I think it's pretty obvious fascism as an ideology aligns itself naturally with American conservatism. One of the best stalwarts against fascism is multiculturalism and genuine respect for people of different races, religions, sexual orientations and lifestyle choices. It's no coincidence that the major party in America that explicitly rejects that in favor of white, married church going monoculture is the party American fascists flock to. It's also not a coincidence that they have more power on the right than extremists loons do on the left. Like in affinity scams, it's much harder to get people to believe something crazy if they have varied backgrounds.

It's not dumb though

You're just too rigid in thought

The only reason Trump and his cohorts never reached the level of the other 3 is because the US is built in a way that makes it impossible

That doesn't mean they damn sure didn't try

Imagine, given free reign and no restrictive laws/regs/rules/prodeducral norms/ability to counter their words in any manner, what these people would have done instead of:

-Simply tell Jim Acosta his words reveal a cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree

-Orchestrate as a policy designation the absolute travesty at the southern border

-Simply complain about any and all media criticism and attempt to suppress it

-Actively try to suppress the vote systematically

-Stack judges nationwide for 4 years, including the SC

-Not give a **** about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi

-Gleefully watch as wackjobs march into a federal building, threatening the lives of members of Congress and VP in the middle of their workday

-The list goes on, endlessly...

Take note that every morally reprehensible thing the administration did essentially was just them pushing the envelope as far as they could, including the continued barrage on norms and behaviors of human decency

You have to understand that Trump has literal mental disorders. That means in his mind certain things that a normal, reasonable human being would do does not exist. He wasn't only co-opted by libertarian greed. Actual white supremacists, international criminals (read: traitors to the US), and fellow con men all took advantage of his useful idiocy

Imagine what they'd all have accomplished, together with the bog standard corruption of the Republican party, if no rules/laws/regs were there to stop him. Imagine if the military supported him

I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with you. He belongs in the same camp as the other 3. We're just lucky the design flaws of the Constitution didn't get exposed to its fullest extent. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just 5 people dead at the Capitol incident. It would've been the VP and several members of Congress. And Jim Acosta would be dead or in jail

Go to any of these ****ed up countries in the world and ask where the moderates are. The answer is dead or in jail. Now take a look at the sentiment of the Republican party, the propagandistic media that backs them, Trump's own words, and all the **** you just know he wants to do, but can't...And note there are actual traitors to the US itself in his circle. Bill Maher was right, it is basically a slow moving coup and you just know Trump would love to install himself as dictator for life, as evidenced by the fact that he can't even concede a free and fair election without demanding others betray the democratic process and the very constituents they represent. He says **** them and be loyal to me. That sounds a lot like the rest of the guys on the Mount Rushmore of Evil

Agree with post generally but would 'very difficult and improbable', instead.

I actually think had Trump got a second term most of the entirety of his focus would have been a Putin like focus of how to remain in power after term 2.

I think Bill Barr would have continued to weaponize the DOJ, sending signals to those in both Houses of Congress, that if you want to play the game of investigating Trump for anything, then I will use the DOJ to investigate you and my investigations will be criminal. And the first shot across that bow was to take down a high ranking Republican to make sure everyone knew he was not messing around.

And almost every politician would want to avoid that type of scrutiny of everything they have done from trading stocks, to getting too chummy with lobbyist, etc.

Maybe Trump does manage to stay on after a second term but i think there is a good chance he shatters the system and send the country into a deep Constitutional crisis.

Trump was toxic, crude, and had no respect for rules, customs, and policy. He is not machiavellian.

A person who has no respect for norms, rules, policy, laws, etc, does not put much thought in how to undermine them. They simply try to disregard/ignore them. Hitler, Mussolini et al were far more devious. You all give too much credit to how devious Trump was/is. He was an idiot.

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As far as fascism goes, Trump was not an ideologue. Trump ran the country based on what he felt about something, often times at that moment, rather than anything resembling an ideology. In some ways this correlates with the traits of fascism, but it was more a byproduct of Trump's narcissism, than some fascist ideology people think he had.

Yep Comparisons with ideological fascist has limitations but he would have been fine with remaining in power even if that ended democracy which

That distingusihes him from someone like Thatcher (or many even more right wing authoratarians) who are called fascist a lot but are democrats (small 'd').

That's because the first sentence is wrong Feel free to go try out some of that 'freedom' in the South etc. Don't forget--you'll still always be a yankee as well

I haven’t really followed the insurrection story. I was busy dealing with stuff. Is there a cliffs? Sorry not sorry no way I’m reading this whole thread.

Based on the little I heard, I’m listening, it sounds pretty serious. If there was a literal insurrection against the us then yes those people should be charged.

Trump did not commit to a peaceful transition of power ("we'll see what happens") when asked in September, 2020. Proceeded to spread lies about the election up until the election, continued to lie about the election after the result was clear. Held rallies urging people to fight, claiming the election was stolen. They also took some 60+ issues to court, losing all but one minor issue soundly. Several of his inner circle spread some truly bad ideas, including General Flynn which called for martial law and overturning the election by military force.

After a rally in Washington on January 6th, a mob took him at his word and stormed the Capitol. Some of them, as it turned out, had planned more serious events in advance and were after specific individuals, which tended to be past targets of Trump's ire, including his own vice president. Some 150+ policemen were injured, several people died. Per reports, Trump was too busy watching the spectacle on TV to use his presidential powers to intervene.

He was impeached in the House, Republican support for conviction dwindled. Republicans decided to call the proceedings unconstitutional and several senators (including the majority leaders) used that as a reason to acquit.

Presently, several members of Trump's old inner circle are doing the broadcast circuit and are continuing to spread election lies. A large portion of the Republican voting base believes those stories.

That sounds pretty bad I’d need to think about it more. One thing I’d say about the first paragraph, this took place when I was paying attention, I don’t really remember him saying he wouldn’t commit to a peaceful transition. Giving trump the benefit of the doubt wasn’t he just ranting about the results on twitter and then taking his concerns to court? I mean of course he lost all those cases because they were based on falsehoods but was he ever really like “ it’s violence time!! “ in regards to the election? I just thought he was a sore loser at the time. As for paragraph 2-3, sounds pretty crazy. I did see a picture of the shaman guy( I don’t have cable for me it was an online meme) but I don’t really know what happened . It’s pretty crazy.

I was at the capital building a few times as a “ gifted student”in 1999-2000. I have a 2 minute speech at John Hopkins university and also a trip to Washington that included a meeting at the Capitol. One of the most beautiful buildings in the United States.

Thanks for the summary tame deuces. I’m pretty slow to condemn anyone nowadays.but of course , it is also true literal terrorists should be prosecuted and go to prison. I’m not committed to saying that’s the case with this incident yet, mostly because I’m openly uninformed.

His reply to "Will you commit to a peaceful transition of power" was indeed "Well, we'll have to see what happens". That wasn't something I made up.

Sure, there was never really a "go kill those people" type comment. But that's not really even the rhetoric of choice in the worst of tin-pot dictatorships. It's always "fight for your country / flag / nation / culture", "fight for your way of life / freedom / traditions / religion" and "those guys are the enemy". But if you call people an enemy of the state, tell your supporters their country is being stolen from them and urge them to fight... it might have consequences.

For me, and perhaps for you (I don't know), Trump is not a trustworthy fellow. It is tempting to write him off like you would a belligerent drunk at the end of the bar. But he has a large and strongly supportive base, and they listen to him.

No problem. Though, I'm hardly without bias. I dislike that man's style of politics strongly.

I agree with these 3 paragraphs. In many ways , I do view him as the drunk guy at the bar though. Like in that other thread I view trump as more of a celebrity than I do a dictator. It is technically and literally true that I am correct; trump is a celebrity and trump is not a dictator. Trump being the guy who won the election is mildly embarrassing for the USA , but they voted him out. OTOH, the president celebrity or not does have quite a bit of power( still not a dictator) and there does exist lines that are legal in nature that can’t be crossed. So I guess we’ll see.

Those lines that can't be crossed?

Yeah, he tried to cross them

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/wa...g-101506629710

Mitch McConnell says he would ‘absolutely’ support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee in 2024

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b1807764.html


What an absolute prick

this is my surprised face

In case you didn't know the GOP hates America and what she stands for.

lulz.

Do we all accept that if Trump does run again, the amount of 'If I lose the election is rigged' rhetoric 'tied with allusions to violence' will skyrocket and should just be accepted as baked in and fine?

I mean, how can we do the outrage thing again when we know and accept it is coming, if he is allowed to run. To me that is a new norm.

We already knew the outrage was coming prior to 2020. It was going on for the 2016 election even though he won.

Baffles me they are still selling this at CPAC. Trump speaks Sunday I assume I think we find out than if he intends to run.
Reality is they do not need the election fraud stick in 2024 why even go there