The dictionary definition of “existential” is “relating to existence,” so an “existential threat” to something is a threat to its existence. Another Chicxulub meteor impact is an existential threat to most life on Earth.
An existential threat justifies extraordinary actions, including but not limited to lawbreaking, violation of mores, etc. An armed robber is an existential threat to you. Killing that robber is justified by the seriousness of the threat. It’s homicide, but not murder to defend yourself when threatened.
“Global Climate Change” is pushed as an existential threat to all life on Earth, so apparently gluing yourself to a roadway or splashing tomato soup on classic paintings is wholly justified. So is sabotage and arson of construction equipment.
Jeffery Epstein was an existential threat to a lot of very powerful people.
So when you see headlines like this, you have to wonder what people will be willing to do to stop that existential threat:
Trump Movement Poses ‘Existential Threat’ to America: NYT Editorial Board – Newsweek
Biden argues Trump is an existential threat to America – ABC News
Donald Trump Is an Existential Threat to America and the World – Time
Why Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the future of the Republican Party | CNN Politics
Trump Is an Existential Threat – New York Times
Trump an Existential Threat: Messina on 2024 Polling – Bloomberg
Public intellectual Sam Harris, who is a philosopher, neuroscientist and author, was on a podcast wherein he defended the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story. This man who advocates for Truth and Reason argued that it was a good thing that the story was suppressed, but he went even further:
Absolutely it was. Absolutely. But I think it was warranted. I don’t care what’s in Hunter Biden’s laptop. At that point, Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement. I would not have cared.
“He then pivoted to an outlandish analogy that compared keeping Trump from winning a second term to working to ‘deflect’ an ‘asteroid hurtling toward Earth.'” (Source: New York Post.)
See what I mean?
So, SWAT raids on his home? Warranted.
Treason accusations? Warranted.
Rape accusations? Warranted.
Bogus prosecutions? Warranted.
And none of this is apparently working. He gets more popular every day.
So, if he’s an existential threat and none of that is working, what’s next? Who’s willing to do what to deflect this asteroid?
I guess those Sweet Meteor of Death memes were kinda right.
Leftists think conservatives (especially *Trump supporters*) are EVIL.
Some guy I know put it succinctly: You don’t negotiate with evil. You don’t compromise with evil. You put up with evil as long as you absolutely must, and then you destroy evil.
Grumpy, from my perspective, Leftists are evil….so….
The Left always proclaims its fears. If I’m going to be declared an “existential threat” to the Leftist Junta, then perhaps I should actually become an existential threat to the Leftist Junta.
Better to be damned for a goat than a sheep.
I can’t remember where I first heard this, but I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it over the years:
If I’m “damned if I do, damned if I don’t,” I’d rather be damned because I did.
Everything that is a challenge to their power is an ‘existential threat’… And agree with GOF! If I’m going to be damned, I’ll earn it!
Oh, look, what is it that we’re repeatedly told (with a sanctimonious finger wagging at those who disagree), Trump is the threat to democracy?
Guess not.
Interesting how all these media outlets are using nearly identical language. Trump is an “existential threat” to the Republican Party, America, the world, and the greater universe.
Why, you could even say he’s … “extremely dangerous to our democracy”.
So who came up with this line that everyone is using, verbatim and simultaneously?
I need new conspiracy theories. All the old ones turned out to be true.
Offered “completely” tongue-in-cheek … or is it? Hmmm. 😉
———
Dear Amazon/eBay/Wish/Temu,
Is it too late to get a warranty return on these conspiracy theories? The product does not match the description.
I ordered these because they were described as wild ideas barely grounded in reality, with just a hint of plausibility — I figured they would be worth discussing with like-minded friends.
What arrived in the package turned out to be wild ideas, but completely plausible if not verifiably true … backed by sufficient evidence that my friends refuse to discuss them where our cell phones and other Internet-connected devices are present. They are completely useless for the purpose for which I ordered them, so I would like to return them for a refund or exchange.
Please let me know if you have any further questions about this product.
Sincerely,
[EDIT: Customer name redacted by the FBI due to an ongoing investigation.]
And none of this is apparently working. He gets more popular every day.
I wonder if they’ll ever figure out that their attempts to destroy him are likely what’s driving his popularity.
As other bloggers have pointed out, Trump is an avatar. An effigy. He is not his supporters, he’s just a symbol that represents them — and that representation goes both ways: everything they try to do to him is representative of what they’d do to every one of his supporters if they could.
The People see that — see how hard they’re trying to destroy The People’s avatar and what that means about their own standing with the government — and understand the stakes. Thus, the harder the Left tries to destroy Trump, the more popular he gets with his base.
I suppose, as they said during the Vietnam war and paraphrasing it, we have to destroy democracy to save democracy. Or something along those lines.