Question: What happens if Trump doesn't leave?

[FunkMonk]

I'm looking forward to 15 months from now when I can just post a bunch of roll-eyes emojis at the over-worriers or delete all my posts on Languish criticizing Immortan Trump. Whichever.

Same.

[Habbaku]

I'm looking forward to 15 months when the great and unmatched leader is re-elected].

Helping you out with a little insurance.

[Berkut]

If Trump really went after people who criticized him on social media, I would be very fucked.

[Habbaku]

No, officer, I have no idea who this "Berkut" fellow is, but he sounds dangerous and seditious.

[Sheilbh]

Taking control of a country's military to overturn an election result and maintain your rule forcefully, a country with the longest and most stable democratic traditions, in a space of 4 years, would be an immense undertaking requiring probably one of the greatest stateman of world history, and a concentrated effort and a well laid out long term plan.


The idea that Trump would be able to orchestrate such a thing is laughable.

Yeah he's too incompetent.

But looking back on the assertions about US democracy and institutions, I'm not sure they've proven any more inoculated to this sort of leader than Russia, or India, or Israel, or Turkey - or maybe in the future, Italy. I always remember worrying about Putinism as a real exportable threat: corrupt, illiberal, nationalist sort of post-truth democracies.

Also taking a broad view the US is the enormous outlier in a Presidential system lasting this long without a slide to authoritarianism or a military coup. I've said elsewhere I think the blessing is Trump is too self-involved and incompetent. If he had the political nous and discipline of Erdogan or maybe Salvini I think we'd be in a far more threatening situation (not least because they probably would have been cautious on trade, passed a massive infrastructure, not routinely popped off on Twitter and be on about 60% approval rating because of the economy). My fear is Trump's exposed the weakness of a lot of institutions, not least the Republican Party, which someone else will take advantage of - and it'll probably be easier because they'll always turn around and have a precedent in Trump, to explain how they're not behaving that badly.

[Razgovory]

If Trump was smarter and more competent he probably wouldn't have undermined US institutions as much as he has even if he desired to do so.  Trump is succeeding because he does what no sane or competent person would do.  He acts so outrageously that he has put rest of the nation in a state of shock.  Nobody is certain how to deal with it.


I'm going to invoke Godwin on this one, but Hitler was the same way.  He shocked the German public with his wild lies and violent behavior.  When he came to power he used the destruction of the Reichstag (some claim he was responsible, but I'm skeptical of this) to seize power.  The German political parties were too stunned to resist.  He slaughtered members of his own party to appease members of the military then turned right around and used blackmail to cow the Military into submission.  In diplomacy he won spectacular victories and annexed significant territory.  In war he broke the finest armies of Europe and for a short time control a truly vast amount of territory.  All of this looks like the work of a political genius.  It wasn't.  There was no master plan.  While Hitler certainly had natural skill in politics and propaganda, he wasn't much of a strategic thinker.  He mostly operated on instinct and frequently acted in response to moves made by other leaders.  He showed very little interest in the day-to-day governing of Germany and spent most of the time before the war goofing off in his mountain home.  At heart he was still the work-shy high school drop out and crazy hobo he had been before 1914.

Luck and audacity served him well for a while, and he threw the world into chaos by making risky and unwise moves that somehow paid off big. Unfortunately for him, his luck ran out and the rest of the world ceased to be surprised with his insane moves.  He ended up on fire in a ditch.

You do make an excellent point Shelf, and it's one I'm afraid of.  What Trump has accomplished with audacity and incompetence, could easily be followed up by smarter and better motivated people.  This is the reason that impeachment is imperative, to stop both him and dissuade others from following in his footsteps.  I fear it may be too late.  He has already knocked down a wall in the house of American Democracy and the pests and vermin will exploited the opening.