The Authoritarian Playbook

[wing2000]

Do Americans want an authoritarion government? Just last night, Trump reminded voters again that he admires the likes of Viktor Orban:

During a Saturday night rally, former president Donald Trump reiterated his praise for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has amassed functionally autocratic power by changing his country’s constitution and controlling the media. “It’s nice to have a strong man leading your country,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/21/election-2024-campaign-updates/#link-DCXDLKVHQRFX3DFZJ233OBJTSI

The Democracy Project released a report last week summarizing Trump's plans to consolidate power in a 2nd term:


“As damaging as Trump’s first term was to American systems of constitutional government, culminating in his efforts to overturn an election and violently halt the counting of electoral votes by Congress, what he has promised in his own words to do if returned to office would be even more destructive to our Republic.”

Trump has already told us repeatedly what he plans to do, the authors write, but this time, he has the backing of “groups working to support those promises in preparation for a second Trump term.”

• Pardons to License Lawbreaking: During Trump’s first term, he discovered that he could leverage the pardon power to induce witnesses against him into silence. In a second term, he has indicated he would further abuse pardons to incite political violence, incentivize lawbreaking for his benefit, and render himself above the law.
• Directing Investigations Against Critics and Rivals: Retribution is the dominant theme of Trump’s 2024 campaign, and his allies are making plans to eliminate the Department of Justice’s traditional prosecutorial independence to give Trump greater personal control to direct law enforcement against his perceived opponents and insulate himself from accountability.
• Regulatory Retaliation: In addition to steering prosecutorial discretion via the Department of Justice, Trump has vowed to consolidate and wield federal regulatory power to reward political loyalty and punish his critics, particularly those associated with the media. There are numerous reports of this regulatory retaliation happening during Trump’s first term, and plans for a second include ways of removing those obstacles that limited opportunities for more.
• Federal Law Enforcement Overreach: Trump’s declaration that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” is a grim foreshadowing of how he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime provision dating back to 1798. Once Trump has that power, he has also expressed his will to expand the footprint of federal law enforcement to police cities and shut down lawful protests.
• Domestic Deployment of the Military: A central hallmark of American democracy is that the U.S. military not be used against American citizens. But Trump plans to abuse the Insurrection Act to order military force to quash dissent and target vulnerable communities.

read the entire report here:

The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025

How an authoritarian president will dismantle our democracy and what we can do to protect it

www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org

 

[DaisyDay]

About Project 2025 | Project 2025

The actions of liberal politicians in Washington have created a desperate need and unique opportunity for conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025. It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to...

www.project2025.org

 

[Laodicean60]

Trump's rhetoric is divisive which is why he shouldn't be President.

 

[Tuur]

Do Americans want an authoritarion government?

Well, let's see. In the past three years we've seen calls in the US to limit the 1st Amendment, with the article that our founders couldn't have envisioned today's technology. We've seen threats to use the FBI to go after parents who object to the policies of their school boards, and apparently there are those who think this is proper. So yes, I fear that, deep down, Americans do favor authoritarianism.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Well, let's see. In the past three years we've seen calls in the US to limit the 1st Amendment, with the article that our founders couldn't have envisioned today's technology. We've seen threats to use the FBI to go after parents who object to the policies of their school boards, and apparently there are those who think this is proper. So yes, I fear that, deep down, Americans do favor authoritarianism.

There was also that thing back in January 2021, or does that not fit the revisionist narrative?

 

[wing2000]

There was also that thing back in January 2021, or does that not fit the revisionist narrative?

Rest assured, the J6 "hostages" will be fully pardoned and praised for their heroic acts. And of course, a "self-pardon"

Pardons to License Lawbreaking: During Trump’s first term, he discovered that he could leverage the pardon power to induce witnesses against him into silence. In a second term, he has indicated he would further abuse pardons to incite political violence, incentivize lawbreaking for his benefit, and render himself above the law.

“[M]y answer is I am most likely—if I get in, I will most likely—I would say it will be a large portion of them. ... And it’ll be very early on.”
Trump’s answer when asked in a May 2023 Town Hall if he will pardon rioters convicted of federal offenses related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“I will tell you, I will look very, very favorably about full pardons. If I decide to run and if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons. Full pardons...We’ll be looking very, very seriously at full pardons because we can’t let that happen. ... And I mean full pardons with an apology to many.”
Donald Trump speaking about January 6, 2021 rioters in a September 2022 interview.


From the report:

Based on his promises, plans, powers, and precedent, we can anticipate a future President Trump to issue three types of henchmen pardons. Those that:

• License violence by his allies;
• Reward illegal political activity that accrued to his benefit; and
• Protect himself from accountability for lawbreaking.

 

[KCfromNC]

Well, let's see. In the past three years we've seen calls in the US to limit the 1st Amendment

Or even more recently : Trump: NBC, CNN should have ‘licenses or whatever’ pulled for not airing Iowa speech

 

[TrueBeliever1989]

About Project 2025 | Project 2025

The actions of liberal politicians in Washington have created a desperate need and unique opportunity for conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025. It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to...

www.project2025.org

I have a thought experiment for my fellow Christians who are casting their votes for Donald Trump. If you'd like to play along, there is one rule. You have to answer it with one word and you have to make a choice.

If you had to choose a new pastor to lead your church and God gave you two choices and said you have to choose one, who would you choose?

Would you choose the guy who goes to church regularly or the guy who can't recite a single bible verse?

Would you choose the guy who’s paid off his son’s mistakes or the guy who’s paid off hookers?

Would you choose the guy who's still married to the mother of his children, or the guy who has cheated on every wife with the next wife and been convicted of rape in court?

Would you choose the guy who’s last church was liberal and still tells him what to do, or the guy whose last church was split in half and still hates him?

Would you choose the guy who's got a job, or the guy who's out on bail?

Would you choose the guy whose Christmas message was “love your enemies” or the guy whose Christmas message was “may they rot in hell”? That was LITERALLY Trump's message to America on Christmas, no exaggerating...

Now it's time to answer which one of these guys you would like to lead your church, because one of them is going to no matter what but you get to choose which. Would you choose the first guy or the second guy?

You can only answer with one word or you lose. First or second? Choosing neither is a forfeit.

 

[Valletta]

Rest assured, the J6 "hostages" will be fully pardoned and praised for their heroic acts. And of course, a "self-pardon"



“[M]y answer is I am most likely—if I get in, I will most likely—I would say it will be a large portion of them. ... And it’ll be very early on.”
Trump’s answer when asked in a May 2023 Town Hall if he will pardon rioters convicted of federal offenses related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“I will tell you, I will look very, very favorably about full pardons. If I decide to run and if I win, I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons. Full pardons...We’ll be looking very, very seriously at full pardons because we can’t let that happen. ... And I mean full pardons with an apology to many.”
Donald Trump speaking about January 6, 2021 rioters in a September 2022 interview.


From the report:

Based on his promises, plans, powers, and precedent, we can anticipate a future President Trump to issue three types of henchmen pardons. Those that:

• License violence by his allies;
• Reward illegal political activity that accrued to his benefit; and
• Protect himself from accountability for lawbreaking.

There were people who just walked in and received prison sentences for just being there. There was a guy who received no prison time, do you think this is inciting violence? Here is the video of Ray Epps:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1743767283887964383

 

[Green Sun]

There were people who just walked in and received prison sentences for just being there. There was a guy who received no prison time, do you think this is inciting violence? Here is the video of Ray Epps:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1743767283887964383

He got one count of Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds. I think that it's probably a bad idea to follow in right behind the guys breaking down a temporary barricade to the Capitol.

But yeah in general trespassing into places you aren't allowed to be in is a crime, so "just walking in" to a place you know you aren't supposed to be in is something that can result in a prison sentence.

 

[Hans Blaster]

There were people who just walked in and received prison sentences for just being there. There was a guy who received no prison time, do you think this is inciting violence? Here is the video of Ray Epps:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1743767283887964383

Incitement requires some proximity to the event of the crime and a plausible influence. Some random old guy in camo flapping his yap the night before to people who had never met him before and didn't know who he was doesn't meet any kind criteria for incitement.

He got one count of Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds. I think that it's probably a bad idea to follow in right behind the guys breaking down a temporary barricade to the Capitol.

But yeah in general trespassing into places you aren't allowed to be in is a crime, so "just walking in" to a place you know you aren't supposed to be in is something that can result in a prison sentence.

This is an important point. As far as the crime he was actually charged with (trespass) he had exactly zero excuse. He clearly saw the police guarding the outer barrier to the Capitol grounds, saw the first (violent) effort to remove those barriers and followed right in afterward.

 

[Valletta]

Incitement requires some proximity to the event of the crime and a plausible influence. Some random old guy in camo flapping his yap the night before to people who had never met him before and didn't know who he was doesn't meet any kind criteria for incitement.


This is an important point. As far as the crime he was actually charged with (trespass) he had exactly zero excuse. He clearly saw the police guarding the outer barrier to the Capitol grounds, saw the first (violent) effort to remove those barriers and followed right in afterward.

There you go.

 

[Green Sun]

There you go.

So he's planning on pardoning people who broke the law to go trespass into the Capitol to show their support for him.
That seems bad.

 

[Hans Blaster]

There you go.

Do you now understand why Epps was guilty of what he plead to and not to incitement then? I hope so.

 

[Valletta]

Do you now understand why Epps was guilty of what he plead to and not to incitement then? I hope so.

I understand that the sentence he received was far out of line with the rest of the sentencing.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Do Americans want an authoritarion government? Just last night, Trump reminded voters again that he admires the likes of Viktor Orban:

During a Saturday night rally, former president Donald Trump reiterated his praise for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has amassed functionally autocratic power by changing his country’s constitution and controlling the media. “It’s nice to have a strong man leading your country,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/21/election-2024-campaign-updates/#link-DCXDLKVHQRFX3DFZJ233OBJTSI

The Democracy Project released a report last week summarizing Trump's plans to consolidate power in a 2nd term:


“As damaging as Trump’s first term was to American systems of constitutional government, culminating in his efforts to overturn an election and violently halt the counting of electoral votes by Congress, what he has promised in his own words to do if returned to office would be even more destructive to our Republic.”

Trump has already told us repeatedly what he plans to do, the authors write, but this time, he has the backing of “groups working to support those promises in preparation for a second Trump term.”

• Pardons to License Lawbreaking: During Trump’s first term, he discovered that he could leverage the pardon power to induce witnesses against him into silence. In a second term, he has indicated he would further abuse pardons to incite political violence, incentivize lawbreaking for his benefit, and render himself above the law.
• Directing Investigations Against Critics and Rivals: Retribution is the dominant theme of Trump’s 2024 campaign, and his allies are making plans to eliminate the Department of Justice’s traditional prosecutorial independence to give Trump greater personal control to direct law enforcement against his perceived opponents and insulate himself from accountability.
• Regulatory Retaliation: In addition to steering prosecutorial discretion via the Department of Justice, Trump has vowed to consolidate and wield federal regulatory power to reward political loyalty and punish his critics, particularly those associated with the media. There are numerous reports of this regulatory retaliation happening during Trump’s first term, and plans for a second include ways of removing those obstacles that limited opportunities for more.
• Federal Law Enforcement Overreach: Trump’s declaration that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” is a grim foreshadowing of how he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime provision dating back to 1798. Once Trump has that power, he has also expressed his will to expand the footprint of federal law enforcement to police cities and shut down lawful protests.
• Domestic Deployment of the Military: A central hallmark of American democracy is that the U.S. military not be used against American citizens. But Trump plans to abuse the Insurrection Act to order military force to quash dissent and target vulnerable communities.

read the entire report here:

The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025

How an authoritarian president will dismantle our democracy and what we can do to protect it

www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org

Perhaps if politicians did their jobs properly, authoritarians would not be so popular. Is anyone as tired as I am of being told what to believe, to pander to illegal immigrants pretending to be refugees, and to accept men masquerading as women as something normal? The fact that such idiocy has to be legislated says it all. How about a government that works to provide conditions for businesses to prosper and provide employment and tax revenue? How about a military that can protect the nation from enemies? How about education that turns out students who can read, write and spell? No, we have some governments that try to socially engineer their societies into woke, progressive, spineless narcissists. The older generation resists this. Young people are much more easily manipulated.

Don't worry too much about the American military. There are so few able bodied and mentally competent young people that recruitment is a serious issue. Australia is considering allowing foreign nationals to join our military. It's not a problem unique to the USA. No wonder everyone is looking at drones and robot soldiers. They don't get drunk, do drugs, rebel against authority, worry about breaking a finger nail (the men, I mean) and they will not refuse to fight if it is too hot or too cold.

Authoritarians are not the answer. But they are not the people in power at present in America, Canada or Australia. I long thought that Mr Trump won because he was not Hilary Clinton. I wonder if the "I'm not Joe Biden" factor will influence the next election.

 

[Hans Blaster]

I understand that the sentence he received was far out of line with the rest of the sentencing.

For a single misdemeanor, no, Epps' sentence was well within the range of others similarly convicted.

 

[Ana the Ist]

So he's planning on pardoning people who broke the law to go trespass into the Capitol to show their support for him.
That seems bad.

Most charges for non-violent offenses during the 500 BLM riots were dropped.

Seems fair.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Perhaps if politicians did their jobs properly, authoritarians would not be so popular. Is anyone as tired as I am of being told what to believe, to pander to illegal immigrants pretending to be refugees, and to accept men masquerading as women as something normal? The fact that such idiocy has to be legislated says it all. How about a government that works to provide conditions for businesses to prosper and provide employment and tax revenue? How about a military that can protect the nation from enemies? How about education that turns out students who can read, write and spell? No, we have some governments that try to socially engineer their societies into woke, progressive, spineless narcissists. The older generation resists this. Young people are much more easily manipulated.

Well put.

Don't worry too much about the American military. There are so few able bodied and mentally competent young people that recruitment is a serious issue. Australia is considering allowing foreign nationals to join our military. It's not a problem unique to the USA. No wonder everyone is looking at drones and robot soldiers. They don't get drunk, do drugs, rebel against authority, worry about breaking a finger nail (the men, I mean) and they will not refuse to fight if it is too hot or too cold.

Robot soldiers and AI will be fun.

Authoritarians are not the answer. But they are not the people in power at present in America, Canada or Australia. I long thought that Mr Trump won because he was not Hilary Clinton. I wonder if the "I'm not Joe Biden" factor will influence the next election.

Rome was split between its two main political bodies for decades...and 2 civil wars.

One can make an argument that the empire would have collapsed much sooner without Caesar.