Trump 2.0 won't be as bad as they say

[TragicMonkey]

That business about gutting the civil service and replacing everyone with loyalists to himself seems pretty bad. The best case scenario from that is just incompetence. More likely kleptocracy and corruption.

 

[Random]

I agree; despite the rhetoric, Trump will only make modest changes here and there. He'll fiddle with putting more tariffs on Chinese goods, and he might deport a few thousand illegals. Don't forget too that he will be a lame duck from the day he takes office.

That said, I really want him off the stage, and losing for a second time should result in him getting gonged (although I thought the same about him losing the first time).

Right. He won't have to care about re-election, or poll numbers, or any of that stuff.

Being a "Lame Duck" just means he would have nothing left to lose.

 

[acbytesla]

I agree; despite the rhetoric, Trump will only make modest changes here and there. He'll fiddle with putting more tariffs on Chinese goods, and he might deport a few thousand illegals. Don't forget too that he will be a lame duck from the day he takes office.

That said, I really want him off the stage, and losing for a second time should result in him getting gonged (although I thought the same about him losing the first time).

I think of the damage that Trump did in his first term and know he can do far more damage in a second term. The only thing positive about Trump having another term is that he's lazy and stupid. He sees himself as a dictator and surrounds himself with self serving sycophants.

It's a mistake to depend on "it won't be that bad" mentality. Time and time again throughout history it's been proven that yes it can. It can in fact be much worse.

 

[Resume]

Nah, he won't/can't do fill in the blank.

 

[dirtywick]

Who's to say? I've never been able to predict the future. I unfortunately didn't fill out my requisition for a crystal ball.

What I do know is people didn't have a clue about the damage Hitler could do before it was too late.

And NAZI Germany isn't just some wild outlier, the same is true about Stalin in the USSR, Franco in Spain, Mussolini in Italy, Mao in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Pinochet in Chile, Robespierre in France, Amin in Uganda, Saddamm Hussein in Iraq . Or Putin in today's Russia. A half a million of Russia's young men are dead because of Trump's buddy in Moscow. The list goes on and on of wannabe dictators getting power and damaging their countries for decades.

I can only go on what Trump and MAGA politicians have said they will do. Which is pretty god damn horrible.

i can't help but wonder if saying what he'll do, then already trying to do what he said once isn't enough, what the big tell would be for those skeptical that trump attempt to plunge america into a christian dictatorship would be?

like, if trump did "blank" then i'd start to worry. fill in the blank that's not something he has already done.

 

[Thermal]

I think of the damage that Trump did in his first term and know he can do far more damage in a second term. The only thing positive about Trump having another term is that he's lazy and stupid. He sees himself as a dictator and surrounds himself with self serving sycophants.

It's a mistake to depend on "it won't be that bad" mentality. Time and time again throughout history it's been proven that yes it can. It can in fact be much worse.

But Trump.is unique in that he is weak, and he is stupid, and has no other aspirations than to be told how wonderful he is. That's an empty and impotent fascist. He's a little boy that wants badly to be popular, but will never throw a punch. As long as people line up to fondle his balls, he won't do anything one way or the other except talk about how people line up to fondle his balls. That's the only reason I don't worry much about him doing anything. I worry about the Legions of Stupid that have found their voice and aren't ashamed of their bigotry much. Trump is a figurehead for them now, but they'll drop him without a second thought if a more charismatic leader comes along. The specter of a Trump v2 causes me to lose sleep at night.

 

[dirtywick]

wouldn't you say he's super easy to manipulate?

 

[Thermal]

Not really. He could be, but no one seems to want to. They run parallel instead.

 

[dirtywick]

what do you mean, he's constantly being manipulated. you can just give him money and he'll say and do what it is you asked.

 

[Thermal]

Manipulated to no ends. He'll be pushed one way today, and the opposite tomorrow. Whatever you manipulate him into, someone else will be manipulating him in another direction. Then he'll abruptly drop you both to hawk gold sneakers. When you have no principles, you're hard to successfully manage.

Eta: manipulation requires the subject to have substance to control. He's empty.

 

[acbytesla]

But Trump.is unique in that he is weak, and he is stupid, and has no other aspirations than to be told how wonderful he is. That's an empty and impotent fascist. He's a little boy that wants badly to be popular, but will never throw a punch. As long as people line up to fondle his balls, he won't do anything one way or the other except talk about how people line up to fondle his balls. That's the only reason I don't worry much about him doing anything. I worry about the Legions of Stupid that have found their voice and aren't ashamed of their bigotry much. Trump is a figurehead for them now, but they'll drop him without a second thought if a more charismatic leader comes along. The specter of a Trump v2 causes me to lose sleep at night.

He's not weak if he's leading the most powerful country on earth. He said today he has no intention of supporting our NATO allies. And our president's chief responsibility is foreign policy. He doesn't have to be physically strong to tell others what to do. And he loves doing that.

 

[Donal]

the position is powerful, but he'll always be a weakling.

 

[I Am The Scum]

It has gotten beyond tiresome to constantly be told that the guy who explicitly says he wants to do a bunch of terrible things probably won't be able to accomplish his goals of doing those terrible things, so everything is fine.

It's like if the guy down the street with a stockpile of weapons has threatened to shoot you and your entire family multiple times, but then your neighbors say, "Don't worry! He has really bad aim. You'll be fine."

 

[thaiboxerken]

no way trump is well enough to run in 2028 and i don't see how the maga political movement survives without him. maybe jd vance or mike johnson or hulk hogan can razzle dazzle the maga base to keep it going. i just don't see it.

Trump said he would not run in 2028 if he loses. So, we know he won't. He's basically an honest person, therefore we know we can take his word for it....

 

[Segnosaur]

Manipulated to no ends. He'll be pushed one way today, and the opposite tomorrow. Whatever you manipulate him into, someone else will be manipulating him in another direction.

Problem is, in his first term there were at least a few "rational" people who provided the necessary pushback.

His second administration will likely be filled with even more extreme MAGAchud bootlickers.

Gone will be Bill Barr (aka discount Fred Flintstone and) and Jeff Sessions (who were both corrupt but at least occasionally showed some backbone) and instead you will have Attorney General Sidney "The Kraken" Powell who will cater to all of Trump's whims. Gone will be the Rex Tillerson (who recognized Trump as a "moron") and you will have Secretary of State Michael Flynn.

Instead of having his associates act in contradictory ways, it will be a case of people pushing him in the same direction.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

"I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”

— Walter Sobchak, The Big Lebowski


Trump doesn't have an ethos, but he does love holding Court.

 

[dirtywick]

He's not weak if he's leading the most powerful country on earth. He said today he has no intention of supporting our NATO allies. And our president's chief responsibility is foreign policy. He doesn't have to be physically strong to tell others what to do. And he loves doing that.

i just don't buy that when you hand a guy with insatiable greed and no principles tremendous power that he'll be so overwhelmed by all the conflicting deals he'll be making trying to line his own pockets that it will all cancel out and everything will just kind of work out fine for everyone else.

 

[acbytesla]

— Walter Sobchak, The Big Lebowski


Trump doesn't have an ethos, but he does love holding Court.

Oh yes he does have an ethos. Insatiable thirst for wealth and power and a willingness to sacrifice anyone and everyone to quench that thirst.

 

[thaiboxerken]

Problem is, in his first term there were at least a few "rational" people who provided the necessary pushback.

His second administration will likely be filled with even more extreme MAGAchud bootlickers.

Gone will be Bill Barr (aka discount Fred Flintstone and) and Jeff Sessions (who were both corrupt but at least occasionally showed some backbone) and instead you will have Attorney General Sidney "The Kraken" Powell who will cater to all of Trump's whims. Gone will be the Rex Tillerson (who recognized Trump as a "moron") and you will have Secretary of State Michael Flynn.

Instead of having his associates act in contradictory ways, it will be a case of people pushing him in the same direction.

There is no guessing needed as to what MAGA intends to do if they take over the government. It's called Project 2025 and they've put it all in writing.

 

[Stacyhs]

The amount of 'head in the sand' denialism I'm reading here from some members about the extent of damage another Trump presidency can, and likely will do, is mind boggling. Trump is not only a malignant narcissist, a greedy, pathological liar but devoid of empathy or concern for anyone or anything other than himself. He's a vengeful, hateful, petty man-child. I'd say open your damn eyes but the old adage "None is so blind as he who will not see" is being proved yet again.