They've clearly given up pretending it isn't a Nazi salute

They are still paying lip service that it’s not a Nazi salute for now. The coup is on the verge of gaining full control of the military at which point they’ll drop the pretense.
Mass protests will “justify” declaring martial law.
The current attacks on Zelenskyy “being a dictator” because there hasn’t been an election during the war is intended to get the American left to loudly proclaim that not holding elections during periods of martial law is justified. So when the Trump regime declares martial law, elections will become a thing of the past.

- Are you sure he can lift his arms that high?
  
  I think his doctors have warned him against it as the blood might flow back into his heart, with nasty consequences.
  
  Doesn't have to, he'll do the classic Hitler receiving salute.
- I am sceptical as, so far, it just makes those who've done it look like kids trying too hard to be edgy. That said, the mask has slipped so perhaps he just doesn't care any more and this is his moment to be hailed as Caesar.
  What would make me more worried is a reaction shot of the crowd all saluting back like a Nuremberg rally.
  However, perhaps that sledgehammer to the face is what some people require to make them realise they've fucked up voting for Trump and dropped everyone else into this too. I have a second cousin in the American branch of the family who took out an ad in 2020 saying to vote for Trump as Biden will take your guns (he is a member of the NRA but his politics was more centre-right before). I don't talk politics with him when he visits but, next time, I really want to ask: "is this what you really wanted?"

The question I keep asking my conservative family is, "When do we start to be concerned, at what point do we call them Nazis?"
- "He's wearing a toothbrush mustache."
  "He's a big fan of Charlie Chaplin. Don't you like silent film?"
  "He's invading Poland."
  "Oh, so everyone who invades Poland is a Nazi?!"
- It's scary to think this kind of conversation is very similar to ones people had in 1930s Germany. Some people realised it was all going downhill quite early, some never admitted it was happening at all.
  
  Wasn't it like mandatory at some point to salute everyone you met in Germany, a simple walk from office to the bathroom was exhausting
- They never will. Recognizing yourself as part of the problem is something humans are terrible at. To them, we who question their antics are the problem. When they started shipping people to a second contration camp, they asked no questions. The media is showing them no pictures or giving any information really. The prisoners have been cut off from communications, and stuffed into a camp with no real legal protections. Many of them are migrants from Nepal, Russia, China, Afghanistan, and who knows where else. How long will they be held, unknown. We know of at least 300 they moved and threw into a camp in the jungle and 16 returned home. So that leaves 284 that we know of that the UN is trying to figure out a way to find safe harbor for. That number is likely to only grow as we ship more people out. Costa Rica may be a 3rd location but I haven't seen much information about it. Why? Because the oligarchs don't want the people to see more information, or ask questions about whether they might be supporting something wrong.

Here's the problem why people are having a hard time wrapping their heads around it. Cognitive dissonance, They're still expecting then to behave like politicians, Because A POLITICIAN WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!! They wouldn't get re-elected! Doesn't everybody understand that we fought against them! It's just a grand gesture!
This is population mental whiplash on a grand scale. The problem is the mind always lags behind the body when reacting to danger. it's what the mind decides to do next that will determine survival.

They don't have to pretend, the media is doing it for them.
- He probably just saw some bird and he pointed at it surprised, or maybe it was a sudden rise in blood flow in his right arm leading to it stiffening. He could also have meant something entirely different with his strange gesture. While we can agree it was very odd, you can't just accuse ~~nazis~~ right-wing politicians of doing the Hitler salute without strong evidence!
  
  or maybe it was a sudden rise in blood flow in his right arm leading to it stiffening.
  Ugh, I hate random arm boners.

This tactic aims specifically at having the left discuss it. This gives Nazis a chance to reframe the discussion and promote their agenda. Source: https://www.salon.com/2025/01/22/elon-musks-salute-falls-flat-why-far-right-trolling-isnt-working-this-time/
What we should be doing instead of discussing this? Nazis will feel empowered to take the streets, as it happened in Ohio and Cincinnati. Just for the sake of historical accuracy, I suggest you study the history of the 1970's anti-nazi practices in East London.
They solved their Nazi problems for years to come. Just go out and have some self-care. Touch grass. /s

Nuh uh. It's an Elon salute. /s

The fellow travelers will continue to deny it, while the self-identified fascists will become progressively more open with it. Vance and Musk and the rest of the reactionary neo-fascists don't need to convince the average Republican they aren't fascists, the average Republican has spent a decade or more pretending that the Republican Party hasn't happily made itself a home for fascism in public life.

Who's the guy at the top? The name in the card says "courtesy Matt Schlapp, chairman CPAC", but it doesn't seem to be the same guy.
- Eduardo Verástegui.
  
  He's a Mexican actor? lol

Its pathetic what america has become and that the citizens that live they are just rolling over and giving up.
Probably going to have to rely on another country to do their dirty work
- Getting kind of tired of this attitude, you don't know me, you don't know anything about me or the people around me. What the fuck would YOU realistically be doing.
  And don't reply to me with some list of the "resistance" style bullshit you claim to be capable of or whatever you can come up with.
  THE PEOPLE are not one massive entity, so stop lumping us all together. We are fucking struggling here my guy
  
  The people who make comments like this have no idea of the situation most of us are in here.
  There have been sizeable protests despite the facts that many can't afford to take time off work, risk losing their job for taking time off, have to travel great distances to get to protests, and other things. Getting arrested can ruin the rest of your life in some situations.
  Oh, and most of us aren't suicidal, so the whole "get a gun and go after those important people" ain't a thing because that's a damn good way to end up in a body bag for little to no effect. There's a point where that is a relevant option compared to available alternatives but we're not there yet.
  
  The armchair revolutionaries across the world are more than welcome to put their money where their mouth is and back a resistance they want to see by supplying and training it.
  For the record, I’m not talking about violent actions here. I’m saying that the individuals who are most likely to join in on mass protests and the like are also the most vulnerable.
  America has been a slave empire for the benefit of the rich for well over 200 years. Sorry that I haven’t been able to personally end all that.
  
  One the one hand, I'm with you 100%. That was also my gut reaction to the comment you replied to.
  But I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not an accurate representative of America. You and I are outliers, and Trump is a better representation of Americans than either of us right now. And we got here with complacency.
  So yes, I agree with everything you said, but also Americans as a whole, including you and I, are failing. We're losing the battle, and real people are really suffering. Maybe we can each do more, or maybe not, but it does not change the reality that what we are doing is not enough. Sometimes you try your best and you still lose.
  That's not an argument against trying. But maybe we reevaluate our tactics and our goals. Maybe we won't be able to win hearts and minds by taking the high road. Maybe America doesn't deserve peace and complacency.
  
  Two thirds of your population didn't even bother to vote. Then half of those who did vote wanted this. 5/6 of the population was fine with it. It's now clear to the rest of the world that this wasn't an accident, this is what the majority accepted, and it doesn't reflect well on the country as a whole.
  You as an individual may not like it, but that's the situation.
  
  Well im getting kind of tired of having my country threatened by that orange bozo you allowed into office. Murica is that shitty dog owner at the park texting on a bench while their dog is running around biting others. GET CONTROL OF YOUR FUCKING DOG!!!!
- I'm not going Luigi or anything, sure.
  But I've definitely increased my community involvement and volunteer activities locally by orders of magnitudes.
  America is done for, but that doesn't mean I and others can't create sustainable and thriving local communities. It has to start somewhere.
  
  This is the way - it's not wrong if you get angry but channel that energy into positive change. This experiment in American Fascism can't last long before the infighting tears it apart, so look after those close to you and lay the groundwork for the changes that will be needed afterwards.
  
  Its a good attitude to have
- That's a ridiculous thing to say. When haven't we relied on a foreign workforce to do our work for us?
- Kinda like 1939 Germany right? How many countries do we need to invade before someone steps up to be the adult? And who would it be, China?
  
  China would probably take it as a green light to invade Taiwan while the US is distracted. Perhaps increase it's "sphere of influence" in the South China Sea with more brutality.