Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

[Allan]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism

Some activists and observers have sounded the alarm: authoritarianism of the kind that Americans are used to condemning abroad has become increasingly normal in the United States.

Don Moynihan, a political scientist and professor at the University of Michigan, wrote this week that “today, America is a competitive authoritarian system, with a rapidly increasing emphasis on the authoritarian part.”

Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

But others see the trend toward authoritarianism as merely an acceleration of the direction of US politics even before Trump.

“That assumes that the United States was a functioning healthy democracy that slipped … and that’s just not the case in my opinion,” said ElGendy.

“When a democracy is designed with this capacity for authoritarianism you’re never more than one election away from its reappearance. That’s not an accident, that’s a design flaw.”

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs

www.theguardian.com

 

[ttwtt78640]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism



Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs

www.theguardian.com

I mostly agree, since the more power the federal government acquires (takes from the states or the people) the more the potential for abuse of its power gets. Our constitution attempted to limit (by enumeration?) the powers of the federal government, yet the states and people seem willing to increase federal power in exchange for federal financial ‘assistance’ (dependency?).

 

[Cosmik Debris]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism



Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs

www.theguardian.com

Yes. He did accelerate the spiral. The final elected president could even be a Democrat.

The tipping point was when we elected a man who openly attempted to overthrow a US presidential election, proving that Americans no longer really care about the democratic process.

 

[Allan]

The tipping point when we elected a man who openly attempted to overthrow a US presidential election, proving that Americans no longer really care about the democratic process.

Even that event which horrified America and the world has been normalized. The insurectionists have not only been pardoned but have been venerated.

What that means for the future is that violence to overthrow the government will be palatable - insurrection in place of peaceful vote may become the preferred method of change.

 

[Quag]

He has for some, hopefully not enough to go full Putin

 

[Cosmik Debris]

Even that event which horrified America and the world has been normalized. The insurectionists have not only been pardoned but have been venerated.

What that means for the future is that violence to overthrow the government will be palatable - insurrection in place of peaceful vote may become the preferred method of change.

Correct. He is now also normalizing the use of the military against citizens. The use of active duty Marines in LA was huge red line. We just said 'meh'.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Even that event which horrified America and the world has been normalized. The insurectionists have not only been pardoned but have been venerated.

What that means for the future is that violence to overthrow the government will be palatable - insurrection in place of peaceful vote may become the preferred method of change.

The fact the (lame?) attempt failed is comforting. Trump’s ‘logic’ seemed to have been that since he won in 2016 by getting X votes and got X plus many more votes in 2020 then he surly won again. We have to remember that Trump thinks he can reduce the cost of something by 1,500%.

 

[Allan]

The fact the (lame?) attempt failed is comforting. Trump’s ‘logic’ seemed to have been that since he won in 2016 by getting X votes and got X plus many more votes in 2020 then he surly won again. We have to remember that Trump thinks he can reduce the cost of something by 1,500%.

As grossly incompetent as Trump is he has/is still successfully flexing his fascist muscle to some degree.

The next authoritarian might be very intelligent and charismatic. He's out there somewhere watching and learning.

 

[NWRatCon]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism

Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

No, but he's trying, and has a lot of support. And, yes, the fascist impulses and structures preceded him, and will remain.

 

[NWRatCon]

As grossly incompetent as Trump is he has/is still successfully flexing his fascist muscle to some degree.

The next authoritarian might be very intelligent and charismatic. He's out there somewhere watching and learning.

He has exposed the Achilles heel of the Constitution.

 

[Mr Person]

I'm just amazed that anyone is amazed.

A fairly basic reading of American founding history shows that this exact scenario was on everyone's minds. It's the weakness inherent in any system resembling ours, or really, any human system: it only works if a critical mass of the right people are in the right places making the right decisions.

Put all the wrong people in the right places and the system breaks. Because, duh, *people* are the guardrails, not some crap written on a piece of paper.

 

[The Brad Dad]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism



Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs

www.theguardian.com

The answer is "we'll see". Midterms will tell us where this country is.

 

[bomberfox]

In my opinion Trump didn't create the America we see today; America created Trump. The fascist movement predates the Trump presidency. It was just waiting for the right leader to come along.

Trump has laid out a roadmap for the next authoritarian that includes guidance on how to neuter the other branches of government. The next guy might be much smarter than Donald giving him the ability to more skillfully take America down the path of fascism



Authoritarian tendencies predate Trump, and will survive him...

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

People who have experienced the kind of authoritarianism the US used to condemn abroad highlight worrying signs

www.theguardian.com

Yeah i agree America created Trump. Its why ive long advocated that getting rid of trump is only the beginning and we failed even that.

 

[ScrambledEggs]

Trump has proven that you can commit felonies & incite insurrections in the nation's capital with impunity. God forbid someone who is intelligent tries to break the country like Trump has.

"Conservatives" are ****ing cowards