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Was Obama an authoritarian? What about Bush? What about Clinton (Bill)? The previous few presidents got the US involved in lots of stupid wars. This preside

Was Obama an authoritarian? What about Bush? What about Clinton (Bill)? The previous few presidents got the US involved in lots of stupid wars. This president has expressly said he doesn't want to do that and has avoided it.

ejstronge 8y ago
> Was Obama an authoritarian? What about Bush? What about Clinton (Bill)? > The previous few presidents got the US involved in lots of stupid wars. This president has expressly said he doesn't want to do that and has avoided it. I'm not sure how you can find fault with Obama and Clinton but absolve Trump. What do you make of his continuation of the many wars we are involved in? Or his bombings in Syria?
raprp 8y ago
With John Bolton around don't keep your hopes up. Iran's humanitarian invasion is just around the corner.
kasey_junk 8y ago
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/ywn5yy/us-military-secret-missions-africa https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.vice.com/amp/en_us/article... They are ramping up ‘engagements’ in Africa not lowering them.
diydsp 8y ago
>has avoided it. While explicit declarations of war don't exist, airstrikes and threats do. Trump has accelerated bombing rates over the Obama administration: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-dropping-bombs-at-unprecedented-levels/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-droppin... Trump has threatened Iran: https://fox8.com/2018/07/23/trump-tweets-explosive-threat-to-iran/ https://fox8.com/2018/07/23/trump-tweets-explosive-threat-to... Trump has threatened North Korea: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-un-north-korean-leader-suicide-mission-n802596 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-un-north-...
wpietri 8y ago
I'm going to ignore the whataboutism and skip to your apparent core point, that Trump saying he doesn't want to get involved in war means something. Trump has made 5000 false or misleading statements so far: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president... Trump has an extraordinary ability to do and say whatever is to his momentary perceived advantage. He's excellent at creating scary distractions; note how the sinister migrant caravan, so dangerous as to require thousands of US troops on the border, became a non-issue as soon as the election was over. There are many who have made the case that Trump is a clear authoritarian. Today there's a great thread from David Neiwart on the topic: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1062018162500153344.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1062018162500153344.html And authoritarians definitely love external threats, creating them as necessary, just as Trump did with the migrant caravan.
Latteland 8y ago
Obama was not an authoritarian. Bush 2 was maybe a little bit (remember after 9/11 and the spokesman said don't question the president). But trump is far far past all recent presidents in being an authoritarian. He lives for that, and sucks up to leaders like that in other countries. He says he doesn't want to get us in a war, but he seems willing to do anything to divert public attention (like his recent completely racist tv commercial he was pushing before the election).
- senorjazz 8y ago
  > Bush 2 was maybe a little bit "With us or with the terrorists" definitely had a authoritarian bent to it

ejstronge 8y ago

> Was Obama an authoritarian? What about Bush? What about Clinton (Bill)? > The previous few presidents got the US involved in lots of stupid wars. This president has expressly said he doesn't want to do that and has avoided it. I'm not sure how you can find fault with Obama and Clinton but absolve Trump. What do you make of his continuation of the many wars we are involved in? Or his bombings in Syria?

raprp 8y ago

With John Bolton around don't keep your hopes up. Iran's humanitarian invasion is just around the corner.

kasey_junk 8y ago

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/ywn5yy/us-military-secret-missions-africa https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.vice.com/amp/en_us/article... They are ramping up ‘engagements’ in Africa not lowering them.

diydsp 8y ago

>has avoided it. While explicit declarations of war don't exist, airstrikes and threats do. Trump has accelerated bombing rates over the Obama administration: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-dropping-bombs-at-unprecedented-levels/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/09/donald-trump-is-droppin... Trump has threatened Iran: https://fox8.com/2018/07/23/trump-tweets-explosive-threat-to-iran/ https://fox8.com/2018/07/23/trump-tweets-explosive-threat-to... Trump has threatened North Korea: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-un-north-korean-leader-suicide-mission-n802596 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-un-north-...

wpietri 8y ago

I'm going to ignore the whataboutism and skip to your apparent core point, that Trump saying he doesn't want to get involved in war means something. Trump has made 5000 false or misleading statements so far: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president... Trump has an extraordinary ability to do and say whatever is to his momentary perceived advantage. He's excellent at creating scary distractions; note how the sinister migrant caravan, so dangerous as to require thousands of US troops on the border, became a non-issue as soon as the election was over. There are many who have made the case that Trump is a clear authoritarian. Today there's a great thread from David Neiwart on the topic: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1062018162500153344.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1062018162500153344.html And authoritarians definitely love external threats, creating them as necessary, just as Trump did with the migrant caravan.

Latteland 8y ago

Obama was not an authoritarian. Bush 2 was maybe a little bit (remember after 9/11 and the spokesman said don't question the president). But trump is far far past all recent presidents in being an authoritarian. He lives for that, and sucks up to leaders like that in other countries. He says he doesn't want to get us in a war, but he seems willing to do anything to divert public attention (like his recent completely racist tv commercial he was pushing before the election).

senorjazz 8y ago
> Bush 2 was maybe a little bit "With us or with the terrorists" definitely had a authoritarian bent to it