I think it is interesting how the two posters (Smapti and Babale) who are continually trying to gaslight us about Trump are the same assholes who continually try to gaslight us about genocide. Almost like they have an agenda to normalize everything going on.
Yes, but what IS different is that previous presidents believed in our democracy and its checks and balances. They respected and upheld our form of government. What makes Trump “qualitatively different” is that his quest for power is by far the most important thing to him, and he will abuse and misuse anything and everything in his effort to become the first dictator of the United States of America.
Beyond his ability.
Pretty much every Republican President for decades? Causing economic disaster is normal for them.
The behavior of Trump is not remotely similar to that of his predecessors.
Sure, just like most dictators had their powers initially granted to them. You’re agreeing with me that the president has had some of the restraints, which exist for good reason, removed.
And it’s a lot easier to remove these safeguards than put them back on again. How do you feel about being sent to the gulag?
I’m talking about trump seizing “emergency powers” to trample human rights, free speech and the judiciary. I contrasted it with wartime presidents because national security reasons can be advanced for doing this to some extent, but trump has no such excuse. But it’s debatable whether, even in times of war, any president has curtailed freedoms as quickly as trump is doing.
Disagreeing with you is not “gaslighting”.
I don’t think anyone is confused about the difference between the two.
Republican presidents are lousy for the economy, but economic disaster is a different category, and - again - Trump’s tariffs are a direct and attributable cause. Plus, as aficionados of the trolley problem would note, it’s a error of commission rather than one of omission, as would more typically be the case in the past.
Did Bush cause the Great Recession? Well, it’s complicated.
Did Nixon cause the stagflation of the 70s? He had help from the Saudis…
Did Hoover cause the Great Depression? It’s complicated, too.
Did Roosevelt cause the Panic of 1907? Not really…
Did Grant cause the Panic of 1873? That started mostly in Europe…
Did Trump cause whatever this economy is going to be called a few years or decades down the line? You’d have to a Fox News host to say otherwise.
His supporters won’t see it that way.
There were still people singing the praises of Herbert Hoover in the 30s. Didn’t stop Alf Landon from getting the worst drubbing in presidential-election history.
(Heck, according to All In The Family, there were still people singing the praises of Herbert Hoover in the 70s!)
Yeah, they’re called Republicans, and they were decidedly in the minority then.
No, he most certainly did not. He is still as hellbent as ever on imposing tariffs. He thought he could shock and intimidate all countries, “ally” and foe alike, into begging him to cut deals that would basically be the modern equivalent of a global embargo on China. Turns out, they were a combination of bewildered and pissed and wanted to know what the Trump White House actually wanted from them. It wasn’t clear. It still isn’t.
The reason he backed off is because the US bond market (well, actually, global bond markets) began to teeter into Liz Truss territory, and his advisors, worthless though they may be, had just enough brain matter to take calls from people on the outside, who actually do know how markets work and explain that they had to change course, or we were potentially looking at a contagion event.
But Trump didn’t figure this out on his own. He has absolutely no fucking clue how markets in 2025 work. I don’t get the impression his economic/finance team does, either. They’re just yes-men who wanted a position in proximity to White House power.
We aren’t talking about the 2028 election. Was Hoover thrown out of office by the military?
I mean, the Great Depression did get us the closest to a military takeover of the government than we’ve ever been before or since.
Right-wing fascists attempted to oust a center-left political head, which was hardly something the public supported. Not really sure why this example is being spit-balled here. Seems like a misplaced analog.
I never said anything about the military (though I think the idea of a military coup unseating Trump is approximately as likely as a hit by an extinction-level asteroid).
I jumped in when I saw:
because I think that, while a true statement, it’s a lousy historical analogy. Plenty of people said in 1860 “when have sectional differences ever led to secession?” Nothing that happens the first time ever has a precedent, which makes it hard to assign a probability to it.
“Okay, he did gas someone, but it was with Zyklon D, not B, so therefore he’s nothing like Hitler!”
https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-happening-federal-immigration-officials-telling-american-citizens-they-must-leave-the-country/1017168/7
BTW I have started to carry my passport card in my wallet.
Which will be declared a forgery on the spot and you’re gone.
What is the point of this post?
Other posters are talking about practical steps that could be done, but this post wants to discount it as useless? Sounds exactly like Trump propaganda: “it doesn’t matter if you resist”.
Richard Nixon resigned with a 24% approval rating. Some people will never come to rationality absent a frontal lobotomy.