• auzy@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I’m Australian, and it’s not overblown

    He’s already acknowledging he plans to go full dictatorship. He’s already starting with the “crooked, leftist” stuff.

    What he’s saying and doing are literally parts of the dictator handbook and if he wins, there are severe consequences worldwide (a return to bigotry and empowerment of bullies)

    The difference this time over last time is that losing the election ruins the rest of his life, so he has everything to gain by sowing chaos. If he can delay the count even, it’s hugely beneficial for him.

    You have politicians internationally, his ex staff, ex Australian pm and even a right wing ex attorney general from Australia warning of how dangerous he is.

    Russia gains through his win too because if he wins, then Trump will stop helping Ukraine most likely, which is possibly why we’re seeing so much manipulation online basically discouraging left wing people voting

    • sugar_in_your_tea
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      3 months ago

      He’s already acknowledging he plans to go full dictatorship. He’s already starting with the “crooked, leftist” stuff.

      But he’s not. He’s a populist and a narcissist, but not an authoritarian. He said he’d “drain the swamp” in 2016, but he didn’t do much of anything regarding that during his presidency, he was much more concerned with cutting taxes and raising tariffs (i.e. things to make him seem like a good negotiator).

      What he’s saying and doing are literally parts of the dictator handbook

      Can you provide examples? Because what he says and what he does are two completely different things. He says whatever will get him attention, but what he actually does is usually quite tame.

      losing the election ruins the rest of his life

      That’s a bit hyperbolic. If he loses, most of the lawsuits will just go away because he’s rich and no longer a threat. He may get blocked from SM for a few years by court order and perhaps banned from running again, but he’ll be too old anyway to care. He has enough assets and influence that he’s not going to get significantly hurt financially, he can always file another bankruptcy if he gets into trouble.

      If he wins, he’ll probably be soft on Russia and reduce aid to Ukraine, rattle some sabers at NATO to get people to contribute more, and continue Biden’s tariffs against China. He’ll probably also make some inflammatory “culture war” statements and whatnot, but not pass any bill of significance. That’s basically what he did in 2016, and that’s what he’ll do this time around.

      So, here’s my prediction of the net results of a Trump win:

      • less aid to Ukraine, resulting in a surrender of some territory and an agreement to not join NATO
      • renewal of the TCJA, so more deficit spending
      • “trade war” nonsense w/ China, which will cause inflation, which he’ll blame on Biden somehow
      • some more deregulation, and perhaps a change of leadership in the FTC
      • more strict border protections

      That’s bad, but it’s hardly “fascist.”

      And here’s my prediction if Harris wins:

      • no change in aid to Ukraine, resulting in the war being drawn out a few more years
      • TCJA expires and we go back to 2017 tax law
      • “trade war” nonsense w/ China, but less severe than w/ Trump; not sure about inflation, but it’ll slow down economic growth
      • some token spending bill that’ll leave us about on par w/ regards to deficit spending as we are now
      • more strict border protections, but perhaps less name-calling than w/ Trump

      Both will probably suck as presidents, but Harris may piss off fewer countries because she seems to know how to communicate respect.

      discouraging left wing people voting

      I don’t know if Russia is doing it, I think it’s just Trump trolls.

      Please, go out and vote. All I’m saying is that if you’re not in a swing state, vote for the candidate you like best, which may or may not be one of the two major party candidates. If you live in a red state or blue state, voting for the minority party won’t change the outcome of the election, so you might as well vote for a third party or independent to signal to the DNC and RNC that the two options aren’t what you want. If you live in a swing state, vote for one of the two major party candidates because your vote could actually determine the outcome of the election.

      Trump completely sucks, but voting for Harris won’t do anything if you live in a blue or red state, all it does is add to the popular vote, which means absolutely nothing. If you actually want your vote to mean something and your state is definitely going to vote for one or the other, vote for someone else to show displeasure with the options this year.

      But whatever you do, go out and vote.

      • auzy@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        You forgot a bunch of things…

        • He’s creating a culture of fear. He’s putting the families of people in danger by mentioning them, and verbally attacking them, knowing his followers will go after them including the families of judges. This is what criminals and fascists do… People don’t fight Putin because they know they’ll end up in prison or get attacked. Same thing here.
        • Even when Trump got shot, it became immediately clear that he was hoping it would result in shootings on his side.
        • He will very likely free the J6 guys.
        • He is already aligning himself with people who can protect him like the proud boys. They know that if they follow him, he’ll protect them, and vice versa
        • He has provided confidential information to people without clearance. One of Australia’s Bilionaires confirmed that.
        • He has promised to close down various justice departments
        • He has dropped numerous statements that he wants to extend the term a president can be voted in for… MANY MANY times.
        • He’s once again calling the election a sham.
        • He will put his friends in positions of power (again).
        • Once again, HIS OWN STAFF AND OTHER LEADERS HAVE WARNED HE IS DANGEROUS.
        • We have NO idea what is happening in the background either.
        • It doesn’t matter how powerful he is… HE WILL go to jail. He has threatened and pissed off enough people at this point

        I live here in Australia, and knew very little of president trump.

        I LITERALLY saw 10mins of Trump on TV months before the election, and my first reaction by the way he was speaking was “he’s going to overthrow the election”. It took a foreigner like me 10mins to realise that shit…

        If you watch his speeches now, his language again, is the same as what facscists use. He uses words like calling everyone crooked, etc, WITHOUT EVIDENCE. He calls the election a sham. Why do you think he’s saying this?

        What’s disturbing is the number of people that is willing to say “oh, he’s a populist” or “he’s joking” when he makes statements. Yeah… He was joking about the last election being a sham…

        I’ll tell you EXACTLY what I saw. I saw without context a guy trying to overthrow an election.

        What I see now is a guy who has every intention to extend his term beyond the maximum and interfere with the next election to delay jail.

        • sugar_in_your_tea
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          3 months ago

          You’re going to need to cite some sources here, because those look heavily slanted and sensationalized accounts of what actually happened.

          J6

          On Jan 6, he wasn’t out there leading the charge or anything remotely close to that. He gave one fiery speech, then returned to the White House and watched everything unfold on the TV, and it seemed that he was excited because they were doing this for him. From the accounts I saw, he didn’t seem to be trying to orchestrate something, he was just excited to see so much support.

          And yeah, he’ll probably pardon and free them. But not so they can overthrow the government or something, but because he likes their support. You need to remember, he’s a narcissist, not a dictator.

          He’s once again calling the election a sham.

          Of course. He can’t fathom that he didn’t win, because he’s a narcissist and all he sees are his rallies and yes men. He’s accustomed to being on top, and he likes surrounding himself with people who will suck up to him and do what he wants.

          This is certainly dangerous, but he’s not driven by hatred or desire for power like Hitler or Stalin were, he’s starved for attention and he wants that again. I don’t believe he actually has a plan for the country, he just does whatever he thinks will get him attention. People like tax cuts, so he pushed for them. People like jobs, so he wants to increase demand for those. And so on.

          That’s certainly dangerous, but it’s not fascist. He’s dangerous because he’s largely incompetent and makes rash decisions. That may work in real estate and other businesses he’s been in charge of, but it doesn’t work as President.

          HE WILL go to jail

          I highly doubt that.

          And yes, he tried to overturn the election, and he tried to accomplish that through the courts because he truly believed he won and was desperate to prove that. I don’t think he expected Jan 6 to happen as it did, nor do I think he wanted to stay in power that way, because that means he cheated and didn’t win.

          And yeah, he wants to extend his term beyond the maximum. But he wants to extend it by winning the election, not by taking it. That’s the difference between a narcissist and a dictator, and it what makes him both dangerous and less of a threat.

          Regardless, I don’t have much power here, and who I vote for and who most people vote for will have absolutely zero impact on the election because only votes in 7-ish states actually determine the election. So whether I vote for Harris or one of the third party and independent candidates literally makes no difference in the election. The closest thing to actually mattering is the popular vote, and if Trump soundly loses both, I guess that’s more funny than if he wins the popular vote but loses the electoral college.

          • auzy@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            https://www.sir.advancedleadership.harvard.edu/articles/who-was-responsible-for-january-6th

            Yep, how about from Harvard law school. It was incitement, and lots of people were injured. YES, he’s dangerous.

            He doesn’t need to hold a knife to be dangerous. Many dictators and mob bosses work using threats and lackies to do their work.

            And I’ve been threatened at least 3x in my life.

            • Twice was "don’t you ever XXXX ever again, or else… " << Yes, thats a threat…
            • The third time was a angry boyfriend (meth head) telling my long term ex (who I hadn’t seen in ages anyway), that he knew where I lived. I once found a fence post nailed to the tree outside my house, and I suspect it was him

            I also intervened when a junkie held up a pipe threatening to hit someone in a road rage incident.

            In all 4 of these cases, people like yourself will claim that they weren’t dangerous simply because they don’t directly say they’re going to harm the other person. But they were obviously intended to have life-threatening undertones which any reasonable person would back down from. No, it’s threats and intimidation.

            Trump regularly highlights judges families and such, and it has the same intention

            Again, he has absolutely been upfront that next election he’s trying to change things to extend his term and become a dictator, and he will only extend power to people who follow him.

            Mob bosses will always be careful what they say. Even if you watch him speak, it feels like he’s an actor in the untouchables