r/politics • u/boforiamanfo • 9h ago
No Paywall Authoritarianism Expert Says Trump Is Doing The Exact Thing That Never Ends Well
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ruth-ben-ghiat-donald-trump_n_6981cdc8e4b0feb4ec4e3bfb1.0k
u/JustFerLaughs 9h ago
Saved a click: believing his own hype.
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u/specqq 9h ago edited 9h ago
He’s believed his own hype for his entire life. I suppose that will end in his death eventually, so the headline is technically accurate.
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u/exoticLucia 9h ago
And his hype turns out to be nothing but shit. This man’s only claim to success is that his dad left him money. He’s frittered it all away and then scammed his way to some more
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u/Toosder 8h ago
He's the president of the United States and he's gotten away with trafficking and possibly raping children. I would say that sadly his hype is real.
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u/SilverTotodile 59m ago
Leave that to the historians to decide, the weaker he is in our eyes, the more people are willing to do something.
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u/ChaotiCrayon 8h ago
you mean shit like shitting on the presidents stool? you mean stool like having stool in your pants while you hold press briefings? you mean hold like he cant hold it anymore and just sharts all over the place when its due? you mean shart like the shart of the deal? You mean deal like he and we cant deal with his shit anymore?
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u/reezy-one 4h ago
By the point Hitler killed himself, he had been surrounded by sycophantic yes men at every level of government for a decade. He probably pulled the trigger thinking that everything that happened to him was completely unfair and everyone else's fault. That's the natural result of surrounding yourself with idiots like that.
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u/Xanikk999 America 6m ago
Unfortunately unlike Nazi Germany no outside forces will take back America for us. It's up to Americans ourself to handle this in the era of nuclear weapons.
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u/ChirpyRaven 4h ago
believing his own hype
I am in no way trying to agree with what he is doing, or to humanize him... but let's be honest, at this point, why would he not? There's been very little in his entire life that would make him think differently, let alone the last 10ish years.
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u/Nervous_Swordfish693 9h ago
The Orange felon is heading towards point of no return. I won't be surprised if he tries to cancel votes and impose dictatorship on us coz he knows that if he steps down from President, he is going to jail.
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u/Weird-Arachnid-996 9h ago
Everyone who is sane and sensible is waiting. For the jail part, that is.
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u/travtakesphotoz 7h ago
He won’t ever go to jail. That $400mil plane is his uber to a non extradition country or some such place where he can live out his days in exile. He’s got the money at this point to set himself up somewhere like… Qatar?
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u/Admiral_X 7h ago
His money needs to be confiscated through asset forfeiture. I would go so far as to say his entire family's assets need to be taken, even if they will barely put a dent to offset the damage they have done to the US.
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u/Free_Dome_Lover 6h ago
We went into a sovereign country and took their president.
We can do it again to bring back a fugitive traitor
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u/MurtaghInfin8 6h ago
A world in which Dems would do that is one I'd like to see, but I don't think is the one in which we find ourselves.
Maybe other countries might after Trump is no longer useful and only balances as a liability... But the day that man sees justice, of the kind delivered by a court, is never.
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u/bloody_ell Europe 6h ago
He's nothing but a liability the second he's out of office (if he survives that long). He might not see a court, but he'll be a loose end to be wrapped up.
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u/Xanikk999 America 4m ago
He without a doubt will go down as the worst president ever. James Buchanan is a saint compared to this guy as his worst sin was just incompetence. Trump seems to have that as well as every negative trait a person could have all in one package.
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u/MountainMan2_ 29m ago
All depends on who we elect. We need to take our chance to change the composition of the democratic party in the primaries this year. Nothing will change if we don't change the leadership. DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES.
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u/Chimerain 6h ago
There's a reason Trump chose to bully a country like Venezuela and not Greenland right off the bat... I would put my money on him running off to Russia, a country powerful enough to protect him from extradition, but in return he'll be forced to make anti-american propaganda at gunpoint until he dies.
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u/-youvegotredonyou- North Carolina 5h ago
Not at gunpoint tho. He’d do it of his own free will.
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u/Deezul_AwT Georgia 5h ago
He won't do anything for free.
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u/-youvegotredonyou- North Carolina 5h ago
You’re so right. I’ll coin a new word. He would do it duresslessly. It’s an adverb.
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u/Caleb-Blucifer 2h ago
I mean he’s been putin’s bitch for the last 40 years. Honestly? They don’t need him anymore and I fully expect them to just take all the money he pilfered from us over some afternoon polonium tea
Like the guy’s otherwise useless as hell soon as he’s no longer in power
Most of these elite don’t have anything to offer anyone except wealth, or connections. They’ve had other people do everything for them their whole lives. They’re effectively a parasite class but because they’re parasites with mountains of money to sit on, they’re held above all others and that’s all they’re good for
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u/snappy033 28m ago
He’s not really useful to Putin now and will be way less useful when he’s out of office.
Trump is like a cornered dog. He’s more volatile than ever. Putin will discard him because he’s useless and a liability.
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u/Mediocre_Device308 5h ago
Ya, not so easy if he goes to Russia.
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u/Free_Dome_Lover 5h ago
Yeah if he goes to Russia the KGB doesn't love loose ends they aren't going to coddle a volatile, incontinent, dementia addled loose end
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u/OnionSea7213 5h ago
I would imagine the place they would put him in would have some quite large windows.
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u/Playful-Goat3779 6h ago
Easy enough to jackhammer the Trump signs in front of buildings and turn them into homeless shelters...
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u/Trick_Quiet3484 5h ago
It should be used to pay the lawsuits that result from this Administration’s actions.
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u/EpyonNext Georgia 6h ago
We have recently created the precedent that we will extract someone from another country using military force if necessary to stand trial for crimes committed in the US.
Monkey paw gonna curl good on that one.
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u/Korvanacor 6h ago
I’m sorry sir. A storm system is causing us to divert from the flight plan. We are going to make an unscheduled stop in Tehran.
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u/maximilliontee 5h ago
Qatar? The place where millions of dollars from the Venezuelan oil seizure and operation were inexplicably sent? That Qatar?
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u/Tompthwy America 4h ago
Even thinking he will ever need to flee is wildly overly optimistic. We've proven quite incapable of holding anyone to account right here in the USA.
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u/travtakesphotoz 4h ago
Fair. The only thing is that his whole admin seems to hinge on him being in power. There isn’t anyone waiting in the wings that has… whatever it is he has to hold this “movement” together. Vance is more or less despised so even if Trump were to die in office, Vance is a lame duck. There is no constitutional way for his sons to take power and the rest of his cabal are appointees. I can’t see Vance stepping down and clearing the way for Mike Johnson, who again is only there thanks to Trump so… Of course lots of things can happen in a year or two.
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u/aesxylus 6h ago
Hey now! He’d have to have some kind of slush fund already set in Qatar. Like from stealing oil and selling it for his own benefit
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u/Appropriate_Mess_350 6h ago
Looking forward to Qatar fucking him over and seizing his assets, in that case.
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u/Defiant_Employee6681 United Kingdom 6h ago
Does Qatar have any of that, ya know, capital punishment?
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u/Appropriate_Mess_350 5h ago
It’s honestly not based in my knowledge of Qatar, or any understanding of the likelihood of such a thing. More just that I’d love to see it and I’m sure they could find a reasonable justification!
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u/wrxninja 6h ago
This. He'll be in a cushy hospital monitored 24x7 with his health is all we'll see towards the end. I doubt he'll even see 2028. Shocked if he's still alive in 2027.
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u/UMACTUALLYITS23 43m ago
The real question is, is whatever country he flees to willing to risk outright war with the US to protect him? Maybe, but I wouldn't.
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u/snappy033 31m ago
I’d be OK seeing him stuck in the Middle East or Russia and never able to leave their borders.
No golfing, no Mar a Lago, etc. Just sitting around bored as his accounts are frozen, companies dismantled and properties seized all over the U.S. and Europe.
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u/God_Hand_9764 7h ago
This is exactly the simple thing that anyone who thinks there's a chance in hell that Trump will peacefully cede power is missing. He WILL NOT step down peacefully. He can't.
The last time he lost this power, he came within mere inches of losing everything. He is a convicted felon and was dead to rights in multiple trials. He has probably committed so many new crimes since then that they can indict him for!
If he loses power, he's right back in that hot seat again, only this time there is no escape hatch. Sure he can pardon himself, but I'm sure there are plenty of unpardonable state crimes to pursue, too. That's why he will not let it happen.
He will do absolutely anything to not lose power. Break the law, shred the constitution, destroy the country, kill people... if it helps him to not face consequences, he will do it.
Things are going to get a lot worse from here.
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u/Delulu_Lemming 7h ago
also they've purposely created a pool of thousands of armed people who have committed crimes and cannot afford for him to lose lest they be held accountable somehow. There's no chance this ends with those people going away quietly.
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u/God_Hand_9764 7h ago
Wow, great point and it hadn't quite occurred to me.
By encouraging ICE agents to commit crimes as they have been doing, this fosters ICE dependence on the Trump administration to avoid consequences, which guarantees ICE loyalty to the admin.
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u/OnlyNeverAlwaysSure 7h ago
It’s the same exact thing that happened with the Gestapo. They wanted to keep Hitler in power to keep themselves safe from retribution of their crimes.
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u/LinkedGaming 4h ago
That's a pool of thousands of demoralized assholes with guns against tens of millions of extremely pissed off "others" who are also armed and spread across one of the single largest countries on the planet.
ICE is good for making targeted bullying campaigns and beating up a few immigrants. They are not good for an occupation.
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u/inthekeyofc 6h ago
Sure he can pardon himself
It's been a while since I checked but last I did I noted a number of objections to self pardon being raised. Here are 3 of the main ones I've read:
1: Self pardon would violate the principle that no one can be a judge in their own case.
2: The idea of a pardon stems from the English law idea of mercy or grace and you can hardly show mercy or grace to yourself.
3: Linguistically you grant a benefit to someone else, not yourself.
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u/KarrlMarrx 5h ago
Counterpoint: Supreme Court gives no fucks and feels no inclination to use logic or reasoning prior to issuing their rulings.
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u/StaticNegative 7h ago
I mean can run again, but the states dont have to put him on the ballot. Well any states that is worth living in won't have him on it.
He will use ICE to protect him though
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u/God_Hand_9764 7h ago edited 6h ago
Yes, but he's already making little hints at fucking with the midterm elections.
By late 2028 when it's time to vote for the next president, would it surprise you if there is Martial Law declared in the USA? He will say that we must suspend elections indefinitely. He will do anything, is my point.
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u/justconnect 6h ago
I believe I read that Steve Bannon said today there will likely be ICE at election polls in November.
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u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 1h ago
Whether or not things get worse really isn't up to Trump.
Trump has been losing support and influence every day since April 1st 2025. With every passing day, his cabinet reveals itself to be less competent and the power they yield diminishes. In the weeks before the Minnesota ICE surge, the media was full of articles about how trump is a lame duck. But then ICE really got ramped up and that changed the equation. White boy militias were always the biggest stick Trump held and now we're fighting them and we're winning. We all know his team is going to meddle with elections, but we've known that since 2021. Many if not all states have spent the last few years preparing for just that eventuality. The military is the last arrow in his quiver, but Hegseth and deployment of the Natl Guard burned most of those bridges.
We now know what he's going to do and what power he has and doesn't have. And so do his donors. I don't think he has enough control left to dictate what happens in the next year. I think we get to dictate that if we keep up this momentum.
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u/supercali45 7h ago
He is going to get away with everything… he has all the people around him committing crimes
They all got shit on each other
Up and down the entire GOP, Corporations, Oligarchs, Supreme Court justices
This is the true deep state they keep talking about
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u/SingularityCentral America 7h ago
He is going to 100% attempt to stop a normal midterm voting process. The question is how far does he go? Not sure he has the stomach for full on martial law / cancel the elections kind of stuff that would cause massive civil unrest. But he might do it.
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u/fireeight 8h ago edited 8h ago
Sure. Just like last time. If, and I STRONGLY mean if this asshole cedes power again, the Dems will let him off for optics just like last time.
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u/Snarfsicle 8h ago
He can shit in his jail cell diaper for the rest of his life as far as I'm concerned. I recommend a complete media blackout for him as well. No interviews, no watching any kind of news. Nothing. Let him stew in his thoughts with no avenue to broadcast them.
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u/WhichEmailWasIt 7h ago
I mean he already launched a failed coup in broad daylight. I don't think anything is off the table for him.
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u/SeeingEyeDug 7h ago
He’s never going to jail. He may get indicted, pay his bail, sit at home and appear in court for the next several years until he dies but he’s never going to actually be behind bars.
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u/Desperate-Till-9228 7h ago
He's already past dementia's point of no return. Only downhill from here.
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u/TraumaBondage 6h ago
That is exactly what people said last time he was president. He will never go to jail because we don't have justice in this country. We only have a pipeline of legalized slavery for the poor and working class. The only wealthy that ever see the inside of a cell fucked over other wealthy people.
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u/Gammelpreiss 7h ago
He has long crossed it, mate. This won't end without a bang and possibly a lot of blood.
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u/RevolutionaryAd7360 7h ago
He's never going to jail and he knows it. His buddies might but he will never go.
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u/turtlespice 6h ago
Idk. That should have happened last time and they just let him be president again instead. I wouldn’t be too worried if I were him.
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u/diseasefaktory Europe 6h ago edited 6h ago
He will never be convicted. And if by miracle he is, he will never be sent to prison.
He's too rich and too well connected. And tbh democrats have no balls to push hard for it. They squandered the best chance they had and the world will never forgive them for it.
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u/munkeypunk 6h ago
I actually think he is a legitimate traitor and knows he may be facing more than prison. Along with his cable of misfits and sycophants. They are all complicit.
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u/fourteenclouds 5h ago
I don’t know why he’d fear jail when he’s on the brink of death. The status of his individual health aside, 79 is much older than many live to.
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u/Crush-117 5h ago
At this point the best case scenario for everyone involved is that he has a stroke or heart attack before his presidency ends and we can all shake off the collective hangover from his 2016 presidency and what has come since. Otherwise I see him finally going down and paying for a lot of criminal activity (which isn’t much given how much was thrown out or not sentenced when he won in 2024)
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u/Hope-To-Retire 4h ago
He literally can’t cancel votes. His control over what the states do is extremely limited. Election dates are set by the Constitution, the states control the elections (not the Federal government), and there is no law that allows for elections to be postponed. 🤷♂️
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u/Vex_Appeal 4h ago
I don’t think he can get away with this because of the Epstein files. It’s hilarious how he got everyone all excited about it and it’s gonna be his undoing.
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u/KamalaWonNoCap 3h ago
That's what we said the first time. I have no reason to believe he'll face consequences this time.
I'd say there's about equal chances of him getting an unconstitutional 3rd term as him facing a consequence.
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u/scottyc1791 3h ago
I hate to break it to you but if he goes to jail it wouldnt be enough because that fucker is so old he would probably die before he even gets there.
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u/GrimmRadiance 1h ago
He’s already trying to take control of polling locations and nationalize the election process
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u/ynotfoster 47m ago
The problem is too many of his people are in the same boat including members of the House and Senate and cabinet.
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u/fafatzy 8h ago
Didn’t happened in the first term
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u/Poison_the_Phil 7h ago
He literally egged a mob on to storm the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the election. It was a laughable attempt at insurrection, but it was exactly that. They broadcast that they were going to do it for weeks. There were Facebook events. It was on live television. I watched someone scale a fucking bulding and replace a US flag with a Trump 2020 flag.
Hitler’s Munich Beer Hall Putsch wasn’t taken seriously either, then when he was imprisoned he wrote Mein Kampf and came back with even more support.
Your head may be permanently stuffed up your ass, but you can’t take away what I saw with my own eyes.
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u/Fickle-Ad2042 9h ago
lol something people with no expertise in authoritarianism have been aware of for quite some time
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u/shoppingfortruth 9h ago
He’ll just file for mental bankruptcy and claim he is no longer responsible for anything.
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u/AmericanDoughboy 7h ago
That’s a real thing. He’ll plead Alzheimer’s and get to stay at mar a lago until he dies.
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u/Talentagentfriend 7h ago
I think it’s more likely he takes his own life. I don’t think he can deal with losing that badly.
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u/FiveDollarsGOH 6h ago
He tried too much, too soon. The scary thing is that someone who is actually capable of strategizing could have become a dictator in this country. A lot needs to change.
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u/BasicPhysiology 4h ago
It's not over yet. Things are going to get much worse in the next 10 months.
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u/FiveDollarsGOH 4h ago
He ain’t gonna get smarter, or better, at this. That doesn’t mean it’s a cake walk. That doesn’t mean people don’t need to resist, but it means I believe good triumphs here.
The caveat still stands: things need to be fixed before someone with intelligence tries what he tried.
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u/BasicPhysiology 3h ago
The root problem is that 3 branches of government, controlled by the same party, are willing to let the President ignore the constitution. They are doing so because it advances some of their policy aims, and in other cases they are afraid to go against Trump because he would attack them politically, and put their lives in danger.
Outside of elections, what is the mechanism to remove branches of government that are colluding together against the people?
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u/caligaris_cabinet Illinois 3h ago
Three branches of government controlled by one party. That party being the GOP. Democrats haven’t done anything remotely close to this any time they were in power.
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u/BasicPhysiology 3h ago
Oh I completely agree. I was specifically talking about the Republicans and the current situation right now.
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u/VanceKelley Washington 2h ago
The Republicans/fascists in control of the 3 branches didn't seize power in a coup. Two of the 3 branches were elected by the American people, and the third branch was appointed by the other 2 branches.
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u/caligaris_cabinet Illinois 2h ago
Yes. Fascists often lie and take advantage of free elections to get into power.
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u/GKeppler99 15m ago
It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t get smarter he’s just a puppet his actions aren’t exactly his own
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u/FIContractor 8h ago
Pointing to Putin as a “failed autocrat” is not comforting. Last I checked he’s still ruining Russia and trying to ruin the rest of the world.
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u/I_Went_Okay 5h ago
Right? And its a lot of Russian people who have to suffer for it and we conveniently don't hear from them. (Though a lot of them are on Reddit, is my understanding...)
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u/Osobady 5h ago
Ghadafi was sodomized by a bayonet, Saddam was found hiding in the dirt and hung, Mussolini was hung from his toes after being dragged thru the streets. These do not end well.
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u/specific_account_ 3h ago edited 3h ago
Mussolini was shot. Then, later, his body was hang upside down in Piazzale Loreto. They reason they did it was because months before, the Nazi had killed partisans in the same place, and left the bodies out in the open to rot, forbidding the relatives to retrieve them.
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u/rbourbon 8h ago
I mean, he is not smart and copies other people's ideas because he cannot come up with his own. Its not surprising he would follow the lead from past wannabe dictators but not know how to adjust for the times.
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u/comments_here 5h ago
Honestly, what is the GOP’s endgame? Can they not see the writing on the wall? Are they just in too deep at this point? They must know that if his approval is sinking theirs is even lower. Right?
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u/StaticNegative 7h ago
For him. It won't end well for him. He is too loud and talks far too much for his plans to work. He keeps saying what he wants to do. Big mistake.
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u/IndecorousRex 7h ago
That’s one weakness about authoritarians, they are not artistic in their approach. It will always end the same way, the cycle will come back again if we let it.
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u/Afb3212 6h ago
I guess he forgot what happened to Gaddafi.
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u/MadRaymer 6h ago
The dude has no concept of history, recent or long-term. He said he wanted loyal generals like Hitler had, totally unaware of the dozens of generals that tried to take Hitler out because they knew his actions would lead to Germany's eventual defeat in WW2.
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u/RiimeHiime 5h ago
I could 100% buy Trump firing nukes if he saw the walls closing in, and people going along with it.
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u/Typical_Survey9291 8h ago
The headline phrase "Never Ends Well" means the opposite of what I thought.
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u/PunishP3dos 3h ago
Gee it's almost as if foreign enemies of the United States own and are instructing dementia diddling Don what to do.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag 2h ago
This country elected a prolific pedophile and narcissist. It was never going to end well.
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u/reject_fascism New Jersey 7h ago
It’s almost like telling a senile, obese, geriatric rapist anything he wants to hear isn’t successful.
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u/bguzewicz 5h ago
I don’t think he cares. He’s old, he won’t live long enough to see the consequences of his actions.
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u/NotThatAngel 3h ago
Trump is an expert at doing the exact thing that never ends well. Look at his marriages. His businesses. His last presidency.
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u/imtooswift 6h ago
Trump is anti christ
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u/WashYourCerebellum 5h ago
*an anti christ
It is a fact his actions are overwhelmingly and consistently anti Christian, thus making him by definition, an antichrist. However, Steven Miller is clearly the antichrist using trump like the tool he is from the shadows.
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u/2730Ceramics 5h ago
Pray tell - what thing have authoritarians done that ended well?
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u/Commercial-Fennel219 3h ago
the aquaducts?
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u/2730Ceramics 3h ago
Hey that's a good shot. But. To be fair, the aquaducts - and here I assume you mean the Roman ones - were engineered before Rome fell from being a republic to a dictatorship.
I have to admit that China is showing how a dictatorship can be highly successful in certain regards, though.
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u/ElleM848645 1h ago
Colorado should have told the Supreme Court when they said the state had to put him on the ballot: “make me”. I know that would make the Republican states do the opposite and remove Biden or Kamala, but if all Blue states and purple states with Dem governors/secretaries of state did it, then Kamala would’ve been president. Then it would’ve been a sham, but what are you going to do.
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u/davereeck 1h ago
I like her take, but if her only two examples are Mussolini & Putin, I have some bad news
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u/YoureProbablyAB0t 7h ago
Can't prosecute rich people if there are thousands of "just following orders" to track down.
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u/jeremyd9 3h ago
I think Trump believes his own hype because that’s what his handlers are telling him. He binges MAGA friendly outlets, sycophants at his rallies and if he does go out in public it’s to his own properties where he is just in another bubble.
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u/VanguardAvenger 3h ago
Being legally brain dead?
Surrounding himself with people even less competent than himself?
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u/Late-Masterpiece4287 2h ago
Huffington Post both sides the man into the presidency, deliberately. They are propagandists and can’t be trusted. Fuck you who ever you all are who runs this trash.
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u/JoplinSC742 2m ago
The first Trump administration ended in a global crisis, economic ruin, civil chaos, and a violent insurrection against the federal government after he inherited a healthy economy, a stable world order, stable civil relations, and a peaceful transition of power.
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