34 Comments

Persistent support for Trump confirms my sense that I am completely out of touch with this country, outside of my costal bubbles. May truth and Justice prevail.

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Thank you Jon. One important take-away for me, offered here for your readers: be nice to all your independent/swing voter friends, no matter how conservative they might be, even if they disagree with you on maybe just about every single policy question. One more: but don’t mince words about the threat written about here.

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Sorry I missed this, Scotty. You are so right about keeping channels of communications open.

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More and more nowadays, the name Benito Mussolini stands for the abrupt, violent end of an illegitimate, autocratic regime. The comparison of Il Duce to Trump is reasonable and frightening.

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Outstanding article on Trump’s Fascist moves. He MUST never get near the Presidency again!

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Thanks, Ira. We all have to figure out what we can do to stop him.

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Jonathan, maybe I'm naive, but I don't agree with the statement "this power grab will be attempted under any Republican president elected in the foreseeable future." I think that just about everyone in the country views this election as the turning point. If Trump loses - and I think he will because his blood-lust and promises of retribution are too much for independents who make up the largest block of eligible voters - the Republican party will have to completely reassess its future path. But, as, I said, perhaps I'm just naive.

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No, Tom, I think you're basically right and that the full-on attack on democracy will recede if Trump loses. But this "unitary executive" theory is, unfortunately, here for quite a while. The best hope is that future Republicans in Congress won't want to dramatically expand presidential power when a Democrat is in the White House. Notice how the people planning this are looking toward a Trump Admn. They are not proposing bills to dramatically expand presidential power right now.

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True. I had read the NYT article previously and found it pretty chilling. A sort of black mass version of "prepare ye the way of the Lord." But as for the unitary executive theory, the real danger in it lies in permanent changes, and those would would apply to either a Republican or Democratic president. If congress hadn't devolved into the PLACE WHERE NOTHING GETS DONE, I wonder if it would have so many adherents. Again, a witches' brew of bad intent and incompetence but,, somehow, I have hope for the future. The serial failures of those very authoritarian governments which some Republican lionize will, I hope. cool some of right's enthusiasm.

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Jonathan Alter is right. Trump IS a serious danger to the rule of law in the US. I do not reference here the "D" of democracy, because "democracy" is NOT what the US is about. There are lots of "democracies," but the US Constitution is about the LIMITS placed on the powers of democracy, not their enhancements.

As someone else said, "democracy" is two lions and a gazelle deciding what to have for lunch! My own observation is that the PUREST form of "democracy" is a lynch mob, for everyone in attendance agrees on the outcome except for the victim. What is different about the US is the need to keep a leash on the majority and protect MINORITIES.

I think the best way to treat Donald Trump is to mock him and belittle him every chance available, but to take his intentions seriously; or completely ignore him. Don't give him the attention he craves. He is a buffoon, but a dangerous one. Anyone who ignores the opportunity to keep him out of the Presidency is worthless. He got 73 MILLION votes in 2020. Biden almost LOST!

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James Madison was concerned that “too much” democracy would lead to mob rule. So our constitutional form of government protects minority rights and creates limits on our representative government (senate and electoral college). Unfortunately, the result has become minoritarian rule. The government no longer reflects the majority will of its people. It reflects a minority of white uneducated, rural voters.

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"He is a buffoon, but a dangerous one" kinda sums it up....Thanks, Watkins...

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Biden won handsomely.

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I disagree.

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He won handsomely in the popular vote but, given our system, it was too much of a squeaker in the Electoral College. 306 to 232 may not sound like a squeaker, but with a view state carrying massive numbers of electoral votes, it was too close for comfort. And as you point out, 73 million votes (actually 74) for Trump is terrifying. However, I'd point out that 2020 was a pandemic year with all of the associated disruptions and dislocations to the American psyche. With the pandemic now tamed, and with room to breathe, I'm betting that bread and butter issues like jobs and the costs of the average grocery store basket of goods will be important drivers. Trump will try to rev up the electorate with culture war issues, but I think the concerns of most Americans (especially independents) will be more prosaic. And, speaking of culture issues, the Republicans' kamikaze doubling down on banning abortion won't help them out either. None of which takes away from your original point: Trump is a buffoon but a dangerous one and we ignore him at our peril.

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One big thing that we have going for us at this moment in time is our robust economy. If it slows down in the next twelve months though, voters will throw out the Biden administration in November 2024 and look to Republicans to change it. Of course that makes no sense, none whatsoever, but it's the American public we are dealing with here.

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We are, indeed, hostages to economic fortune....

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Perhaps another letter should be added. It appears a consensus within the Republican party is emerging to in one form or the other conduct military operations in Mexico.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/07/20/how-mexico-has-become-the-enemy-of-americas-republicans

Of course, drugs are a problem and have been for decades. But starting another hot war on our own border is insanity. Anyone who has paid any attention to how hot wars only become hotter whilst leading to unintended consequences should be appalled.

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Good point. Thanks, Trey...

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the demolish the deep state quote you cite is the last paragraph of the nytimes piece you referenced. when i first read it on the nytimes website, i came away saying it proved that no one hated the concept of the united states more than the former president.

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Hi, Dave...You're right. He truly doesn't give a shit about this country, only himself....

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I’m not sure the founding fathers predicted that one of the parties would give up its constitutional responsibility and become an authoritarian enabler. If we survive 2024, the big challenge will be to turn back this Republican authoritarian movement. Trump has lifted the veil on the fragility of our constitutional system of government that requires people of character to represent us. The president actually has unlimited power if the other branches of government cede that to him. This doesn’t go away in 2024. It’s just the beginning. Thank God the millennials and Gen Z, are just down the road. It will be up to them.

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Yes, and they mostly have their heads screwed on right. It's the white Boomers who are for Trump....

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Actually, in some ways, Trump has shown us the strength of our constitutional system. He and his lackeys have mounted a continuous assault on it since 2016 and, so far, the system has bent but no broken.

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Billy, your profile describes you as an ex-Republican who followed Reagan, Gingrich, and Limbaugh. Indeed, you've evolved and realized that there is no honorable future as a Republican in modern America. Welcome!

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I am an example that a person can evolve and grow and learn and change :) but I also understand that Republican world in a way that others don’t. I voted for Obama in 2008. It was the first time I voted for a Democrat. I left the party 15 years ago and never looked back.

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You have a lot of company....

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Jul 22, 2023·edited Jul 22, 2023

The coup plotter of the Roman Republic, Catiline, was denounced in the Roman Senate by the famous statesman and constitutionalist, Cicero, who had been elected as one of two senate consuls that year. Cicero's compelling rhetoric forced Catiline to flee the Senate and the city of Rome itself. (There is a famous modern fresco in Rome by Maccari that depicts the denunciation. Rick Wilson borrowed that historic image to use as his Twitter profile header a few years ago.) Unfortunately, the Roman Republic and its constitution died 36 years later, when Augustus (Octavian) was proclaimed as the first emperor of Rome.

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Thsnks, JoAnne....The more I read about Catiline, the more he reminds me of Trump...

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Catiline eventually died in battle surrounded by his hard-core supporters. Trump would simply run away (figuratively speaking - I doubt he's actually capable of "running."

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Jul 22, 2023·edited Jul 22, 2023

All freedom-loving Americans should be aware and proud that they are creating the immutable history of the world by the simple act of voting, while they still have that right.

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Maybe Biden should do what Trump wants to do so Dems can hold on to the power forever.

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The possibility of Trump’s election is so scary that at 83 years I may have to go door to door again in the pre-election weeks. I hope he is convicted prior to that time, but will his biased base care that he is a multi-felon? I fear not.

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Today would not be too early to go door-to-door to find the uninformed.

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