6 ms·

Buckle up, here comes the attempt at a dictatorship. There's a reason our constitution has checks and balances... and no, LEGALLY the president can't just igno

by tw04 1y ago

Buckle up, here comes the attempt at a dictatorship. There's a reason our constitution has checks and balances... and no, LEGALLY the president can't just ignore laws. But in this timeline I guess anything goes.

gigatexal 1y ago
Things really are getting scary. Tech people with bold ideas. Don’t go to America. Don’t build your companies there. Don’t employ Americans. Build it anywhere else. America ain’t what it used to be. It’s slowly but surely becoming a dictatorship and it’ll be run by the dumbest American to ever live: Donald J Trump.
- nielsbot 1y ago
  Also, he’s pretty dumb but the real problem is his absolute and total lack of empathy. What a sociopath.
- nielsbot 1y ago
  I think you mean his cronies and conspirators: Steven Miller, SCOTUS, Russel Voght, et al.
- bdcravens 1y ago
  > the dumbest American to ever live: Donald J Trump While like many, I can't stand him, I'm not sure if that's an accurate statement. He (or his handlers) have done an amazing job of leveraging the anger and fear of tens of millions. He's built a "tribe" that those pitching all those podcasts and courses a few years ago could only dream about.
  - breadwinner 1y ago
    There was a viral post on this topic recently: https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest_take_stupidamericans_are_the_new/ https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest...
    - spwa4 1y ago
      But ... the whole reason Trump got elected is the fact that the electorate has split into us-vs-them group identities, he works through polarization. And although this post captures how one group (let's call it the "internet generation") feels about the world, it's probably not helping with polarization. You have to admire, in fact, how smart Trump is. Look at the central "problem" according to that post: "But see, not everybody was thinking that Hillary Clinton was an alien, that global warming was a Chinese hoax and that what America needed most of all was a plywood wall stretching from Texas to California. Only the stupid people were" Holy crap this is polarizing. AND WE DON'T EVEN DISAGREE ON THESE. These sort of statements are the exact opposite of what we need to defeat Trump. Because no, this is NOT a difference between "smart" and "dumb". If you abstract just a little bit ... Hillary Clinton is an unpopular war hawk. Would you like her as president? I wouldn't, just about the only big positive I see in her is that it's long past time for a female president. But please: not her. She IS an alien in that I don't know who this woman represents. Not me, certainly, and I frankly don't see or know any group that she does represent. I'd MUCH prefer AOC, but frankly, I'd prefer Nikki Haley over her. "Global warming is a Chinese hoax". This is the one I would most describe as "dumb". But ... not really global warming policy has not worked for 50 years. This is, of course, not a reason to give up on it, but it probably is time to change course bigtime. And, sorry, the protests about global warming ... are equally dumb as Trump's (made-in-china) MAGA caps. "what America needs most ... wall stretching from Texas to California". Obviously "dumb" Americans like this because life has become ever more difficult and immigration (specifically pressure on the job market and housing market) is a huge and growing problem. Trump only gets points because he does something. The ("our") internet generation is getting old. Perhaps not dying yet, but we are not young anymore. And the train has definitely left the station: nobody's growing up to be internet generation anymore. The only thing that is happening to the internet generation is that people are leaving it. Not in great numbers. Not yet. But we'll only be shrinking from 5 years ago forward. Yet another reason to find a way to agree with Trump's electorate. I feel like these viewpoints (I hope) represent "the internet generation". My conclusion is Trump got elected because he convinced me and the "real Americans" that we disagree. We don't. These are superficial, not worth having a fight over and CERTAINLY not worth having a president like Trump over.
  - gigatexal 1y ago
    Much of my anger is actually for the minds behind project 20205 and the decades long effort by a cabal of people to basically create a king and dunk on the libs at the expense of everything America used to stand for. I also legit hate the orange idiot in office now. But that’s maybe a me thing. Also the eroding of the rule of law is very very disconcerting.
  - thisisit 1y ago
    I honestly don't get this take. It treats US as special outlier. Right wing populists have won elections in many countries. While in other places RW populism is finding some foothold. Truth is people all over the world are frustrated by how their lives are turning out. On one hand they see politicians who want to keep the status quo and make promises which wouldn't change their lives. That is the Democrats in US. Too comfortable with their power. On the other hand Right Wing populist promise simple answers to complex questions. Many of these populist leaders are seen as "outsider". Many places are seeing rise in anti-immigrant and anti-poor sentiments. Because that is the simplest answer - outsiders/freeloaders are to blame for all the issues. By the time people realize that they have been fooled by the RW simplistic answer it is already too late. Either there is catastrophic damage (ex.. Brexit) or dictatorship (ex. Hungary). Nearly every country thinks it is unique and can come out of this unscathed. But no one can escape the damage. Some people still think that Trump as a dictator is long shot. But that is what is happening. And people cheering him on have something to gain or they have fallen for the simple answer - "outsiders are to blame".
    - gigatexal 1y ago
      Why is the answer right wing populists though? Look at the policies of Zadani in NYC. I’d take a liberal populist over a xenophobic autocrat every day and twice on Sunday.
      - thisisit 1y ago
        > Zadani in NYC Zadani? You mean Mamdani? RW often promise one shot "obvious" fix - build the wall, deportation - which the unnamed "they" aren't doing because of vested interest. People don't want complex answers. Its the same as dieting - a magic pill is much better than a well laid out diet plan. Even if the magic pill is going to create long term damage. The other side is branded as communism or socialism. Like Mamdani. And many places have being pushing nationalistic pride and stories about the glorious past. This leads nicely into full on fascism. Its always ironic when American RWs like to call others fascist while being the picture perfect example of fascists themselves. Always harping on "MAGA" or "USA! USA!" slogans
- imiric 1y ago
  Trump will eventually go away. What's really concerning is the replacement being someone much more intelligent and competent. Some of whom are already running the show behind the scenes.
  - dylan604 1y ago
    The people behind the scenes running the show rarely migrate to center stage. They just find the next performer to manipulate from behind the curtains.
  - SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
    The fact that Trump will eventually go away is precisely why people should avoid the US until he does. At age 79, he probably doesn't have enough time left to massacre too many citizens, but he's got plenty of time to send immigrants who displease him to CECOT. I'm not saying people who already have a life in the US need to flee, but if you don't the US will still be here whenever he's not.
- computerthings 1y ago
  [dead]
DanHulton 1y ago
He hasn't abided by any checks nor balances so far. If you're not buckled up long ago, what exactly were you waiting for?
- sheiyei 1y ago
  Good luck America, good luck the rest of the world.
  - AtariATMHacker 1y ago
    [dead]
    - dinfinity 1y ago
      Yeah, we're worried as fuck, I can tell you. The US is sitting on a lot of fucking firepower. It has always been hawkish and trigger-happy, but with the current crop of lunatics in power anything could happen. "But Trump is against foreign wars!" -- yeah, right up until he gleefully shared a meme of the parody song "Bomb Iran". Everybody hopes cooler heads will prevail than Trump and his batshit insane cronies.
defrost 1y ago
LEGALLY: the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Trump v. United States (2024) that all presidents have absolute criminal immunity for official acts under core constitutional powers, presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_U... PRACTICALLY: the current and former POTUS has demonstrated he can ignore laws and that either no one will attempt to bell the cat or, if attempted, succeed in any meaningful way.
histo9 1y ago
[flagged]
- majormajor 1y ago
  Gosh, if Ted Cruz thought Obama was abusing his powers, and now Democrats think Trump is, Cruz must be lining up bi-partisan legislation to finally crack down on the ability of the President to abuse powers!
- SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
  You know full well that this isn't the same thing, which is why you've created a new account so your fascist apologia won't be linked with your main. He's claiming the authority not just to selectively enforce laws, but to rewrite them. (Why do the companies care about this distinction? They're worried, correctly, that many of us will demand the next administration prosecute them for what's now been months of flagrant lawbreaking.)
- eli_gottlieb 1y ago
  If Congress and SCOTUS say to ban TikTok, the President needs to go ahead and ban TikTok.
fastball 1y ago
The checks and balances come after the Executive branch (or any of the three branches) oversteps. They can't come before. If all three other branches refuse to do anything about it, how is that not the system working as intended?
- SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
  We're way past that point. The Trump regime is currently prosecuting a Congressmember on fabricated charges in retaliation for opposing his immigration policy. We've seen the same dynamic on the tariffs; a substantial majority of Congress knows the tariffs are bad and does not support them, but the Trumpists would never permit it to come up for a vote.
- wvenable 1y ago
  I don't know why you were down voted this is exactly correct. The system is not working as intended though; it was designed to be adversarial with each branch expected to want to keep its own power. The whole system falls apart when the other branches of government simply abdicate all their power.
  - SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
    Congress didn't _abdicate_ their power. Trump stole it. One of his first actions in office was to free the violent mob he sent after Congress last time they exercised power against him.
    - ethbr1 1y ago
      There's a much stronger argument that Trump's personality cult in the current GOP legislature is doing the same. Threatening primaries and social media tirades against his legislative opponents chases any Republican willing to check him out of the party. I mean, Christ, only 2 fiscal conservative Republicans had an issue with deficit spending greater than what the House had passed? And a debt limit increase? The real problem with Congressional GOP independence is that enough of them don't decide something is too much at the same time. Ones and twos are easily picked off.
AtariATMHacker 1y ago
[dead]

by tw04 1y ago

gigatexal 1y ago

Things really are getting scary. Tech people with bold ideas. Don’t go to America. Don’t build your companies there. Don’t employ Americans. Build it anywhere else. America ain’t what it used to be. It’s slowly but surely becoming a dictatorship and it’ll be run by the dumbest American to ever live: Donald J Trump.

nielsbot 1y ago
Also, he’s pretty dumb but the real problem is his absolute and total lack of empathy. What a sociopath.
nielsbot 1y ago
I think you mean his cronies and conspirators: Steven Miller, SCOTUS, Russel Voght, et al.
bdcravens 1y ago
> the dumbest American to ever live: Donald J Trump While like many, I can't stand him, I'm not sure if that's an accurate statement. He (or his handlers) have done an amazing job of leveraging the anger and fear of tens of millions. He's built a "tribe" that those pitching all those podcasts and courses a few years ago could only dream about.
- breadwinner 1y ago
  There was a viral post on this topic recently: https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest_take_stupidamericans_are_the_new/ https://old.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest...
  - spwa4 1y ago
    But ... the whole reason Trump got elected is the fact that the electorate has split into us-vs-them group identities, he works through polarization. And although this post captures how one group (let's call it the "internet generation") feels about the world, it's probably not helping with polarization. You have to admire, in fact, how smart Trump is. Look at the central "problem" according to that post: "But see, not everybody was thinking that Hillary Clinton was an alien, that global warming was a Chinese hoax and that what America needed most of all was a plywood wall stretching from Texas to California. Only the stupid people were" Holy crap this is polarizing. AND WE DON'T EVEN DISAGREE ON THESE. These sort of statements are the exact opposite of what we need to defeat Trump. Because no, this is NOT a difference between "smart" and "dumb". If you abstract just a little bit ... Hillary Clinton is an unpopular war hawk. Would you like her as president? I wouldn't, just about the only big positive I see in her is that it's long past time for a female president. But please: not her. She IS an alien in that I don't know who this woman represents. Not me, certainly, and I frankly don't see or know any group that she does represent. I'd MUCH prefer AOC, but frankly, I'd prefer Nikki Haley over her. "Global warming is a Chinese hoax". This is the one I would most describe as "dumb". But ... not really global warming policy has not worked for 50 years. This is, of course, not a reason to give up on it, but it probably is time to change course bigtime. And, sorry, the protests about global warming ... are equally dumb as Trump's (made-in-china) MAGA caps. "what America needs most ... wall stretching from Texas to California". Obviously "dumb" Americans like this because life has become ever more difficult and immigration (specifically pressure on the job market and housing market) is a huge and growing problem. Trump only gets points because he does something. The ("our") internet generation is getting old. Perhaps not dying yet, but we are not young anymore. And the train has definitely left the station: nobody's growing up to be internet generation anymore. The only thing that is happening to the internet generation is that people are leaving it. Not in great numbers. Not yet. But we'll only be shrinking from 5 years ago forward. Yet another reason to find a way to agree with Trump's electorate. I feel like these viewpoints (I hope) represent "the internet generation". My conclusion is Trump got elected because he convinced me and the "real Americans" that we disagree. We don't. These are superficial, not worth having a fight over and CERTAINLY not worth having a president like Trump over.
- gigatexal 1y ago
  Much of my anger is actually for the minds behind project 20205 and the decades long effort by a cabal of people to basically create a king and dunk on the libs at the expense of everything America used to stand for. I also legit hate the orange idiot in office now. But that’s maybe a me thing. Also the eroding of the rule of law is very very disconcerting.
- thisisit 1y ago
  I honestly don't get this take. It treats US as special outlier. Right wing populists have won elections in many countries. While in other places RW populism is finding some foothold. Truth is people all over the world are frustrated by how their lives are turning out. On one hand they see politicians who want to keep the status quo and make promises which wouldn't change their lives. That is the Democrats in US. Too comfortable with their power. On the other hand Right Wing populist promise simple answers to complex questions. Many of these populist leaders are seen as "outsider". Many places are seeing rise in anti-immigrant and anti-poor sentiments. Because that is the simplest answer - outsiders/freeloaders are to blame for all the issues. By the time people realize that they have been fooled by the RW simplistic answer it is already too late. Either there is catastrophic damage (ex.. Brexit) or dictatorship (ex. Hungary). Nearly every country thinks it is unique and can come out of this unscathed. But no one can escape the damage. Some people still think that Trump as a dictator is long shot. But that is what is happening. And people cheering him on have something to gain or they have fallen for the simple answer - "outsiders are to blame".
  - gigatexal 1y ago
    Why is the answer right wing populists though? Look at the policies of Zadani in NYC. I’d take a liberal populist over a xenophobic autocrat every day and twice on Sunday.
    - thisisit 1y ago
      > Zadani in NYC Zadani? You mean Mamdani? RW often promise one shot "obvious" fix - build the wall, deportation - which the unnamed "they" aren't doing because of vested interest. People don't want complex answers. Its the same as dieting - a magic pill is much better than a well laid out diet plan. Even if the magic pill is going to create long term damage. The other side is branded as communism or socialism. Like Mamdani. And many places have being pushing nationalistic pride and stories about the glorious past. This leads nicely into full on fascism. Its always ironic when American RWs like to call others fascist while being the picture perfect example of fascists themselves. Always harping on "MAGA" or "USA! USA!" slogans
imiric 1y ago
Trump will eventually go away. What's really concerning is the replacement being someone much more intelligent and competent. Some of whom are already running the show behind the scenes.
- dylan604 1y ago
  The people behind the scenes running the show rarely migrate to center stage. They just find the next performer to manipulate from behind the curtains.
- SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
  The fact that Trump will eventually go away is precisely why people should avoid the US until he does. At age 79, he probably doesn't have enough time left to massacre too many citizens, but he's got plenty of time to send immigrants who displease him to CECOT. I'm not saying people who already have a life in the US need to flee, but if you don't the US will still be here whenever he's not.
computerthings 1y ago
[dead]

DanHulton 1y ago

He hasn't abided by any checks nor balances so far. If you're not buckled up long ago, what exactly were you waiting for?

sheiyei 1y ago
Good luck America, good luck the rest of the world.
- AtariATMHacker 1y ago
  [dead]
  - dinfinity 1y ago
    Yeah, we're worried as fuck, I can tell you. The US is sitting on a lot of fucking firepower. It has always been hawkish and trigger-happy, but with the current crop of lunatics in power anything could happen. "But Trump is against foreign wars!" -- yeah, right up until he gleefully shared a meme of the parody song "Bomb Iran". Everybody hopes cooler heads will prevail than Trump and his batshit insane cronies.

defrost 1y ago

LEGALLY: the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Trump v. United States (2024) that all presidents have absolute criminal immunity for official acts under core constitutional powers, presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_U... PRACTICALLY: the current and former POTUS has demonstrated he can ignore laws and that either no one will attempt to bell the cat or, if attempted, succeed in any meaningful way.

histo9 1y ago

[flagged]

majormajor 1y ago
Gosh, if Ted Cruz thought Obama was abusing his powers, and now Democrats think Trump is, Cruz must be lining up bi-partisan legislation to finally crack down on the ability of the President to abuse powers!
SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
You know full well that this isn't the same thing, which is why you've created a new account so your fascist apologia won't be linked with your main. He's claiming the authority not just to selectively enforce laws, but to rewrite them. (Why do the companies care about this distinction? They're worried, correctly, that many of us will demand the next administration prosecute them for what's now been months of flagrant lawbreaking.)
eli_gottlieb 1y ago
If Congress and SCOTUS say to ban TikTok, the President needs to go ahead and ban TikTok.

fastball 1y ago

The checks and balances come after the Executive branch (or any of the three branches) oversteps. They can't come before. If all three other branches refuse to do anything about it, how is that not the system working as intended?

SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
We're way past that point. The Trump regime is currently prosecuting a Congressmember on fabricated charges in retaliation for opposing his immigration policy. We've seen the same dynamic on the tariffs; a substantial majority of Congress knows the tariffs are bad and does not support them, but the Trumpists would never permit it to come up for a vote.
wvenable 1y ago
I don't know why you were down voted this is exactly correct. The system is not working as intended though; it was designed to be adversarial with each branch expected to want to keep its own power. The whole system falls apart when the other branches of government simply abdicate all their power.
- SpicyLemonZest 1y ago
  Congress didn't _abdicate_ their power. Trump stole it. One of his first actions in office was to free the violent mob he sent after Congress last time they exercised power against him.
  - ethbr1 1y ago
    There's a much stronger argument that Trump's personality cult in the current GOP legislature is doing the same. Threatening primaries and social media tirades against his legislative opponents chases any Republican willing to check him out of the party. I mean, Christ, only 2 fiscal conservative Republicans had an issue with deficit spending greater than what the House had passed? And a debt limit increase? The real problem with Congressional GOP independence is that enough of them don't decide something is too much at the same time. Ones and twos are easily picked off.

AtariATMHacker 1y ago

[dead]