Compared to 2016, 2024 had a *way* different feel. It used to be, normal people had a sense that there was a "uniparty" 0bama-McCain, 0bama-Romney, etc. In 2016, you could accuse Trump of a lot of things but the fact that Democrats and establishment neo-cons hated him gave Trump a sense of credibility. In 2016, Trump was offensive and even if you didn't agree with it, you could at least say it was funny. I don't think 2016 Trump was /ourguy/ but I do think he was a loose cannon and was in it for his ego.
Trump has no principles. He saw that playing the part of "America-loving conservative" was going to be easy when all your opponents are sackless dweebs and he nailed the part... and that's all it was, a part in Trump's ego-driven production. If Trump was 10 years younger and just now getting into politics, he could pull off the same stunt with the Democrats since they are in such disarray. Just tell them what they want to hear and don't be an evil witch like Hillary, a doofus like Biden, or a cackling hyena like Harris, maybe lean into the forgotten "blue dog" democrat and he'd get thunderous applause.
All of that is to say that I think the *ahem* "establishment" saw that Trump had half the country in the palm of his hand and cut a deal so he could lead them through the back door of the uniparty slaughterhouse with no questions asked because after all, no one questions the motives of /ourguy/, especially when he said things like "because you'd be in jail", "only Rosie O'Donnell" and "the wall just got 10 feet higher".
Neocons have adapted by wearing populism as an orange skinsuit.
To me this shit has been game planned so far I advance none of the narrative is real. Trump was installed in 2016, they did what they did in 2020 on purpose, and he was installed again in 2024 on purpose. There was nothing organic about any of it, Trump himself is manufactured and the job happens to play into his ego so he’s fallen into the character, but it’s honestly stale at this point. It’s like watching your favorite character start to have catch phrases and the writers just start leaning on the easy hits and then the show sucks.
Anyway, I’m not trying to diss your post. I just look at the different roadblocks since 2016 and it all just comes across like they used Trump to launder the reputation of all these other criminals, like him bailing on going after Hillary, him not going after any of the 2020 election people, not putting anyone away for Russiagate, not putting anyone away for Covid or the lockdowns, not putting anyone away for the vaccines. And all the shit he was conveniently blocked from accomplishing. It’s all just a bit too neatly wrapped up, as far as I see it now MAGA was a more sophisticated version of what they did to squelch the Tea Party movement, it was a way to divert the momentum of real populism back into the fold. And they pull this shit off consistently because they groom people like Trump routinely and then call them out of the bullpen when they need them. And that gets back to it all being fake, manufactured, and gay. Trump isn’t learning any lessons, he’s not growing as a person, he’s just an asset playing his role.
They likely have a general game plan but react to cultural shifts.
I really think that Trump was supposed to be the dupe candidate for Clinton in 2016 but people actually went for him. That's why the establishment media freaked the fuck out. If this was all part of the plan, they wouldn't have needed to go so far out on a limb attacking him.
I also think there are factions within the uniparty that agree with the overall plan but still vye with each other for power. I think Trump led a bit of a coup and had to be put in his place with Biden. However, on seeing the popular unrest, the other factions agreed to let him be president again in exchange for certain favours (maybe war in Iran?).
The "assassination attempt" was a clear signal that a deal was cut. If the SS/CIA wanted him dead, he would have been; they let the gunman get 100 yards away and ran a serveillance drone over the site mere hours before the rally. But he was never going to be able to do anything except make Trump look badass and galvanize the people they'd need to fight their war for them.
Now all sorts of MAGAtards are gearing up to defend our greatest ally. Would they have done that for Harris?