How Soon before Trump has a 'reichstag fire'?

[Josephus]

Look...he doesn't have to burn the White House down, but he orders something, a minor terror attack, perhaps, or somesuch that will give him the authority to do away with civil liberties, the press, democracy. (Look, Bush almost did it after 9/11)

[LaCroix]

 

[Delirium]

 

[Syt]

This is giving Trump way too much credit.

The correct premise would be: How Soon before Steve Bannon orchestrates a 'reichstag fire'?

[Admiral Yi]

Never, too hard to do without getting caught.

[celedhring]

There won't be false flag but I certainly fear the moment when the first terror attack of his presidency hits US soil - because it will happen at some point. 

[Berkut]

He doesn't need to set up his own.

He has already, maybe even unwittingly, set the stage for himself.

We know there will be another terror attack on the US, that is just a matter of time.

There are, in theory, two checks on his power - Congress and the Judiciary.

Congress has shown that they are uninterested in challenging him at all, and Congress is the one government entity that Americans might despise even more than Trump. They are, for all practical purposes, completely neutralized from their ability to check the executive.

That leaves the judicial system.

Well, Trump has already set that one up as well, right? He said stright up that if there is a terrorist attack on America, it will be the fault of the judiciary for challenging his over-reach.

Most people just kind of "ho-hummed" that - but Trump (or those running Trump) just fired a shot across the bow of checks on executive power. They just stated that if there is an attack on the US, the blame will be laid not at the feet of those charged with defending the US (the executive) but rather at the feet of those who are charged with making sure the executive operates under the restricted powers granted to it.

So, what then is left to challenege executive power if they are clearly setting up the judiciary to be circumvented in the event of an attack?

What if there is a bad one, for example - the "9/12" attack?

last time we got the Patriot Act, and a huge erosion in civil liberties that still has not been rolled back, and that was with a executive branch that was NOT authoritarian and dismissive of the concept of checks and balances, and with a Congress that was considerably more functional and willing to challenge the President.

If we have another major attack, Trump and Bannon will immediately propose sweeping powers for themselves and tell the Supreme Court to go fuck themselves. And the American people, I fear, will go along with it enough to let them do it. And this, BTW, is *precisely* the effect those who would engage in such an attack would desire. There is no better payoff ever available to those interested in taking down the American/Western/Liberal myth/ideals than what is available right now.

The fundamentals of the American democratic system hAs NEVER been in the danger it is in today.

[Lettow77]

The fundamentals of the American democratic system hAs NEVER been in the danger it is in today.

If only the South had been allowed to go in peace, you could've had the enlightened socialist government you deserve. 

[Kleves]

I don't have any doubt that he would do something like that, if he thought he could get away with it. As an aside, I could see a good chunk of his supporters being fine with him allowing a terrorist attack to occur to show why we need increased security (surprisingly, I remain able to think less of trump supporters - I think him ordering a false flag terrorist attack could conceivably be too far for them).

All of that said, once we reach this fast approaching hellscape, do we get the cool uniforms?

[Valmy]

I have been worried about what the next big terrorist attack might mean for our country for a long time. The fact that Trump is President only makes that more concerning. Will Muslims be detained next time? It is not completely out of the question.

I don't think Trump is the kind of dude to fake something like that though.

[Razgovory]

This is stupid.  Hell there's good reason to believe the Nazis weren't even involved in the fire.

[Valmy]

The fundamentals of the American democratic system hAs NEVER been in the danger it is in today.

If only the South had been allowed to go in peace, you could've had the enlightened socialist government you deserve. 

The "socialist" governments we have had got elected with massive support from the South.

[Valmy]

This is stupid.  Hell there's good reason to believe the Nazis weren't even involved in the fire.

Yeah. An honest to God terrorist attack is inevitable and that is the real concern.

[viper37]

Look...he doesn't have to burn the White House down, but he orders something, a minor terror attack, perhaps, or somesuch that will give him the authority to do away with civil liberties, the press, democracy. (Look, Bush almost did it after 9/11)

I don't think he would do it himself.  Bannon, sure.  Just give them time to put the right people in place.  And they might not do it themselves, not give any order.  But just make sure it happens.  Then instrumentalize the attack.

[viper37]

The fundamentals of the American democratic system hAs NEVER been in the danger it is in today.

If only the South had been allowed to go in peace, you could've had the enlightened socialist government you deserve. 

it certainly would have been nice to have an enlightened neighbour and a country as stable as Mexico just before reaching the actual Mexico.