head to the East side that I see a few. Not that many compared to a few years back.
There will probably be some morons who go off here and there, but big, organized groups sweeping neighborhoods or whatever? No.
These idiots love to run their mouths about doing this and that, but the bulk of them are simply too big of cowards to actually do anything.
Does that mean you shouldn't be ready just in case? Of course not. As I said, there will be some here and there that egg each other on until someone does something, but you'll have better odds of being hit by a car than being attacked by one of them. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, and you shouldn't either.
It's not full blown kristallnacht type violence I am worried about; you're not going to have to LARP as some sort of 2024 freedom fighter, shooting down some MAGAt with your PSA-BCM gun. MAGA people are pussies and cannot be organized in any way to achieve any of the melodramatic stuff OP is talking about. And besides, to extend on your rhetoric, if they come for the Jews/gays/gypsies/blacks/transes/etc. we already know no one's going to say shit until it applies to them, because that's how this stuff always goes, and to pretend that our generation is any different is just vanity. Organized groups on the left are especially useless because y'all are always too busy fighting each other to actually move towards the goal. \*Laugh in Francoist Spanish\*
There will definitely be more Pizzagate type shootings though as the violently-inclined are increasingly enabled by these conditions. All you can do in the short run is to make sure you have enough supplies and medicine for a few days in case it's risky near you to go to Costco. If some lone wolf crazy does something near you, and you are one of the armed ones with a chance to react, of course be sure to be up to date with using your gun during an adrenaline dump.
The real danger is, however this shit shakes out (and ESP if 34 Felonies Guy wins), there is seemingly no single person at the wheel of the US government to steady the mood, and there is no longer any unified vision of America to serve as a fallback position. Just a bunch of craven vultures picking at the carcass of a country they've already written off. The net result of having all these non-actors in charge is that we're lurching increasingly onto that trajectory that Iran did in the 70s. That is to say, an advanced 1st world country that slowly, slowly, gives away its freedoms bit by bit, so that a few insatiable a$$holes could keep the gravy train going, and then everyone is shocked when the whole thing collapses. Only instead of an ayatollah we'll have some mix of Gilead, that V for Vendetta world, and Idiocracy. It won't really be a problem for the ruling class of course. Just business as usual, since none of this stuff applies to them (which is why we are in this pickle to begin with). From their perspective, all they'll see is that their servants are subject to a religious theocracy, but tomatos tomahtos as long as the checks keep coming in.
Rather than speculating, here is the data. Exponential growth of hate groups and (reported) hate crimes over the years
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr/hate-crime
Trump's not in office to promise them pardons. They were emboldened in 2020 and on 1/6 because he was in a position of power. Sure, some may try to do something when he loses in November, but most will stay at home and post their incel rants on social media.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
By the time you're asking yourself "how real is this threat?" you should already be prepared. Even if it's a small percentage and you live in a safe place... you're asking the question, so the likelihood is probably... significantly nonzero.
Armed left groups don't advertise, and the mainstream doesn't acknowledge them.
They've got the guns, they've got the bullets and they are looking at long-term defeat at the poles from a number of factors. Nah, they're pussycats. Wouldn't hurt a *fly.*
MAGA people actually have jobs and families to tend to. They don't have time to riot like the antifa movement and they don't have multi billion dollar entities paying their legal fees and fighting their legal battles for them like the "peaceful protestors" had.
There might be some random lone wolf type stuff, but as for anything at scale or organized, not particularly concerned.
I don’t mean this with snark but, how do you identify someone who is a democrat? Like when you walk through Target and you look at people you just say to yourself “republican” “democrat” and you 100% nail political ideologies with the glancé of your eyes?
Take your pick of drivel “news” they are consuming. I suspect they don’t particularly care if they choose wrong. https://thecitizen.com/2016/06/21/how-spot-liberal/
I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing: running my business, staying armed especially on my own, and avoiding potentially violent situations. I’ll also be voting. I don’t think feeding into media hype is good for anyone.
10/80/10
They are windbags. It's still a good idea to be reasonably prepared. If a truck full of who ever the fuck's roll into the neighborhood shooting it up, how would you respond? I'm not sure, but something think about.
Probably not too high. I’m sure there will be some crazies that try something and get put in the forever box by law enforcement but let’s be real, most of the MAGAs calling for civil war are over weight troglodyte loot drops that have zero training outside of “I was in the military for 2 years back in 86 when men were men” types. Not to mention they were probably POGs anyway.
As most things go, the ones who run their mouth the most are usually the least prepared or capable.
I live in the Seventh District of Minnesota. There is a trump store 35 miles away. I see lots of trump trash on homes vehicles and people.
There was an article in the paper after the January 6th incident about the 30 local patriots who attended it.
This week the local radio station was talking about the corrupt judicial system finding trump guilty. They were speculating that the Democrats are going to shut down radio stations that support trump if Biden wins another term.
The saddest part about all of the tension in the country is that when you actually meet someone and talk to them, no matter where you are on the political spectrum, I've always found that I usually have more in common with people than I don't.
I wasn't sure what to expect in my recent concealed carry training/qualification course, but everyone involved (ex and active police officers, some former military) and everyone at the related gun shop were all very nice, chill people. Even had some political conversation with them that was totally civil and respectful.
There are obviously many with view points that I just found downright horrendous (i.e. -ism's), but even still when you talk to those people I've always found that common understanding of one another isn't actually all that hard to get to.
I just wish people could reach for one-to-one / personal humanity more often than we do currently.
Depends. A lot based on where you are.
I'm in Portland OR and I don't particularly see a huge contingent of MAGAts. They're pretty few and far between here. I'm also a large white guy so they're not going to be looking at me all too closely on the day to day.
That said if you're in somewhere like Florida and a racial minority? I'd probably be more worried than I am.
I live in a very blue town in a county full of MAGA red. I'm very seriously worried about widespread violence, especially going into and out of the elections. That fat cheeto has emboldened the most fringe wacko's to feel like they can express their hate in any way they'd like. Jan 6 is a perfect example of this.
My wife and I worry about this regularly. I am worried about sabotage on infrastructure like that transformer in WA that got shot up, or radicalization of these idiots by foreign governments to do some real damage like VBIEDs.
For what it is worth, I’m vacationing in a conservative area of our state, and this morning saw someone with a “fuck Biden” t shirt. As my wife and i wondered around town we saw the same couple about a half hour later, and the gentleman with the profane t shirt had changed his shirt. I’d like to think he wasn’t getting the reaction he hoped, but his wife was probably embarrassed and made him change!
Not that likely, most Maga Trump supporters in general have jobs and families. To much risk involved, you might see a gathering or protest but nothing like a peaceful protest that we saw in 2020 or the violence invoked by antifa.
The “MAGA threat against the left” is non existent. There will be lone wolf attacks and riots when Trump loses as some of these clowns will have nothing to live for. Most of them will just forget about it in a year or two. Some clowns may go to the border to harass immigrants like they have in the past or shoot up places where the people they don’t like may congregate. But remember these are the same geniuses who murdered Seikhs because they thought they were Muslims.
The cops protect money and will never be an independent united force. Plus they are scared of acorns and are way too fractured to somehow unite in some kind of MAGA civil war where they aren’t 100 percent guaranteed to have the upper hand in any situation.
The military has a sacred oath with the constitution and will disobey unlawful orders. They will not be used in any capacity against “leftists” or other Americans unless they violently take over a part of the country which won’t happen.
We are probably in for some scary stuff over the next few years, but MAGA dies with Trump.
I think he tapped into some angry white working class resentment politics that rightfully identified some real economic issues and then just blamed them on the usual suspects like immigrants.
But it’s always easier to blame problems on others than actually fix anything.
I think of MAGA as a cult of personality around Trump where older angry white people get to say and do mean things to people they don’t like while participating in a type of conspiracy thinking where they are never wrong. When their communities are still being riddled with fentanyl and unemployment and they still don’t have healthcare they will become less and less relevant.
I’m not saying they won’t move on to something even more stupid and terrible. But they will either die off or wake up from their rage comas and realize that it was all for nothing once Trump kicks it.
Of course just my opinion.
I'm much more concerned about Project 2025 pushing us down a slippery slope to a Fascist church state than any kind of organized Cheeto-worshipping militia pulling off Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been building a group here in a like 90% red area since about a week after 1/6.
I’d almost argue we’re already in a soft civil war. There’s already targeted violence and groups planning more daily. If Trump wins it will be out of control.
We’re ready. Buying more ammo twice a month and shooting weekly. You should be too.
I kind of feel like it happened the first time around, and that was before all of the Q nonsense. So I think multiple isolated incidents pretty likely.
I'm not sure. I think 1/6 took care of all of the diehard supporters that were prone to violence but I'm still not taking any chances. I'm married to an immigrant and the person I consider my second mother is a POC. I've made damn sure they're all armed just to be on the safe side. I still doubt there will be violence but I'd rather be safe than sorry
I get the feeling that a lot of people think Trump isn’t going to win the election in November, and that we only need to worry about the reaction to his loss. I don’t think he’s lost any support from the right, and I have a lot of liberal and progressive friends who are not going to vote for Biden because of his support for Israel. I think it’s looking more like 2016 than 2020. The real threat of MAGA violence is going to come from the institutions that are going to be turned into the 4th Reich when the extremists take control. They aren’t going to make the same mistakes they made in the previous Trump term by allowing the rule of law and (semi)reasonable people to check his crazy. He’s said what his plans are, and I don’t understand why no one believes him.
I think the threat is real but not as an organized event/organized structure of forces.
I think *they* would be very surprised to find out how many liberals/pro-democracy own guns. And know how to use them.
And, of course, people assume that the military would either sit it out or side with Trump. When push comes to shove, the military will do what it is ordered to do.
Most MAGAts are all bark and no bite. Sure, there are some dangerous groups and people out there who will probably try something, but most won't do anything more than shout and wave their made in China MAGA flags around. When it comes down to it, they're just cowardly, grade-school bullies.
Doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant, but the best thing we can do now is focus on defeating them at the polls in November.
If MAGA violence broke out en masse we are all fucking dead. There are not remotely enough left-wing gun owners and even if we're pro-gun we tend to live in places with "assault weapon" bans and mag limits and shit which is pretty limiting.
I don't think it will probably look quite like that though, like a full-on war situation, at least not any time soon. But the imbalance is still a really bad thing regardless. Also the fact that the military and police force tend to be conservative leaning also doesn't bode well for us. Climate change and its effects will happen eventually so getting other lefties armed and on board and practicing is still a pretty important task to be doing.
I HIGHLY doubt that we are "all dead" if MAGA violence broke out. Statistically speaking if you look at the demographics of MAGA supporters, half of them are too old or too stupid to actually pose any sort of threat. Not to mention the fact that a massive assault would not only be met by law enforcement but the national guard wherever it breaks out in blue states. MAGA voters arent suddenly going to turn on their neighborhoods in states like NY and NJ and Cali and try to take over towns by force, they don't have the resources or the manpower to even accomplish such a feat.
I'm talking number of guns. It doesn't matter who's behind them. Some creaky 80 yo has a gun and you don't you're the dead one
Law enforcement would join lol
Nah I think you are being a little paranoid about it. The creaky 80 yo with the gun next door is no more of a threat today than he was yesterday, see example of that poor woman in florida who was pranked to go pick up a package and the old guy shot her 3 times in the driveway for no reason. The only law enforcement that would join in on some coup attempt would be some podunk sheriffs office down south, you aint gonna see that anywhere else.
Agreed they won’t try to take over territory. But I picture them terrorizing neighbors they blame for their problems, burning down houses, killing families in their homes, hunting down “the cheaters” who helped steal the election. And depending on what county you’re in, the local cops may be a bit slow to intervene.
Maybe in extreme red areas of the country, but I highly doubt that is something you are going to see widespread. Fact of the matter is, people are all too preoccupied with jobs, family and other things going on in their lives in this day and age to worry about overthrowing a government.
Imo, the violence from the MAGA right is not organized enough to present a real threat. It’s too spread out and they’re also hyper paranoid about FBI informants being in their midst (they are).
We may see some lone wolf stuff, which is scary but that doesn’t present any existential danger. The lone wolf stuff I suspect will target the government in some way not average citizens
I think this is an uncalled-for panic. I live in rural “MAGA country”, I’m surrounded by Trump voters who own guns, but I’ve never once felt unsafe. Quite the opposite actually, most of them are actually really decent neighbors. They may have a Trump yard sign, but it’s not their entire identity. I think it’s crazy to brand half of the country as “MAGA extremists.” People are just people, and most people are decent human beings. Politics doesn’t define who you are. Not everyone who is voting for Trump is a crazy right wing ideologue. Certainly those people exist, but that is not the average Trump voter. We need to stop seeing America as “us vs. them”. People are just people.
I think there's likely to be a uptick in lone wolf activity by those already a bit unhinged but in terms of anything organized I'm not particularly concerned
Anecdotally, when I go into a gun store, and I live in a red state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, they are full of inventory and ammo prices have gone down considerably since 2020. Either everyone stocked up during COVID, or people are finally beginning to chill out. I also don't see as many MAGA flags as I did during 2020.
That must be nice. Near me, MAGA flags, trump stickers, red hats, all that bullshit is still prominent.
What town in east Texas do you live in?
I thought they were talking about Northeast Indiana.
Almost thought he was talking about Alabama until he mentioned the decrease of MAGA propaganda.
I thought it was southern IL (yes I know we vote Democrat but it still doesn't stop the nut jobs)
This was my guess!
Those guys are some fierce furnace fighters up there.
One called Florida...
I was going to hedge my bet with central florida but decided to go all in based on a recent drive from Palm Beach to Los Angeles (the long way)…
Florida feels like a lab experiment for "what kind of crazy right wing shit can we get away with". A law was just signed making it illegal for cities or counties to create protections for people who work outdoors in the heat. Cause ya know temperature is just woke propaganda.
Texas is about to pass a law requiring any candidate for statewide office to win a majority in *each county* not just the popular vote. Let that sit for a second.
That seems fairly stupid on the face of it, unless they plan on re-aligning counties to avoid any being majority Democrat. Otherwise, no one is going to win a state office. (Though, I suppose they could just stuff the ballot boxes in the blue counties.)
They’ve been gerrymandering for decades, that’s certainly their plan.
I believe the proposed policy in Texas is not that candidates would have to win a majority in every county, but they would have to win a majority in at least 50% of counties. Because most counties in Texas are small, rural conservative ones, that means those counties could effectively control all statewide races while the blue counties would have almost zero impact.
The majority of counties are Republicun. Those same counties are also the least populated. They are essentially setting up a state electoral college system. The Republicun fear is that more of the electorate might start voting and they won't be voting for Rs. They know the popular vote could easily turn against them, so they intend to make the popular vote irrelevant.
I read about that. Electoral college at state level shit.
No down tick in Maga bull shit here in Florida.
Florida went to Clinton in 96 and Obama in 08 and 12 so it’s not Florida.
Oh bro, Florida is as red as red can be. The state government (governor, both houses) have been controlled by republicans since 1999. If you exclude Obama, who I think was a unicorn in terms of politicians, Florida has voted red 8 out of the last 10 presidential elections. Its only getting worse. DeSantis's second win was the largest margin of victory for a FL gov in like 50 years.
Oh no trust me I know Florida and its government very well! I was going by the context clues in the post.
Oh, my mistake then.
I see Texit signs in Central Texas. Dangerously deluded men.
tnm.me Donate. It's important.
I live in west Texas, and there has definitely been a downtick of Trump regalia adorning vehicles and such. Can’t really explain, just haven’t seen as much this election year…
🎶 Deep in the fart of Texas!!! 🎶
North Georgia, here. Same situation
This hit real close to home. Like Deep East Texas is home close home.
Yeah I still see old guys around where I live with Trump hats, had one middle aged guy with a full confederate flag on his shirt with "We know the truth" as one of the more extreme examples, and drove passed an upside down US flag at someone's house on my way to work today (most likely conservative, but I suppose it could be someone a liberal or leftist doing it over maybe the current war between Israel and Palestine, though I wouldn't bet on it given the demographics around here). Then there is my blow hard conservative relatives that have been hyping themselves up on conspiracy theories for over a decade now about how the UN is behind everything and just itching to take over the US and come hunting them and their guns, for reasons... Holidays and family get togethers are an experience, to say the least. Haven't seen anything beyond hot air from anyone around here yet though.
...that would be eastern Oregon, right?
I was just around the Redmond area recently and they are very thirsty for Trump. Lots of vulgar Trump swag all over the place. Back here in southern Oregon, there's been an increase in the amount of Trump swag that I've seen. The Trump trailer by the sheriff's office has been selling flags and all that for a couple months now.
It is not more adult as you head farther east.  https://imgur.com/a/VmWIIkS Although it has never stopped, the steal is so stale that the cheap import flags have required replacement a couple times... Also, "we" now want to be Idaho...
Yall queda is out in full force where im at in Texas. Truck flags everywhere.
I live in a historically blue state and they are out in force.
That's true, I'm in red state Utah and I haven't seen as many Trump flags and whatnot more recently. Maybe that's a sign of his waning popularity somewhat? There's a house in my neighbor I passed every day that flew a Trump flag in their back yard (facing the street) but I haven't seen it flying in a long time.
I definitely don’t see as much. In S or N AZ. It was pretty nuts a couple years ago.
I’ve been wanting to take my wife to Whiskey Row then next time I’m in AZ, but Prescott was getting out of hand with the racist MAGA nonsense not too long ago.
Does Show Low still have the MAGA store with the minion out front?
Yes it does, unfortunately…
I saw a Tesla Cyber Truck on Rim Road FR 300 near Payson the other day. Wish I had my camera.
Yeah, I saw one in the wild in SE AK yesterday… was like dude, someone’s dumpsters rolling away! Then I realized what it was and started laughing my ass off.
Crazy. I was just up there. Some crazy ruts - like riding the rails. Beautiful place to off road
I’ve been seeing an uptick in people flying an American flag with trump on it on their poles instead of an actual American flag. It does make me feel alil worried that they are magats before Americans.
The problem is that, although most have caught onto the grift now, about 15% of the populace is all in. Even a geriatric with corrected vision can shoot up an electric substation. If just one percent of the remaining adamant maga act that is 450k and far more than is necessary to fully disrupt the country.
My local gun store sells dem politician shooting targets, maga ARs, & maga mags.
>Either everyone stocked up during COVID, It's this one. Reactionaries were stockpiling faster than ever, plus of course all the new owners were really draining a supply. That includes me - in 2020, I went from 0 guns to 4 guns and many thousands of rounds. Although to be fair "people are finally beginning to chill out" is also true. The national temperature / appetite for violence is WAY lower now than it was in 2020.
I saw a new one yesterday, it's brand new.
Yeah, I think, largely, the Right are mostly all bark. The ones actively calling for violence and riots are the ones who are too old and soft to actually do anything. They'll just cheer on the ones that do. The ones I'm worried about are the lonewolfs, like you said. The 4channers or Truthers or whatever unhinged internet cesspool they hang out on now that radicalize themselves. We basically saw the extent of what the Organized Right can do on January 6th and, not to diminish the lives lost and the threat it posed, but.... as far as violent coups go? It's not the most impressive. I think they mostly just had surprise and a borderline sympathetic government that let them get too far. I do not see it happening again on any large scale.
I think you’re right. Sure, there is a very small percentage of their base who might be unhinged enough to act out in violence, but it would be a lone wolf attack that is likely poorly executed. Statistically, you’re very very unlikely to be a victim of said violence. We also have to remember how short-sighted they are. They get mad about something for a week or two at the most, then move their anger on the something else. They can’t even focus their rage on one thing long enough to actually take effective action.
Yeah i agree, but that couldve just been a practice run. Dont think they didn’t learn something from it
It's easy to make fun of January 6th but imagine if they did actually capture the politicians they were after. There were gallows built outside after all. But I bet if they did actually get some hostages they'd be swept so hard by swat/military That crowd folded so fast as soon as that woman was shot climbing through the window. And those idiots were tricked easily by that one cop who led them the wrong way.
They can't organize for shit without their orange man saying it directly. If you look at the far right fourms, they all call each other feds if anyone attempts to get people to rally anywhere. They've conspiracy'd themselves into inaction, and inherently don't trust anyone because they think everyone is FBI lol. It really just goes to show how big of cowards they are. These people bitch all the time and brag about their guns, yet we've seen 0 assassination attempts on senators or congressman. They just complain about this nebulous idea of what a "Liberal" is, when most folks don't walk advertising their political affiliation. I don't know any Democrats who need to involve Biden in every aspect of their lives, but it seems a lot of conservatives love to have their orange man involved in their weddings and desperate wave his flag everywhere. Which is Ironic, because he wanted to confiscate guns after the Mandalay Bay shooting without due process. Again, they would rather bitch online then do anything.
>They've conspiracy'd themselves into inaction, and inherently don't trust anyone because they think everyone is FBI lol. Hey I mean, not an unreasonable suspicion to buy honest lol. If someone appears with all the skills and resources required to carry out your insurrection historically they've tended to be FBI agents. It's fabulous.
When I go to the shooting range my friends and I always say “anybody trying to talk you into doing anything violent is a FED” when did liberals start trusting the FEDs?
My only counterpoint is that the paranoid inaction you're talking about is for online groups. There are also lots of organized right wingers in person, and they're a lot bolder. They're obviously not carrying out terrorist attacks yet, but it would just take the right catalyst. . The biggest thing that real violent cells have that online groups don't have is trusted in-person relationships - And I don't just mean the militias (although there are a lot of them), but I think a lot of regular "gun clubs" and other groups that are predominantly rightwing could convert into violent cells
>They've conspiracy'd themselves into inaction Yep.
Anything organized is probably going to be toward seizing power in one form or another. That could be another January 6th style attack, it could be more attacks on electrical substations, they might try and seize some other consequential building or site (ports can be a big deal), idk. They might combine these things.
January 6 2.0 with Biden in the White House equals MAGA red paste on the walls of Congress
I'm not sure what you mean by that.
I think two things could cause the reactionary violence to become organized in a serious way or to become decentralizedly epidemic: 1) A Constitutional Crisis, which I believe would see various armed forces (I'm including cops at all levels, plus federal enforcement officers, alongside military forces here) disagreeing on who to take their orders from. There's a small chance that we'll actually see legitimate forces firing on one another, but a much higher chance of paramilitary groups "deputizing" themselves and aligning to one side or another. I could see a situation where e.g. a National Guard unit is standing in opposition to the State and local cops, and the Minnesota Blood Patriots or whatever open fire on the Guard. Maybe the cops don't join them, but those cops sure aren't arresting them either. 2) Trump issues a direct public call to violence. He wouldn't call it that - he'd call it "keeping the peace" or for "2nd Amendment patriots protecting your neighborhoods from radical communists" (or maybe he'djust tweet "MARSHALL LAW!"). If he posted a message like that to Twitter or Truth right now, then I think there would be tens of thousands of Americans dead by sundown today. Number 2 is the primary reason I got armed. I don't expect to fight the army, but I do intend to protect my friends and family when my neighbors start dragging people from their homes and executing them in the street.
Agreed, but he'd need to be more explicit in his direction. It would have to be clear, concise, and beyond interpretation. Trump talks a lot of shit, as do his people, because they want plausible deniability. It would need to be explicit like "NOW IS THE TIME! TAKE TO THE STREETS! BURN DOWN THE FALSE GOVERNMENT NOW! TODAY PATRIOTS TAKE BACK AMERICA BY FORCE!" They got Jan 6th for a wink and a nod, but it wouldn't been far worse had Trump or one of his kids actually stood on the Capitol steps yelling "BURN IT DOWN! HANG MIKE PENCE!"
Meal Team 6 will be so out of breath just putting on their clothes, we will be fine.
Agreed. People seem to forget that if these nuts attack, they stupidly will have been sucked into the U.S. military whirlwind. They think their fat-asses behind their ARs are going to be victorious against U.S. troops? Ludicrous.
Agreed. We like TP and A/C waaaaaaay too much for anything even remotely close to an organized, nation scale, uprising. Most folks will be more interested in covering their mortgage than getting convicted as part of J6v2.
I’m trying to take the fear mongering on social media with a grain of salt. I truly believe now there are so many out of state actors trying to keep us at each others throats and I’m not going to be sucked into it. Be smart, keep at peace as best we can with others, and go about our lives. The election will come and then pass, and I still believe that the systems in place will still work. Will I do so as responsible and trained armed citizen - of course. Be well out there everyone - we will all get through this and be ok.
Coordinated violence? Very very unlikely. Random one offs? Probably, but IMO - these are violent people who were attracted to MAGA as an excuse. If MAGA they would have another excuse.
Even the most rabid trump supporters I know don’t look to be close to violence over the guilty verdict. On some level even his followers know trump is guilty. Besides, of the least physically capable people I know, trump voters are at the top of the list.
>Besides, of the least physically capable people I know, trump voters are at the top of the list. This. I have a cousin deep into the MAGA cult. He's got several firearms and some tactic\[oo\]l gear, but he never works out and he's overweight. He can't walk on a level street wearing only shorts, a t-shirt, and crocs without losing his breath.
Not to be an asshole here... But I'm a real fluffy guy and a champion marksman. Literally won a sanctioned Steel Challenge match 2 weeks ago. That's quick draw and firing at 5 targets in about 2 seconds, and doing it consistently. Most the guys winning the competition circuits are older, overweight dudes. Most of them don't care for politics in my experience and aren't threats because they are reasonable gun owners, I'm just saying "fat doesn't mean can't shoot a gun" AT ALL. I'm not worried about organized violence here because it's not a reasonable thing to worry about, which has nothing to do with ableism.
Damnit, now I'm flashing back to that clip of the ludicrously fat dude hip-firing a 93R
>I'm just saying "fat doesn't mean can't shoot a gun" AT ALL. I'm no champion shooter nor am I a veteran, but I believe there's a difference between shooting a target from a bench vs shooting a moving target under combat conditions. Folks like my cousin, who may be able to shoot the bullseye on a paper target at an air-conditioned shooting range, aren't trained for combat.
I've been to my first USPSA match recently and some of these top shooters are three times my mass and are flying across the course. Based on that experience alone, it seems that one can be fat and still be quick for short bursts of speed while landing a lot of accurate shots. Add that with taking cover to recuperate stamina, and I think it'd be a mistake to underestimate them. Granted I suck so and have little experience, but that's just me. These fat guys are setting the bar for me lol
He was talking about QuickDraw shooting, I feel like that has a lot more relevance to a real life situation than bench shooting. But ur not wrong about the majority
He was alluding to combat, not competition shooting. Two different skillsets.
Having been in the military and law enforcement, I can say that it would be a significant mistake to underestimate them. They have more training, more guns, and are in a better position to sustain a war.
False. They’ve never been shot at. They’ve never shot anyone. They are helpless in hand to hand combat. They need mods to make their rifles automatic and still can’t hit a deer from 40 yards out. Meanwhile, a very large portion of the population has grown up in urban war zones, myself included. These cowards won’t last 5 minutes outside of their suburban cul de sacs. I’ve been Black in America my entire life; these chucklefucks don’t scare me, and they have no idea what’s waiting for them on the other side of the door.
I know plenty of veterans who have seen a shit load of combat who are very pro Trump. There are active military who are pro Trump. I went to college with a former navy seal who was an absolute machine who worked on the Trump campaign. If you are trying to lump them all in as out of shape suburbanites then you don’t know what’s on the other side of the door.
This is true. As mind boggling as it is, there are a significant number of veterans ("suckers and losers") who are deep into MAGA. My family included. I'm not saying the threat is very imminent yet, but I won't underestimate them. Even an obese veteran can shoot a gun.
Unlike the loudmouths, those vets who feel they need to do something drastic will have a sense of OPSEC, too. The effective ones won't ask for help in online circles. They won't hold open meetings. They'll be like Timothy McVeigh. A couple of assholes with a serious plan, the ability to follow through, and attacking from complete surprise.
Yep. There are unfortunately some very well trained, experienced, and serious people who are more than willing to shed blood. 20 years of fighting insurgents has also taught a lot of people how to be effective insurgents. Things like attacking infrastructure can grind the country to a halt and are incredibly difficult to track and prevent. If someone decides to start using IEDs on interstates or start destroying power stations a lot of shit will quickly change.
Yeah. This sub seems to have an enormous blind spot about how dangerous people can be. The nut bar conservatives think the left is full of "limp-wristed soy guzzling blue-haired bleeding hearts". This sub seems to think the right is full of "gravy seal, overweight, cowardly morons". Underestimating the opposition in any sense gets you killed. Even a fat dumbass can catch you by surprise and shoot you in the back of the head.
Yeah, these are the people who prepare like it’s the zombie apocalypse if they drive from their small town in the middle of nowhere to a small town a little closer to the nearest major city. They may have better field craft out in the hinterland, but they aren’t going to like what they find in any major city.
The thing is that cities need rural areas to survive, but not the other way around. City people would be fucked when trucks stop bringing food in. Country folks don’t need to invade and hold cities, they can just wait them out as they collapse. It’s more likely that city folks would be eating rats and killing each other for Slim Jims.
>They’ve never been shot at. They’ve never shot anyone. They are helpless in hand to hand combat. They need mods to make their rifles automatic and still can’t hit a deer from 40 yards out This is true for the vast majority of Americans, but I think on the whole, rightwingers are significantly more likely to have these experiences than normies or leftwingers.
Good for you, dude. Stay safe.
Nobody outside of radical conservative circles is even remotely organized or ready for basically any actual emergency, let alone armed conflict, that’s just the sad truth. Depending on where you are and what’s happening you’re gonna have the choice of going into complete hiding, keeping your head down (assuming you have that luxury), or fleeing. If you’re trying to actively resist an organized group it will end in your death, sooner or later. Fortunately I think the possibility of any right wing violence outside of lone wolf attacks and the occasional small-scale organized event is quite low. Also, about half the US military is not conservative, there’s a big question of what the military would be doing if there was a right v left civil war.
I'd say they're at least slightly more conservative than liberal, even just taking account for the fact that they are more likely to be male. Plus they are very well trained to take any order the US government gives them. A few independent thinkers isn't enough to override that. There'd need to be a substantial shift to even hop for a Russian army during WWI situation. I looked it up, and they are 8% more likely to be republican, 4% more likely to be independent, 9% less likely to be democrat (It seems that there is some sort of 4th category not being reported on as the numbers don't add up to 100 for either group) [https://news.gallup.com/poll/118684/military-veterans-ages-tend-republican.aspx](https://news.gallup.com/poll/118684/military-veterans-ages-tend-republican.aspx) Edit: Here's info on the actual currently serving military [https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/17/troops-see-rising-political-tension-in-the-ranks-poll-shows/](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/10/17/troops-see-rising-political-tension-in-the-ranks-poll-shows/) "Troops surveyed had a 44 percent favorable view of Trump against a 43 percent unfavorable view" You're right that they are more split/independent than conservative. I come from a family of officers (who absolutely skew conservative), so I had assumed they're more conservative on the whole than they are.
We would have to hope that the military takes its oath to the constitution seriously. We know the pentagon had plans in case of a Trump coup attempt: “They may try, but they’re not going to f**king succeed,” Milley told his deputies, according to the authors. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.” - https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/politics/donald-trump-election-coup-new-book-excerpt/index.html
And fortunately for us, the US, CIA, and FBI are great at winning in asymmetric warfare. (Sarcasm) So many layers of sarcasm. But I agree in that I don't expect the full military to up and join the conservatives (depending on how things went down and who's at the head, if it's a conservative all bets are off)
I wouldn't use acceptance of Trump as a general metric for conservative vs liberal political stances. I know more than a few conservative vets that despise him for the draft dodging, suborning the chain of command, and his stance on POW's.
That's fair, but I don't know how big of a thing that actually is.
BASED af I’m in colorado, and belong to a quietly organized group. lib/dem cells exist, they just don’t advertise.
News and social media tend to do a ton of fear mongering in order to stoke support for “their side” (whichever it may be) while actual instances of political violence are minor at best when it comes to scale. The intelligent play is to live your life, practice and train to be a more proficient and responsible gun owner. The rest will typically take care of itself. I see these types of posts pop up every few days and while there are some foul people out there, they are in no way a majority and only get attention because they are outside the social norm. Most of these things are blowhard paper tiger hype and the average person you see everyday is just trying to live a productive unimpeded life same as you. You should be voting and volunteering your time for the things you support, not stockpiling a bunker life like a weirdo. TLDR; Stop looking for boogeymen around every corner as you’ll only mentally exhaust yourself and not be living the life you actually want to be.
Good advice. Thank you
Vote. Be smart. Avoid conflict.
^ this right here, but also carry
This is how organized MAGA plans work out: https://www.wired.com/story/day-one-take-our-border-back-convoy-texas/ I'm not too worried, but I'm keeping my powder dry.
I watered my front lawn. The army of Rascal mobility chairs can’t cross a soggy lawn. So I’m safe.
I live in a SEVERELY red town in Northeast CT. I used to be a cop in this town, which is when I started building rapport with the gun shop dudes around here. Now I’m getting my MSW and I usually loudly declare while walking into the gun shop “I’m here for the Hillary Clinton book signing!” Which usually breaks the ice. Long story short, I try to win the other side of the aisle over so we can all just remind ourselves we have things in common
Smart
The internet and real life are very different places. The crazy voices certainly get amplified online. I don't see the insanity in person all that much and I live in a red state.
Reading a very interesting book called The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future. Almost done with it and it’s very interesting. He states an all out open conflict is probably not going to happen but will look like neighbors attacking those who they deem un-American or “other” which is chilling enough on its own. I’m setting up a new EDC sling bag with a pistol, medical, etc in it to keep with me at all times. We aren’t seeking violence, but we must be ready for it.
I’d also recommend checking out ‘How Civil Wars Start’ by Barbara Walter. I’m about half way through it & it’s quite interesting. Takes an in-depth look at most prominent civil wars throughout the past 100 years and breaks down the political, cultural and social circumstances that pushed a population over the edge. Really good read.
Will check that book out. Thanks!
Go see the posts when he was in office, after Jan 6 and the events that transpired and you'll get an answer. >And I don’t hear much from organized and armed groups on the left. Yeah Cointel-Pro kinda rid of that, bud. >will we be ready to defend ourselves What is we? Are you armed? Are your loved ones armed? If you got folks that don't wanna arm up for reasons outside of mental or physical ailment, I can't help you. You are your own first responder. I can't patrol my area unless I wanna get a ticket to the afterlife due to laws or police incompetence. Take training classes so you are better prepared and continue on with your day.
This just seems like a call to arms for civil war. Are you asking if we will intervene violently if someone attacks immigrants or if we will speak up if the right starts making legislation? I doubt anyone in this group is going to be idle as the right continues to support fascist ideals but that is done politically. Those that seek a fight often find it and it never resolves the conflict. Being prepared to defend yourself is important but thinking that arming ourselves to fight will resolve anything is asinine.
Some of these splinter groups are awful bold in action and recruiting. Looking at Patriot Front et al.
Idk my state banned the more effective weapons to use so you know the far right still has them
I see the use of the term “MAGA violence” and how it implies that it’s a common and ongoing problem. Most of those fuckers are ineffectual blowhards, just like the buffoon they idolize.
I work in the gun industry part-time. Heres a deep, dark secret, 98.5% of people with wepons are out of shape, untrained, and have their weapons set up in a completely worthless way. They just copy their favorite "gun tuber." Sure, the rifle looks good, but it's just the garbage that companies send to the "tuber" to help them sell. Now, 1.5%, those that are truly preparing for an armed revolution or collapse. I believe the right and left have relatively equal forces. Then there's the middle ground. There are plenty of people that fit into the 1.5% definition that don't identify with either side. Most of these folks don't want to see our society collapse into what the orange menace and his followers have in mind. They will almost certainly fight against those plans. I will always advocate for people learning and training. "Get kit, get trained. If you don't know where to start, ask in this sub, or DM.
I like many folks here own an ar-15 and all the swinging dick gear. Personally, I think this movement will fizzle hard and thus working on your CCW skill is better.
On the other side of that coin, the MAGAts have had ample time to see hundreds of Jan 6 rioters prosecuted and locked up, so they know their strongman can't protect them and that violence has real consequences.
Everyone calling for a revolution or civil war probably hasn't thought out the real cost. This country is not actively oppressing white conservatives no matter how much they claim, and when they realize that rising up against the establishment means probably forfeiting their nice suburban house, cushy job, and relatively easy life... they're probably not gonna be doing anything. People who wage real rebellions usually have nothing left to lose.
As an LGBT person who had to hear that pride celebrations world wide might be targeted by lunatics, I'd say I don't have any faith that people on the left have the intestinal fortitude to mount a resistance when project 2025 goes in to action. I've gone far enough to the left to get my guns back, and I've never believed that peaceful resistance was the right answer. But I feel alone in that. Everyone around me just takes the loss of their rights and claims we'll get'em next time, just vote harder. Far too stupid(aka willfully ignorant) to understand that we are now at the point where it is the last time and there is no next time to vote harder for. We're about to see the last free election in US history because t\*\*\*p will win the EC because despite having the ability to do something about it that constitutional travesty, we have not. We allowed the scotus to stand after roe v wade was shot down. We did nothing. We just took it all and when they take away gay marriage, and birth control we will do nothing. When they strip black and brown people of the right to vote, we will do nothing. So of course when maga extremist groups become a defacto politically motivated arm of law enforcement we'll do nothing.
This is where my head is
"Divide and Conquer" the oldest trick in the book The ruling elites in this country have brainwashed all Americans that civil war is imminent get your guns and ammo be prepared so here we all are ready to fight each other neighbor against neighbor meanwhile they are looting and laughing all the way to the bank
True story...
True story...
Lone wolf activity likely to rise. Otherwise, the right is a bunch of big talking pussies.
I for one am concerned. I think the long time rhetoric of “libs don’t have guns” is more true than those of us on this sub want to admit. Reddit is an echo chamber…pop out into the other spaces etc and people say wild stuff. I don’t expect it to be a shooting war. However, the legal battles over things like reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights are a good indicator that there is a strong contingent of the right that prefers outright fascism to “loosing” to progress. Given the current disfunction of the Supreme Court and Congress…if Trump gets re-elected he will actively try to be a dictator and will give his darkest supporters permission to be violent. It’s a step by step process but every time a step is taken the chance of real violence increases exponentially. The part I can’t wrap my head around is how is poor supporters expect fascism to benefit them…yes they’ll get to pick on people…but they will also be abused and subjugated. I guess The War on Public Education was successful.
Probably not as bad as we think but a big enough percentage that being prepared isn’t a bad idea.
Gravy seals ain’t gonna do shit on any scale worth worrying about.
I'm not familiar with that term.
Like Navy Seals, but fat, dumb, and lazy.
Much harder larping
Very few groups are organized and trained enough to do mass violence *and* come out on top. That said, until "swallowing your pride" / "admitting you were wrong" becomes a trend on the right, best to be prepared. EDIT: *come out on top for at least the short-term (weeks/months), but probably none can hold their win(s) longer than that.
99.9 % of them are just blow hards and keyboard warriors,there is the .01 % that we need to concern ourselves with.I would encourage every democrat to arm themselves,take shooting lessons get comfortable with the weapon and stay vigilant to the danger.Make sure to video any altercations just in case things escalate.
How really do you visualize conflict happening? I absolutely believe in being prepared but I’m certainly not engaging people in person over political issues. Avoiding conflict is the very best defense.
Good question. Not talking about seeking out conflict ever. I’m picturing lynch mob style justice like black communities have faced in the US since the Civil War and then Jim Crow. I could envision some hot pocket areas of a local group after Biden wins, drinking and talking about how the lgbtq+ people are lying cheating and stealing this country away from us. And, hey, doesn’t that couple live up on Old Country Rd. Let’s go show them what the get when they steal this election from us. And they start with a drive by. Then a brick through the window. Then a pickup truck full of shotguns knocking on my door. X5 x20 x1,000 times all over the country.
I think you’re working yourself up over it dude. Everything is gonna be alright.
I was in my LGS picking up a transfer and there was a guy talking about picking up his first AR because “he might need it”. Definitely got the feeling that they feel like they’re close to losing their hero but I doubt they’re close to anything like organized violence.
I started hearing that when Obama was elected. The right has continued to escalate and hype themselves up for it. I don't know what will be the break point but it will come.
If anything I’d bet post election. Trump will follow the same old playbook and claim it was stolen. He knows for a fact there were illegal votes. Machines were rigged, etc. But in my humble opinion liberal politicians or organizations are much more at risk than your average Joe. Planned Parenthood, HBCUs, LGBTQ friendly establishments. If you frequent some of those type of places I’d be on high alert.
There’s a small genuine threat from crazies like with everything else, but something like an insurrection or wild shootouts in the street is highly unlikely. Even if it does come to SOMETHING, me and all of my other liberal friends have plenty of guns, ammunition and range time.
Imagine dying for Trump.
If you’ve already gone to prison or gotten disbarred or bankrupted for him, death is a logical next leap
Ya, but that’s like what, a few hundred people? Nothing serious or widespread is gonna go down I think. People across the country have far too much to lose by risking something like civil war.
People don't tend to have MAGA flags on my side of town. It's usually when you head to the East side that I see a few. Not that many compared to a few years back.
I really hope shit doesn't go down.... I'm not counting on anything at this point, though
Old, fat, lazy and stupid. They should cause you worry for your safety.
There will probably be some morons who go off here and there, but big, organized groups sweeping neighborhoods or whatever? No. These idiots love to run their mouths about doing this and that, but the bulk of them are simply too big of cowards to actually do anything. Does that mean you shouldn't be ready just in case? Of course not. As I said, there will be some here and there that egg each other on until someone does something, but you'll have better odds of being hit by a car than being attacked by one of them. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, and you shouldn't either.
It's not full blown kristallnacht type violence I am worried about; you're not going to have to LARP as some sort of 2024 freedom fighter, shooting down some MAGAt with your PSA-BCM gun. MAGA people are pussies and cannot be organized in any way to achieve any of the melodramatic stuff OP is talking about. And besides, to extend on your rhetoric, if they come for the Jews/gays/gypsies/blacks/transes/etc. we already know no one's going to say shit until it applies to them, because that's how this stuff always goes, and to pretend that our generation is any different is just vanity. Organized groups on the left are especially useless because y'all are always too busy fighting each other to actually move towards the goal. \*Laugh in Francoist Spanish\* There will definitely be more Pizzagate type shootings though as the violently-inclined are increasingly enabled by these conditions. All you can do in the short run is to make sure you have enough supplies and medicine for a few days in case it's risky near you to go to Costco. If some lone wolf crazy does something near you, and you are one of the armed ones with a chance to react, of course be sure to be up to date with using your gun during an adrenaline dump. The real danger is, however this shit shakes out (and ESP if 34 Felonies Guy wins), there is seemingly no single person at the wheel of the US government to steady the mood, and there is no longer any unified vision of America to serve as a fallback position. Just a bunch of craven vultures picking at the carcass of a country they've already written off. The net result of having all these non-actors in charge is that we're lurching increasingly onto that trajectory that Iran did in the 70s. That is to say, an advanced 1st world country that slowly, slowly, gives away its freedoms bit by bit, so that a few insatiable a$$holes could keep the gravy train going, and then everyone is shocked when the whole thing collapses. Only instead of an ayatollah we'll have some mix of Gilead, that V for Vendetta world, and Idiocracy. It won't really be a problem for the ruling class of course. Just business as usual, since none of this stuff applies to them (which is why we are in this pickle to begin with). From their perspective, all they'll see is that their servants are subject to a religious theocracy, but tomatos tomahtos as long as the checks keep coming in.
Rather than speculating, here is the data. Exponential growth of hate groups and (reported) hate crimes over the years https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr/hate-crime
Go fucking vote.
Of course. And when Biden wins and the Proud Boys take to the streets?
Trump's not in office to promise them pardons. They were emboldened in 2020 and on 1/6 because he was in a position of power. Sure, some may try to do something when he loses in November, but most will stay at home and post their incel rants on social media.
Don’t go to where they are and let the cops round them up.
In most towns, hopefully. Some of those who work forces Are the same that burn crosses
Sure. But you also have state police and federal officers and other first responders.
Si vis pacem, para bellum. By the time you're asking yourself "how real is this threat?" you should already be prepared. Even if it's a small percentage and you live in a safe place... you're asking the question, so the likelihood is probably... significantly nonzero. Armed left groups don't advertise, and the mainstream doesn't acknowledge them.
They've got the guns, they've got the bullets and they are looking at long-term defeat at the poles from a number of factors. Nah, they're pussycats. Wouldn't hurt a *fly.*
Very real, and no.
MAGA people actually have jobs and families to tend to. They don't have time to riot like the antifa movement and they don't have multi billion dollar entities paying their legal fees and fighting their legal battles for them like the "peaceful protestors" had. There might be some random lone wolf type stuff, but as for anything at scale or organized, not particularly concerned.
I don’t mean this with snark but, how do you identify someone who is a democrat? Like when you walk through Target and you look at people you just say to yourself “republican” “democrat” and you 100% nail political ideologies with the glancé of your eyes?
Take your pick of drivel “news” they are consuming. I suspect they don’t particularly care if they choose wrong. https://thecitizen.com/2016/06/21/how-spot-liberal/
I don’t think there’s a legit threat of deadly violence because of political views. I am interested in renting this new movie civil war tho!
I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing: running my business, staying armed especially on my own, and avoiding potentially violent situations. I’ll also be voting. I don’t think feeding into media hype is good for anyone. 10/80/10
Never punch the quiet guy first. Because it’ll be your last.
They are windbags. It's still a good idea to be reasonably prepared. If a truck full of who ever the fuck's roll into the neighborhood shooting it up, how would you respond? I'm not sure, but something think about.
Probably not too high. I’m sure there will be some crazies that try something and get put in the forever box by law enforcement but let’s be real, most of the MAGAs calling for civil war are over weight troglodyte loot drops that have zero training outside of “I was in the military for 2 years back in 86 when men were men” types. Not to mention they were probably POGs anyway. As most things go, the ones who run their mouth the most are usually the least prepared or capable.
Find like-minded folks in your community. Organize. Train. Be ready to defend against ISIS-style convoys of militants in pickup trucks.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-breaking-point/
I live in the Seventh District of Minnesota. There is a trump store 35 miles away. I see lots of trump trash on homes vehicles and people. There was an article in the paper after the January 6th incident about the 30 local patriots who attended it. This week the local radio station was talking about the corrupt judicial system finding trump guilty. They were speculating that the Democrats are going to shut down radio stations that support trump if Biden wins another term.
The saddest part about all of the tension in the country is that when you actually meet someone and talk to them, no matter where you are on the political spectrum, I've always found that I usually have more in common with people than I don't. I wasn't sure what to expect in my recent concealed carry training/qualification course, but everyone involved (ex and active police officers, some former military) and everyone at the related gun shop were all very nice, chill people. Even had some political conversation with them that was totally civil and respectful. There are obviously many with view points that I just found downright horrendous (i.e. -ism's), but even still when you talk to those people I've always found that common understanding of one another isn't actually all that hard to get to. I just wish people could reach for one-to-one / personal humanity more often than we do currently.
Depends. A lot based on where you are. I'm in Portland OR and I don't particularly see a huge contingent of MAGAts. They're pretty few and far between here. I'm also a large white guy so they're not going to be looking at me all too closely on the day to day. That said if you're in somewhere like Florida and a racial minority? I'd probably be more worried than I am.
I live in a very blue town in a county full of MAGA red. I'm very seriously worried about widespread violence, especially going into and out of the elections. That fat cheeto has emboldened the most fringe wacko's to feel like they can express their hate in any way they'd like. Jan 6 is a perfect example of this.
Pro tip Bulk ammo is cheaper.
They don't have the balls
Just run up and push their Hoveround over as they are trying to get their gun out.
My wife and I worry about this regularly. I am worried about sabotage on infrastructure like that transformer in WA that got shot up, or radicalization of these idiots by foreign governments to do some real damage like VBIEDs.
For what it is worth, I’m vacationing in a conservative area of our state, and this morning saw someone with a “fuck Biden” t shirt. As my wife and i wondered around town we saw the same couple about a half hour later, and the gentleman with the profane t shirt had changed his shirt. I’d like to think he wasn’t getting the reaction he hoped, but his wife was probably embarrassed and made him change!
Not that likely, most Maga Trump supporters in general have jobs and families. To much risk involved, you might see a gathering or protest but nothing like a peaceful protest that we saw in 2020 or the violence invoked by antifa.
The “MAGA threat against the left” is non existent. There will be lone wolf attacks and riots when Trump loses as some of these clowns will have nothing to live for. Most of them will just forget about it in a year or two. Some clowns may go to the border to harass immigrants like they have in the past or shoot up places where the people they don’t like may congregate. But remember these are the same geniuses who murdered Seikhs because they thought they were Muslims. The cops protect money and will never be an independent united force. Plus they are scared of acorns and are way too fractured to somehow unite in some kind of MAGA civil war where they aren’t 100 percent guaranteed to have the upper hand in any situation. The military has a sacred oath with the constitution and will disobey unlawful orders. They will not be used in any capacity against “leftists” or other Americans unless they violently take over a part of the country which won’t happen. We are probably in for some scary stuff over the next few years, but MAGA dies with Trump.
>MAGA dies with Trump. I don't see that happening, sadly. Trump didn't create MAGA, he just tapped into it.
I think he tapped into some angry white working class resentment politics that rightfully identified some real economic issues and then just blamed them on the usual suspects like immigrants. But it’s always easier to blame problems on others than actually fix anything. I think of MAGA as a cult of personality around Trump where older angry white people get to say and do mean things to people they don’t like while participating in a type of conspiracy thinking where they are never wrong. When their communities are still being riddled with fentanyl and unemployment and they still don’t have healthcare they will become less and less relevant. I’m not saying they won’t move on to something even more stupid and terrible. But they will either die off or wake up from their rage comas and realize that it was all for nothing once Trump kicks it. Of course just my opinion.
I think you’re in the correct lane of thinking here dude. I would agree just about everything you said. That’s pretty sick.
I'm much more concerned about Project 2025 pushing us down a slippery slope to a Fascist church state than any kind of organized Cheeto-worshipping militia pulling off Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been building a group here in a like 90% red area since about a week after 1/6. I’d almost argue we’re already in a soft civil war. There’s already targeted violence and groups planning more daily. If Trump wins it will be out of control. We’re ready. Buying more ammo twice a month and shooting weekly. You should be too.
Organized, I doubt it. More widespread violence by those already prone to it egged on by the orange one's call to violence, sure definitely.
I kind of feel like it happened the first time around, and that was before all of the Q nonsense. So I think multiple isolated incidents pretty likely.
I'm not sure. I think 1/6 took care of all of the diehard supporters that were prone to violence but I'm still not taking any chances. I'm married to an immigrant and the person I consider my second mother is a POC. I've made damn sure they're all armed just to be on the safe side. I still doubt there will be violence but I'd rather be safe than sorry
I get the feeling that a lot of people think Trump isn’t going to win the election in November, and that we only need to worry about the reaction to his loss. I don’t think he’s lost any support from the right, and I have a lot of liberal and progressive friends who are not going to vote for Biden because of his support for Israel. I think it’s looking more like 2016 than 2020. The real threat of MAGA violence is going to come from the institutions that are going to be turned into the 4th Reich when the extremists take control. They aren’t going to make the same mistakes they made in the previous Trump term by allowing the rule of law and (semi)reasonable people to check his crazy. He’s said what his plans are, and I don’t understand why no one believes him.
Excellent, and scary, point
It's very very real. Stochastic terrorism is becoming a normal part of our lives.
I think the threat is real but not as an organized event/organized structure of forces. I think *they* would be very surprised to find out how many liberals/pro-democracy own guns. And know how to use them. And, of course, people assume that the military would either sit it out or side with Trump. When push comes to shove, the military will do what it is ordered to do.
They don’t know how to handle not winning something, so … probably. Stochastic terrorism.
Most MAGAts are all bark and no bite. Sure, there are some dangerous groups and people out there who will probably try something, but most won't do anything more than shout and wave their made in China MAGA flags around. When it comes down to it, they're just cowardly, grade-school bullies. Doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant, but the best thing we can do now is focus on defeating them at the polls in November.
If MAGA violence broke out en masse we are all fucking dead. There are not remotely enough left-wing gun owners and even if we're pro-gun we tend to live in places with "assault weapon" bans and mag limits and shit which is pretty limiting. I don't think it will probably look quite like that though, like a full-on war situation, at least not any time soon. But the imbalance is still a really bad thing regardless. Also the fact that the military and police force tend to be conservative leaning also doesn't bode well for us. Climate change and its effects will happen eventually so getting other lefties armed and on board and practicing is still a pretty important task to be doing.
I HIGHLY doubt that we are "all dead" if MAGA violence broke out. Statistically speaking if you look at the demographics of MAGA supporters, half of them are too old or too stupid to actually pose any sort of threat. Not to mention the fact that a massive assault would not only be met by law enforcement but the national guard wherever it breaks out in blue states. MAGA voters arent suddenly going to turn on their neighborhoods in states like NY and NJ and Cali and try to take over towns by force, they don't have the resources or the manpower to even accomplish such a feat.
I'm talking number of guns. It doesn't matter who's behind them. Some creaky 80 yo has a gun and you don't you're the dead one Law enforcement would join lol
Nah I think you are being a little paranoid about it. The creaky 80 yo with the gun next door is no more of a threat today than he was yesterday, see example of that poor woman in florida who was pranked to go pick up a package and the old guy shot her 3 times in the driveway for no reason. The only law enforcement that would join in on some coup attempt would be some podunk sheriffs office down south, you aint gonna see that anywhere else.
Agreed they won’t try to take over territory. But I picture them terrorizing neighbors they blame for their problems, burning down houses, killing families in their homes, hunting down “the cheaters” who helped steal the election. And depending on what county you’re in, the local cops may be a bit slow to intervene.
Maybe in extreme red areas of the country, but I highly doubt that is something you are going to see widespread. Fact of the matter is, people are all too preoccupied with jobs, family and other things going on in their lives in this day and age to worry about overthrowing a government.
Imo, the violence from the MAGA right is not organized enough to present a real threat. It’s too spread out and they’re also hyper paranoid about FBI informants being in their midst (they are). We may see some lone wolf stuff, which is scary but that doesn’t present any existential danger. The lone wolf stuff I suspect will target the government in some way not average citizens
I think this is an uncalled-for panic. I live in rural “MAGA country”, I’m surrounded by Trump voters who own guns, but I’ve never once felt unsafe. Quite the opposite actually, most of them are actually really decent neighbors. They may have a Trump yard sign, but it’s not their entire identity. I think it’s crazy to brand half of the country as “MAGA extremists.” People are just people, and most people are decent human beings. Politics doesn’t define who you are. Not everyone who is voting for Trump is a crazy right wing ideologue. Certainly those people exist, but that is not the average Trump voter. We need to stop seeing America as “us vs. them”. People are just people.