Trump is my favourite comedian of the year already (19 Viewers)

Mucca Mad Boys

Well-Known Member
He's only been in charge a month. Give him a chance! There has already been Republicans saying the two term limit should be abolished.

As for needing a supermajority, of course he will look for a way around it. Republicans control the House and the Senate. Trump has personally picked three of nine Supreme Court judges and by the end of the term could well have picked 5. A court that has already ruled that the President is effectively beyond the law. Plus the Republicans are looking to replace lots of judges in lower courts with Trump followers. Not to mention the purge on civil servants to be replaced by Trump supporters (if they are replaced at all). He's already going a long way to abolishing any oversight of the President. He's basically allowed someone not elected to have access to the information of pretty much all US departments and is pretty much saying that he can fire as many people as he wants on a whim. Do those sound like checks and balances to you?

In principal, I’m not against term limits. We don’t have them in the UK?

The US system is different to ours, all US secretaries of state are appointed by the president and they’re not elected unlike our cabinet ministers. Every president’s administration is run by some unelected ministers. This isn’t abnormal. In the UK, you cannot serve in government without being in Parliament either as an MP or Lord.

On the Supreme Court, it was actually Biden who was accused of attempting to pack the US Supreme Court because it was too conservative for his liking. That is, if anything, more ‘dictatorial’ than the happenstance of snapchat justices dying/resigning in office. Events were indeed fortunate for Trump because as you point out, he’s picked 3 already and could have another 1-2. Had those justices been selected by Obama-Clinton-Biden (in alternate timelines) and the SC, would that be dictatorial? Of course not. This is because the constitution states that the President of USA selects Supreme Court justices, irrespective of who happens to hold the office.

Reversing the 3 term limit opens up a 3rd Obama candidacy and if he were to win a 3rd term, no one would consider him to be dictatorial. Ironically, crackpots on the hysteric right believed Obama would find a way to run for a 3rd term.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
In principal, I’m not against term limits. We don’t have them in the UK?

The US system is different to ours, all US secretaries of state are appointed by the president and they’re not elected unlike our cabinet ministers. Every president’s administration is run by some unelected ministers. This isn’t abnormal. In the UK, you cannot serve in government without being in Parliament either as an MP or Lord.

On the Supreme Court, it was actually Biden who was accused of attempting to pack the US Supreme Court because it was too conservative for his liking. That is, if anything, more ‘dictatorial’ than the happenstance of snapchat justices dying/resigning in office. Events were indeed fortunate for Trump because as you point out, he’s picked 3 already and could have another 1-2. Had those justices been selected by Obama-Clinton-Biden (in alternate timelines) and the SC, would that be dictatorial? Of course not. This is because the constitution states that the President of USA selects Supreme Court justices, irrespective of who happens to hold the office.

Reversing the 3 term limit opens up a 3rd Obama candidacy and if he were to win a 3rd term, no one would consider him to be dictatorial. Ironically, crackpots on the hysteric right believed Obama would find a way to run for a 3rd term.
You've completely swallowed the Joe Rogan kool aid.
 

Sky_Blue_Dreamer

Well-Known Member
On the Supreme Court, it was actually Biden who was accused of attempting to pack the US Supreme Court because it was too conservative for his liking. That is, if anything, more ‘dictatorial’ than the happenstance of snapchat justices dying/resigning in office. Events were indeed fortunate for Trump because as you point out, he’s picked 3 already and could have another 1-2. Had those justices been selected by Obama-Clinton-Biden (in alternate timelines) and the SC, would that be dictatorial? Of course not. This is because the constitution states that the President of USA selects Supreme Court justices, irrespective of who happens to hold the office.
The things I was bringing was as a response to the 'checks and balances' in place. How can it be a check or a balance when the executive branch can effectively choose all of the people at the top of the judicial branch who overrule all other courts? And with the legislative branch being along party lines same as the President then a President can effectively control that too, assuming both houses are of the same party as him, as they currently are.

So those checks and balances can be overcome in a legal way and I honestly think we are going to see them stretched to their absolute limits over the next five years. I just how they're strong enough to withstand it, but I have my fears.

As for Biden being accused of attempting to pack the US Supreme Court, it almost laughable. Maybe he was accused, but doesn't make it an actual fact does it? Who was it that accused him? Chances are it's the likes of Mitch McConnell and his lackeys doing the 'look over there' tactic because they've spent a long time trying to choose as many judges at as many levels as possible, even deliberately holding up an Obama pick for a ridiculous amount of time so the following President got to choose, which ended up being Trump.
 

SkyBlueDom26

Well-Known Member
City win again and trump still has everyone on here crying, another great weekend! Long may it continue

Donald Trump Sport GIF by UFC
 

Mucca Mad Boys

Well-Known Member
The things I was bringing was as a response to the 'checks and balances' in place. How can it be a check or a balance when the executive branch can effectively choose all of the people at the top of the judicial branch who overrule all other courts? And with the legislative branch being along party lines same as the President then a President can effectively control that too, assuming both houses are of the same party as him, as they currently are.

So those checks and balances can be overcome in a legal way and I honestly think we are going to see them stretched to their absolute limits over the next five years. I just how they're strong enough to withstand it, but I have my fears.

As for Biden being accused of attempting to pack the US Supreme Court, it almost laughable. Maybe he was accused, but doesn't make it an actual fact does it? Who was it that accused him? Chances are it's the likes of Mitch McConnell and his lackeys doing the 'look over there' tactic because they've spent a long time trying to choose as many judges at as many levels as possible, even deliberately holding up an Obama pick for a ridiculous amount of time so the following President got to choose, which ended up being Trump.

There you go, my argument about an essentially that the US system is robust to withstand dictatorial tendencies from any party, blue or red.

If you look at genuine fascists countries in the past, their contexts are very different from what exists in the US today. Moreover, even if you take Trumpism at its worse, he wouldn’t prevail in consolidating his power as a dictator because my fundamental belief is that there’s too many roadblocks for any US president to establish themselves as a dictator. Again, irrespective of party.

I don’t particularly like Trump, I’ll be honest and say I preferred him to Harris and Biden but I’m not enamoured by him by any stretch of the imagine.

I just see this idea that he’s fascists on a par as the same right wing crackpots who genuinely believed Obama was a communist dictator in waiting. Both views being as ridiculous as the other.

There’s no Rogan kool aid here.
 

Sky_Blue_Dreamer

Well-Known Member
There you go, my argument about an essentially that the US system is robust to withstand dictatorial tendencies from any party, blue or red.

If you look at genuine fascists countries in the past, their contexts are very different from what exists in the US today. Moreover, even if you take Trumpism at its worse, he wouldn’t prevail in consolidating his power as a dictator because my fundamental belief is that there’s too many roadblocks for any US president to establish themselves as a dictator. Again, irrespective of party.

I don’t particularly like Trump, I’ll be honest and say I preferred him to Harris and Biden but I’m not enamoured by him by any stretch of the imagine.

I just see this idea that he’s fascists on a par as the same right wing crackpots who genuinely believed Obama was a communist dictator in waiting. Both views being as ridiculous as the other.

There’s no Rogan kool aid here.
You may well be right, but it's a system that you can see is not entirely infallible as there isn't actual independent of the other branches.

The situation we find ourselves in now is one that would be deemed unlikely to occur, but it has. And under one of the worst people it could have happened under.

1. We have a Supreme Court that could have over half its members chosen by the sitting President.
2. We have a House and Senate under control of the President's party and are basically toeing his line because of his populism.
3. Most crucially, we have a President who doesn't care one iota about democracy, rights or rule of law and will do everything he can to undermine them for his own benefit.

And when one of those benefits is not ending up in prison or being sued for tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars then he has a massive incentive to do so.

Look at what he did after the last election - that gives you a really big clue about what he thinks of democracy. You'd think a country apparently so big on idemocracy would look down pretty badly on actions like that and at the very least bar him from running in future - they didn't. Look at some of the things he said during his campaign about who he was going to go after if he won. Look at the kind of people he is putting in positions of power while undermining or getting rid of others far more competent but don't toe his line. Look at the amount he is dismantling oversight of the President. Look at how he's convinced the Supreme Court to basically say no-one in the country has the right to challenge the President.

And what is more worrying he has an army of fanatical followers who have shown they are willing to put him above the country and could well be convinced to go along with this as it will be sold to them as 'democracy' and 'the will of the people' when it is anything but.

This is going to be a huge battle for the US and while you seem pretty sure that it can pass that test. I'm merely hopeful at this point.
 

chiefdave

Well-Known Member
This is insane but does track with what Musk did when he took over twitter which was a fucking disaster for the functionally of the platform.

US government workers received an email on Saturday afternoon asking them to list their accomplishments from the past week or resign - the latest development in the Trump administration's efforts targeting the federal workforce.

The email came after billionaire Trump confidante Elon Musk tweeted that employees would "shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week".

"Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation," he wrote.
 

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