# Anybody been watching the PBS series "Dictator's Playbook?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740 "2019-02-17T23:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/1 "2019-02-17T23:06:19Z")
[Dictator’s Playbook](https://www.pbs.org/show/dictators-playbook/). Hard to watch without seeing parallels with our current situation. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/2 "2019-02-17T23:54:02Z")
I watched the Franco installment last week. I confess that I didn’t know an awful lot about him (my apologies to Nava), and I wouldn’t be surprised if many Americans only know him at all from his becoming [a running gag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo_Francisco_Franco_is_still_dead) in the early days of _Saturday Night Live_. I agree, pretty chilling stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/3 "2019-02-18T00:59:05Z")
I’ve been watching them. They are interesting and informative. I liked the one about Mussolini. To be honest, I’m finding them below PBS’s regular standard of excellence. I would expect these on Discovery Channel or somewhere, sandwiched between Search for Bigfoot and UFO Conspiracy stuff. > [@River\_Hippie](#): > > [Dictator’s Playbook](https://www.pbs.org/show/dictators-playbook/). > Hard to watch without seeing parallels with our current situation. My wife tried to convince me of the swift under-current, but I’m just not buying it. Trump will be out of office, by legal vote, in either 2 or 6 years. He’s not sharp enough become a Franco or Mussolini. Sure the country if F-ed up, but not nearly bad enough to plunge up into a Dictatorship. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/4 "2019-02-18T22:20:51Z")
I watched a few of them, and thought they were pretty well done. They might well be trying to get a dig in toward Mr. Trump, but I’m not buying it either. Trump is a poor President, all in all, but his time in office will be limited, and someone better will replace him. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/5 "2019-02-18T23:03:09Z")
I was not aware of this. Thanks for posting it, I’ll try to check it out. Looking at it, sadly most didn’t lose power due to the public rising up. Hussein, Noriega & Amin were invaded by foreign nations and overthrown. Arguably Mussolini too. Il Sung and Franco died of natural causes ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/6 "2019-02-20T01:40:57Z")
I like the series; it helps explain how and why these guys happen (has there ever been a female dictator?) The first one I saw was Mussolini, and I wasn’t sure where the series was going. It almost appeared to be a warning to modern audiences about what to look for to prevent future dictators from taking over. ---
**Author:** ![Pithily\_Effusive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pithily_effusive/32/252_2.png) [@Pithily\_Effusive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithily_Effusive)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/7 "2019-02-20T02:17:01Z")
Bill Maher is eat up with, “Will he leave?” If Trump isn’t reelected all the paperwork will read the name of the person who won. White House security would identify Trump as unauthorized. He’d be escorted out; forcefully if need be. The fear isn’t rational. The comparisons with other dictators have a factor Trump does not have; the cooperation of the military. Our military, the Joint Chiefs in particular, have already said they will not cooperate with illegality on Trump’s part. The _moment_ ensuring Hitler’s success was when the German Army swore loyalty to him personally in a ceremony. All the other social constructs indicating autocratic rule come to naught without the mechanism of enforcement. All the examples of these have figured prominently within them the loyalty of the state in question’s armed forces. Rest assured the United States’ military does not hold Donald Trump in high regard. They also do not view themselves as instruments to be used for the suspension or dissolution of this liberal democracy as delineated by the United States Constitution. That, of course, is the document to which they all have sworn their loyalties. Fear that the U.S. is becoming a totalitarian state, at least under the conditions of this day and age, is an irrational fear. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-been-watching-the-pbs-series-dictators-playbook/829740/8 "2019-02-20T02:36:27Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I like the series; it helps explain how and why these guys happen (has there ever been a female dictator?) > > The first one I saw was Mussolini, and I wasn’t sure where the series was going. It almost appeared to be a warning to modern audiences about what to look for to prevent future dictators from taking over. There are two books called ‘the dictators handbook’ that are full of useful info about the levers of power that dictators use to rise to power and stay in power. Both are good reads if you are interested in how someone rises to that level and stays there. > **[The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics: Bueno...](https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845)** > > The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics \[Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Smith, Alastair\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics > **[Dictator's Handbook: A Practical Manual for the Aspiring Tyrant: Wood, Randall,...](https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Practical-Manual-Aspiring/dp/0615652425)** > > Dictator's Handbook: A Practical Manual for the Aspiring Tyrant \[Wood, Randall, DeLuca, Carmine\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Dictator's Handbook: A Practical Manual for the Aspiring Tyrant