US Politics Thread 2021-24

[August]

Originally Posted by Catfish

And i am not even a commie, I just recognize wannabe dictators when I see one.
Re the commies what about Russia and China?
So you are on a new low insulting forum members?

Right, because you are such an expert on dictator spotting. Way I see it you're as much a commie as Elon Musk is a nazi. It's ironic that you would get huffy when someone treats you with the same unfair exaggeration.

For the record Catfish I don't really think you are a commie. I see you more as a run of the mill European Socialist.

[MaDef]

Originally Posted by August

Right, because you are such an expert on dictator spotting. Way I see it you're as much a commie as Elon Musk is a nazi. It's ironic that you would get huffy when someone treats you with the same unfair exaggeration.

For the record Catfish I don't really think you are a commie. I see you more as a run of the mill European Socialist.

Aren't those just commies with a man purse and a bike?

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by MaDef

Aren't those just commies with a man purse and a bike?

You must be this tall to join DOGE.

[August]

These guys, nazis?

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by August

These guys, nazis?

I'm just chiming in on the fun of the last few posts.

[Buddahaid]

Sudan Crawford is projected to win the Wisconsin Supreme Court making this the third rejection of MAGA candidates in a row in special elections. This is notable as MAGA spent 53 million on this election as well as Elon throwing money at it.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Chicocommiecat!

Don't you forget the ...fish!

@August Socialist is what the GDR was, I would see me as democratic in the european sense. But for what I learned there is no real 'left' party in the US, just conservative and ultra-conservative, so anything else must indeed look like left or 'commie' over there(?)

@MaDef: yes lol

[u crank]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Sudan Crawford is projected to win the Wisconsin Supreme Court making this the third rejection of MAGA candidates in a row in special elections. This is notable as MAGA spent 53 million on this election as well as Elon throwing money at it.

Yea but ....Republicans have won the two special elections in Florida. Randy Fine wins in Congressional District 6 and Jimmy Patronis wins in District 1.

[Reece]

well that's unfortunate!!

[Skybird]

The Don certainly estalbishes a Führerkult, a leadership cult, with himself being the god emperor at the centre who is the only source of wisdom, insight, correct decision and smart planning. Hence he wants himself being able to rule without being bound by limitations, rules, laws, all that is just for the lower beings while he shines like the sun above it all and he decides when day begins and when night falls.

It is deeply worrying that courts, institutions, media, universities and last but not least the ordinary people almost all are so totally surrendering and deliberately opt to not even try resisting.

A Führerkult does exist for sure in the US, there can be absolutely no doubt on that, the question is how deep into fascism all this destruction of democracy will slide. That it does slide at that direction also is beyond doubt: the US is on its way to become a fascist totalitarian tyranny. Really, the only question is: how far will it go at that direction? I have no good expectations. The speed at which Trump destroys the system of checks and balances that were meant to protect the citizen from the state is breathtaking.

That there even will be free elections in three and a half year now must no longer be taken for granted. It could become a government exercise in mastermind manipulation.

The horror is that Trump's death for example will not save the US. There are people in his shadow that I see as even more extreme and dangerous than him, they just do not yet have such a grab on the party than Trump has. That could change.

The second horror is that this Democratic party - is as horrific as the Great Orange Party, its just different, obviously extremely woke and left-leaning. But not any less disgusting. In other words - there is an abundant lack of alternatives to the GOP. There is only choice between lethal poisons, the one is red and the other is blue: killing they both do.

---------------


[FOCUS] Anyone who assumes Donald Trump isn't serious about his remarks about seeking a third term as US president is mistaken. In an NBC interview broadcast on Sunday, he explicitly stated, "I'm not joking." He thus made it unmistakably clear that his political ambitions could extend beyond 2028. Asked whether his advisors had already presented him with possible scenarios for a third term, Trump replied, "There are ways to do this."

Statements like these are making the warnings about the "fascist dictatorship" that some experts believe Trump is transforming the US into louder. Renowned US researchers are already leaving the country.

US expert Thomas Jäger is also observing developments in the US with concern. He told FOCUS online that many are already refusing to accept that Russia has developed into a fascist state. "They are even less willing to acknowledge this development in the US, which just a few weeks ago was the protector of democracies."

But according to Jäger, there are clear signs that the political system in the US is developing in an authoritarian direction, which could ultimately lead to a fascist order. Whether this happens depends on the forces that can prevent it: "the Democratic Party, the American public, the economy, and culture."

However, so far, they have offered no discernible resistance to this development, according to the political scientist. The fact that fascist tendencies are becoming a reality in the US suggests that the Trump administration "wants to turn back the clock and create an order like the one in the 19th century, when national shelters limited life."

To this end, Jäger continues, economic exchange is to be made more difficult and people are to be deported. "History is to be rewritten, museums are to be forced to follow a new narrative. Diversity of opinion is being suppressed, and Trump calls criticism itself illegal."

Furthermore, independent science is being deprived of funding, "and no effective criticism of the president's irrational narratives is to be made possible," Jäger summarizes. Instead, scapegoats are being constructed: "migrants inside, Europeans outside, all supposedly intent on depriving US citizens of their prosperity and their good lives."

Jäger argues: "Trump presents himself as the only one who can protect them against this, thereby establishing a cult of leadership." This means: Not the Constitution and the law, but the will of the president is the source of the right actions. Therefore, his term in office cannot be limited, because only he, according to the false narrative, can save the country and its citizens.

"A new language is being invented for a new movement, the MAGA movement, as a means of control. That's why there are lists of banned words for government agencies," Jäger points out.

One of the loudest voices in the US these days is Jason Stanley, Yale philosopher and fascism researcher. Last week, he announced that he would be leaving the US due to the current political climate and transferring to the Munk School in Canada. Stanley wanted to raise his children in a country "that isn't headed toward a fascist dictatorship," he told the philosophy platform Daily Nous.

When the scholar was asked by the Guardian what it means for a fascism researcher to leave the US, he replied: "Partly, it's ultimately the way you left Germany in 1932, '33, '34. My grandmother left Berlin with my father in 1939. So it's a family tradition."

In an interview with Der Spiegel, the author of books such as "How Fascism Works" explained why he sees the US on the path to fascism under Trump and why he decided to move to Canada: "In the classic literature on the rise of fascism"—in Hannah Arendt or the authors of the Frankfurt School —there's this recurring motif of the fascist leader as a gangster boss. That's what it's about. It's mafia logic: You're supposed to show loyalty, kiss the ring."

Stanley is referring to the dispute between the US government and Columbia University. The government in Washington had threatened to withhold $400 million in federal funding if the university did not overhaul its approach to pro-Palestinian protests and reform its Institute for Near Eastern Studies. Last week, Trump said the colleges and universities would "bend the knee."

Glorification of the past, the culture of lies: "Everything is there." The tendency toward fascism is also evident in the Trump administration's actions during the federal election campaign in Germany. Elon Musk and Vice President J.D. Vance have vigorously supported the AfD.

According to Stanley, there is no country that stands as strongly for the democratic overcoming of fascism as Germany. "That represents the Federal Republic. And if we succeed in establishing that in Germany, then it can succeed anywhere. That's why Musk appeared with the AfD," said the fascism expert.

And Stanley gets even more specific. When asked whether he would describe the USA as fascist, he said: "The great fascism debate has been raging for years now, and I don't know anyone who deals with the topic who wouldn't say: It's fascism. All the criteria apply."

According to the expert, there is the glorification of the past, the emphasis on us versus them, the culture of lies, the condemnation of complexity, the belief in hierarchies, the celebration of an order imposed from above. "It's all there," says Stanley.

While Stanley recognizes clear signs of fascism, there are also arguments against it.

Hubertus Knabe, one of Germany's best-known historians and author of the book "Day of Liberation: The End of the War in East Germany," doesn't approve of "the inflated use of the term fascist," he told FOCUS online.

The term comes from Italian and simply means "bundler." "That's what the nationalist fighting groups of the former socialist Benito Mussolini called themselves," explains Knabe.

"Central features of his rule were a cult of leadership, violence, extreme nationalism, and a militant mass movement. In addition, the electoral law was changed, left-wing newspapers were banned, and all non-fascist parties were dissolved. Trade unions also ceased to exist."

None of this can be said of the USA, says the historian. Rather, Trump is a democratically elected president with strong authoritarian tendencies. Unfortunately, there are many of those around the world.

The fact that he was elected and his policies met with little resistance is, according to the historian, primarily the fault of the Democrats. "Not only did they nominate the wrong candidate (Editor's note: Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris), but they also ignored popular sentiment," says Knabe, referring to the disastrous Democratic election campaign last year.

Not least, American universities, with their excessive gender and diversity policies, played a role in Trump's rise. "Demonizing him as 'fascist' now is likely to strengthen him. We certainly had to experience this in Germany when dealing with the AfD," the historian said.

US expert Jäger also sees arguments against the fascism theory. He argues that such a development is not yet fully developed in detail and is therefore reversible. "That would be a difficult undertaking because the government is not adhering to the constitution and the law and, in particular, is simply ignoring the powers of parliament."

Whether the judiciary can halt this development will also depend on the strength of the resistance in the political and public sphere, Jäger said. "The US is still a long way from a fascist order."

Jäger, however, maintains: "The characteristics are recognizable." In the president's worldview, this development is a desired reality, "because Trump would ideally like to be able to act as unrestrictedly as the president of Russia."

[mapuc]

Oh he is going to try again, however 22nd Amendment is in his way. The only way could be he declare state of emergency. In which he can postpone the Election as long he see fit.

Markus

[u crank]

Originally Posted by Reece

well that's unfortunate!!

Why?

[Reece]

I was going to say something and thought it best to not!

Nice post Skybird!

[Otto Harkaman]

[August]

Originally Posted by Reece

well that's unfortunate!!

We did it just to piss you off Reece.