# Why the extreme hyperbole over Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476 "2017-06-09T02:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![LicketySplit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@LicketySplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LicketySplit)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/81 "2017-06-09T20:49:01Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Trump has not suspended the Constitution. He has not declared martial law. He has not proclaimed himself president _in perpetuum_. He is not rounding people up into barb wire detention camps. He is not having critics assassinated. He is not having protesters machine gunned on the streets. He has not shut down newspapers, magazines and television stations. He has not ordered military trials for “traitors”. He has not abolished the existing security organs and created a new security apparatus. In short, if Donald Trump is a “fascist”, he is the most laughable bubblegum fascist in history. Yet to hear the left tell it, we’re in Germany circa 1933. IMHO, this only makes the left look exactly like the snowflakes their worst critics accuse them of being. It’s the Liberal Mindset, mate. When you lose an election, if you’re a Libtard or a Nanny State Advocate, you immediately begin demonizing the winner of the campaign, who basically goes against the grain of all that you hold dear: The “Gimme” mentality…the Browning of America…Bigger and more elitest and more Liberal government…unbridled free market economy unhampered by Nanny State legislation, etc. But, yeah, I love it when they say “we are in the midst of a constitutional crisis!” Uh…no. We’re not. Unless of course you wish to consider the massive liberal and DNC plot to witch hunt and unjustly demonize and flagrantly trying to impeach a valid POTUS as a threat to the Constitution. If THIS is what you mean by a crisis…then you guys might have a point! LOL But me thinks dats not what they’re talkin’ about. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/82 "2017-06-09T21:00:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > . The people who feel that Christianity requires them to vote Republican. Let’s go after them. Not the assholes. I’m sorry, you lost me here. Those people (“asshole” or not) can’t be reasoned with ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/83 "2017-06-09T21:41:30Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That is just one op-ed piece, and an article about that same op-ed piece. Here’s another article: [http://thehill.com/homenews/media/337161-cnn-severs-ties-with-host-who-called-trump-a-piece-of-st](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/337161-cnn-severs-ties-with-host-who-called-trump-a-piece-of-st) > [@](#): > > CNN has parted ways with controversial host Reza Aslan one week after Aslan called President Trump “a piece of s—” and “an embarrassment to mankind” on Twitter. And we have celebrities destroying their career threatening Trump… and then _whining about it_. Threatening a head of state, even in jest, can get you a visit from the authorities. I wonder if they have seen her yet. Link: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/02/kathy-griffin-will-talk-about-bullying-from-the-trump-family-at-presser-friday/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/02/kathy-griffin-will-talk-about-bullying-from-the-trump-family-at-presser-friday/) > [@](#): > > “Kathy Griffin’s career was over long before she attempted to make a disgusting joke about decapitating the President,” the RNC statement said. “Playing the victim and blaming others for her hateful actions today, and claiming to be (bullied) is a bridge too far.” > > On Friday, the California Republican Party began soliciting donations using an image of Griffin posing with the mask of Donald Trump’s head, the Associated Press reported. It urged donors to help fight “the left’s blatant disrespect.” (Some people on the other side gave up the opportunity to show they’re better than her and responded with more serious threats.) Obama was shown such blatant disrespect too, often tinged with or drowned in racism. Some of the same people who engaged in Obama Derangement Syndrome are now decrying Trump Derangement Syndrome. (The current victim of Trump Derangement Syndrome spent years attacking Obama’s citizenship and nationality. I’m not feeling a whole lot of sympathy for Trump.) I don’t know if the problem is outrage fatigue, hyper polarization, “fake news”, just people being idiots on social media or some combination thereof, but I think the temperature across the board needs to fall. > [@BigT](#): > > There was nothing wrong with that Huffpo article title. It’s a statement of belief. This is a big enough deal that some people think he should be impeached. I’ll have you know I’m a liberal. However, not to the extreme of HuffPo. Calling for impeachment over something like that is a bit like calling anything your opponent does treason. It’s the same kind of “he’s going to come and take your guns” nonsense Obama’s opponents pulled. A much more reasonable response would have been to call on Republicans to oppose Trump’s action, or call on people to vote him out of office. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/84 "2017-06-09T21:52:51Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I don’t know if the problem is outrage fatigue, hyper polarization, “fake news”, just people being idiots on social media or some combination thereof, but I think the temperature across the board needs to fall. Pretty much all of the above. _We don’t feed the people, but we feed the machines_ (Anyone? **Rushgeekgirl**?) I mean, it’s not like liberals corner the market on overreaction. There’s a great deal of hysterical handwringing on both sides. My general hope has always been, and continues to be, that Trump’s incompetence blesses us with an administration that accomplishes approximately nothing. So far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/85 "2017-06-09T22:02:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Trump isn’t conservative. He isn’t hardline. He isn’t tough. He is evil. I would agree. > [@](#): > > This release consists of FBI materials on an investigation conducted between 1972 and 1974 into allegations that the Trump Management Company had discriminated against applicants for apartment rentals on account of their race,” the Bureau tweeted. > > In late 1973, the Justice Department filed a civil rights case accusing Trump’s company of steering non-white renters away from apartment buildings where most of the residents were white — all in violation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act Link: [The FBI Just Reminded America That Trump Is a Racist | by David Axe | Defiant | Medium](https://medium.com/defiant/the-fbi-just-reminded-america-that-trump-is-a-racist-36086ee67f68) > [@Spice Weasel](#): > > I think ‘‘evil’’ is giving him way too much credit. He’s got the emotional maturity of a twelve-year-old. Greedy, racist, and won’t own up to crimes. That doesn’t mean he can’t also be emotionally immature… but I don’t think calling him “evil” is wrong. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Pretty much all of the above. > > _We don’t feed the people, but we feed the machines_ > > (Anyone? **Rushgeekgirl**?) > > I mean, it’s not like liberals corner the market on overreaction. There’s a great deal of hysterical handwringing on both sides. > > My general hope has always been, and continues to be, that Trump’s incompetence blesses us with an administration that accomplishes approximately nothing. So far, so good. Well, almost nothing, except killing bank regulations and climate change treaties… I was stunned to see Obamacare actually lose that vote in the House. I want to think they can’t pass a similar bill in the Senate but they can use reconciliation if they can get 51 senators to support it. I think Trump’s destructive path is slowed down by his incompetence, but he hasn’t actually stopped. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/86 "2017-06-09T22:17:59Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > And we have celebrities destroying their career threatening Trump… and then _whining about it_. Threatening a head of state, even in jest, can get you a visit from the authorities. I wonder if they have seen her yet. Is that worse than, say, a Congressman interrupting the President in the middle of the State of the Union address and calling him a liar? Or a Presidential candidate publicly accusing the then President that his birth certificate is fake, without any evidence at all? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/87 "2017-06-09T22:22:06Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I would agree. > > Link: [The FBI Just Reminded America That Trump Is a Racist | by David Axe | Defiant | Medium](https://medium.com/defiant/the-fbi-just-reminded-america-that-trump-is-a-racist-36086ee67f68) > > Greedy, racist, and won’t own up to crimes. > > That doesn’t mean he can’t also be emotionally immature… but I don’t think calling him “evil” is wrong. > > Well, almost nothing, except killing bank regulations and climate change treaties… I was stunned to see Obamacare actually lose that vote in the House. I want to think they can’t pass a similar bill in the Senate but they can use reconciliation if they can get 51 senators to support it. I think Trump’s destructive path is slowed down by his incompetence, but he hasn’t actually stopped. I don’t know what will happen. But I believe most of the people in this country are decent, and that we’re a long way off from seeing liberals gunned down in the streets. I did my share of panicking prior to his election, I accepted that he might win long before the election, and I was pretty burned out by the time he was actually elected. Now it’s kind of like, eh, ‘‘I guess we live in interesting times.’’ What can we do, anyhow? Does writing letters to Senators even mean anything anymore? I’m not going to work myself into a frenzy into something I probably have very little control over. That doesn’t mean I believe Trump is not dangerous; on a bad day, he might be. We don’t know. It’s pretty much up to his whims, but he’s more interested in staging a reality TV show than running a country, so we’ll probably be okay. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/88 "2017-06-09T23:38:14Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Trump has not suspended the Constitution. He has not declared martial law. He has not proclaimed himself president _in perpetuum_. He is not rounding people up into barb wire detention camps. He is not having critics assassinated. He is not having protesters machine gunned on the streets. He has not shut down newspapers, magazines and television stations. He has not ordered military trials for “traitors”. He has not abolished the existing security organs and created a new security apparatus. In short, if Donald Trump is a “fascist”, he is the most laughable bubblegum fascist in history. Yet to hear the left tell it, we’re in Germany circa 1933. IMHO, this only makes the left look exactly like the snowflakes their worst critics accuse them of being. He hasn’t stomped on any puppies on prime time news either, but that, along with all of your examples, is not exactly a ringing endorsement of his competent and effective leadership. Just in case you thought it was. And since no one else has seen fit to bring it up, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a recording of any other presidents or candidates bragging about grabbing the genitals of unwilling women and getting away with it. But he’s your guy. Admire him all you like. You ain’t convincing me. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/89 "2017-06-10T00:13:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > (Of course what we call ‘lies’, he calls ‘truthful hyperbole’.) Conservatives should take liberals seriously, but not literally. They’re telling it like it is. They’re being sarcastic, but not that sarcastic. You have to look at what’s in their heart. It’s locker room talk. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/90 "2017-06-10T02:00:10Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Is that worse than, say, a Congressman interrupting the President in the middle of the State of the Union address and calling him a liar? Or a Presidential candidate publicly accusing the then President that his birth certificate is fake, without any evidence at all? I wouldn’t say that’s worse, although some people might say so due to the implied threat. What Joe Wilson and Donald Trump said and did were reprehensible, hyperbolic, and valid targets for censure, and what Trump did was obviously racist on top of that. (There were also far worse things coming from conservative voices, including threatening artwork, exactly the kind of thing Kathy Griffin did. Sarah Palin featuring Gabrielle Giffords artwork with a bullseye over her face isn’t even the worst such artwork I’ve seen.) I don’t see why we should tolerate this kind of behavior from either side. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/91 "2017-06-10T02:18:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’ll agree that the hyperbole over Trump is a bit extreme. However there are reasons Trump elicits such strong feelings, particularly on the left: > > - First of all, he has been a living caricature of the worst qualities of wealth and excess since the 80s. > - In spite of all his talk about “helping America”, most of his actions seem to be about helping the extremely wealthy. > - He acts like an asshole > - He appears to be woefully and willfully ignorant on important topics > - Much of his rhetoric is, if not outright “racist”, is designed to strike a xenophobic chord with his base. > - He’s very divisive in a way that Obama wasn’t. Obama was divisive in a sense that Republicans wouldn’t work with him because he was a Black Democrat with a funny sounding name. Trump is divisive in a sense that anyone who doesn’t agree with him is an “enemy” to be ridiculed and marginalized. > At best, I would say Trump is a narcissist (not a disqualifier for politics) who has spent his entire life in a family-created wealth bubble where his arguable success in building golf courses and gaudy condo towers has largely allowed him to overestimate his own intelligence and abilities in other areas. What that means is that he perceives the world through a lens of “what is good for business is good for America”. He has little understanding of the common people other than as employees of one of his or his supplier’s companies. He has little understanding of politics or managing contrary viewpoints because he has always been “in charge” and surrounded by loyal family and sycophants. Nailed it. Trump is a reprehensible piece of shit, an opinion that has nothing to do with my political orientation and everything to do with a basic sense of common decency. You don’t comment on the Secretary of State’s ass during a Presidential Debate. You don’t comment on the size of your political opponents’ penis. You don’t brag about sexually assaulting women and you don’t persist in being an irredeemable asshole without making some enemies. He doesn’t even bother trying to hide who he is, and people make excuses for him anyway, which is utterly fucking infuriating. I would never vote for such a shamelessly disgusting human being, whether he was waving a liberal banner or not. But all of that, my personal hatred, is completely separate from my view of his fitness for the Presidency. He is incompetent. Massively, stunningly, almost intentionally incompetent. He handed over sensitive intelligence to _Russia_, for fuck’s sake, and he didn’t even know what he was doing because he’s that fucking incompetent. I have friends who reluctantly voted for him… you know, I don’t get it, but whatever. I guess Hillary is that terrifying to some people. But the level of cognitive dissonance one would have to possess in order to _enthusiastically support_ this man is staggering. I don’t understand it and I’ve tried to understand it but it makes no goddamn sense to me at all. This is not a person who is merely unpresidential, this is a person who would be considered an obnoxious loser in the layman circle. He’s every bad caricature about everything terrible about American culture wrapped into one mean, bloviating package. The only redeemable quality I can come up with is that he apparently loves his kids, but that hasn’t stopped some of them from becoming complete jackasses, so even that quality has questionable value. The bottom line is, what looks like hyperbole to you is a bunch of decent people going, ''Spluh??? Are you shitting me???" ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/92 "2017-06-10T02:47:38Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Reminds me of something I read 4 years ago on Democratic Underground: A poster said that it would be an impeachable offense if Obama cut Social Security funding. > > The reasoning went something like this: People depend on Social Security, and if funding is cut, some people might die, and so if that happens, Obama is indirectly guilty of murder. :dubious: Hilarious that the Pubs would go that twisted route when there are more direct ways to get there. But then again I always seemed to be the only one who gave a shit about the drone program. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/93 "2017-06-10T02:49:18Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Nailed it. > he only redeemable quality I can come up with is that he apparently loves his kids, but that hasn’t stopped some of them from becoming complete jackasses, so even that quality has questionable value. So he’s Cersei Lannister? Sounds about right. Even has the hair. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/94 "2017-06-10T02:52:44Z")
People who oppose things intensely, often end up lumping their entire list of opponents together, and pretending that ANY mistake made by ONE of them, is equally shared by ALL of them. There certainly is a lot of over-the-top reporting going on. A lot of leaping to the idea that impeachment is just around the corner. But a lot of that, is JUST reporters talking, not anyone in actual significant leadership positions in Trumps opposition. I personally believe that I see a great deal of wishful thinking going on amongst them, but it’s more linked to wanting to return to the days of Watergate, when every day, new revelations of corruption in high places was revealed, and all of it was on one side. Essentially, too many of the REPORTERS are allowing their fantasies of a great scandal run, and they are eagerly speculating, instead of sticking to the facts. Trumps supporters, possibly including the host here, are making the exact same mistake, leaping eagerly to the conclusion that because SOME REPORTERS are going overboard, that therefore Trump is pure driven innocent, that the entire Republican Party is coming around to thinking he’s a slick genius instead of a bumbling paranoid egotistical ignoramus who got past their intense efforts to put someone else in his place. They are almost entirely wrong as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/95 "2017-06-10T03:00:05Z")
Hello there, June 2017 joiners! Welcome! Have a beer and a bowl of nuts! Put your feet up! So…are you socks of previously banned posters, or just trolls? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/96 "2017-06-10T03:17:11Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Nailed it. > > Trump is a reprehensible piece of shit, an opinion that has nothing to do with my political orientation and everything to do with a basic sense of common decency\ And you nailed it. [QUOTE=Spice Weasel] \The bottom line is, what looks like hyperbole to you is a bunch of decent people going, ''Spluh??? Are you shitting me???" [/QUOTE] Yep. [QUOTE=Spice Weasel] \He doesn’t even bother trying to hide who he is [/quote] And here it is. Unfortunately we have found that a lot of people, perhaps a quarter of the country are hiding who they really are. Hiding hatred. Racism, misogyny, and fear of change. The people that support Trump, see him as a leader that will support them in their beliefs. Oh, he might, with his hatred of all things that are not TRUMP. The great irony is they think that Trump is on their side. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/97 "2017-06-10T12:29:49Z")
**Ukulele Ike** , I think you forget yourself. This is not the Pit and you cannot accuse other posters (old or new) of being a troll. No warning given. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Hello there, June 2017 joiners! Welcome! Have a beer and a bowl of nuts! Put your feet up! > > So…are you socks of previously banned posters, or just trolls? ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/98 "2017-06-10T15:55:53Z")
The establishments of both parties want to get rid of Trump. The Demos can huff and puff all they want, but they are not in control. What is Trump doing that the Republicans who control the Congress find objectionable? His Budget? No way. This is what the Rs have been working for. Climate change? Hell no, they are all climate change deniers. Supreme court? No. Privatize public ed? No. Racism? Oh, please, they are fine with racists. They’re almost all racists. St. Ronald Reagan began his campaign in [Philadelphia Mississippi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia,_Mississippi#Murders_of_Chaney.2C_Goodman.2C_and_Schwerner). No, Trump’s sin is that he is a loose cannon. He will not take direction from the Republican establishment, which is unforgivable. He also made a lot of personal enemies with his gratuitous insults during the campaign. So, yeah, they want to get rid of Trump without pissing off his supporters at the base of the Republican Party. It is in the sphere of foreign policy where the entire establishment hates Trump. Unlike the establishment, Trump is not interested in running an empire. For him, Russia and China are not “adversaries” blocking the elaborate imperialist geostrategy of the establishment, but merely objects of his dealmaking skills. He doesn’t care about [Mackinder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_History). So everyone wants to get rid of Trump. Missing in all this is the éminence grise as personified in Mike Pence. Unlike Trump, he is no opportunist. [Pence is a theocrat, a true believer; truly dangerous.](https://systemicdisorder.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/pence-worse-than-trump/) The Democrats have been salivating over the prospects of a rematch with Trump in 2020. They believe he could be beaten by anyone not named Clinton. They are probably right, and the Republicans probably think so too. They would MUCH rather go into the election with Pence. The day after they impeach Trump, he will be President and will probably start out with high approval ratings, even among Democrats. Pence was in the Congress for 12 years, and will grease the skids for the reactionary legislation now being prepared. So, yeah, Trump is a scumbag in many ways, but a case can be made that the alternative is worse. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/99 "2017-06-10T17:17:34Z")
> [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](#): > > Missing in all this is the éminence grise as personified in Mike Pence. Unlike Trump, he is no opportunist. [Pence is a theocrat, a true believer; truly dangerous.](https://systemicdisorder.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/pence-worse-than-trump/) To me, it doesn’t matter whether the alternative is worse, from a policy standpoint. What matters to me is whether the alternative is capable of governing. Trump’s profound incompetence is the real tragedy, horror, and embarrassment here. I would rather not get my way as regards policy if it means having someone in office who knows what they are doing. But I am playing the long game, here. I don’t support the Impeachment of Trump unless something criminal comes out of these investigations. But he has no business being President. I could never say the same about Pence, as vile as I find his policies, he has political experience and a professional understanding of the office. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/100 "2017-06-10T19:28:37Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Trump has not suspended the Constitution. He has not declared martial law. He has not proclaimed himself president _in perpetuum_. He is not rounding people up into barb wire detention camps. He is not having critics assassinated. He is not having protesters machine gunned on the streets. He has not shut down newspapers, magazines and television stations. He has not ordered military trials for “traitors”. He has not abolished the existing security organs and created a new security apparatus. In short, if Donald Trump is a “fascist”, he is the most laughable bubblegum fascist in history. Yet to hear the left tell it, we’re in Germany circa 1933. IMHO, this only makes the left look exactly like the snowflakes their worst critics accuse them of being. You posted this 2 days ago and couldn’t even devote the energy to respond to anyone here, nor add to the discussion. Did you mistake this forum for Facebook? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476.md?page=6)