I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Is there a principled reason that trans bathroom policy should be made by states, but smoking pot should be criminalized at the federal level? If so, I'm not seeing it.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Is there a principled reason that trans bathroom policy should be made by states, but smoking pot should be criminalized at the federal level? If so, I'm not seeing it.

Principled? Of course not.

TM

[ferrets_bueller]

Further to my theory on the foreseeable pension collapse, today's news indicated that the Mayor of Detroit is shocked....shocked....to learn of the size of the problem. He now threatens to sue Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager who guide Detroit into some semblance of functionality.

While I don't know Orr well, we have met, and discussed problems of mutual concern. I can't see him as someone who, intentionally or otherwise, cooked the books, or hid the size of the looming pension deficit.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...nces/98302920/

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Is there a principled reason that trans bathroom policy should be made by states, but smoking pot should be criminalized at the federal level? If so, I'm not seeing it.

One wonders why, if protecting kids in bathrooms from... other kids, is so important, why our brave Commander in Chief doesn't affirmative act to do so rather than leave it up to the sanctuary cities he hates.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller

Further to my theory on the foreseeable pension collapse, today's news indicated that the Mayor of Detroit is shocked....shocked....to learn of the size of the problem. He now threatens to sue Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager who guide Detroit into some semblance of functionality.

While I don't know Orr well, we have met, and discussed problems of mutual concern. I can't see him as someone who, intentionally or otherwise, cooked the books, or hid the size of the looming pension deficit.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...nces/98302920/

People said the same about Madoff tho.

That's what makes a con man so good.

[Pretty Little Flower]

CNN, NY Times and LA Times are all blocked from White House press conference. I almost wish Sebastian were still here so we could see what pathetic absurdist bullshit he would spray out his ass in an attempt to justify this major goosestep toward totalitarianism.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

CNN, NY Times and LA Times are all blocked from White House press conference. I almost wish Sebastian were still here so we could see what pathetic absurdist bullshit he would spray out his ass in an attempt to justify this major goosestep toward totalitarianism.

I have tried to avoid calling Trump a fascist, but I don't know how you get around it now.

TM

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I have tried to avoid calling Trump a fascist, but I don't know how you get around it now.

TM

I with you. You start calling someone a fascist because they have policies you don't like, you devalue the word. But how long until we have a state-sponsored press?

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

I with you. You start calling someone a fascist because they have policies you don't like, you devalue the word. But how long until we have a state-sponsored press?

You mean other than Breitbart? (I debated including Fox News here, but decided not to because Rupert Murdoch's media is whatever Rupert Murdoch wants it to be. Which can change.)

I'd say that Trump is an instinctive fascist. He has people around him who are deliberately fascist and others (thank God for the generals) who - so far - are keeping things somewhat Not Fascist.

Speaking of fascism, someone pointed me to a 20 year old essay by Umberto Eco on fascism. Remarkable.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Nice job, Washington Post.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Not Bob

I'd say that Trump is an instinctive fascist.

Trump is a moron. And as the richest person in his circle, this means he wants everyone to just do what he says and not question him, because he can't handle it. Someone like that has a lot in common with a fascit, regardless of his politics and who's around him.

He has people around him who are deliberately fascist

Funny how these people gravitated toward him.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Adder

Trump is a moron. And as the richest person in his circle, this means he wants everyone to just do what he says and not question him, because he can't handle it. Someone like that has a lot in common with a fascit, regardless of his politics and who's around him.



Funny how these people gravitated toward him.

While there certainly are a lot of parallels between Trump and fascism, I don't think it helps things to use that label. It doesn't tend to persuade, particularly since fascism is widely understood as a European phenomenon. Better to be specific about Trump's authoritarianism, and to make sure that what is doing sticks to the Republican Party, as in the end they will try to weasel away from him, as they did with George W. Bush. I have respect for the few principled conservatives who continue to oppose him, but most conservatives and Republicans have not only made their peace with him but are fully on board. Trump is more popular right now with Republicans than Reagan was, even as the rest of the country rejects him. Don't call him fascist -- call him Republican.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

While there certainly are a lot of parallels between Trump and fascism, I don't think it helps things to use that label. It doesn't tend to persuade, particularly since fascism is widely understood as a European phenomenon. Better to be specific about Trump's authoritarianism, and to make sure that what is doing sticks to the Republican Party, as in the end they will try to weasel away from him, as they did with George W. Bush. I have respect for the few principled conservatives who continue to oppose him, but most conservatives and Republicans have not only made their peace with him but are fully on board. Trump is more popular right now with Republicans than Reagan was, even as the rest of the country rejects him. Don't call him fascist -- call him Republican.

Just curious, what do you think separates him from fascism?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Just curious, what do you think separates him from fascism?

"Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos." I don't think Trump has many beliefs, or an ideology. I think he has impulses, but hasn't done the intellectual work to turn them into a system of beliefs. Also, he is essentially a narcissist, and that his narcissism, when put in the top government job, drives him and others around him to a sort of crude authoritarianism, but it doesn't have the ambition to be totalitarianism. One of Trump's problems is that there are very few people he can or will trust, and he has a whole government to staff, which obviously isn't working well. Other Republicans (and especially those who were previously part of government) are mostly not into his cult of personality, which is why he doesn't trust them and also why it's important to tie them to him. If Trump believed in something larger than himself, he could leverage those beliefs to win the support and loyalty of those around him, but he doesn't and so struggles with that.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

"Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos." I don't think Trump has many beliefs, or an ideology. I think he has impulses, but hasn't done the intellectual work to turn them into a system of beliefs. Also, he is essentially a narcissist, and that his narcissism, when put in the top government job, drives him and others around him to a sort of crude authoritarianism, but it doesn't have the ambition to be totalitarianism. One of Trump's problems is that there are very few people he can or will trust, and he has a whole government to staff, which obviously isn't working well. Other Republicans (and especially those who were previously part of government) are mostly not into his cult of personality, which is why he doesn't trust them and also why it's important to tie them to him. If Trump believed in something larger than himself, he could leverage those beliefs to win the support and loyalty of those around him, but he doesn't and so struggles with that.

tl;dr. He's got narcissism of a dictator, but is too stupid and lazy to be a fascist.