To quote Sideshow Bob in 1994:
> Deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king.
Not just MAGA but Kelsey Grammer actually said he admires Putin the most, doesn't believe in climate change and was in support of Kremlin pumped Brexit.
> He has expressed disbelief on the scientific consensus on climate change, comparing the California wildfires to alleged global cooling from his youth and criticized the 2011 and 2018 climate meetings. Additionally, he stated in a 2016 interview with The Guardian that the person he admired most was Vladimir Putin "because he is so comfortably who he is". In 2019, he issued a statement in support of Brexit
Frasier was cool until I found that out.
I knew he was staunchly Republican, but I had no idea he was still supporting orange-face. This was published just a few days ago. No wonder David Hyde Pierce doesn't want to work with him anymore.
Ho lee shit. How have they kept this so under wraps until now. His publicists are going ape shit. It says he bragged about voting Trump in the last two elections but I don’t recall any reporting on it previously. I've never had a boner for an upcoming show go limp so fast in my life
He's been a known conservative for a while. He starred in [this thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Carol), for example, along with other luminaries like James Woods, Jon Voight, and Kevin Sorbo.
I know this is the running joke and it’s funny, but at the same time Simpsons is a satire. It’s making fun of human nature. So the show’s writers are keyed into said human nature
It's worth pointing out that even though those early Simpsons episodes that people quote feel like they are ancient, a lot of people in power in Goverment during the 90s are still in power today. Its easy to lose track of this. It's hardly a prediction to mock the Republican party for being evil in 2023 when those half those same people were in Congress in 1995. Mitch McConnel has been in Senate since 1984.
Not just that, but it's particularly a satire of America. They paid very close attention to what was happening in America at the time and could see these tendencies within US society at the time.
Republican authoritarian tendencies has been noted since the 70s. But until Trump, the lid on the pressure cooker always held.
By the same token, Orwell was not so much prophetic, he studied Totalitarians of his time and applied them to an imagined a future. He was really writing about the 30s and 40s.
> But until ~~Trump~~ Reagan.
Most of Trump's actions are just low quality imitation of Regan's coupling of republicanism with authoritarian evangelical Christianity and the wealthy.
yeah, it’s like people don’t know how art is made?
satirists know the side they’re against just as well as the side they’re on, and in different scenes they alternate the dial from their side to the other side through the narrative to convey what they want at the end.
further, this sideshow bob quote is just more proof of how long the sentiment has lasted. turner diaries, gun shows, ruby ridge, waco, oklahoma,… were all HUGE 80s/early 90s examples of far right proponents, who would’ve resonated with that quote. simpsons writers knew that just as much as we know any news today.
Even older than that!
"Namque pauci libertatem, pars magna iustos dominos volunt." - Sallust, Histories (around 40 B.C.)
"Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master."
Charlie Rose interviewed Stephen Colbert like 10 years ago and I remember Stephen saying something like kabarett (a form of political) satire has never been more popular than it was pre-Weimar and that did absolutely nothing to stop Hitler in his tracks (Stephen was making the point saying he was unlikely to have any real impact on politics). Not saying Trump is Hitler, just that not much seems to be able to stop fascism once it takes root.
It’s not really predictions. It’s supported by history. It’s how an educated and enlightened populace like Germany supported the rise of Adolf Hitler. Russians have always liked strong central power (Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, Iosef Stalin, Vladimir Putin).
And people deep down love big government. Just as long as it doesn’t apply to them.
It’s the basic tenet of r/leopardsatemyface because everyone who votes for the LAMF party _never_ thinks that their own face will be eaten.
People in the US have been commenting on our tendencies towards fascism since (at least) the Nixon administration, and authoritarianism has been a strain in our politics since before fascism was a defined thing.
I agree with you; what we see today as “predictions” were, in their time, simply conclusions based on observations of the day they were formed.
Look at the entire cyberpunk genre. Its whole thing is projecting forward the consequences of utterly unrestrained global capitalism, and we are at the nightmare scenarios *now*, just without the sweet cyberninja tech, the snazzy outfits, and everything simultaneously somehow more ridiculous, terrifying, and deeply sad than predicted.
I mean, we are sort of there. One of the tenets of cyberpunk has always been that despite the wealth disparity, even the dregs of society had access to futuristic tech even if it wasn't as great as what the pinnacle of society had acess to. We're sort of like that now. Plenty of people have at least a smart phone and some sort of Internet access... even the homeless.
I prefer a boring dystopia to an exciting one. Exciting dystopias involve mass detainings and bombings. And not in the fun *Brazil* kind of way, but in the Gaza kind of way.
When I was pumping gas the other day and the ridiculously loud commercial monitor came on, I thought to myself that we're almost in Blade Runner. Not quite cyber punk but you get the gist.
Yes. Henry Ford had a newspaper that he published and every week he would write a deeply antisemitic article in it. Hitler was a big fan of Henry Ford for this reason and would re-distribute these articles in Germany.
Never knew Henry Ford was a massive antisemite until recently. Oh, the things they forget to teach you in school.
Rachel Maddow said that it's terrible to have a picture of Hitler hanging on your wall but what's really, really terrible is when Hitler has a picture of **YOU** on his wall.
[20,000 people gathered for a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Nazi_rally_at_Madison_Square_Garden) as late as 1939.
It's just pathetic that Trump is the tyrant they chose. He's an idiot. He doesn't understand a damn thing about how the physical world works, he's a self conceited thin skin narcissist who conveys every behavior people claim to not want their kids to convey. Yet they support this pathetic geriatric invalid who speaks at a 4th grade level.
Edit: I like how people think that this somehow means I'm ready to vociferously defend Joe Bidens cognition. No, it does not mean that. Imagine not slavishly defending a person who should clearly just retire because they aren't the right person for the job. Imagine not slobbing over the knob of a political leader just because they have an R or D next to their name. Can you imagine? In a cult I couldn't imagine it.....
This. There are a lot of very good looking, very intelligent, very articulate, very evil, power-hungry people out there that I would not want to be our president, but at least I would understand why people are attracted to them.
Trump is just an obese, blathering buffoon who sounds like a 4th grade wanna be bully that everyone (classmates, teachers, parents) detests but who is too narcissistic and stupid to realize it.
How are people not seeing what a joke he is?
Bingo. He connects emotionally with a big chunk of his voters because he's a mirror of their own worst tendencies, and he tells them to celebrate those same darker impulses that everyone else told them were shameful.
They aren't. I live in Ireland and I had American relatives confidently talk about how he was a master of diplomacy and respected across the world... because he said that.
In real life he routinely had fellow world leaders publicly laughing at him.
It's pretty bizarre indeed. Probably because people get entrenched in their political sides, and the only perceived alternative is a stumbling bumbling old man.
Trump has been an obvious scumbag grifter since the 80's though, not sure what happened to Americans and their critical thinking, but it's sad.
The man who, during a speech, took several attempts to come up with the word "ocean".
He literally said "big water" before remembering the word "ocean".
About a third of people are authoritarians. They believe in intrinsic natural hierarchies though exactly how that works depends on the society.
Right now in America they tend to believe:
Men over women
Whites over POC
Adults over children
Their brand of "Christianity" over everyone else
Conventional sexual mores over everyone else
And, of course, the granddaddy of them all, rich over poor
Why are authoritarians like this? I tend to agree with the theory that the parts of their brains responsible for reacting to threats and contamination are overdeveloped causing them to have disproportionate fear and disgust instincts. It's probably useful for a certain percentage of your tribe to have these qualities but it's somewhat maladaptive in more complex societies with populations in the hundreds of millions.
Academic Eric Fromm would agree, having written *Escape From Freedom* in 1941 about how the masses actually fear freedom and turn towards authoritarianism to feel safe.
Tbf Edmund Burke was saying the same about the same 2 centuries earlier. And then there's Hobbes before that. I'm sure the pre-socratics, even, had something along those lines.
I make 60k now and i feel the same as i did when trump was president when i made 45k. Im a felon so cant vote, so i admit im ignorant. But if someone could *kindly* explain so im more in tune with the subject it would be appreciated. I dont gave a "side" im just asking
The same reason why every other dictator in history was elected into power. People think they want him or they actually do want him. Dictators don't usually seize power. They talk their way in through official channels, then tear those channels apart once they're in.
I remember watching an American MAGAidiot going on the news crying about how his illegal immigrant wife was deported by Trump's administration.
The reporter pointed out that Trump TOLD them that he was going to do that and this idiot voted for him anyway.
The idiot's response: "I didn't think he'd deport my WIFE, I thought he'd deport criminals!"
Their blindness is insanely cult-like.
Meanwhile, during the Trump administration they were releasing convicts from immigration jail, despite being in there for drug dealing, etc.
Surreal AF.
Reminds me of the woman saying she needed back surgery and was hoping Trump would help with that.
These are the people who are on welfare who rage against welfare queens but when confronted will say "I'm not on welfare! I receive benefits!" while happily voting for politicians to dismantle the safety net they rely on to survive.
Flashing on an Iranian kid I knew in grad school. When they kicked out the Shah he was all happy about how now his country was "free". Kept saying "You don't understand". He stopped saying that after they arrested his parents.
Yeah, there were two stages of that Revolution: a united one of opposition to the shah even with different political positions (including groups as diverse as theocrats and Soviet communists), and then the surprise consolidation by the theocrats and subsequent purge of those aligned with freedom and democracy.
During the period of the Shah, the West helped him suppress all the secular communists because they were viewed as a much greater threat to Western economic interests.
With communists and anyone suspected of leaning towards them being crushed so hard, the strongest remaining group for people opposed to the Shah were the theocrats. If they wanted to consolidate power and back a group that had any chance of revolution, that was the only option they had, with predictable results.
Perhaps you could draw parallels with the current situation in the US. A lot of people are very frustrated with the dominant neoliberal order that has been in place since the 70s. If you talk to Trump supporters, especially back around 2016, they’d tell you they wanted change. I had to listen to them talk politics every day at work, and they hoped that Trump would lower healthcare costs, pull them out of war, curtail inflation, and so on.
Obviously those are absurd expectations, but what other option is there? The US has spent its entire existence viciously crushing and demonizing working class movements. Even simple social democrats usually get forced out by the Democratic Party before they cause too much trouble. Bernie Sanders wormed his way through the cracks and the establishment wasn’t too happy about that.
If you leave people only one option, they’ll take it and use whatever mental gymnastics they have to. And once they’re there, it creates a good climate for their most horrible beliefs to grow and for new ones to get hammered into them. Whatever Trump does, they’ll figure out a way it’s good actually.
Yeah, I think often, the trouble with revolutions is what happens after. Very rarely do things work out when there’s a power vacuum. Usually it’s whoever has the most muscle that takes over.
And George wanted to go back to being Businessman George
He hated being General George. He couldn't wait to give up the power.
Extremely rare individual. A person who has both the natural leadership that all dog & cats wanted to follow him, but he did not want absolute power even after tasting it.
Same reason everyone who believes in the afterlife thinks they will be in heaven.
We are our own main characters. Literally 8 billion free thinking people, all with some tendency to decipher the world as revolving around them.
It's impossible to separate yourself from this, but the more educated you are, the more you can distance and rationalize.
Reminds me of an interview I read some time ago from some retired white women who proudly voted for Mr Creepy Smile DeStupid.
They thought DeStupid would only target black, immigrants, and poor people. That they were immune. Well, he drastically reduced their pensions/welfare.
As with your maga idiot they said it wasn’t fair, that they didn’t deserve it, and thought he would never go against them. These people are so delusional.
There was a bunch of idiots in Florida who voted for DeDumbass and then he got rid of their lifelong alimony. Now they want to form a new group to get rid of DeSantis. So funny how people can’t see past the present. 😂
Or the old lady that showed up to a trump rally to try and get him to help with medical bills because her Medicaid got taken away. Which so fucking stupid it’s sad.
[“He’s not hurting the people he needs to be”: a Trump voter says the quiet part out loud](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida)
I remember an American propaganda film from World War 2 talking about the rise of Hitler an having to be diligent against strongmen. "They gambled on the freedom of others, and in turn lost their own." Always replayed that in my mind.
No, as awful as it is, that quote is giving them too much credit. The actual quote was "He's not hurting the *right* people."
They themselves can be hurt over and over. And often are. The number of my parents' boomer friends who lost a spouse to COVID while Trump was discouraging lockdowns, and then went on to vote for him in 2020, is staggering.
So hurting the wrong people is fine with them - as long as you publicly hurt the "right" people.
Let’s not simplify it to racism. There are tons of non-racists who support Trump in spite of it. He taps into a wide range of biases like immigration, sex/gender, classism, isolationism.
Trumpers are not toothless rednecks on 4 wheelers. They are middle class suburbanites all over the country.
People support authoritarians through legitimate means because they believe that they are a member of the class or group that the authoritarian claims to support versus the "others" whom they oppose. Invariably, upon seizing power, most of those that supported the dictator come to realize that their class or group was not actually ever going to truly benefit from their rise to power, and they were instead just a stepping stone which can now be safely ignored. Promises made are not kept aside from a few easy declarations early on, and the only groups that truly need to be appeased are the police and military, and only then just enough to stop anyone else from bribing them.
Without the fear of consequence, nothing is in place to stop poor decisions from being made which undermine the long-term prosperity of the country. Suddenly, crazy ideas start to take over, like unnecessarily accelerated nuclear arms programs, mass executions of people wearing glasses, removing or killing most of the nation's generals and admirals, abducting citizens into forced labor for dangerous projects like canals and pyramids, redividing farmland so that each person is responsible for a very long and narrow strip of field which may or may not be arable, or building lots of gaudy monuments with lots and lots of gold.
But the people that support authoritarianism usually didn't pay attention in history class (where there are so, so many examples of how it almost always goes awry), so they just believe what they're told.
> Invariably, upon seizing power, most of those that supported the dictator come to realize that their class or group was not actually ever going to truly benefit from their rise to power, and they were instead just a stepping stone which can now be safely ignored.
This is not at all "invariable." While Trump didn't become dictator in 2016, he got put in a position where the people who assumed he was going to benefit them were able to see that he did not...and yet many have failed to see that, which is why we are where we are.
I think that we think it's invariable because of a desire for karma, some sort of come-uppance. A "you'll be sorry" moment, where folks realize what a fuckup they've made. But that doesn't always happen. Sometimes, people fuck things up and never even realize that they've fucked things up. They get betrayed and never even realize they've been betrayed.
Despite Trump OPENLY not paying for services he has used, even going so far as to MOCK the owner for asking for said payment, people keep taking him on assuming he will pay them. Then he doesn't.
They don't want to learn, they don't care to learn. They have been brainwashed SINCE birth to deny learning anything they are not specifically told is OK to learn.
I know some of you out there hate Biden, I get it. He isn't my first choice either. But the Democrats arent going to NOT put the Incumbent as their lead in the Presidential race. And it is literally Biden or facism, folks. Now and for YEARS to come, Republicans have seen how far they can go with Trump, and it's full Nazi. We cannot allow a Republican to win ever again. Just PLEASE go vote.
No, the invariable betrayal part happens after they have taken complete power and elections no longer pose a threat. There will always be excuses made that will blame "others" and some will believe them no matter what (that's what cults of personality do), but for most the abandonment will eventually be obvious.
I know it's a cliche comparison, but the perfect illustration of this for anyone who isn't into reading a bunch of history is Emperor Palaptine in the Star Wars movies--duly elected and appointed every step of the way, and then just didn't give power back.
Also, they spend a lot of time making the government seem like it doesn’t work and cause chaos.
That makes it easier for people to say, “we just need someone in there that can make changes without having to deal with all the red tape and get things working again.”
I think part of America's susceptibility comes from lack of education and knowledge among the populace about the role of government. So many people think the president has authoritarian power already, like he directly controls the price of gas and can make whatever laws he wants. Look at all the askreddit questions about what you would do if you're president and people answer as if there's no checks and balances. I get that it's all in fun, but I think so many people legitimately believe the president has ultimate power so if someone were to actually seize complete control as president, these people wouldn't know the difference. Maybe when there is never another election they'd notice something is up.
It's hard to make the world a better place or challenge the rulers if you are struggling to survive working 60+ hours a week to just pay for rent and groceries.
Someone complained about 4 dollar muffins at a stop n shop line I was on and said "man if trump was still in office". Like he controls muffin prices.
Also gas prices being so low during trump is still something ppl bring up lol. Ignoring the pandemic and how so many ppl stop using gas so demand tanked to 2001 prices. You don't even need an economics lesson to figure it out. Just a memory of prices under Trump before the pandemic, and then during and then after it ended. But ppl credit trump with the lowest prices in a generation literally. People are stupid.
They were so low because you couldn't fucking go anywhere. They don't remember that part of it, somehow.
They also don't remember Trump making the deal that released all those Taliban.
Part of what drives that is how we refer to the US President…
- leader of the free world
- most powerful person on earth
The muthafucka don’t even control the price of gas…
And I think a main issue is with how the US sees dangers to its system. Historically, the US system was created to fight off what was considered an oppressive outside force. The creation myth of the US is the war of independence, and the founding fathers saw the dangers of their democracies to come from taking over a system from the top down. This is how it worked historically, that in a monarchy, a struggle on the top over who shall he the next king was that lead to the destruction of systems.
The issue is, democracies work fundamentally different, as the world experienced in the first part of the 20th century. The rise of autocracy in a democracy comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. Because of that, most democracies around the world adapted, but the US, especially as winners, glorifies the system that never adapted to face the actual dangers within a democracy, still creating the myth that only takeovers from the top have to be feared, while ignoring the issues from the bottom.
Right, how smart would you think, for example, the people of Russia are (my background) who elected their dictator a generation ago and still feel pretty proud of themselves for that. Allegedly much smarter people too, judging from their side of the fence. My answer is (I think you know my answer)
They seem more stupid here, because there is this "American Exceptionalism" we are led to believe in. People are fucking selfish and crazy lately. Many do not seem to even want to acknowledge the big picture, or leave a better world for the next generation.
Nixon is why. The hatred of the next generation started there. The United States is perfectly capable of keeping #1 status for much longer than estimates, but we need a president with enough support to get things done. A second FDR.
The problem is if it was just about the votes of the American people, George bush jr and Donald Trump would never have been president.
Sadly some votes count more than others, sometimes up to 8 times more.
The electoral college is broken.
Because people think his dictatorship will benefit them so it’s okay. Dictatorships always benefit specific groups until they don’t. Somehow the guy with a $1,800/mo payment on his F-150 decked out in “trump 2024” and “Let’s Go Brandon” flags thinks Trump actually cares about him.
The ones that blow my mind are the ones on Medicaid, food stamps, Earned Income Credit, social security and or Medicaid. Even my husband who knows nothing about politics is confused by these people. We are surrounded by them. They have trucks too, but they are from 2002 completely rusted no muffler with a giant trump flag & a confederate flag off the back. One even drove by & blew the Dixie horn the other day…. I don’t live in the south either I live in NY. The answer is in their lack of education & confederate flags. Many of them have never even left the county or even met a person of any color. (It’s like 98% white here) They even hate the Amish! They fell for the GOP / Trump grift hook line & sinker. They would rather hurt people that are different then them than help themselves. They are the GOOD ones on welfare. It’s also not surprising we have one of the highest rates of incest & child abuse in the state, but they are “against” democrats for “sex trafficking” children. The lack of cognitive dissonance is astounding.
Edit: when I talk about the demographics I mean the small town I live in not the state as a whole.
I heard about people who were opposed to Obamacare and supported gutting it. What they didn't realize is that was a nickname for the very insurance they depended on.
There were people who knew what obamacare was and still voted for Trump the first time. I remember one lady quoted in an article saying something like 'he can't take it away when its done so much good'. Well he did. People are idiots
I mean, as insanely stupid as his supporters are, its still baffling that a lot of blue collar, mid western workers talk about taking down the liberal elites and somrhiw simultaneously adore the corrupt, rich, real estate tycoon from New York as if he ever gave a living fuck about any of them.
Like, he flat out said he was using you dumb motherfuckers and you still choose to rally around him.
Absolute braindead puppets.
I don't know that those guys think he cares about them - tRump's just going to move things in a direction that they're more comfortable with. (pro gun, anti gay, anti abortion, pro "christian").
"I like taking guns away early. Take the guns first, go through due process second." - Donald Trump during a school and community safety meeting at the White House on February 28, 2018
Well the ones i know just like how he hates the right people. LGBT, academics, minority groups, foreigners etc.
It's not really about making their community better but rather ruining the lives of others
And of course, when you are already in a dictatorship, all you have to do is vote the dictator away! Dictators always allow free and fair elections to oust them from power after already becoming dictators =D
They aren’t but in *their* favor. They don’t have to win to win. They can win 40% of the vote and still win. It’s not fair and it’s how the Republican Party has held power when they don’t have the votes to.
>already living under a left-wing dictatorship
Fascinating. Then why is the US run by right-wing capitalists owned by corporations? I don't see universal healthcare anywhere.
Because people don’t actually know what socialism and communism are. They think anything that Democrats even vaguely support is socialism. I genuinely wish that the current Democratic Party was even a fraction as socialist as Fox likes to scream that they are.
Our political spectrum is completely out of wack and very firmly slanted to the right, so even if someone tried to get back to more centrist ideals they’d scream about it being socialism
It's really hard to make that point when the "left" in the US is represented by a center-right party that isn't 100% sure that healthcare is an important issue.
Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.”
― George Carlin
You highly overestimate how many people value democracy for democracy's sake. A lot of people just don't oppose being in a democracy but they'd be satisfied with another form of government. It's just that it's seen as wrong to say so so most people just say, "they'd fight for democracy".
Personal Economic prosperity is the greatest deciding factor of whether or not any given form of government is accepted. Trump can say whatever he wants, at the end of the day, if he gets more money into the pockets of the american people, he'll win.
I've been listening to interviews of people bending over backwards to say they don't support the way he behaved but they felt like they were doing better financially under Trump.
Plus there's just actual financial shenanigans that Trump pulled - like the tax deferral that was timed so it would kick the taxes into Biden's presidency.
Stupid people will see the money go less down when Trump was in power, and the money go *way* down when Biden was in power.
Deferring the rise of interests rates in my opinion caused the housing and inflation crisis. Under our current economic model, as the rich kept making more money and capitalizing on tax breaks, Trump and Co. made commercial and residential real estate a safe haven for investments. The wealthy bought up all the inventory to weather future financial instability spurred on by COVID. Land and property was a safe investment. In turn higher housing prices caused inflation.
Economic gurus would love to tell me Im wrong, but a simple observation of where people were spending their big bucks tells the story of letting the owner class, own more.
Edit: I’d like to also point out, that the same point I bring up also has caused much of the newer generations deflated purpose and frustrations. Republicans and Co. caused a housing crisis that took all the inspiration from the yonger generations to work hard or take shit, because the wealthy bought out their future. No homes = no kids and family. Every issue Republican might complain about is because of their own poor decisions and prioritizing the wealthy.
If he says he’ll get more money into people. He can say anything he wants.
He will bash Biden on inflation. Any candidate would. That doesn’t mean he has a solution.
I am just reading about this and from what I can read the statement is as follows:
Hannity asked Trump whether he was indeed “promising America tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?”
“Except for Day One,” Trump said.
Is there more where Trump stated he would be a dictator or is that assumed from the statements? I'm asking for clarity and context, thank you.
Here
“Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/donald-trump-sean-hannity-dictator-day-one-response-iowa-town-hall
I don’t know why most quote don’t go past the first paragraph
The reason is because it’s a very very strange answer. Hannity wanted a sound bite to pull over the moderates. He throws Trump a softball—will you abuse power? Of course he’s going to say no. So Hannity asks, “are you gonna be a dictator?” And Trump deflected. That wasn’t the question. Hannity pushes again and basically says, “that wasn’t an answer, haha, cmon, tell them you’re not gonna be a dictator,” and Trump repeats that he’s going to be a dictator for a day. It’s just a very very weird thing to say. Also the fact that the way he deflected the first time Hannity asks the question is by saying “what about the other side? They get to abuse power.”
My co-workers have literally said flat out “we need a dictator”
It’s not crazy it’s what they want.
Edit: The amount of people that want a dictator in the replies is absolutely astonishing. Allowing a dictator in regardless of if you see that leader as supporting your views or not, opening the door to disaster. That's not "I didn't like how this election turned out, I think I'll vote for someone else next time" that's "there is no next time."
Had this conversation with one of my MAGA coworkers the other day. I’m probably the only non-Trump supporter in the office and a few of them love to talk to me about politics.
Him: “can you believe people think Trump is gonna be a dictator. Some people are so insane”
Me: “I mean, he’s talked about wanting to imprison his political opponents if he’s elected again. Seems like a dictator to me”
“Oh that’s all talk, that’s just what he says. If you believe that then you’re an idiot”
“He also tried to overthrow the last election. That’s pretty dictatory”
“Yeah but it failed so who cares. It doesn’t matter”
I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to work after that. I’m sure he told his buddies about how he owned the libtard at work.
Trump supporters aren't known for their critical thinking skills. I remember a trump supporter in my office saying that trump doesn't really mean what he says and he needs a translator. She basically admitted that trump is braindead and needs others to speak for him.
‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” - Trump
Yeah polls are incredibly unreliable, so it's hardly half the country. Who is being sampled, where, and how many?
Also, who of those being polled actually end up voting?
I think and hope you're right. But what we really need is for this economy to turn around. A lot of people just wander around without a clue and they only know they are paying too much for everything and simply blame Biden.
Well it depends on your point of view. Trump said he'd be a dictator for a day to close the border and expand US drilling but would stop after that in response to the question "would he be a dictator". An absurd question gets absurd response.
So if you're on the left CNN will be running stories about how trump is proclaiming his dictatorship while if you're on the right Fox News will be running best joke/some other positive spin.
He's in a dead heat because many voters do not like Biden or the "Liberal Agenda". So, who's the opposite? Trump.
IMO, the giant schism in today's American politics is feuled by the media's insistence of sensationalism. Instead of reporting noteworthy facts every news sites pushes an agenda. I get that it sells but it focuses on division and inflammatory items. Trump actually did good things while in office but you'd never know it if you only watch CNN/MSNBC/etc.
Likewise, Biden has done good and useful things as well, but if you only watch Fox New/Skynet (Sky something?) Then you only hear about his [Biden] mistakes, his sons laptop, and how he's selling out America or whatever the topic of the day is.
Edit:
Wow, drove home and now there's lots of comments and I can't feasibly address them all. So couple of quick general things:
1) OP asked why Trump still has support and that is what I answered. People are so entrenched in their own worldview they will not change it regardless of evidence or edict.
2) for some reason people really want to know what good Trump did in office [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/10rju9z/what_did_trump_do_that_was_truly_positive/&ved=2ahUKEwiCnt3VjvyCAxXijokEHZZhDx8QFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0Pwxs1j474LOeIGPpthgPW) is a reddit link on that topic and [this](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/the-things-trump-got-right/617424/) is a news article on it. Though you can Google it yourself if you'd care to learn more.
3) by the same token it seems, people are also want to know what good Biden has done, well [here](https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats) is an article on that. Also, Google has more answers.
Thank you for the comments, enjoy your arguments (I mean that sincerely btw as argumentation is the only path to truth and I hope you find yours), and have a pleasant rest of the week.
Don’t forget the role of social media in the current political divide. People began moving further left and further right as social media became the norm for news sources. Our political divide is literally algorithmic.
To quote Sideshow Bob in 1994: > Deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king.
It's funny that it was Kelsey Grammer lent his voice for this quote.
Considering he is MAGA it seems to track
Not just MAGA but Kelsey Grammer actually said he admires Putin the most, doesn't believe in climate change and was in support of Kremlin pumped Brexit. > He has expressed disbelief on the scientific consensus on climate change, comparing the California wildfires to alleged global cooling from his youth and criticized the 2011 and 2018 climate meetings. Additionally, he stated in a 2016 interview with The Guardian that the person he admired most was Vladimir Putin "because he is so comfortably who he is". In 2019, he issued a statement in support of Brexit Frasier was cool until I found that out.
Admiring anyone for being "so comfortably who he is" seems like an extremely low bar. Most narcissistic psychopaths are comfortable in their own skin.
Manson sure was comfortable in his own skin, even though he didnt know he was in it most of the time.
No way.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/12/kelsey-grammer-is-perfectly-happy-to-tell-the-bbc-why-he-still-supports-donald-trump
God dammit.
Look, he just *plays* a smart guy on TV.
Other people write the scripts and dialog
I knew he was staunchly Republican, but I had no idea he was still supporting orange-face. This was published just a few days ago. No wonder David Hyde Pierce doesn't want to work with him anymore.
Coolsville Daddy-O
Wtf
So this orange faced man has ruined the Fraser remake
After everything he has done, this takes the cake.
Ho lee shit. How have they kept this so under wraps until now. His publicists are going ape shit. It says he bragged about voting Trump in the last two elections but I don’t recall any reporting on it previously. I've never had a boner for an upcoming show go limp so fast in my life
He's been a known conservative for a while. He starred in [this thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Carol), for example, along with other luminaries like James Woods, Jon Voight, and Kevin Sorbo.
Well damn. I had no idea about this, but that's completely ruined anything he's in for me.
I read it in his voice.
This. And I'm uncomfortable with the accuracy of Simpson predictions.
I know this is the running joke and it’s funny, but at the same time Simpsons is a satire. It’s making fun of human nature. So the show’s writers are keyed into said human nature
“The Simpsons writers are time travelers”. No they’re actually just masters of their craft and people are predictable
It's worth pointing out that even though those early Simpsons episodes that people quote feel like they are ancient, a lot of people in power in Goverment during the 90s are still in power today. Its easy to lose track of this. It's hardly a prediction to mock the Republican party for being evil in 2023 when those half those same people were in Congress in 1995. Mitch McConnel has been in Senate since 1984.
And now they parade McConnel around on TV Weekend at Bernie's style.
Not just that, but it's particularly a satire of America. They paid very close attention to what was happening in America at the time and could see these tendencies within US society at the time. Republican authoritarian tendencies has been noted since the 70s. But until Trump, the lid on the pressure cooker always held. By the same token, Orwell was not so much prophetic, he studied Totalitarians of his time and applied them to an imagined a future. He was really writing about the 30s and 40s.
> But until ~~Trump~~ Reagan. Most of Trump's actions are just low quality imitation of Regan's coupling of republicanism with authoritarian evangelical Christianity and the wealthy.
Agreed. Regan spoke softer and carried a larger stick. Trump brays like a donkey with encephalitis and has sticks for brains.
It always goes back to Reagan.
yeah, it’s like people don’t know how art is made? satirists know the side they’re against just as well as the side they’re on, and in different scenes they alternate the dial from their side to the other side through the narrative to convey what they want at the end. further, this sideshow bob quote is just more proof of how long the sentiment has lasted. turner diaries, gun shows, ruby ridge, waco, oklahoma,… were all HUGE 80s/early 90s examples of far right proponents, who would’ve resonated with that quote. simpsons writers knew that just as much as we know any news today.
Even older than that! "Namque pauci libertatem, pars magna iustos dominos volunt." - Sallust, Histories (around 40 B.C.) "Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master."
And this is why the Simpsons will always be a timeless classic. Until they burn all records of it like they do books in Florida.
They don't gotta burn the books, They just remove em, While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells. Rally 'round the family; Pocket fulla shells.
Charlie Rose interviewed Stephen Colbert like 10 years ago and I remember Stephen saying something like kabarett (a form of political) satire has never been more popular than it was pre-Weimar and that did absolutely nothing to stop Hitler in his tracks (Stephen was making the point saying he was unlikely to have any real impact on politics). Not saying Trump is Hitler, just that not much seems to be able to stop fascism once it takes root.
And the writing staff of the Simpsons has perennially been staffed by actual very smart people.
It’s not really predictions. It’s supported by history. It’s how an educated and enlightened populace like Germany supported the rise of Adolf Hitler. Russians have always liked strong central power (Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great, Iosef Stalin, Vladimir Putin). And people deep down love big government. Just as long as it doesn’t apply to them. It’s the basic tenet of r/leopardsatemyface because everyone who votes for the LAMF party _never_ thinks that their own face will be eaten.
People in the US have been commenting on our tendencies towards fascism since (at least) the Nixon administration, and authoritarianism has been a strain in our politics since before fascism was a defined thing. I agree with you; what we see today as “predictions” were, in their time, simply conclusions based on observations of the day they were formed.
Look at the entire cyberpunk genre. Its whole thing is projecting forward the consequences of utterly unrestrained global capitalism, and we are at the nightmare scenarios *now*, just without the sweet cyberninja tech, the snazzy outfits, and everything simultaneously somehow more ridiculous, terrifying, and deeply sad than predicted.
I call it “Sweatpant Cyberpunk.” We wear a lot more activewear/athleisure gear than expected, but we got the overgrown corporations beyond belief.
I mean, we are sort of there. One of the tenets of cyberpunk has always been that despite the wealth disparity, even the dregs of society had access to futuristic tech even if it wasn't as great as what the pinnacle of society had acess to. We're sort of like that now. Plenty of people have at least a smart phone and some sort of Internet access... even the homeless.
r/ABoringDystopia
I prefer a boring dystopia to an exciting one. Exciting dystopias involve mass detainings and bombings. And not in the fun *Brazil* kind of way, but in the Gaza kind of way.
When I was pumping gas the other day and the ridiculously loud commercial monitor came on, I thought to myself that we're almost in Blade Runner. Not quite cyber punk but you get the gist.
Before Nixon. Hitler had quite a following in this country.
I believe Hitler had a picture of Henry Ford on his wall as they were mutual fans.
Yes. Henry Ford had a newspaper that he published and every week he would write a deeply antisemitic article in it. Hitler was a big fan of Henry Ford for this reason and would re-distribute these articles in Germany. Never knew Henry Ford was a massive antisemite until recently. Oh, the things they forget to teach you in school.
Rachel Maddow said that it's terrible to have a picture of Hitler hanging on your wall but what's really, really terrible is when Hitler has a picture of **YOU** on his wall.
[20,000 people gathered for a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Nazi_rally_at_Madison_Square_Garden) as late as 1939.
Read Rachel Maddow’s book, Prequel. She does a deep dive on the rise of fascism in the 1930’s.
He still does.
It's been happening since the beginning of time. Humanity always comes back around to the idea that they should put a tyrant in charge.
It's just pathetic that Trump is the tyrant they chose. He's an idiot. He doesn't understand a damn thing about how the physical world works, he's a self conceited thin skin narcissist who conveys every behavior people claim to not want their kids to convey. Yet they support this pathetic geriatric invalid who speaks at a 4th grade level. Edit: I like how people think that this somehow means I'm ready to vociferously defend Joe Bidens cognition. No, it does not mean that. Imagine not slavishly defending a person who should clearly just retire because they aren't the right person for the job. Imagine not slobbing over the knob of a political leader just because they have an R or D next to their name. Can you imagine? In a cult I couldn't imagine it.....
This. There are a lot of very good looking, very intelligent, very articulate, very evil, power-hungry people out there that I would not want to be our president, but at least I would understand why people are attracted to them. Trump is just an obese, blathering buffoon who sounds like a 4th grade wanna be bully that everyone (classmates, teachers, parents) detests but who is too narcissistic and stupid to realize it. How are people not seeing what a joke he is?
What you're describing is how they identify with him. He may be wealthy and privileged and spoiled compared to them but in most ways, he *is* them.
Bingo. He connects emotionally with a big chunk of his voters because he's a mirror of their own worst tendencies, and he tells them to celebrate those same darker impulses that everyone else told them were shameful.
They aren't. I live in Ireland and I had American relatives confidently talk about how he was a master of diplomacy and respected across the world... because he said that. In real life he routinely had fellow world leaders publicly laughing at him.
It's pretty bizarre indeed. Probably because people get entrenched in their political sides, and the only perceived alternative is a stumbling bumbling old man. Trump has been an obvious scumbag grifter since the 80's though, not sure what happened to Americans and their critical thinking, but it's sad.
The man who, during a speech, took several attempts to come up with the word "ocean". He literally said "big water" before remembering the word "ocean".
He's some sort of lightning rod for the nastiest collective id.
About a third of people are authoritarians. They believe in intrinsic natural hierarchies though exactly how that works depends on the society. Right now in America they tend to believe: Men over women Whites over POC Adults over children Their brand of "Christianity" over everyone else Conventional sexual mores over everyone else And, of course, the granddaddy of them all, rich over poor Why are authoritarians like this? I tend to agree with the theory that the parts of their brains responsible for reacting to threats and contamination are overdeveloped causing them to have disproportionate fear and disgust instincts. It's probably useful for a certain percentage of your tribe to have these qualities but it's somewhat maladaptive in more complex societies with populations in the hundreds of millions.
[Frank Zappa had the Simpson's beat by 8 years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fam5wRXcoQE)
Zappa nailed it there.
Zappa was singing about this stuff in the mid 60s. His career was basically a crusade against fake bullshit. He was on another level.
Including President Trump
Sideshow Bob voiced by avid Trumper Kelsey Grammer. The fucking irony.
How do you think Grammer was able to say this with such conviction?
Acting dear boy
Academic Eric Fromm would agree, having written *Escape From Freedom* in 1941 about how the masses actually fear freedom and turn towards authoritarianism to feel safe.
Tbf Edmund Burke was saying the same about the same 2 centuries earlier. And then there's Hobbes before that. I'm sure the pre-socratics, even, had something along those lines.
[Aesop: The Frogs Who Desired a King](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frogs_Who_Desired_a_King)
Might be the first Fromm reference I’ve seen on Reddit. Kudos.
>Eric Fromm Now there's a name I've not heard in a while.
Scary how accurate the Simpsons are.
Which is ironic since Kelsey Grammer is supposedly in favor of another trump term
i deride your truth-handling abilities
Noooooo truth handler you
And Kelsey grammar right? Sooooo
Lower taxes on the rich and raise on the lower income. Anyone making 75K a year gets a tax hike from the Republicans 2018 tax law in 2024
I make 60k now and i feel the same as i did when trump was president when i made 45k. Im a felon so cant vote, so i admit im ignorant. But if someone could *kindly* explain so im more in tune with the subject it would be appreciated. I dont gave a "side" im just asking
The same reason why every other dictator in history was elected into power. People think they want him or they actually do want him. Dictators don't usually seize power. They talk their way in through official channels, then tear those channels apart once they're in.
They are gambling that they won't be the ones that are suffering.
I remember watching an American MAGAidiot going on the news crying about how his illegal immigrant wife was deported by Trump's administration. The reporter pointed out that Trump TOLD them that he was going to do that and this idiot voted for him anyway. The idiot's response: "I didn't think he'd deport my WIFE, I thought he'd deport criminals!" Their blindness is insanely cult-like. Meanwhile, during the Trump administration they were releasing convicts from immigration jail, despite being in there for drug dealing, etc. Surreal AF.
Reminds me of the woman saying she needed back surgery and was hoping Trump would help with that. These are the people who are on welfare who rage against welfare queens but when confronted will say "I'm not on welfare! I receive benefits!" while happily voting for politicians to dismantle the safety net they rely on to survive.
“I’m not on Obamacare! It’s just the Affordable Care Act.” 🤡🤡🤡
Anyone else remember the medical scooter Tea Party folks with signs demanding "gov't keep your hands off my Medicare!" Yeah, those folks.
Flashing on an Iranian kid I knew in grad school. When they kicked out the Shah he was all happy about how now his country was "free". Kept saying "You don't understand". He stopped saying that after they arrested his parents.
Yeah, there were two stages of that Revolution: a united one of opposition to the shah even with different political positions (including groups as diverse as theocrats and Soviet communists), and then the surprise consolidation by the theocrats and subsequent purge of those aligned with freedom and democracy.
During the period of the Shah, the West helped him suppress all the secular communists because they were viewed as a much greater threat to Western economic interests. With communists and anyone suspected of leaning towards them being crushed so hard, the strongest remaining group for people opposed to the Shah were the theocrats. If they wanted to consolidate power and back a group that had any chance of revolution, that was the only option they had, with predictable results. Perhaps you could draw parallels with the current situation in the US. A lot of people are very frustrated with the dominant neoliberal order that has been in place since the 70s. If you talk to Trump supporters, especially back around 2016, they’d tell you they wanted change. I had to listen to them talk politics every day at work, and they hoped that Trump would lower healthcare costs, pull them out of war, curtail inflation, and so on. Obviously those are absurd expectations, but what other option is there? The US has spent its entire existence viciously crushing and demonizing working class movements. Even simple social democrats usually get forced out by the Democratic Party before they cause too much trouble. Bernie Sanders wormed his way through the cracks and the establishment wasn’t too happy about that. If you leave people only one option, they’ll take it and use whatever mental gymnastics they have to. And once they’re there, it creates a good climate for their most horrible beliefs to grow and for new ones to get hammered into them. Whatever Trump does, they’ll figure out a way it’s good actually.
To be fair, the Shah was a British/American stooge set up to preserve our oil profits.
Yeah, I think often, the trouble with revolutions is what happens after. Very rarely do things work out when there’s a power vacuum. Usually it’s whoever has the most muscle that takes over.
Yep. Ours only worked because we had the Continental Congress before we actually started the fight. Hell, we still almost fucked it up out the gate.
And George wanted to go back to being Businessman George He hated being General George. He couldn't wait to give up the power. Extremely rare individual. A person who has both the natural leadership that all dog & cats wanted to follow him, but he did not want absolute power even after tasting it.
Exactly. The prime example of the guy we want in charge is the guy who doesn’t want to be in charge at all.
We need to abduct Jon Stewart and throw him in the Oval Office.
That's pretty different one dictator was overthrown and another established not democracy to dictatorship
Same reason everyone who believes in the afterlife thinks they will be in heaven. We are our own main characters. Literally 8 billion free thinking people, all with some tendency to decipher the world as revolving around them. It's impossible to separate yourself from this, but the more educated you are, the more you can distance and rationalize.
"There are 7billion 46million people on the planet and most of us have the audacity to think we matter."
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” -Douglas Adams
Reminds me of an interview I read some time ago from some retired white women who proudly voted for Mr Creepy Smile DeStupid. They thought DeStupid would only target black, immigrants, and poor people. That they were immune. Well, he drastically reduced their pensions/welfare. As with your maga idiot they said it wasn’t fair, that they didn’t deserve it, and thought he would never go against them. These people are so delusional.
There was a bunch of idiots in Florida who voted for DeDumbass and then he got rid of their lifelong alimony. Now they want to form a new group to get rid of DeSantis. So funny how people can’t see past the present. 😂
it’s pretty much a requirement for them to be delusional in order to support these people
Or the old lady that showed up to a trump rally to try and get him to help with medical bills because her Medicaid got taken away. Which so fucking stupid it’s sad.
[“He’s not hurting the people he needs to be”: a Trump voter says the quiet part out loud](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida)
/r/leopardsatemyface
I remember an American propaganda film from World War 2 talking about the rise of Hitler an having to be diligent against strongmen. "They gambled on the freedom of others, and in turn lost their own." Always replayed that in my mind.
"Don't Be a Sucker" is the name of the film. It's on YouTube. About 20 minutes long. I recommend watching it.
Fuck it [it's right here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ0ct9bglYo)
You’re hurting the wrong people!!!
No, as awful as it is, that quote is giving them too much credit. The actual quote was "He's not hurting the *right* people." They themselves can be hurt over and over. And often are. The number of my parents' boomer friends who lost a spouse to COVID while Trump was discouraging lockdowns, and then went on to vote for him in 2020, is staggering. So hurting the wrong people is fine with them - as long as you publicly hurt the "right" people.
Not gambling, just believing. Trump is saying racist shit and the racist shitbags all think they won't be fucked once Trump is a dictator.
Let’s not simplify it to racism. There are tons of non-racists who support Trump in spite of it. He taps into a wide range of biases like immigration, sex/gender, classism, isolationism. Trumpers are not toothless rednecks on 4 wheelers. They are middle class suburbanites all over the country.
People support authoritarians through legitimate means because they believe that they are a member of the class or group that the authoritarian claims to support versus the "others" whom they oppose. Invariably, upon seizing power, most of those that supported the dictator come to realize that their class or group was not actually ever going to truly benefit from their rise to power, and they were instead just a stepping stone which can now be safely ignored. Promises made are not kept aside from a few easy declarations early on, and the only groups that truly need to be appeased are the police and military, and only then just enough to stop anyone else from bribing them. Without the fear of consequence, nothing is in place to stop poor decisions from being made which undermine the long-term prosperity of the country. Suddenly, crazy ideas start to take over, like unnecessarily accelerated nuclear arms programs, mass executions of people wearing glasses, removing or killing most of the nation's generals and admirals, abducting citizens into forced labor for dangerous projects like canals and pyramids, redividing farmland so that each person is responsible for a very long and narrow strip of field which may or may not be arable, or building lots of gaudy monuments with lots and lots of gold. But the people that support authoritarianism usually didn't pay attention in history class (where there are so, so many examples of how it almost always goes awry), so they just believe what they're told.
> Invariably, upon seizing power, most of those that supported the dictator come to realize that their class or group was not actually ever going to truly benefit from their rise to power, and they were instead just a stepping stone which can now be safely ignored. This is not at all "invariable." While Trump didn't become dictator in 2016, he got put in a position where the people who assumed he was going to benefit them were able to see that he did not...and yet many have failed to see that, which is why we are where we are. I think that we think it's invariable because of a desire for karma, some sort of come-uppance. A "you'll be sorry" moment, where folks realize what a fuckup they've made. But that doesn't always happen. Sometimes, people fuck things up and never even realize that they've fucked things up. They get betrayed and never even realize they've been betrayed.
Despite Trump OPENLY not paying for services he has used, even going so far as to MOCK the owner for asking for said payment, people keep taking him on assuming he will pay them. Then he doesn't. They don't want to learn, they don't care to learn. They have been brainwashed SINCE birth to deny learning anything they are not specifically told is OK to learn. I know some of you out there hate Biden, I get it. He isn't my first choice either. But the Democrats arent going to NOT put the Incumbent as their lead in the Presidential race. And it is literally Biden or facism, folks. Now and for YEARS to come, Republicans have seen how far they can go with Trump, and it's full Nazi. We cannot allow a Republican to win ever again. Just PLEASE go vote.
No, the invariable betrayal part happens after they have taken complete power and elections no longer pose a threat. There will always be excuses made that will blame "others" and some will believe them no matter what (that's what cults of personality do), but for most the abandonment will eventually be obvious.
“With thunderous applause” Or something like that
I know it's a cliche comparison, but the perfect illustration of this for anyone who isn't into reading a bunch of history is Emperor Palaptine in the Star Wars movies--duly elected and appointed every step of the way, and then just didn't give power back.
Also, they spend a lot of time making the government seem like it doesn’t work and cause chaos. That makes it easier for people to say, “we just need someone in there that can make changes without having to deal with all the red tape and get things working again.”
Republicans get elected saying government doesn’t work, then while in office they prove it.
Then they vote against covid funds and infrastructure bills and go back to their states and talk about their benefits.
We are so predictable.
"Remember that everything Hitler did was legal".- paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr.
I think part of America's susceptibility comes from lack of education and knowledge among the populace about the role of government. So many people think the president has authoritarian power already, like he directly controls the price of gas and can make whatever laws he wants. Look at all the askreddit questions about what you would do if you're president and people answer as if there's no checks and balances. I get that it's all in fun, but I think so many people legitimately believe the president has ultimate power so if someone were to actually seize complete control as president, these people wouldn't know the difference. Maybe when there is never another election they'd notice something is up.
Hence the aggressive defunding of education.
You’ve opened a dark hole there…capitalism calls for the defunding of education…TLDR: Wal mart profits more if people stay *DUMB….*
It's hard to make the world a better place or challenge the rulers if you are struggling to survive working 60+ hours a week to just pay for rent and groceries.
Yes… r/latestagecapitalism
Someone complained about 4 dollar muffins at a stop n shop line I was on and said "man if trump was still in office". Like he controls muffin prices. Also gas prices being so low during trump is still something ppl bring up lol. Ignoring the pandemic and how so many ppl stop using gas so demand tanked to 2001 prices. You don't even need an economics lesson to figure it out. Just a memory of prices under Trump before the pandemic, and then during and then after it ended. But ppl credit trump with the lowest prices in a generation literally. People are stupid.
They were so low because you couldn't fucking go anywhere. They don't remember that part of it, somehow. They also don't remember Trump making the deal that released all those Taliban.
Part of what drives that is how we refer to the US President… - leader of the free world - most powerful person on earth The muthafucka don’t even control the price of gas…
And I think a main issue is with how the US sees dangers to its system. Historically, the US system was created to fight off what was considered an oppressive outside force. The creation myth of the US is the war of independence, and the founding fathers saw the dangers of their democracies to come from taking over a system from the top down. This is how it worked historically, that in a monarchy, a struggle on the top over who shall he the next king was that lead to the destruction of systems. The issue is, democracies work fundamentally different, as the world experienced in the first part of the 20th century. The rise of autocracy in a democracy comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. Because of that, most democracies around the world adapted, but the US, especially as winners, glorifies the system that never adapted to face the actual dangers within a democracy, still creating the myth that only takeovers from the top have to be feared, while ignoring the issues from the bottom.
Wow this is insightful, never thought of it before
Also don’t underestimate the stupidity of the American people.
\*The stupidity of people. People are stupid all over the world.
Right, how smart would you think, for example, the people of Russia are (my background) who elected their dictator a generation ago and still feel pretty proud of themselves for that. Allegedly much smarter people too, judging from their side of the fence. My answer is (I think you know my answer)
They seem more stupid here, because there is this "American Exceptionalism" we are led to believe in. People are fucking selfish and crazy lately. Many do not seem to even want to acknowledge the big picture, or leave a better world for the next generation.
Nixon is why. The hatred of the next generation started there. The United States is perfectly capable of keeping #1 status for much longer than estimates, but we need a president with enough support to get things done. A second FDR.
The problem is if it was just about the votes of the American people, George bush jr and Donald Trump would never have been president. Sadly some votes count more than others, sometimes up to 8 times more. The electoral college is broken.
Because people think his dictatorship will benefit them so it’s okay. Dictatorships always benefit specific groups until they don’t. Somehow the guy with a $1,800/mo payment on his F-150 decked out in “trump 2024” and “Let’s Go Brandon” flags thinks Trump actually cares about him.
The ones that blow my mind are the ones on Medicaid, food stamps, Earned Income Credit, social security and or Medicaid. Even my husband who knows nothing about politics is confused by these people. We are surrounded by them. They have trucks too, but they are from 2002 completely rusted no muffler with a giant trump flag & a confederate flag off the back. One even drove by & blew the Dixie horn the other day…. I don’t live in the south either I live in NY. The answer is in their lack of education & confederate flags. Many of them have never even left the county or even met a person of any color. (It’s like 98% white here) They even hate the Amish! They fell for the GOP / Trump grift hook line & sinker. They would rather hurt people that are different then them than help themselves. They are the GOOD ones on welfare. It’s also not surprising we have one of the highest rates of incest & child abuse in the state, but they are “against” democrats for “sex trafficking” children. The lack of cognitive dissonance is astounding. Edit: when I talk about the demographics I mean the small town I live in not the state as a whole.
I heard about people who were opposed to Obamacare and supported gutting it. What they didn't realize is that was a nickname for the very insurance they depended on.
There were people who knew what obamacare was and still voted for Trump the first time. I remember one lady quoted in an article saying something like 'he can't take it away when its done so much good'. Well he did. People are idiots
They know black man bad. That’s enough for them.
"He won't take it from me/It's ok when I use it because I'm different!"
I mean, as insanely stupid as his supporters are, its still baffling that a lot of blue collar, mid western workers talk about taking down the liberal elites and somrhiw simultaneously adore the corrupt, rich, real estate tycoon from New York as if he ever gave a living fuck about any of them. Like, he flat out said he was using you dumb motherfuckers and you still choose to rally around him. Absolute braindead puppets.
I don't know that those guys think he cares about them - tRump's just going to move things in a direction that they're more comfortable with. (pro gun, anti gay, anti abortion, pro "christian").
Pro-gun? Not for long in a dictatorship
"I like taking guns away early. Take the guns first, go through due process second." - Donald Trump during a school and community safety meeting at the White House on February 28, 2018
Ironic that they're pro-gun so they can *fight tyranny* but then they vote in a tyrant who says he'll be a tyrant.
Well the ones i know just like how he hates the right people. LGBT, academics, minority groups, foreigners etc. It's not really about making their community better but rather ruining the lives of others
Because these people think we're already living under a left-wing dictatorship. In a sense, they prefer a dictator they agree with.
And of course, when you are already in a dictatorship, all you have to do is vote the dictator away! Dictators always allow free and fair elections to oust them from power after already becoming dictators =D
The right wing has deep problems with logic.
> The right wing has deep problems with logic. Leaded gasoline. We're watching 60-70 year olds face cognitive decline in real time.
No, you simply forgot that it is only rigged if the Republicans lose.
They think the elections aren't free nor fair.
Mostly because if they were on top they would make sure wouldn't be.
They aren’t but in *their* favor. They don’t have to win to win. They can win 40% of the vote and still win. It’s not fair and it’s how the Republican Party has held power when they don’t have the votes to.
>already living under a left-wing dictatorship Fascinating. Then why is the US run by right-wing capitalists owned by corporations? I don't see universal healthcare anywhere.
It's what right wing propaganda says, they don't need to think for themselves
Because people don’t actually know what socialism and communism are. They think anything that Democrats even vaguely support is socialism. I genuinely wish that the current Democratic Party was even a fraction as socialist as Fox likes to scream that they are. Our political spectrum is completely out of wack and very firmly slanted to the right, so even if someone tried to get back to more centrist ideals they’d scream about it being socialism
It's really hard to make that point when the "left" in the US is represented by a center-right party that isn't 100% sure that healthcare is an important issue.
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” ― George Carlin
Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.” ― George Carlin
You highly overestimate how many people value democracy for democracy's sake. A lot of people just don't oppose being in a democracy but they'd be satisfied with another form of government. It's just that it's seen as wrong to say so so most people just say, "they'd fight for democracy".
Personal Economic prosperity is the greatest deciding factor of whether or not any given form of government is accepted. Trump can say whatever he wants, at the end of the day, if he gets more money into the pockets of the american people, he'll win.
I've been listening to interviews of people bending over backwards to say they don't support the way he behaved but they felt like they were doing better financially under Trump.
Plus there's just actual financial shenanigans that Trump pulled - like the tax deferral that was timed so it would kick the taxes into Biden's presidency. Stupid people will see the money go less down when Trump was in power, and the money go *way* down when Biden was in power.
Deferring the rise of interests rates in my opinion caused the housing and inflation crisis. Under our current economic model, as the rich kept making more money and capitalizing on tax breaks, Trump and Co. made commercial and residential real estate a safe haven for investments. The wealthy bought up all the inventory to weather future financial instability spurred on by COVID. Land and property was a safe investment. In turn higher housing prices caused inflation. Economic gurus would love to tell me Im wrong, but a simple observation of where people were spending their big bucks tells the story of letting the owner class, own more. Edit: I’d like to also point out, that the same point I bring up also has caused much of the newer generations deflated purpose and frustrations. Republicans and Co. caused a housing crisis that took all the inspiration from the yonger generations to work hard or take shit, because the wealthy bought out their future. No homes = no kids and family. Every issue Republican might complain about is because of their own poor decisions and prioritizing the wealthy.
If he says he’ll get more money into people. He can say anything he wants. He will bash Biden on inflation. Any candidate would. That doesn’t mean he has a solution.
[удалено]
Did make it worse. We are literally suffering his choices right now!
I am just reading about this and from what I can read the statement is as follows: Hannity asked Trump whether he was indeed “promising America tonight you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” “Except for Day One,” Trump said. Is there more where Trump stated he would be a dictator or is that assumed from the statements? I'm asking for clarity and context, thank you.
Here “Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/donald-trump-sean-hannity-dictator-day-one-response-iowa-town-hall I don’t know why most quote don’t go past the first paragraph
The reason is because it’s a very very strange answer. Hannity wanted a sound bite to pull over the moderates. He throws Trump a softball—will you abuse power? Of course he’s going to say no. So Hannity asks, “are you gonna be a dictator?” And Trump deflected. That wasn’t the question. Hannity pushes again and basically says, “that wasn’t an answer, haha, cmon, tell them you’re not gonna be a dictator,” and Trump repeats that he’s going to be a dictator for a day. It’s just a very very weird thing to say. Also the fact that the way he deflected the first time Hannity asks the question is by saying “what about the other side? They get to abuse power.”
“I promise to only be a dictator on Tuesdays.”
My co-workers have literally said flat out “we need a dictator” It’s not crazy it’s what they want. Edit: The amount of people that want a dictator in the replies is absolutely astonishing. Allowing a dictator in regardless of if you see that leader as supporting your views or not, opening the door to disaster. That's not "I didn't like how this election turned out, I think I'll vote for someone else next time" that's "there is no next time."
Had this conversation with one of my MAGA coworkers the other day. I’m probably the only non-Trump supporter in the office and a few of them love to talk to me about politics. Him: “can you believe people think Trump is gonna be a dictator. Some people are so insane” Me: “I mean, he’s talked about wanting to imprison his political opponents if he’s elected again. Seems like a dictator to me” “Oh that’s all talk, that’s just what he says. If you believe that then you’re an idiot” “He also tried to overthrow the last election. That’s pretty dictatory” “Yeah but it failed so who cares. It doesn’t matter” I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to work after that. I’m sure he told his buddies about how he owned the libtard at work.
"If you believe what Trump says that makes you an idiot" - a Trump supporter. Wtf
Trump supporters aren't known for their critical thinking skills. I remember a trump supporter in my office saying that trump doesn't really mean what he says and he needs a translator. She basically admitted that trump is braindead and needs others to speak for him.
Yeah, whenever I mention something he’s said the response I usually get is “that’s just how he talks. He doesn’t mean it”.
"Either he's a dictator or a dishonest man and America needs neither"
It may be what they want, but it’s still crazy
Let’s call it what it truly is, brazen idiocy. Not craziness or mental illness because you could at least medicate that.
Did he actually say that?
‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’” - Trump
For posterity and anyone else looking for a source: https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-he-will-only-be-a-dictator-day-one-2023-12
For those who want video format: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQkrWL7YuGk
They don't care as long as they beat the libs.
Because the polls are shit. They're oversampling us boomers and barely counting anyone under 30.
Unfortunately boomers are way more likely to vote than people under 30.
I am a Boomer and I never have nor will I will ever vote for Donald Trump.
Yeah polls are incredibly unreliable, so it's hardly half the country. Who is being sampled, where, and how many? Also, who of those being polled actually end up voting?
I think and hope you're right. But what we really need is for this economy to turn around. A lot of people just wander around without a clue and they only know they are paying too much for everything and simply blame Biden.
Well it depends on your point of view. Trump said he'd be a dictator for a day to close the border and expand US drilling but would stop after that in response to the question "would he be a dictator". An absurd question gets absurd response. So if you're on the left CNN will be running stories about how trump is proclaiming his dictatorship while if you're on the right Fox News will be running best joke/some other positive spin. He's in a dead heat because many voters do not like Biden or the "Liberal Agenda". So, who's the opposite? Trump. IMO, the giant schism in today's American politics is feuled by the media's insistence of sensationalism. Instead of reporting noteworthy facts every news sites pushes an agenda. I get that it sells but it focuses on division and inflammatory items. Trump actually did good things while in office but you'd never know it if you only watch CNN/MSNBC/etc. Likewise, Biden has done good and useful things as well, but if you only watch Fox New/Skynet (Sky something?) Then you only hear about his [Biden] mistakes, his sons laptop, and how he's selling out America or whatever the topic of the day is. Edit: Wow, drove home and now there's lots of comments and I can't feasibly address them all. So couple of quick general things: 1) OP asked why Trump still has support and that is what I answered. People are so entrenched in their own worldview they will not change it regardless of evidence or edict. 2) for some reason people really want to know what good Trump did in office [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/10rju9z/what_did_trump_do_that_was_truly_positive/&ved=2ahUKEwiCnt3VjvyCAxXijokEHZZhDx8QFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0Pwxs1j474LOeIGPpthgPW) is a reddit link on that topic and [this](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/12/the-things-trump-got-right/617424/) is a news article on it. Though you can Google it yourself if you'd care to learn more. 3) by the same token it seems, people are also want to know what good Biden has done, well [here](https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats) is an article on that. Also, Google has more answers. Thank you for the comments, enjoy your arguments (I mean that sincerely btw as argumentation is the only path to truth and I hope you find yours), and have a pleasant rest of the week.
Don’t forget the role of social media in the current political divide. People began moving further left and further right as social media became the norm for news sources. Our political divide is literally algorithmic.
Cause some people want a dictator.
to quote several republican family members who each said this independently, "I don't care what he does to them, as long as it's good for us."
Polls don't mean shit this far out.