Jared Johnson: Trump came to power the first time by running for office. If he comes to power again, it will be by the same means. Pretending that the United States’s political processes aren’t susceptible to being used to put authoritarians in power does no one any good.

Donald Trump and his allies have begun mapping out specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents should he win a second term, with the former president naming individuals he wants to investigate or prosecute.

Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second termwww.washingtonpost.com Advisers have also discussed deploying the military to quell potential unrest on Inauguration Day. Critics have called the ideas under consideration dangerous and unconstitutional.

Trump is not a politician. He is a dangerous authoritarian.

counterpoint: many American politicians are also dangerous authoritarians

This is not a counterpoint.

Sure it is. The original statement implies that Trump cannot be both politician and dangerous authoritarian. I contend that not only is he both, but so is every other Republican officeholder or office-seeker.

Authoritarians rule and tyran, they ain‘t doing politics (but might disgusie themselves as politicians, in the sense used here). And still it‘s not a logical counterpoint, others being bad actors too is not an excuse or counter to the criticism the original post made – this is what I meant.

Trump came to power the first time by running for office. If he comes to power again, it will be by the same means. Pretending that the United States’s political processes aren’t susceptible to being used to put authoritarians in power does no one any good.

Of course, and I think his help in the 2016 campaign from Cambridge Analytica and Ru. Fed. state agencies should be pointed out a lot more. It‘s not that such players are gone (or not supporting other campaigns and movements they benefit from), but their hybris has increased.

I think we agree here. But I think it’s important to emphasize the the entire Republican Party, as a party, is not redeemable. They need to lose every race for a generation. We need to salt the earth.

We basically agree, yes. And Democrats would already win every election by a large margin, if they were fairer (vote suppression, gerrymandering, even the electoral college system). GOP depends on every desperate move they can make, so that‘s many opportunities and battles on local levels I think.

100%.

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