Is Trump's Endgame a Dictatorship?

[Kulindahr]

If elected (shudder), how long before he follows through with his desire to silence any media outlet(s) that dares to be critical of him and replaces them with some Trumped up, ego stroking, propagandic incarnation from the minds of Bannon and Ailes?

Surely the very possibility scares people.

His logic is typical central authoritarian: if some power opposes you, narrow even more power into your hands at the center. We need more voices, not fewer!

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Nope, he was never serious about winning from the very beginning.

He did not expect to be nominated.

When he made it that far, he went with it, but he has no actual desire to be president.

He's in the race to feed his narcissistic need for attention, to increase the value of his brand and media exposure, and to ultimately make even more money from his now rabid fan base.

He's still throwing out red meat to his base on a daily basis, which is not what you do in a general election campaign if you are serious about winning. His advisors have no doubt told him this, but he simply doesn't care.

I can't decide if he doesn't care, or doesn't understand. I lean toward the latter.

 

[Kulindahr]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi..._are_creating_a_neo-facsist_media_empire.html

Well Carl Bernstein says Trump and his followers are setting up a neo-facsist movement and empire. I've been saying that for months. The shear number of Trump's followers that have this mindset is frightening and that is what is making me feel very cynical about my country at the moment. The fact that that number of people, today in the United States of America, had they lived at a different time and place, are of the same mindset that elected Mussolini and Hitler. It is very disturbing.

And NotHardUp thinks I feel that way just because I'm old.

This is true. I know a couple of Korean War vets who have never voted anything but Republican who aren't going to vote for him because he reminds them too much of the system they went to fight, and then system the veterans of WWII told them about that they went to fight.

Trump Jong-Il.....

 

[Kulindahr]

How did he became the leader of the republican in the first place ?
Something must have gone wrong with the system.
The same with Bush and others (they are less qualified) but still got elected.

The government taking over the primary system is what went wrong: the parties no longer have control over their own business, so they have to accept whatever idiots claim to follow the party and can win a primary.

Parties ought to charge $25/yr to be a member, and only let those who pay run as candidates or vote in primaries. That would serve as a filter. But candidates ought to have to support the platform or be subject to ejection.

 

[Kulindahr]

Re: e countryIs Trump's Endgame a Dictatorship?

Well, his supporters didn't dub him "the God Emperor" for no reason.

That's a not surprising extension of the notion of "job creators", which makes the wealthy more than mere mortals: the uber-wealthy capitalist of capitalists must be at least semi-divine!


What we need to focus on is the wealth-makers, who are the laborers who actually do the work. An idea is just an idea until those with the skill to make it real pitch in.

 

[Kulindahr]

You missed my point.
Something gone wrong with the whole US election system.
How did George Bush got elected? He wasn't qualified same as Trump.

It's a result of the worship of democracy, as though that were a goal rather than a tool. Before the political parties got shanghaied by the government into accepting raw democracy as final for primaries, party leaders could filter out the obvious idiots and mental cases. But as Jefferson especially among the Founding Fathers understood, raw democracy is a self-destroying beast, and that's what we're watching.

There has to be a filter somewhere in the system to select for at least moderately competent candidates. China beats the world at that; no one can hold high office in China who hasn't demonstrated a capability of running business, municipal, and military. The U.S., OTOH, is right at the bottom, with no filter but sheer popularity, no requirements for skill at all.

 

[hotatlboi]

You missed my point.
Something gone wrong with the whole US election system.
How did George Bush got elected? He wasn't qualified same as Trump.

Wrong. Bush had been a governor. Whether or not you agreed with him, he was qualified to be president. Not the same as Trump, who has absolutely no experience in government or public service.

 

[Kulindahr]

Wrong. Bush had been a governor. Whether or not you agreed with him, he was qualified to be president. Not the same as Trump, who has absolutely no experience in government or public service.

True enough; in China's system Bush would arguably have qualified on the public service aspect. Trump would qualify on their business side, though I suspect barely, with his ups and downs. But the public service aspect is paramount; if you get As in public service (so to speak) and Cs elsewhere, you've still got a chance to move up, but if you get a C in public service you can get As elsewhere and not move ahead.

Trump is not qualified to move ahead.

 

[Kabluey]

It's a result of the worship of democracy, as though that were a goal rather than a tool. Before the political parties got shanghaied by the government into accepting raw democracy as final for primaries, party leaders could filter out the obvious idiots and mental cases. But as Jefferson especially among the Founding Fathers understood, raw democracy is a self-destroying beast, and that's what we're watching.

There has to be a filter somewhere in the system to select for at least moderately competent candidates. China beats the world at that; no one can hold high office in China who hasn't demonstrated a capability of running business, municipal, and military. The U.S., OTOH, is right at the bottom, with no filter but sheer popularity, no requirements for skill at all.

China had something of an overhaul following Mao's leadership.
In many ways Trump's emulating Mao's basic populism and appeal to the under educated.

 

[Telstra]

In Australia,
the politicians choose their leader and NOT the people.
The people are not qualified to choose a leader.

 

[Benvolio]

In Australia,
the politicians choose their leader and NOT the people.
The people are not qualified to choose a leader.

Very true. We should have the parliamentary system as Britain and most democracies. Our system used to work better when the candidates were chosen in smoke filled rooms at conventions.

 

[Benvolio]

If immigrants vote democrat and Hillary continues to pursue the open border policy, how can we avoid a one party dictatorship?Clearly you should be less concerned with Trump becoming a dictatorship, since he cannot.

 

[Telstra]

Actually,
people should not vote for anything.
They have no clue of the election rubbish.

For example,
i have never vote for the local council election because i don't have a clue who they are and what they stand for. Let their peers vote for each other.

 

[gsdx]

i have never vote for the local council election because i don't have a clue who they are and what they stand for. Let their peers vote for each other.

Just because you don't have a clue about elections doesn't mean other people don't. A government elected by peers would be a government run by people who have the most friends.

 

[Telstra]

Just because you don't have a clue about elections doesn't mean other people don't. A government elected by peers would be a government run by people who have the most friends.

Nope,
peers are NOT friends.
Scientists and scientists are not friends. Lawyers and lawyers are NOT friends. They are competition to each other. Tennis players and tennis players are not friends. They compete to become number one !!!

Politicians and politicians are not friends.
They out smart each other and compete.

 

[rareboy]

If immigrants vote democrat and Hillary continues to pursue the open border policy, how can we avoid a one party dictatorship?Clearly you should be less concerned with Trump becoming a dictatorship, since he cannot.

 

[eastofeden]

If immigrants vote democrat and Hillary continues to pursue the open border policy, how can we avoid a one party dictatorship?Clearly you should be less concerned with Trump becoming a dictatorship, since he cannot.

I M U S T R E S I S T

.......phew......

 

[TX-Beau]

...i have never vote for the local council election because i don't have a clue who they are and what they stand for. Let their peers vote for each other.

If you don't know who your local politicians are and what they stand for, it's because you can't be bothered to go find out.

 

[TX-Beau]

Nope,
peers are NOT friends.
Scientists and scientists are not friends. Lawyers and lawyers are NOT friends. They are competition to each other. Tennis players and tennis players are not friends. They compete to become number one !!!

Politicians and politicians are not friends.
They out smart each other and compete.

Yeah, that's not what he said.

 

[Telstra]

If you don't know who your local politicians are and what they stand for, it's because you can't be bothered to go find out.

What % of people know their local politicians (i mean really local like the council) ?
Very low %.

 

[eastofeden]

What % of people know their local politicians (i mean really local like the council) ?
Very low %.

Not only do I know who my local politicians are...and I am friends with some of them on FB and I pay attention to pretty much everything in my community politically. I also make it my business to at least learn about and familiarize myself with the Senate races in each state..sometimes even the House races but gerrymandering kinda put a damper on that for me and made it uninteresting BECAUSE the politicians in those states CHOSE the candidates and the party already........

For the races and positions I don't really care about too much..I either get Planned Parenthood's recommendations or the Democratic endorsements list for my local districts...same with some of the state seats and propositions.....

I trust both of these group's judgments but ultimately decide for myself though if someone wants to legislate a woman's womb...I inherently do not trust them to legislate anything else....

I will admit the percentage is low...but the people who do care enough on a local level for the most part are well informed voters......

Where I live...I am lucky. I don't have to wade though a bunch of yahoos and back water fuckwads who carry guns and brag about it....and I will consider a Republican or any party on a local level providing they meet the criteria I have for them if they are better for the job (Pro Choice/Pro Environment/Pro LGBT).....