Something that has been bothering me: just how bad would a President Trump or

[KingCharlemagne]

President Cruz be, presiding over a (presumably) Republican Congress with the power to appoint members of SCOTUS and the federal judiciary (with few or no blocks to their confirmation)? Would there be any remaining institutional checks on a President Trump or Cruz?

One of my Socialist comrades posted this in response to my stating my fears: "one party temporarily holding a strong majority (does not) mean a 'one-party fascist state' ". He pooh-poohs the idea that a President Trump or Cruz would be demonstrably worse than a President Sanders or Clinton. He therefore implies that I am letting my fears get the best of my good sense.

So why am I so frightened of a Trump or Cruz presidency? Are my fears overblown? Or am I correct to be scared shitless?

[shraby]

1. That scenario is precisely why the process to change the constitution is so arduous, with

the states and the congress involved.
The idiots you named cannot do much on their own, or even with the help of congress. They need a majority of the states to also agree.

[KingCharlemagne]

4. I understand your point, but would remind you that the Weimar Republic

also had a constitution (of sorts) but that did not stop Hitler from getting his Enabling Act passed.

The Enabling Act (German: Ermächtigungsgesetz) was a 1933 Weimar Constitution amendment that gave the German Cabinet – in effect, Chancellor Adolf Hitler – the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag. It passed in both the Reichstag and Reichsrat on 24 March 1933, and was signed by President Paul von Hindenburg later that day. The act stated that it was to last four years unless renewed by the Reichstag, which occurred twice. The Enabling Act gave Hitler plenary powers. It followed on the heels of the Reichstag Fire Decree, which abolished most civil liberties and transferred state powers to the Reich government. The combined effect of the two laws was to transform Hitler's government into a de facto legal dictatorship.

The formal name of the Enabling Act was Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich (English: "Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich&quot . This legislation was ostensibly passed at the Kroll Opera House, where the legislators were surrounded by, and threatened by, members of SA and SS. The Communists had already been banned and were therefore not present and not able to vote, while several Social Democrats were kept away as well. In the end, nearly all the parties present voted for the act, with the Social Democrats being the only ones voting against.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933 (Emphasis added)

[dembotoz]

2. well take a gawk at wisconsin and its idiot gov and assembly and senate

now that they have gotten the hang of it

it really is bad

[KingCharlemagne]

3. I guess what I'm wondering is whether it is 1933 Germany bad or something in between

that and the Bush Junta.

[Maedhros]

5. You are so frightened of a Trump or Cruz presidency because the Democratic Party's

sole campaign strategy is to make you so afraid of the Republicans that you don't look too closely at the Democrats' capitulation to corporate America.

To paraphrase from Aaron Sorkin's The American President (1995):

(The Establishment Democrats') problem isn't that (they don't) get it. (Their) problem is that (they) can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, (Establishment Democrats are) not the least bit interested in solving it. (They are) interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

[KingCharlemagne]

8. Hold up there a sec. I'm a real Democratic Socialist and not a faux one like the

Social Democrat Bernie Sanders.

So unless you are using the 'you' rhetorically and not for me personally, I'm all too aware of the Democratic Party's devil's dance with capitalism.

That said, I would remind you that Hitler first eliminated the Socialists and Communists before he turned his attention and malevolence to the Jews and other "undesirables". So there is more than a little self-interest involved in my post.

[Maedhros]

12. Yes - it was intended as a universal 'you.'

I agree with your friend: our fear of a Trump/Cruz Presidency is probably worse than the actuality. Prediction as argument is fraught with error.

Would it be bad? Of course. Will it be THE WORST THING EVER AAAGGHHHHH!!!!! ?? Probably not.

[KingCharlemagne]

13. Hmm. I do appreciate your calming perspective. If I hadn't seen footage of

those Trump rallies (and Trump's defense of his supporters afterwards), I doubt I would be quite as worried.

California is so thoroughly blue throughout (except of pockets of red) that I have a hard time envisioning Trump or Cruz actually implementing the ethnic cleansing they hint at here. But, I'm sure residents of Berlin in 1933 pooh-poohed the possibility that things would get as bad as they did.

[Maedhros]

21. I suspect that establishment Republicans will find a way to undercut Trump.

They've been chafing under the lunacy of the Tea Party for years now - they created a monster, and lost control of it. I doubt they want to give Trump the keys to the kingdom.

Consider the cannon shot that the National Review just fired across Trump's bow:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/trump-nationalreview-218079

National Review is dedicating a special issue of its magazine, one week before the Iowa caucuses, to stopping Trump. “Against Trump,” blares the magazine cover. Inside, a blistering editorial questions Trump's commitment to conservatism, warning voters that backing him is tantamount to allowing the conservative movement to have “fallen in behind a huckster.”

"Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones,” the editorial reads.

I agree that Trump's rhetoric is about as disgusting as is possible for an American politician, and the fact that he can openly call for Nazi policies and be cheered is indicative of a problem that is bigger than Trump himself. But our system of government is not quite as shaky as the Weimar Republic - yet.

[KingCharlemagne]

24. yeah, Weimar was marked in its latter years by much

structural instability. Add to which the fact that Weimar was still in its infancy, whereas the U.S. is at least in adolescence (perhaps perpetual, eh?

[MariaThinks]

16. really? A supreme court filled with 7 scalias is not scary? they will remove

union rights, dismantle all worker protections, get rid of ACA and any hope of single pay medicine, remove environmental protections.

I'm not sure what would scare you.

Since I'm in the top .5% i'll benefit financially, but will feel bad for the rest of the country and the world.

[liberal N proud]

6. One only needs to look at the disasterous period when bu$h and Cheney started 2 wars

That would give us a glimpse of how bad it would be, wars, recessions and poverty beyond compare would be the expectation if Trump or Cruz get in the Oval Office.

Your fears are not overblown.

[KingCharlemagne]

10. Thank you. I'm trying not to freak out too much but I know too much

Last edited Fri Jan 22, 2016, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

history to remain entirely sanguine (as I did to my regret in 2000).

I think prudence suggests we hope for the best but plan for the worst. But I'm still noodling on this.

[phantom power]

7. Well, if guys like Cruz temporarily controlled all 3 branches of govt...

they could undo basically everything good that happened in the last 100 years, if they so chose.

They could destroy social security. They could get us into some more endless wars. They could sell off every acre of federal land to extraction industries. They could make abortion and birth control illegal....

I'm sure I'm forgetting some good stuff, but you get the idea.

And that's assuming they don't just take control, "handmaid's tale" style, or Nazi style. In my opinion, anybody who thinks Trump wouldn't attempt that isn't paying attention to what he's saying and doing, and what his fans are like.

[KingCharlemagne]

11. Yeah, it looks like my and your thoughts trend in the same gloomy direction. Not

sure where to go from here, but I appreciate your thoughts and they echo some of my own.

[HughBeaumont]

9. The last time "All Three Branches" happened was George W and all the disaster that came with it.

Need we say more?

[Maedhros]

22. Yet the country survived.

Heck, we even progressed on some issues (e.g. LGBTQ rights). In spite of, not as a result of, Bush of course.

[Orangepeel]

14. Kansas

[KingCharlemagne]

17. ?? Something does not compute. - nt

[restorefreedom]

15. i am not nearly as afraid of trump as i am of cruz

trump is a pragmatist, he likes to get things done, make "deals," and put check marks on his "stuff i made happen" list. i think he will disappoint a lot of his rw supporters by being quite reasonable and centrist.

cruz is a flat out lunatic. he worries me.

[KingCharlemagne]

18. Hmm. I pay as little attention as possible to either of those two yo-yos, so I'm

unable to distinguish between them in practical or realistic terms. I only know about Trump's proposal to ethnically cleanse undocumented Latinos from the U.S. I don't really know much about Cruz other than what I read here and on Daily Kos.

[restorefreedom]

20. trump is a complete narcissist.

he likes victories, and he likes to be accomplished. he prides himself on getting along with everyone and making great deals. he can't do that if he acts like the petulant obstructionist R congress. So he will make deals, he will trade, he will even give ground on occasion to get the big W in his column and add to his fantastic list of "great stuff i did as president".

cruz is the penultimate conservative bordering on fascist. he is a totalarian bully amd brat, and i think he will collude with a repub congress to screw us over and give the corporate masters what they want.

just my two cents.

[B Calm]

19. Haven't you heard, Trump will make America great again. Great Again

at pollution, more income gap, lower wages, more outsourcing, etc.

[Retrograde]

23. Supreme Court and other Federal appointments

Someone else mentioned a court full of Scalias - I dread a court with more Thomases echoing Alito's reactionary opinions.

Aside from Federal judgeships, the president gets to appoint cabinet secretaries and ambassadors who reflect his policies. Can you picture a cadre of Palin clones representing the US abroad?

The president also has veto power. Even if the electorate come to their senses in 2018 and elect a solid majority to both houses a Republican president can still veto anything they decide to do. (unless the majority is so large they can override vetos)