That is, which would be worse at this point: Trump reelected as President in 2024; or a just as authoritarian but shrewder and more competent Republican?
Would I like to get kicked in the right nut, or the left nut?
I would say Trump THIS time. Only bc he knows he won’t get another term and will blow everything up as much as he can while he’s in office.
Disantis is smarter and scarier, but I don’t see him doing anything that can’t be fixed by a more ethical politician.
I may be naïve about that though.
So Ted Cruz? Truly nightmarish.
DeSantis is not shrewder or more competent. Truly nightmarish.
Who are other prominent names at this point?
Beyond butchering his name, he is not any smarter. He’s about equally scary.
What are you basing that on?
Is he or any of his cabinet members under criminal investigation?
Do you listen to him?
Do you see what he does as governor?
His dumbass fight with Disney?
Neither of us has access to their IQs, but the signs are he is not very smart.
It’s better to deal with the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.
I feel like you’re conflating smart with A-hole. In which case, I would agree they are both on the same level.
Give me the more authoritarian, but at least more competent, Republican.
I’d rather a competent 80% tyrant than a bumbling 50% tyrant.
I don’t think Trump is as dumb as you think he is and DeSantis is not as smart as your giving him credit for.
More authoritarian and more competent? Yes, it would be better that the trains run on time. I hate having to wait for my turn in the shower.
The only advantage I see toward more Trump is that he’d probably try to do the same shit over again, because, hey, it worked before. This time the rest of us might be more prepared for it. OTOH, the cult of personality is strongest with Trump, so a different person might not be able to command so much blind loyalty.
As of yet I have no evidence that DeSantis wants to become a dictator in the Banana Republic mode the way that Trump does.
If DeSantis became president I think he would be authoritarian and awful but within reasonable parameters. I think we would be more or less satisfied with using the traditional powers of the president to reshpeg America to match his twisted vision. I would expect elections to be held more or less as normal except by Jim Crow style voter suppression to make sure that the right guys get more votes.
Trump on the other hand will start from day one, using all his power and influence to dismantle all of the institutions which held him in check last time around. To make sure that his power is absolute. He would gladly burn the country to the ground if it would keep him on top of the smoking ruin that remains.
Given the choice between Gilead and Damnation alley, I will reluctantly choose the former.
I don’t think of him as particularly smart but not particularly dumb either, just… average.
His problem is that he has the emotional gravitas and attention span of a toddler.
I worry that Trump was holding back at times because he wanted to be reelected. I especially worry what Trump would do if he got his Executive Privilege back and had nothing to lose.
Now that’s not fair. I’ve seen him act like a spoiled eight-year-old.
Imagine all the federal prisoners he would pardon because the price was right—grifter in chief.
If the America-hating fuckstick were to win in 2024, would Biden’s term be considered a Gap between two Banana Republics?
I’m not sure that the extent to which he held back was really about re-elction but more that he was held back by a Bureaucracy that worked to stymie is most destructive impulses.
Trump came into the whitehouse with the assumption that he had absolute power and everyone would do what he said, only to be confronted by the “deep state” of public servants who were more loyal to the Constitution than the Donald J Trump. Nearing the end of this term he started seriously weeding these out and replacing them with yes men who wouldn’t say he couldn’t order the army to shoot protestors.
Trump 2.0 wouldn’t make the same mistake and would immediately fire any part of the government who didn’t swear absolute fealty.