When he’s making up excuses, yes. He sounds like he’s giving a book report in front of the class but hasn’t read the book.
On one hand, from the article:
The former Trump official who has helped think through how to most effectively reinstate the policy said such an outcome was not necessarily dependent on Trump winning back office, noting someone like Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., could also implement it.
On the other hand, the real question is whether anyone other than Trump has the cult of personality and political force to push these things to the limit. It’s the cult of personality part that is the most important thing to be rid of, if you ask me, and Trump winning re-election with all of his current baggage would magnify that cult to no end.
One of the frightening aspects of Trump being elected in 2024 is the specter of Don Jr. waiting in the wings to take the MAGA reins four years later.
I agree with this assessment. While Disantis would be odious, he is within normal politician disfunction. TFG would be an order of magnitude worse. First thing on his to-do list as President 2.0 would be to get his enablers in congress to figure out a way to repeal the whole term limits thing. Once that is in the bag, then it’s just a matter of abolishing elections and BOOM, President for life! Plus,
Disantis just does not seem to have the gravitas TFG has with a certain demographic, to motivate them to do crazy stuff. I cannot see a cult forming around him the same way as TFG.
Well, it’s really a question of, are you looking to destroy the country, or just destroy American democracy?
Four more years of Trump is far more likely to produce a civil war of some sort, so maybe destroying the country in the short term is worth it, if you think the Good Guys will come out on top, and re-order the country in a better way.
Not Trump will destroy democracy, but after that, will probably have at least some minimal interest in keeping the economy at least barely functional, so you’d still have a least a crappy job in which you’re not actually starving to death on the street. But maybe that’s not quite enough?
Nah. Donnie’s first order of business would be to do everything he could by hook or by crook to eliminate term limits for president.
As for the question in the title-- either way, just shoot me. I don’t even need the blindfold.
I guess it depends on what you mean by destroy democracy. If you just mean ludicrous gerrymandering and voter suppression and targeted election law to preserve white minority rule, then sure DeSantis or any other Republican will do that. But while that would be several big steps back from our 2008 style Democracy its still leaps and bounds ahead of 1950’s era Jim Crow, which although severely unrepresentative was still a democracy and with enough votes in the right places was eventually overcome.
True destruction of Democracy to the point of Putinesque elections where, you can vote if you want but it won’t make a difference because all of the opposition has been imprisoned or exiled and the dictator gets to count the votes, I don’t see happening with anyone but Trump and his imitators. If DeSantis gets elected in 2024 and loses in 2028 I don’t think he will push the Big Steal or explore martial law as an option. I may be wrong, I don’t know too much about DeSantis’ temperment and would welcome any evidence contrary to my belief, but if there is I haven’t seen it.
Donald Trump , by his own words, favors presidency for life dictatorship, and I see no evidence he’s joking.
A more competent, equally authoritarian, Republican would increase the probability of turning my country into a dictatorship. I’ve read a lot about dictatorships and don’t want to live in one. So of course I don’t want a more competent president who is just as authoritarian.
As for DeSantis, I don’t know as clearly, as I do with Trump, whether he believes in elections. So I can, and do, hope that DeSantis is less authoritarian.
But it doesn’t matter, since DJT is the darling of his party and will again run.
The plus with Trump is that he’s almost surely too old to fully consolidate dictatorial powers.
That may be, but it also might not be. Trump has shown that a lot of people would be okay with doing exactly this, and significant portions of the GOP have been taking actions that might, if unopposed, let them do just this. Nominating “Stolen election” candidates for the state offices directly responsible for running elections, drafting laws that possibly allow a state legislature to override the popular vote, and declare the losing candidate the winner.
It’s not a lock, but it’s not an impossibility, either.
That’s kind of how I feel too. Part of Trump’s biggest problem was that his administration was also incompetent and f-ed up, and they couldn’t get stuff done, did crazy off-the-rails nonsense, engaged in insane internal politics/infighting, etc… Plus, they were all short-timers- pretty much every appointed official was replaced/resigned at least one it seemed. Some, like press secretaries were a revolving door.
At least a more competent Republican with authoritarian designs would presumably have a competent administration around him who would get stuff done effectively with none of the craziness or nonsense that Trump’s had.
The former because it would show that a majority of the voting population actually want a megalomaniacal narcissistic lying traitor for president. I’d have to say that it would mark the end to any claim that the United States might have of being a decent and moral nation.
Exactly what I came here to say. Every time Trump encounters a rule he doesn’t like he claims that it does not apply to him because he’s so persecuted. I am worried that if he has a second term he is not going to let anyone say no to him any longer and he will just do whatever he wants without regard to real world consequences for anyone/everyone else.
I am also worried that America will elect him for exactly this reason, a national obsession with “it might be the end of democracy as we know it but at least it won’t be boring.”
Yep, and he wont have to worry about re-election next time, one way or another.
He’d have to change the constitution, and you’d need 38 states to ratify an amendment.
The Roman Republic collapsed after a series of strongmen said “F*** the rules.”
Did you see the part where I said “by crook”?
Yes, though I’m not sure how he could pull it off.
Trump’s made many comments about how he deserves another term, to make up for the Russia investigation and impeachment taking up much of his term in office, but I figure he’s just blowing smoke. Recently some pol in Arizona said something about how he’d get “four more years, well maybe twelve,” but I have no idea what or how they could justify it.
Something like the above. His MAGA followers LOVE him because he doesn’t follow any rules and gets away with anything. They want to be - Just. Like. Him.
That that fucker wasn’t punished decades ago is a stain on our justice system. Just like he’s pissing on it today.
That’s the future his followers want. If they achieve it they will destroy everyone, including themselves. But they are too stupid to understand that.
He was going to ‘Drain the Swamp’ HAHAHHAH. He lives in the swamp and all of his conspirators are there too. I would truly like to see the swamp drained. DJT would be the first to go.
I don’t think Trump will win if he runs, which makes me sort of hope he does run. God help us all if DeSantis, who is seen as, at least, more contained than Trump was to run and win. If that happens, we could truly be shackled to a President for life. He knows the Trump playbook and will play an “improved” game.
And that was after he won. He’s a sore loser, but an even sorer winner.
The only advantages I see in Trump over DeSantis are that Trump has only one term he could conceivably serve, he’s older, and his health isn’t the greatest. DeSantis seems to be in better physical condition, has two terms he could serve, and could conceivably trouble the nation for years, irrespective of whether he’s already been president.