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The rise of dictators

str8line said:
Dude, isn't it obvious? Given time as a dictator Trump could pull some heinous ****. He'd probably start with Rosie O'Donnell.
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to be fair if i were dictator in chief and i could start having my way with the ladies id probably start with her...
 
Stoked said:
I'd remove the USA from that list. Not a single thing has been done to make him a dictator. Guy is a blowhard, has some terribly horrible ideas, has no tact and is generally bad. But how do you figure a dictator? He has not tried to change term limits, dismiss congress or anything. The most I can see is his constant aggression to the press. Genuinely curious on this one...

But nice thread. Certainly seeing a rise in these types of leaders and it makes the world more likely to see regional or world wide war. Just look to Saudi Arabia and Egypt v Iran.
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I missed most of this. The closest thing I can think of was pardoning Arapaio. Maybe some of his Executive actions could be interpreted as such.

Then again, I'm not sure there's a black and white while declaring Dictator/Strong Ruler/President. Maybe signing off on the North Dakota Pipeline standoff?
 
Rubashov said:
For starters you're type won't be asking any questions, I predict it will be a lot of concentrating for you, luckily there will be special camps for you to do it in. In my benevolence I will remove the concept of 'why' from your vocabulary and thinking, because you see the state will do your thinking for you. In my glorious utopia, you will be freed of the fear of thinking for yourself, in fact if you have nothing to hide and more importantly do everything you're told with perfect obedience you will have nothing to fear. Except thought crime, you'll be executed for having the wrong thoughts but you know i'm gonna build a wall...
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Red said:
The system of checks and balances built into having three branches of a federal government has checked the power of the Executive branch to this point, in some areas. The immigration ban that Trump wanted, for instance, has been stymied, to some degree, by the Judicial branch. The Legislative branch has stymied Trump's desire to ease up on sanctions against Russia. So those are two areas where Trump's power has been checked. If his power has been checked, then he does not wield absolute power, and cannot be said to be a dictator.

The existence of a Special Council examining whether the President obstructed justice is also proof that Trump does not wield the absolute power associated with a dictator. Otherwise, there would be no Special Council examining the President's campaign's actions during the 2016 campaign for the Presidency, and his actions since being elected, such as firing the director of the FBI.

Now, what happens if Trump fires Mueller? The Executive branch will offer justification for it, and the people will judge whether that justification is valid or not. And that judgement will likely be along partisan lines. It's likely the Executive branch will claim Mueller is exceeding his authority. The opposition will claim Trump is attempting to elevate himself above the law. This will lead to a constitutional crisis. Why? Because if the President is above the law, that alone is trending toward dictatorship. Above the law. Outside the law. It would still not be absolute power, since he would still be up for re-election in 2020. Fire the Special Council, and call off the 2020 elections to remain in power indefinetly, and then you're at least trending toward the type of absolute power we associate with dictatorship.

The man does seem to admire authoritarian rulers. I thought one of the more reprehensible moments in his Presidency was when he spoke to Duterte and told him he was doing a great job battling the drug problem in the Philippines. Since that has taken the form of thousands of extrajudicial murders, Trump was in effect congratulating Duterte for acting outside the law. Not good if one values the rule of law. Expressing admiration for dictatorial powers probably is a disturbing look for a President in the eyes of many Americans.

He has suggested the broadcast license of certain networks should be examined. Again, there are, in his words at least, shades of an admiration and willingness to trend toward authoritarian rule. Calling the press "the enemy of the people" undermines the role of the press as an independent watchdog in a democratic society and democratic system of government. It's not good, and it's a shameful stance to take. A President should not be working to undermine our democratic institutions. And that's the purpose of the Special Council's investigation. Because there is a suspicion that this President, or members of his campaign, undermined the institution of free elections by acting in concert with a foreign entity to tip an election toward one side.

The fact that that investigation is still ongoing is proof, I should think, that we're not in a dictatorship yet. Fire Mueller, however, and the whole problem of the head of the Executive branch being above and outside the law will rear its head, and we will indeed be in a constitutional crisis, as we will need to answer the question of just how much power we grant that Executive branch.

The other day, when he trashed America's intelligence agencies, and seemed to sympathize with Putin's position, even saying he thought Putin felt insulted(give me a break!!), he sounded like a traitor, and I called him one. It's not the look of an innocent man. But, I trust, and hope, that Mueller's investigation, will shed light on that guilt or innocence. As long as Mueller is allowed to proceed, we're not dealing with a President wielding absolute, dictatorial-level power.
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Rubashov said:
What a pile of tosh. Its not like whatever you choose matters anyway, I can't think of an election in recent memory that offered two candidates that were so unfit for office. Hillary should have run as a bloody Republican anyway she's as crooked as a boxer's nose and stands for absolutely nothing. Trump is a bad joke foisted on the world by the staggering contempt for thought and celebration of ignorance that dominates your society. Football stadiums full of people get murdered every year by guns but you can still buy them in K Mart. Hundreds of thousands of voters die needlessly because they haven't got access to health care when almost all other comparative societies have medicare. Homelessness, illegal wars, corporate welfare, a woman's right to choose, an endless war on your underclass, **** you people are thick, if you haven't worked out that your democracy is broken you will end up drinking the bloody Kool-Aid.
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str8line said:
Trump has penis envy. Dic-tator envy. He wants to be like Putin so bad he can't help but fawn over him. He compliments Duterte on being a cold-blooded killer because he wishes he could be one too. He would love to be a mass murderer. He got a little taste of that blood with his response to the Puerto Rico humanitarian crisis. He is a constitutional crisis in the making, have no doubt.
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Thanks for alt-loading a thread, Tinker Bell. When are you going to realize how obvious your alts are?
 
Dictators require military allegiance. Anyone who thinks a dictator would get that support here has their head crammed so far up their *** that they have to burn their name into the back of their belt so they know who they are when they pull it out.
 
str8line said:
Dude, isn't it obvious? Given time as a dictator Trump could pull some heinous ****. He'd probably start with Rosie O'Donnell.
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Lmfao, if any of us had absolute power we would do horrible things.

Stop, lol.
 
Stoked said:
Lmfao, if any of us had absolute power we would do horrible things.

Stop, lol.
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No I would only do wonderful things.


In fact that is my go-to wish if I ever found a genie in a bottle. You know, the whole you wish for something cool (like a billion dollars) and then something terrible happens that go along with it (you are a quadriplegic so you have to spend the money on treatment or whatever). My wish would simply be for omnipotence. Direct and straightforward and you can undo any weird **** that ****ing genie tries to pull on you. So the 3-wish thing is 1st: nothing changes until I am done wishing, 2nd: omniscience, and 3rd: omnipotence
 
franklin said:
Thanks for alt-loading a thread, Tinker Bell. When are you going to realize how obvious your alts are?
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lol. If you're referring to me as an alt, I didn't even know what an alt was prior to joining this forum. I'm a member of several special interest forums, a moderator on one, and I was completely unfamiliar with the practice. Once I understood what it was describing, I thought it sounded like a fun activity. Or it had the potential to be. But I myself have never engaged in it. I'm just me. I'm not interested in pretending to be someone else. But now I see it's a little bit like fake news, isn't it? Meaning, once one accepts that alts exist, you can never be sure who's who. Just as once we've transitioned into the post truth era of fake news, we'll never be certain what's real and what's fake where news is concerned. Sounds like alts have a negative effect in that case. Just as the post truth era can only really have a negative effect on our democracy. In any case, twinkle toes, I'm Red, only Red, and nobody but Red. And here I thought you were fairly sharp, lol. Guess not. Ya big lug...
 
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