Trump has Univision reporter physically escorted out of room for speaking out of turn

[BoutPractice]

Let's be real for a minute: Trump is basically a 21st century, American version of what used to be called fascism - the term may now be outdated but the ideas aren't. A delusional megalomaniac posing as a big tough guy you don't want to mess with… a real man who will act when politicians are too busy talking… a demagogue whose vocabulary alternates between vague grandiosities and first grade insults… who feeds the populace with transparent lies (like the birther conspiracy or the Great Wall of Trump) for his personal benefit… promises to make the country "great again" by liberating the "energy" of the people… blames foreigners for all problems… sees the country as one big unified organism (in his case, a corporation) that has to go in one direction - his - and backs a corporatist model ("we'll send Carl Icahn to negotiate with China") that serves him and his cronies...

Worst of all, this would-be leader prioritizes success and "winning" at all costs, often with the most individualistic, short term definition imaginable (success is whatever works for me, the leader, right now)… in his world there are no moral standards, there is no right or wrong, only the strong and the weak - life is a zero sum game, and if you ain't first you're last. You can lie, cheat (or as he calls it, be "cunning"), basically get away with anything as long as it gets the job done. If it means rounding up millions of people and deporting them, seizing the natural resources of a poor country by force, or maybe even sending nukes our enemies' way, then so be it.

Sounds familiar? That's because the world is already full of men like that - we usually call them "dictators" or "despots" and they're only a joke for those that don't have to live under them. Trump's supposedly non-ideological worldview is nothing more than old-fashioned authoritarianism. That's why he's so fond of Putin, or calls Chinese leaders "smart" (might want to retract that statement soon ). In his mind democracy is a weakness that prevents us from being as strong as they are. He has more in common with King Jong Un, Bachar Al Assad or the latest joke of an African dictator (say the president of Gambia) than the leader of a modern democratic country.

Thankfully America has a system of checks and balances to prevent a man like that from completely destroying the system, but we've already seen the damage the executive branch can do under an absurdly broad definition of their war making powers. Why anyone would want to give those extensive powers to a man like Trump - capable though he is - is beyond me… he'd make Dick Cheney look like the Prime Minister of Sweden. The problem is, people have grown so accustomed to accusing their opponents of being a dictator for no reason that they no longer an obvious apprentice (if you'll pardon the pun) dictator when they see one…

[ISHGoat]

Let's be real for a minute: Trump is basically a 21st century, American version of what used to be called fascism - the term may now be outdated but the ideas aren't. A delusional megalomaniac posing as a big tough guy you don't want to mess with… a real man who will act when politicians are too busy talking… a demagogue whose vocabulary alternates between vague grandiosities and first grade insults… who feeds the populace with transparent lies (like the birther conspiracy or the Great Wall of Trump) for his personal benefit… promises to make the country "great again" by liberating the "energy" of the people… blames foreigners for all problems… sees the country as one big unified organism (in his case, a corporation) that has to go in one direction - his - and backs a corporatist model ("we'll send Carl Icahn to negotiate with China") that serves him and his cronies...

Worst of all, this would-be leader prioritizes success and "winning" at all costs, often with the most individualistic, short term definition imaginable (success is whatever works for me, the leader, right now)… in his world there are no moral standards, there is no right or wrong, only the strong and the weak - life is a zero sum game, and if you ain't first you're last. You can lie, cheat (or as he calls it, be "cunning"), basically get away with anything as long as it gets the job done. If it means rounding up millions of people and deporting them, seizing the natural resources of a poor country by force, or maybe even sending nukes our enemies' way, then so be it.

Sounds familiar? That's because the world is already full of men like that - we usually call them "dictators" or "despots" and they're only a joke for those that don't have to live under them. Trump's supposedly non-ideological worldview is nothing more than old-fashioned authoritarianism. That's why he's so fond of Putin, or calls Chinese leaders "smart" (might want to retract that statement soon ). In his mind democracy is a weakness that prevents us from being as strong as they are. He has more in common with King Jong Un, Bachar Al Assad or the latest joke of an African dictator (say the president of Gambia) than the leader of a modern democratic country.

Thankfully America has a system of checks and balances to prevent a man like that from completely destroying the system, but we've already seen the damage the executive branch can do under an absurdly broad definition of their war making powers. Why anyone would want to give those extensive powers to a man like Trump - capable though he is - is beyond me… he'd make Dick Cheney look like the Prime Minister of Sweden. The problem is, people have grown so accustomed to accusing their opponents of being a dictator for no reason that they no longer an obvious apprentice (if you'll pardon the pun) dictator when they see one…

There is absolutely nothing wrong with some good ol fashion dictatorship. Seriously, democracy is good in theory but what you see in USA is not real democracy. Trump is just willing to expose it.

[BoutPractice]

ISHGoat > I agree with you that the US already has oligarchic, authoritarian, and imperialistic tendencies as it is. Here's the thing though: right now, you're absolutely right that Trump is "exposing" the undeniable corruption in the system. But based on everything he's said and proposed so far, he has no intentions of making any of this better…. he actually wants to make it worse! Trump's America would be even more corrupt and even less democratic than it already is.

I'm not saying Trump is the only thing threatening freedom and democracy… in fact, freedom and democracy are receding pretty much everywhere you look. We've already mentioned the US... China and Russia, already dictatorships, are cracking down on dissidents even more than usual and flexing their muscles abroad, daring their enemies to stop them. Middle Eastern countries alternate between the ISIS model (hardcore Islamism) and the Sisi model (hardcore dictatorship) - in both models liberals are there to be tortured and beheaded. Africa is still Africa… The leaders of the European Union, normally a bastion of freedom in the world, have allowed democracy to be replaced by an opaque technocratic system of Central Banks and Troikas and endorsed orwellian surveillance under the pretext of fighting Islamists. Other than the aforementioned Islamists (hint: not the good guys), their main critics are a bunch of far right populists who would throw their opponents in jail the minute they reach the corridors of power, and almost certainly would make surveillance worse. Even in the private sector, today's ideal corporation is an unaccountable multinational that obeys no laws, pays no taxes and makes a huge centralized platform whose business model is to own every aspect of your identity, down to the most intimate detail, so that they can sell it for profit - if Ford was the laboratory of 20th century totalitarianism, Facebook and Google can tell you everything you need to know about the new and exciting ways 21st century despots will crush your soul.

It's a general, worldwide trend, and I don't like it - not one bit. The election of a man like Trump to POTUS would only accentuate it, and to even entertain the fantasy is to play a dangerous game, as you don't know who might be up next.

[Raymone]

Worst of all, this would-be leader prioritizes success and "winning"

That does sound terrible.

[nathanjizzle]

honestly, im dumbfounded how people are taking trump seriously.

[GIF REACTION]

honestly, im dumbfounded how people are taking trump seriously.

My bro nath with the swish!

Got your back bro

[Dresta]

Seriously, where does this ridiculous notion that freedom and democracy go hand-in-hand, to the point where they are used nearly as synonyms, come from, and why is it so prevalent? Democracy almost always leads to tyranny; it almost always sacrifices long-held principles to the expediency of the moment, and the whims of majority opinion. The most important things for actual freedom are the rule of law (absent in America since the clown Oliver Wendell Holmes), and jury trial - the American Bill of Rights provides a solid list of things more important to freedom than democracy. The founding fathers all detested the democratic form of governance, and that's why they never founded a democracy, but a Republic of liberty.

Democracy is effectively a form of religion, a system founded on a faith in large numbers, and indoctrinated into the minds of small children at school.

Oh, and America has not had an effective system of checks and balances for a looong time - the Judiciary and Executive branch have long exceeded their constitutional authority, and it gets worse and worse by the year.

I wish people would quit whining how we need 'more democracy' when it is democracy that leads us to exactly the corrupt, oligarchic mess we're in right now.

[BoutPractice]

Raymone > You cherry picked a part of my sentence. I said he prioritizes 'success' but has no real definition of success, and doesn't have any moral compass for getting there (ie limits): in other words, ill defined ends justify any means. In practice this tends to lead to disaster, which is the opposite of 'success' regardless of how you define it…

Dresta > Good post, though I would disagree with the main conclusion. Democracy does go together with freedom in the tense that the real world alternatives to it (oligarchy and tyranny) are even worse for freedom. The (facile) critique of democracy almost always breaks down once you try to make a positive argument why oligarchy or tyranny is better. 50% + 1 making decisions that are binding for everyone may not be ideal (one reason why you need the need for rule of law as corrective) but it's certainly better, more legitimate and more likely to last than a (non representative yet not particularly more virtuous than any random sample) 1% of the population deciding for everyone, or just one person (more often than not a complete sociopath like the ridiculous gallery of despots who hold power in the world today) deciding for everyone.

Yes, there is at times a tension between freedom and democracy… but that's not because democracy is democracy. It's because democracy is rule (rule of the people) and any rule creates potential tensions with freedom, worst of all a rule of one. Personally I'm not advocating for a tyranny of the majority… when I'm talking about 'freedom and democracy' together, I'm referring to liberal democracy, which keeps everything in balance and is characterized by rule of law, constitutionalism etc. Things we both seem to want… the only difference is that judging by your post, I'm guessing you wouldn't call that a 'democracy' but a 'republic of liberty'. For modern purposes I would call it liberal democracy - the basic idea that it's better to have free citizens voting in free elections than oppressed citizens forced to live under the yoke of some crackpot dictator, and that you should strive towards the former rather than the latter… Not many people are seriously defending the liberal version of democracy anymore, and that's what bothers me… It may be uninspiring but so far it's the best we've got, and if we let it die it we will come to regret it soon…

[9erempiree]

Update:

Remember those supposed derogatory comments made towards Mexicans? Univision and that dummy Ramos claimed that Trump was a racist?

Univision pulled the plug on Trump's Miss USA pageant and Trump threatened to sue them for $500 million dollars.

Looks like both parties came to an agreement but it's confidential. Expect more favoritism towards Trump from the network.

Latino vote. Check box.

http://fortune.com/2016/02/11/donald...ettle-lawsuit/

[poido123]

Some Mexican lady on my Facebook posted this video and called trump a racist idiot.

But I don't understand what's racist about the video

Those who feel threatened by Trump will be throwing all kinds of shit at him.


Especially mexicans and muslims.

[poido123]

honestly, im dumbfounded how people are taking trump seriously.

We don't take you seriously, that's for damn sure.

[poido123]

[QUOTE=ThePhantomCreep]

[Trollsmasher]

Update:

Remember those supposed derogatory comments made towards Mexicans? Univision and that dummy Ramos claimed that Trump was a racist?

Univision pulled the plug on Trump's Miss USA pageant and Trump threatened to sue them for $500 million dollars.

Looks like both parties came to an agreement but it's confidential. Expect more favoritism towards Trump from the network.

Latino vote. Check box.

http://fortune.com/2016/02/11/donald...ettle-lawsuit/

looks like Trump won again