Pardon Trump

[Geronimo]

Also he attempted an insurrection.

No. He attempted a passive aggressive cowardly plausible deniability insurrection light. He can't even commit respectable felonies. He got the contemptible part down though.

[N35t0r]

No. He attempted a passive aggressive cowardly plausible deniability insurrection light. He can't even commit respectable felonies. He got the contemptible part down though.

Yeah, they weren't as effective as the CIA at organizing coups, that's right.

[Geronimo]

Yeah, they weren't as effective as the CIA at organizing coups, that's right.

I think he could have involved the CIA. he was afraid to do so. He was afraid they would be disloyal and untrustworthy. He could also have arranged for them to be heavily armed. I'm convinced cowardice rather than incompetence dissuaded him. People think his response to his assassination attempt showed courage but mostly I think it showed that he fears for the safety of his image far more than the safety of his health.

[N35t0r]

I think he could have involved the CIA. he was afraid to do so. He was afraid they would be disloyal and untrustworthy. He could also have arranged for them to be heavily armed. I'm convinced cowardice rather than incompetence dissuaded him. People think his response to his assassination attempt showed courage but mostly I think it showed that he fears for the safety of his image far more than the safety of his health.

Him being afraid to involve the CIA doesn't make it less of a coup attempt. Him being too coward to more openly encourage participation (well, apart from having been going on for months about the election being stolen, mentioning "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." to rally goers outside of the White House, and not doing anything while watching the coup attempt on TV) doesn't magically make it "not a coup".

[Geronimo]

I don't think it was a credible attempted coup but I've always maintained that it was an impeachable dereliction of duty and a politically contemptible act that should have ended his involvement in politics.

[EPW]

So who did you end up voting for btw?

[Geronimo]

So who did you end up voting for btw?

Harris, and she carried my state, but it was a vote against Trump not any kind of endorsement of Harris. I was dithering between her and a protest vote for Oliver Chase but IMHO this years libertarian presidential ticket was especially weak and I thought Harris, while an extremely weak candidate was not really saying anything substantive enough or had enough of a record that I could justify giving half a protest vote to Trump for. Having said all that I still think Trump's enemies, especially on the Left are finding ways to portray him as even more horrible and dangerous than he actually is, which is an impressive feat.

[The Mad Monk]

The past half-dozen or so posts support my belief that Trump will never be a fascist dictator because he lacks the core competencies.

[The Mad Monk]

However, he could open the gate for one.

[-Jrabbit]

This. And it may have already happened.

[BeBMan]

The past half-dozen or so posts support my belief that Trump will never be a fascist dictator because he lacks the core competencies.

Having a moustache is optional only.

[Dauphin]

Even for biological non-men dictators?

[BeBMan]

Those are the wurst

[BeBMan]

The past half-dozen or so posts support my belief that Trump will never be a fascist dictator because he lacks the core competencies.

For a more serious reply - I don't think Trump's 1st term was de-facto fascism, and T2 is probably not either (or so I hope).

There are similarities in style and form, less in substance. Fascism after all means shutting down any opposition, often by force, and as much as I dislike Donnie, that's not what happened during his 1st term, even when some of his right wing allies may want it (I remember the whole martial law idea popping up at some point)

There are however, serious illiberal tendencies, which we've also seen/still see in other countries, sometimes dominating governments like in Hungary or Poland.

The latter, as well as T1 were limited and replaced via democratic means again, which is overall a good sign.

But it's not something we can take for granted.

[Dauphin]

If people want to better highlight why Trump is bad, they need to stop calling him a fascist. It's not factually correct, it's not effective, and erodes the meaning of the word fascist to nothing more than a pejorative insult.

[Geronimo]

Do I think the case should be dropped. The NY conviction, yes. But Biden lied. What about that?? A complete total in your face lie.

Biden might not have lied. He may have sincerely intended to not pardon HB. However He broke a promise either way.

[Ming]

Gee... Biden lied and all the right goes crazy.
But on the other hand, they cheer all of Trumps continued lies.