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We're talking about Trump getting a third term, not a "crony capitalist quasi-autocratic" government; that's just a bunch of noise that gets thrown at Trump, and it doesn't even make sense alongside one of the other things thrown at him, which is "populist".
Why would they be so upset, when they voted for Trump (or someone they knew would yield to him) for that third term?
Right, but a third term is in flagrant disregard to the democratic principles the country was built around. So presumably if you're willing to torch constitutional articles in the pursuit of more power, that won't be the only roadblock in the pursuit of more power.
This administration also has a rapidly growing resume of moves to increase its power despite rules or norms that say "no you can't". So this isn't even a conjecture it's just the continuation of an existing pattern of behavior.
I actually chose the words "crony capitalist quasi-autocratic" somewhat carefully, although I'm open to "autocratic" being the wrong word. They have a clear streak of being crony capitalists (TikTok deal, Merger approvals, Intel stake, Nvidia bullshit, etc). And doing that always, always results in shitter outcomes than letting the free market work. It also results in playing favorites and trading political and business favors back and forth.
The quasi-autocratic is again, because if you start undermining the fundamental principles of a democratic government to increase your political power, I really don't know what to call that.
Don't get too caught up in my lazy hypothetical. The thesis there is if you're okay with your team bending rules to increase its power, but there's a credible chance the other team will have a chance to bend those rules as well eventually, you are implicitly accepting that the other team gets to do it as well.
Unless of course you're only fine with your team bending the rules if they also simultaneously destroy the other team completely, in which case "quasi-autocratic" is only wrong because "autocratic" is better lol
LOL. No, no it isn't. The two-term limit was just a tradition up until FDR broke it. And the backlash for that is he got a FOURTH term as well. And a Democrat was his successor. And law or norm, it is anti-democratic.
This amounts to a Gish Gallop. The TikTok deal was the result of a bill passed during the Biden administration. Not sure which merger approval you mean, but the idea that there was any cronyism involved in the Nexstar approval was just speculation. Neither the Intel stake nor the Nvidia bullshit are "crony capitalism"; they're attempts at industrial policy. Trump didn't put his buddies on the board or anything; it's the US government that got a stake.
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With whom does one submit a ticket to get an action or interaction with the government registered as recognizably, fully-legibly "in flagrant disregard to the democratic principles this country was built on", such that one can then make such appeals here? It seems a very useful imprimatur to have in one's back-pocket when disagreements arise. Note that I am not even necessarily disagreeing with you that Trump running for a third term should be labeled such! The problem is that if others are going to ignore my judgements on what constitutes "flagrant disregard to the democratic principles this country was built on", I am not clear on why I not ignore their judgements in return.
Reciprocity is the basis for most human relationships. There are some that can operate without it: husband and wife, parent and child, brothers, sisters and true friends. But you are not my wife, my parent or my child, nor a brother or a sister, nor a friend. Outside such bonds, even the Rightful Caliph could do no better then advocate coordinating meanness.
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51% of the popular vote (for one given election) does not translate to "the entirety of American voters", as you surely understand. You're talking as if "a Democrat getting elected after a Republican" is something that has never happened in the history of U.S.A. After all, if the American people liked the Republican so much they elected him, why ever would they change their mind?
Or do you mean to say that if Trump gets the third term, that'll be the end of the Democrat party?
I'm saying if Trump gets a third term, there is no particular reason to believe "the American people" will be "deeply upset" with it. Sure, a Democrat could win afterwards, but that could happen if J.D. Vance won or even if a Democrat won in 2028. If Trump gets a third term it will because he is extremely popular -- popular enough that a majority of voters were not only willing to vote for him but also willing to overlook the irregularities it took to get there. It won't be deeply upsetting to the American people; they'll have basically given the middle finger to the term limit already.
As it happens, I don't think this will happen. I do not believe Trump will actually try to run again and if he does I believe he will lose. But if he does and wins, there will not be popular backlash to him doing so.
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