Are we closer to a dictatorship today than a year ago?

[kentuck]

Perhaps I am just paranoid but our institutions appear to be weaker, in my opinion.

What else can Donald Trump do to abuse his power?

The Democrats look weak but the Republicans look invisible. Republicans do not want to be part of the debate about whether our democracy will survive or how much it is now threatened?

I am hearing Democrats talk about passing legislation to prevent future presidents from abusing his power and breaking the laws the present occupant is so busy doing. That sounds like surrender.

It is important that we keep the channels of communication open. It is important that we do not go silent. We must continue to speak up. Your voice is important and necessary.

[stopbush]

1. The short answer is yes.

[dhol82]

2. Yes

Bigly.

[rampartc]

3. i think so

last summer there were still a few adults on trump's staff. I think he moved them along until all we have is family and sycophants. trump has proven to his people that he really can get away with anything, now he merely does whatever he wishes with impunity.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

17. This is I guess

what "Letting Trump be Trump" ultimately looks like.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. I'm farther down the road from you

Our Republic has fallen.

[hurple]

5. Yes

Why?

Because with all he has done, nobody has taken any steps to hold him accountable. As each day passes he becomes more emboldened.

We should be marching in the streets by the millions demanding he step down. Everyday. Not just on a Saturday here and there when it doesn't interfere with your TV schedule.

[Kaleva]

14. Why aren't you marching every day?

If the threat is as serious as you say, it would be normal for you to respond with vigor and great effort. If there is no threat, then one does little.

[hurple]

21. I'd be out there by myself

Lots of good that would do.

FYI... I have tried to organize. I've been the first 9ne there and the last to leave... for all the good that did.

[Kaleva]

24. Kudos to you for at least trying!

[Turbineguy]

6. Well, the Defence Department is running cyberops against Russia

and not telling trump.

Just because trump thinks he can do anything he wants, does not mean we are in a dictatorship.

Telling the World that this is going on actually helps the Real US.

Trump is in charge of his tweets, and not too much else.

[RKP5637]

7. Yes, IMO! And also a wake up call IMO that our democracy is not as secure as often thought.

And a significant indication that some of the laws, etc. governing our democracy need to be re-thought, perhaps changed and likely new ones added. Trump, like it or not, has clearly demonstrated the US democracy is not infallible to a hostile takeover. IMO, Trump is an enemy of the US democracy. What is even more outrageous is how the GOP is hiding and letting whatever happen with hardly a peep. What cowards! The GOP is willing to sellout the US Democracy for their personal gains. Gutless!!!

[kentuck]

8. Democracies around the world are under assault...

From huge corporate interests, wealthy oligarchs, and international criminals. They are similar to an Axis from previous times, in my opinion.

The threat is very real.

[RKP5637]

19. Hmmmm, yep ... the global consciousness shifting from democracies to autocratic institutions.

... absolute monarchies and dictatorships. It reminds me of when one thing often happens in one corner of the universe, similar things sometime happen in another corner with seemingly no direct connection ... 6th sense, 7th, whatever. Yeah, I get the eerie feeling the global consciousness wants to return to times long gone of horrific dictators and monarchies. IMO tRump is the seed for much of it. As our democracy fails the leadership by a democracy is failing. People are really fucked up these days. A lot of the US is sometimes a horror show ... mass killings, the trampling of civil rights ... really illogical thinking and stupid/dire/horrific consequences. In my time, I have never seen/felt a fear of the future for this country ... and it's current state.

[CrispyQ]

9. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean you're wrong.

To paraphrase an old saying.

I'm scared shitless we aren't coming back from this. Not in my lifetime anyway. And with climate change barreling down the pike it's not looking good for homo sapiens.

[Turin_C3PO]

11. A Democratic President with a Democratic Senate and House

can undone most of his damage (except for judges, unfortunately). We just need to show up to vote in great enough numbers that they can’t steal it.

So take heart! The power is ultimately in our hands.

[Stuart G]

37. Yes, we need to show up and vote. It is really up to all those 60 percent opposed to Trump.

No, we are not closer to a dictatorship.

[democratisphere]

10. Sure we are.

But that will soon change.

[mopinko]

12. yes and no. more like we are drifting, leaderless.

that we apparently do not have a commander-in-chief is disturbing, even considering the current nominal occupant of the office.
the vacancies in the layers below that are even more disturbing.

we could drift anywhere, but i fear gravity will pull us down further and further.

[TwilightZone]

13. Oh, good. More "Dems are weak" nonsense.

"Dems are weak"

"Dems are surrendering"

Thanks for this. We haven't had enough of it here on DU lately. I had forgotten that everything was the Democrats' fault since the last ten thousand times it was posted.





--Sarcasm, in case it isn't blatantly obvious.

[Brainfodder]

15. More people are going to snap from this corruption and nonsense?

This is a slippery slope, there have been plenty of assassinations and attempts in the past, why do they think they are safe enough to use HATE AND FEAR tactics so nonchalantly?

They are on the violent prone side, is that why?

[Thomas Hurt]

16. At first I thought Trump was a fascist and malignant narcissist but incompetent.

Now he has made it clear through behavior and tweets he is toying with the idea of dictatorship.

The freak thinks he can be the Putin of America.

It is time to stop dancing around that fact, just as we stopped dancing around him being a pathological liar.

He is utterly amoral, a little paranoid and delusional.

Whatever happens with the impeachment.........it still remains that Trump has to be defeated in the election.

He must be a one term loser.

[RKP5637]

20. Exactly IMO too! "The freak thinks he can be the Putin of America." n/t

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. He is like a toddler

being enabled by permissive, overindulging parents (i.e. Senate Republicans). I don't think he is actually competent enough to install a dictatorship/authoritarian regime a la Putin but he needs to be held accountable, which he has so far been incredibly resistant to (but that's been a lifelong issue regarding Trump, now it's spread to the federal government and Presidency)

[superpatriotman]

22. Yes

And all the accomplices and enablers have shown themselves.

[Claritie Pixie]

23. On any other day I might say "yes" to that question.

Today though, I'm believing that the good in the world and the people who do it are outpacing the bad. The bad grabs attention and the good is quiet so it's easy to get discouraged.

Especially when those doing the bad plant seeds of their future hateful deeds out there for us to obsess over. Trump does it all the time.

We know he wants to be a dictator and that he's actively trying to make it happen, with help. Don't start believing he's unstoppable.

[kentuck]

25. Thanks for the advice, Claritie Pixie.

It's easy to get down sometimes.

We must continue to speak out.

[Claritie Pixie]

31. Welcome! It is easy - but we must remember Trump's a loser.

Always has been, always will be. We should all commit to refusing to be emotionally manipulated by him.

He does it to his followers, and he does it to us, just in different ways. I'm done playing his game.

Speak out, act when you can, and remember he's a loser and will never win.

[dewsgirl]

26. 100 percent

[Raster]

27. Yes...

...unfortunately.

[Enoki33]

28. No, l do not think we are any closer to a dictatorship. It may appear

so only because the possibility has been more widely perceived. Admittedly our institutions have been weakened and corruption is rampant, but the basic value of what America is really all about, despite the barrage of lies and betrayal of the Republicans, remains essentially intact. That does not mean there are not more dangerous times ahead. tRump will increasingly be behaving like a cornered criminal, and he is capable of doing anything to try to ensure his wealth and survival. There are still vital groups of good people in government.

[Blue_Tires]

29. Yes, next question

[ADX]

30. Every day that this lunatic goes un-checked...

...brings us one day closer to dictatorship...

[old guy]

34. Sorry.

Didn't mean to step on your post. Didn't read everything I saw close enough.

[old guy]

32. Yes.

Every day that goes by with little being done to stop it brings us one day closer.

[hack89]

33. No. nt

[brooklynite]

35. I have lived in a Dictatorship. THIS IS NOT ONE...

The mere fact that you're hanging out here publicly complaining speaks to that point.

[Turin_C3PO]

36. No, but Trump's trying.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist but this is different. Many constitutional experts agree that Trump is severely weakening our institutions by means of executive power, a corrupt DOJ, and a rubber stamp Senate. Our hopes lie in the Judiciary system to ultimately curb his power grab.

We shall see.

[Celerity]

38. obviously we are not there yet, but the seeds are being potentially planted

As I type this Rump is on telly claiming Article 2 of the US Constitution allows him to do whatever he wants, and if he loads up the SCOTUS post re-election to a 7-2 or 8-1 hard RW stooge level, plus has McTurtle and the Rethugs running complete congressional blockage (or even worse, full proactive complicity IF they also somehow claw back the House) for him, it quite possibly could devolve into a soft dictatorship.

[Locrian]

40. yes - my feeling exactly

If we do not remove and CORRECT the issues we are just asking for a future "smart" version of trump that knows how to stoke the fears and anger to take power.

We have to change the course dramatically and clearly - not just try to get to some "non version of trump", or something that takes us back to the past that LED TO TRUMP in the first place.

[ananda]

39. We were at dictatorship the minute MF45 took office.

nt