Poll of the Day > Supreme Court to lose its swing voter: Justice Anthony Kennedy to retire.

(+) Yeah! (+)

BlackScythe0 posted...

How is making a factual statement the same as making an absurd assertion?

Take this from someone who despises Trump, "Donald Trump is a fascist" is not a factual statement.

Fascism is a form of extreme right-wing, nationalistic, one-party dictatorship that typically involves forcible, violent suppression of opposition, suppression or control of the press, extreme militarization, and a high level of regulation and control of industry and commerce.

Trump ticks the boxes for right-wing nationalism and pretty much nothing else (and even then, he's to the left of most historical fascist parties). He has not led any violent crackdowns on political opponents; despite some bellicose rhetoric and empty threats that he has no power to fulfill (and which he hasn't even bothered to attempt), he does not control or suppress the free press; he still participates in a two party system and, while he seems wholly uninterested in any serious negotiations with the Democrats, he has at least invited them to participate on a few instances where he couldn't get his own party in line; while he is pro-military, he is not unusually so and could credibly be called a Republican Dove (at least compared to more militaristic Republican presidents like Bush Sr. and Jr.) given his military pullbacks in East Asia and Syria; and, on the last note, Trump is about as anti-regulation and anti-government control as he can get, and one of his huge bragging points is how much regulation and government oversight he is getting rid of (this is pretty much the opposite of what a fascist would be doing in his position).

Again, there is absolutely no need to go down this road. You have probably never had a less capable candidate who you can criticize on any number of issues; don't pick the only one that actually makes Donald Trump seem sensible and reasonable.
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darkknight109 posted...

Fascism is a form of extreme right-wing, nationalistic, one-party dictatorship that typically involves forcible, violent suppression of opposition, suppression or control of the press, extreme militarization, and a high level of regulation and control of industry and commerce.

Beat me to it.
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Fascism doesnt have to be right wing

Antifa is an ironic example of a left wing fascist group
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Mead posted...

Fascism doesnt have to be right wing

Using the generally accepted definitions, yes it does. If it's not right-wing, it's not fascism, even though it can tick off most of the other boxes.

Fascists have historically been the ideological opponents of communists, which are pretty much the left-wing equivalent.

Mead posted...

Antifa is an ironic example of a left wing fascist group

Antifa doesn't have a centralized leadership, so their rallying points are a bit difficult to determine, but they're generally seen as a left-wing anarchist group, not authoritarian. Fascism is opposed to anarchism, so they don't make a good match.
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Using violence and fear to intimidate people who dont share your views sounds pretty authoritarian to me
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Mead posted...

Using violence and fear to intimidate people who dont share your views sounds pretty authoritarian to me

Nope. Authoritarianism is a system requiring strict obedience to a central authority, usually at the expense of personal freedom. You can be violent without being authoritarian (again, violent anarchists being the classic example).
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darkknight109 posted...

Trump ticks the boxes for right-wing nationalism and pretty much nothing else (and even then, he's to the left of most historical fascist parties).

The thing everyone seems to forget is that Trump was a registered Democrat for years His political affiliation at any given time is whichever party is more beneficial to him at the moment.

He was actually pretty friendly with the Clintons (at least prior to running against Hillary), and has donated a ton of money to Democrat candidates for various offices in the past.

He doesn't really have political ideology in the traditional sense. He doesn't really toe a party line as much he expects the party to toe his line, and he'll turn on Republicans who disagree with him as quickly as he does Democrats.


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Zeus posted...

The fact you consider it a factual statement makes you seem absurd

Hilarious coming from you, ok?
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darkknight109 posted...

BlackScythe0 posted...

How is making a factual statement the same as making an absurd assertion?

Take this from someone who despises Trump, "Donald Trump is a fascist" is not a factual statement.

Fascism is a form of extreme right-wing, nationalistic, one-party dictatorship that typically involves forcible, violent suppression of opposition, suppression or control of the press, extreme militarization, and a high level of regulation and control of industry and commerce.

Trump ticks the boxes for right-wing nationalism and pretty much nothing else (and even then, he's to the left of most historical fascist parties). He has not led any violent crackdowns on political opponents; despite some bellicose rhetoric and empty threats that he has no power to fulfill (and which he hasn't even bothered to attempt), he does not control or suppress the free press; he still participates in a two party system and, while he seems wholly uninterested in any serious negotiations with the Democrats, he has at least invited them to participate on a few instances where he couldn't get his own party in line; while he is pro-military, he is not unusually so and could credibly be called a Republican Dove (at least compared to more militaristic Republican presidents like Bush Sr. and Jr.) given his military pullbacks in East Asia and Syria; and, on the last note, Trump is about as anti-regulation and anti-government control as he can get, and one of his huge bragging points is how much regulation and government oversight he is getting rid of (this is pretty much the opposite of what a fascist would be doing in his position).

Again, there is absolutely no need to go down this road. You have probably never had a less capable candidate who you can criticize on any number of issues; don't pick the only one that actually makes Donald Trump seem sensible and reasonable.

You are saying someone cannot be fascist until they have completely changed their nations form of government into fascism.

Do you recognize how nonsensical that is?

WastelandCowboy posted...

Metal_Mario99 posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Metal_Mario99 posted...

BlackScythe0 posted...

Gotta get the fascist in chief to appoint another shit bag to tear up the constitution before the midterms.

STFU. You don't know what "fascism" is, and if you ever found out, you'd shit yourself.

Why would someone shit themself over finding out the definition of fascism, which literally anyone can Google.

You need to chill and stop overreacting anytime anyone insults or throws shade onto Trump. Hes just the president. Hes not god, if there is one.

He's not a fascist, a dictator, or a Nazi either, but people in the real world are losing their shit for real because they think he is.

By people, you mean largely democrats.

The exact same thing happened when Obama was president. A large chunk of Conservatives lost their damn mind because they thought he was a terrorist, a dictator, the devil, etc.

But with this time the over the top rhetoric is completely justified! It's totally different than the over the top anti Obama rhetoric!

The idea of a group of 9 people having only a single swing voter while also wielding the country's ultimate judicial power should terrify everybody. The Supreme Court should be made up of 9 swing voters.
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We shouldnt even have a supreme court.
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BlackScythe0 posted...

You are saying someone cannot be fascist until they have completely changed their nations form of government into fascism.

Actually, what he's saying is that someone can't be fascist unless they actually pursue the ideology of fascism.

People tend to assume that "fascism" just means totalitarian or autocratic, but that isn't actually true. Regardless of how much you might disagree with Trump's politics or hate him as a person, think he's an opinionated temper-tantrum throwing asshole, or whatever other negatives you want to paint him with, very little of what he pushes for politically falls under the umbrella of actual fascism.

Now if you were accusing him of trying to be an autocratic dictator, you might have more of an argument (but even then, plenty of people would disagree with you).


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BlackScythe0 posted...

darkknight109 posted...

BlackScythe0 posted...

How is making a factual statement the same as making an absurd assertion?

Take this from someone who despises Trump, "Donald Trump is a fascist" is not a factual statement.

Fascism is a form of extreme right-wing, nationalistic, one-party dictatorship that typically involves forcible, violent suppression of opposition, suppression or control of the press, extreme militarization, and a high level of regulation and control of industry and commerce.

Trump ticks the boxes for right-wing nationalism and pretty much nothing else (and even then, he's to the left of most historical fascist parties). He has not led any violent crackdowns on political opponents; despite some bellicose rhetoric and empty threats that he has no power to fulfill (and which he hasn't even bothered to attempt), he does not control or suppress the free press; he still participates in a two party system and, while he seems wholly uninterested in any serious negotiations with the Democrats, he has at least invited them to participate on a few instances where he couldn't get his own party in line; while he is pro-military, he is not unusually so and could credibly be called a Republican Dove (at least compared to more militaristic Republican presidents like Bush Sr. and Jr.) given his military pullbacks in East Asia and Syria; and, on the last note, Trump is about as anti-regulation and anti-government control as he can get, and one of his huge bragging points is how much regulation and government oversight he is getting rid of (this is pretty much the opposite of what a fascist would be doing in his position).

Again, there is absolutely no need to go down this road. You have probably never had a less capable candidate who you can criticize on any number of issues; don't pick the only one that actually makes Donald Trump seem sensible and reasonable.

You are saying someone cannot be fascist until they have completely changed their nations form of government into fascism.

Do you recognize how nonsensical that is?

But, again, what is he doing that's fascist?

He's right wing. Alright. He's nationalistic. OK.

Is he greatly expanding the military? No. In fact he's pulling the military back in a lot of places. The Syrian rebels have been informed that the US is pulling out of the conflict and cutting off military aid; Trump is strongly in favour of sharply reducing the number of US troops in Asia and even traditional US bases in Western Europe, built to act as a deterrent to Russian aggression, are now being looked at with an eye to cutbacks, while Trump is encouraging other nations to replace US forces.

Is he centralizing power? No - in fact, he's doing anything but, cutting regulations and gutting government agencies wherever he can. He's trying to put power with corporations rather than with the government and nearly all of his most sweeping changes are huge boons for corporate America (and no one else).

Those last two points alone pretty much disqualify him from being a fascist. He hates the press, but there's nothing indicating that he's doing anything more than muddying the waters so that his supporters are less inclined to believe negative stories regardless of how true they are. He demonizes Muslims, blacks, and Hispanics, but you can be a racist asshole without being fascist.

So yeah... narcissistic bigoted shithead? Yes. But fascist? No.
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https://www.salon.com/2018/06/29/did-anthony-kennedys-son-loan-donald-trump-1-billion/

Forget fascist. He's a corrupt broke pathetic human

Sad that Kennedy would sell himself and the scotus out like that
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Doctor Foxx posted...

https://www.salon.com/2018/06/29/did-anthony-kennedys-son-loan-donald-trump-1-billion/

Forget fascist. He's a corrupt broke pathetic human

Sad that Kennedy would sell himself and the scotus out like that

Remember the whole tirade he went in about how Washington was corrupt and it was time to clean the swamp? Guess it didnt apply to Republicans - just Democrats.

adjl posted...

The idea of a group of 9 people having only a single swing voter while also wielding the country's ultimate judicial power should terrify everybody. The Supreme Court should be made up of 9 swing voters.

Yep, the whole idea of judicial review is creepy.

A bunch of out of touch old lawyers sitting around interpreting how we should live according a document written hundreds of years ago by people who many consider to be infallible is highly disturbing. We basically have a theocracy and the Constitution is our Bible.

The older I get the more I want to go to some corner of the Earth and build a self-sufficient facility to get away from everyone else.
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You're leaving us in the hands of Trump? I don't care what decisions you made. Fuck. You.
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All the pearl clutching in here is glorious
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