Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

The only thing redeeming about the Danish is the morning pastries they make...

[Mike]

I believe the Dutch make better chocolate.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...and cigars...I think the cigar Slick Willy used was an Old Dutch...

[crashcourse]

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[THE_WIZARD_]

Now only if we could get Google to stop....that would be great...

[Da Geezer]

Geezer, you should have done this before you challenged me to find examples of Trump's ACTIONS indicating he "sees authoritarianism as a better form of government..."?: Google your challenge. When I did that, I was struck by the links to various sources of opinions on DJT's potential to act and speak as an authoritarian.

I'm not going to let you pigeon hole a response from me limiting examples I might provide to only ACTION that he took during his first term as POTUS. In the current context and WRT my post, I'm going by what he has said publicly about how he has said he will carry out his duties and responsibilities as POTUS (See the recent admonitions from the bench that Judge Juan M. Merchan provided denying the requested delay in sentencing he sought). I believe there are indications that he will act to try and weaken institutional obstacles and restraints on established constitutional powers of the Executive. The spoken word can and often does imply intent to act. How far he goes on the strongman spectrum of the world's current heads of state that are considered authoritarian is TBD.

Because he has not yet become POTUS, we don't know that he will ACT as an authoritarian during his presidency. But, there are signs that he will. The link below will take you to opinion pieces you can read if you're interested in understanding the parallels I wrote about in my post between Adolf Hitler's close advisors and Trump's close advisors as it pertains to how DJT might act during his second term as POTUS.

And to reiterate, I'm not among the group of people who want to compare Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler or allege he's a Nazi. My post was not about drawing that kind of conclusion but rather it was about his potential to act as a strongman or authoritarian in the mold of other heads of state from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Türkiye to Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Both have created blueprints for how to suffocate democratic pluralism and entrench autocracy. While he might admire Putin and Kim Jong Un's style and has praised both of them, he's clearly not going to govern like either Putin or Kim.

https://www.google.com/search?q=examples+of+Trump%27s+authoritarianism&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS801US802&oq=examples+of+Trump%27s+authoritarianism&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCjE5ODY2ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

In this search, I added examples of Trump's actions as an authoritarian. More evidence of that:

https://www.google.com/search?q=exam...t=gws-wiz-serp

Ah yes. Gabe Fischer and Stephen Feldstein.

What they and you miss is that Trump voters are concerned with what Trump means and not what he says. Progressives are all about what he says and not what he means.

That is why I point out the valid point that if Trump were an aspiring authoritarian, he would have taken steps to grab power when he had the opportunity to do so when COVID-19 struck. He did just the opposite. He worked with governors, particularly Dem governors, and did so well within normal boundaries set by the Constitution and custom. Biden, on the other hand, used the pandemic to rid the military of conservative members. Biden's FEMA intentionally skipped homes in NC that had Trump signs, and yesterday's attempt to make offshore drilling more difficult are other examples.

I know you don't favor those Biden overreaches. But I believe you should consider one fact. Republicans want to be left alone, and they vote as a civic duty. Democrats want to rule.and they vote to eat. This being so, the Rep party is the party of small businessmen and wage-earners. The Dems are the party of welfare recipients, bureaucrats, and public sector unions. One party wants power to be lessened and disbursed. The other wants government to grow and be centralized.

Ergo: The Democrat Party is much more given to autocratic behavior than is the Republican Party. That is why I emphasized what Trump actually did during his term in office and not what he said.

[Da Geezer]

Even though he recommended no charges, Robert Hur still released a damaging report about the sitting President Joe Biden.

Trump is doing everything in his power to stop DOJ from releasing the report about HIM screaming that you can't do this to a President-Elect, let alone a sitting President.

Trump urges Garland to block release of Jack Smith’s final report - POLITICO

And this means Robert Hur and Jack Smith have similar credibility? You must be kidding.

And the Smith report will be leaked to the MSM anyway.

[Da Geezer]

I guess it depends if you think it's more relevant to compare the America of 1890 with the Serbia of 1890 or compare 1890 America with the America of today?

"Wealthiest we've ever been" implies our material condition was the best ever in 1890. Which it certainly was not.

It does no such thing. It could also mean compared to other nations. What Trump MEANT was that tariffs successfully funded some of the government in 1890.

[Da Geezer]

Wait, I mean the Danes. Wait, I mean who gives a fuck?

Well, if the Dutch actually owned Greenland, it would be the world leader in AI centers. No air conditioning would be necessary.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It does no such thing. It could also mean compared to other nations. What Trump MEANT was that tariffs successfully funded some of the government in 1890.

Trump: Our country was at its wealthiest in 1890

Geezer: What our brilliant President means by these beautiful words is merely that SOME of our government was funded by tariffs in 1890. His meaning could not be more clear. Pay no attention to what he says, only listen to my sycophantic translations to try and make this imbecile seem intelligent.

Expecting tons of this embarrassing Trumpsplaining crap for the next 4 years. Have fun, Geezer!

[THE_WIZARD_]

Progs gonna Prog...

[Dr. Strangelove]

And this means Robert Hur and Jack Smith have similar credibility? You must be kidding.

And the Smith report will be leaked to the MSM anyway.

There is no consistent legal argument that it's okay to release a special counsel report against a sitting President in which no charges were recommended but it's illegal and unconstitutional to do so against a President-elect.

Your beliefs are based on pure political opportunism, nothing more. Trump's team has already been given three days to view and read the report too. That's why he's angrily demanding it be hidden from the public forever.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ergo: The Democrat Party is much more given to autocratic behavior than is the Republican Party. That is why I emphasized what Trump actually did during his term in office and not what he said.

Thanks for your response, Geezer. I thought it was fair.

I agree with this but I think the D's use the administrative state and EO's to have their way. Nothing that the Biden administration or BO's administration have said or done would qualify it, IMO, as authoritarian in the traditional sense and as I spoke of authoritarianism in the history of Hitler's rise to power and as German Chancellor, later and messianically, Der Furher.

DSL's suggestion that Mussolini is a better approximation of an authoritarian, not Hitler, is a good one when it comes to comparing Trump with other historical and current authoritarian Heads of State. As far as his rhetoric since winning the presidency is concerned he sounds a lot more like an authoritarian and less like a social liberal (lower case democrat).

Net, he likely plans on governing as a strongman, especially internationally but also domestically. He dislikes constraints on his power that the US Constitution impose on the Executive. As well, he dislikes how the law imposes obstacles on his ability to act as he pleases......at least his behavior facing allegations of law-breaking would suggest that. Like authoritarian strongmen do to remove those obstacles, Trump is likely to act similarly as POTUS. His political enemies are already preparing for that.

[Mike]

DSL, I have bad news for you. If the report was released in full 5 minutes from now, NOBODY WOULD GIVE A FUCK.