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grecy | on: Trump wins presidency for second time
Love him or hate him, it will be fascinating to see if the democratic institutions of the United States can endure this. He has made it very clear he wants to dismantle as much as he can, including term limits.

Time will tell if the US really is the greatest democracy and can withstand a wannabe dictator, or if he really can subvert it all. It’s going to be a wild four years, and I fear more wall building.

defrost | parent | next
It's had a good run to date, perhaps even longer than expected.

    and I believe farther that this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years, and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.
~ Benjamin Franklin, Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention (1787)
bagels | parent | next
The pieces are all in place. Supreme Court granted immunity, control of Senate and a willingness to recklessly wield power.
TomK32 | parent | next
Worst-case we finally find out what Gödel's loophole is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s_Loophole
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ghssds | parent | next
USA's clear separation of powers is a liability in this case. In parliamentary system, where executive and legislative branches are not that well separated, if the executive branch misbehave, a simple vote from the parliament can disband the government. In USA, the impeachment process is lengthy and hard to apply.
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scbrg | parent | next
For someone who doesn't follow US politics that closely (yes, we exist), in what way has he made it clear that he wants to dismantle democratic institutions? Any concrete examples?
bagels | root | parent | next
He tried to lead an insurrection four years ago. Has stated that if elected, you won't have to vote again. Has called for removal of broadcast licenses for the press. Has said he'd be pleased if the press were murdered.
innocentoldguy | root | parent | next
The Trump-hating FBI disagrees with you.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-fbi-finds-scant-e...

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kernal | root | parent | next
>He tried to lead an insurrection four years ago. Has stated that if elected, you won't have to vote again. Has called for removal of broadcast licenses for the press. Has said he'd be pleased if the press were murdered.

The rhetoric and lies you've repeatedly said about Trump is exactly the reason your party was so soundly rejected in the landslide electoral college, the popular vote, the senate, and the house. Your lies and hoaxes don't work anymore.

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huhkerrf | root | parent | next
I hate when people make me defend Trump.

The "you won't have to vote again" was clearly him saying that he didn't care if the people vote again, because it won't benefit him.

He didn't say that he'd be pleased if the press was murdered, in those words. Though I agree that what he said was awful.

This is the thing about Trump. He says things that are dumb or incendiary, then his opponents make it sound 100x. Then people who aren't terminally online see it and think, "is that all there is?" and it makes them think that he's not that bad, ignoring the actual bad things he's saying.

cpursley | root | parent
This is exactly what Elon was talking about how so many people still believe the multitude of hoaxes which have been thoroughly and objectively disproved. It’s as if people were OK with just going with the original drive-by media headline and never looking into the details or following up.
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dragonwriter | root | parent | next
What he has actually been mroe explicit about wanting to dismantle (and what his faction has made considerable progress dismantling in his favor already) is not as much “democratic institutions” as “the rule of law”, though his most dramatic failed attempt to dismantle that was also directed at democratic institutions (the set of schemes including the false electors gambit, attempte to get the VP to reject proper electoral votes, and instigating the mob attack on the capitol when it was clear the VP would not do so.)
EdwardDiego | root | parent | next
Can the President commit crimes with impunity is pretty anti-democratic.

Unless you think Robert Mugabe was democratic?

mbg721 | root | parent
[flagged]
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Tainnor | root | parent | next
In 2020, he told his then vice president Mike Pence not to certify the electoral vote count which gave Joe Biden the victory in the presidential race. Pence ignored this order. Had he not done so, it would have meant a constitutional crisis at the very least.
thefounder | root | parent | next
He could try to do something like Putin and extend the limit of 2 terms (just to keep America Great a bit more)and later declare himself dictator for life like Xi Jinping. You could look at Hitler as example how to become absolute dictator. “ news is that at the end of 6 years, after America has been made GREAT again and I leave the beautiful White House (do you think the people would demand that I stay longer? KEEP AMERICA GREAT), both of these horrible papers will quickly go out of business & be forever gone!

“

https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1140252528304631808

TrackerFF | root | parent
On the positive side, Americans are nowhere near as politically apathetic as Russians are, nor have they grown up under a single-party rule their whole loves, as the Chinese have.

Not saying that this won't stop MAGA from trying - but at least there's a cultural element to this, that will stop the American people from just folding over and accepting dictatorship.

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50208 | root | parent | next
SCBRG ... you should seriously be ashamed of yourself.
bloomingkales | root | parent | next
None really. He’s pissed about his court cases and wants to investigate or appoint new judges. People that believe in the dictator narrative don’t appreciate the limits of the Executive branch.

Every executive order can get erased wholesale by the next President, and Trump only has 4 years.

We’ll live.

bagels | root | parent | next
That's best case scenario. He's a criminal with newly granted immunity. It's going to be worse than last time.
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selimthegrim | root | parent
Kindly review the new definition of “official acts”
LunaSea | root | parent
Being a traitor working for Russia might be one of them
mbg721 | parent | next
The things he says he wants to dismantle are bloated executive-branch bureaucracies. If he actually manages to do it (which he didn't during his first term), it would be traumatic for a lot of federal employees, but not exactly the death of democracy.
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lawn | parent | next
> Time will tell if the US really is the greatest democracy

The US voting scheme is far from being the most democratic.

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dingdingdang | parent | next
"and I fear more wall building." - more wall building was instigated under Biden, this is practical reality rearing it's head not the political left/right.

*https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67015137

xenospn | parent | next
America as we know it had a good run. But nothing lasts forever.
vote4felon | parent | next
We’ve had four years of this man as President. This seems like FUD?
gadders | parent
You think congressional term limits would be a bad thing?
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