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CountScrofula · 41-45, M
Ehhhhhhh, okay so putting aside the fact I think that the US' democracy is not particularly democratic, just stable...
The entire game here is peaceful exchange of power. When you are in office, if you can anticipate being jailed or killed when you exit office, you are effectively creating a dictatorship. Because whomever is in office then has to fight to the literal death to remain in power, and violently suppress political opponents because its your fucking neck if you lose.
This is a case where the law says (as far as we know) Presidents are not immune from prosecution, but part of the game is that the Presidents shouldn't do anything overtly criminal. Every President has almost certainly broken laws of some kind, guaranteed. But the response is to blink and say it's a part of the job so you don't have a civil war every time someone's term is up.
This is why the Democrats rolled over when they won the 2000 election and gave it up anyways. The sanctity of the system was more important to them than winning.
Trump fucked that entire process up. Not only has he repeatedly threatened to jail political opponents, but he's flagrantly committed crimes his entire life and just got away with them because he's a megarich coastal elite and was above the law. But he's disrupted the system so much the DOJ finally said "fuck it we're taking him out" since well, he has committed every crime ever and is a pretty easy target.
Their hope is that he's an anomaly, and that if he gets prosecuted and put away, the system will return to stability. Iiiiii am not so sure.
The entire game here is peaceful exchange of power. When you are in office, if you can anticipate being jailed or killed when you exit office, you are effectively creating a dictatorship. Because whomever is in office then has to fight to the literal death to remain in power, and violently suppress political opponents because its your fucking neck if you lose.
This is a case where the law says (as far as we know) Presidents are not immune from prosecution, but part of the game is that the Presidents shouldn't do anything overtly criminal. Every President has almost certainly broken laws of some kind, guaranteed. But the response is to blink and say it's a part of the job so you don't have a civil war every time someone's term is up.
This is why the Democrats rolled over when they won the 2000 election and gave it up anyways. The sanctity of the system was more important to them than winning.
Trump fucked that entire process up. Not only has he repeatedly threatened to jail political opponents, but he's flagrantly committed crimes his entire life and just got away with them because he's a megarich coastal elite and was above the law. But he's disrupted the system so much the DOJ finally said "fuck it we're taking him out" since well, he has committed every crime ever and is a pretty easy target.
Their hope is that he's an anomaly, and that if he gets prosecuted and put away, the system will return to stability. Iiiiii am not so sure.
@CountScrofula that's a pretty interesting look and sadly quite a good point. 😬
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@NerdyPotato Yeah it's not exactly an optimistic one lmao.
Trump is weirdly politically astute about some shit, and one of them is that the more he breaks down the rules that bind the republic by being a maniac and violating every law and norm, the more plausible it is for him to seize power for the rest of his life.
I'm not sure that's going to happen, but he's breaking enough shit that could let the next guy achieve that dream.
Trump is weirdly politically astute about some shit, and one of them is that the more he breaks down the rules that bind the republic by being a maniac and violating every law and norm, the more plausible it is for him to seize power for the rest of his life.
I'm not sure that's going to happen, but he's breaking enough shit that could let the next guy achieve that dream.
@CountScrofula it certainly sounds like that. And I thought stepping out of climate agreements and such was causing permanent damage, but I've never thought about the democracy itself. That certainly has changed too though.
Tastyfrzz · 61-69, M
@CountScrofula if nothing else he's created enough case law to fill several libraries.
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@Tastyfrzz Yes, and also his way of dealing with the charges is extremely funny.
RockerDad · M
@CountScrofula my concern is future presidents and members of congress, who are in middle school or high school now, who are watching all of this and absorbing it, and are thinking this is normal behavior of Trump, MGT, Matt Goetz, etc, because they haven’t seen any different since they have started paying attention to politics. They think it’s perfectly ok to scream out in the middle of State Of The Union addresses, or attack capitols and state houses if you are unhappy with the result of an election or policy.
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@RockerDad Hell he's modelling bad behaviour for his colleagues. When you break unwritten rules, they don't get rewritten for a very long time. (ignoring the many actual laws he broke) Anyone who follows them is a dope who is going to lose. Dude hit fast-forward on the move from democracy to autocracy. It's not an inevitability but it's certainly the direction of things.