• paddirn@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Biden is well past his prime, had a shitty performance last night, hate his record on Israel, but Iā€™m still voting for him because heā€™s not Trump and Iā€™d prefer that our representative democracy continued. Moving to a braindead, functionally illiterate dictatorship just seems like an all-around worse move in every respect. Not sure about his chances, but whatever, thereā€™s not really any other alternative at this point.

    • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Can you tell me what makes you believe that Trump is or will be a dictator? Donā€™t use Jan 6th.

      • paddirn@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I can waste my time going through that exercise, but itā€™s pretty clear to any thinking person that thatā€™s what the plan is on the Republican side, just look at the words, rhetoric and actions theyā€™ve been taking for the past 10+ years. Otherwise, youā€™re maliciously asking me to go through the mental effort of writing up an attack on Trump that youā€™ve already decided to ignore and/or counter with some feeble bad faith argument. Youā€™re a waste of my time and everybody elseā€™s.

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Ah okayā€¦ so youā€™re full of chit as per usual. Let me guess, Maddow is your favorite all-time commentator?

          • paddirn@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Why donā€™t YOU go ahead and write me up a 2-page essay on why Trump isnā€™t planning a dictatorship, cite your sources. Thatā€™s essentially what youā€™re asking me to do and itā€™s guaranteed youā€™ll give a short, flippant remark that doesnā€™t actually address any of the issues brought up, basically wasting my time. Itā€™ll be a bunch of whataboutism, gaslighting, misdirection, and BS, thatā€™s the standard MO.

            • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              The answer is simple. Because of the U.S. Constitution. Itā€™s not just a piece of paper.

                  • Grunt4019@lemm.ee
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                    5 months ago

                    So youā€™re saying your preferred choice of the two wants to become a dictator but youā€™re fine with it because you think the constitution will stop him?

                    If thatā€™s not the case why even cite the constitution.

                • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Election fraud means the election would be voided and it would have to go to contingent election? I forget the process. I have no idea wtf Trump is talking about.

                  Iā€™m not a, ā€œMAGAā€ soldier. Quite frankly heā€™s just the better option of the two.

                  • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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                    5 months ago

                    Care you explain why heā€™s better? Is it his business acumen? His morality? His honesty? His willingness to do whatā€™s best for the American public? His faith in the bureaucracy that allows any large organization to work? His support of the legal framework of the country? His physical fitness? His intelligence? His past record as president? Honestly, Iā€™m curious why you think heā€™s the best option for this job.

              • takeda@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                Constitution only matters if it is being enforced. And 2017-2020 showed us that very few Republicans were willing to do that.

                Currently SCOTUS is debating whether president has absolute immunity (in other words, if he can commit any crime, including murdering his political opponents) something that is absolutely against our constitution, yet they have to debate it.

          • PythagreousTitties@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            chit /chÄ­t/
            noun.

            A child.   
            A saucy girl or young woman.   
            A statement of an amount owed for food and drink, especially one signed to indicate acceptance of the charge.    
            
            • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I looked it up too because thatā€™s wild.

              chit
              /CHit/
              noun
              a short official note, memorandum, or voucher, typically recording a sum owed.
              "write out a chit for whatever you take from the drinks cupboard"
              
                • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Because Iā€™ve never heard nor read someone use, ā€œchitā€ instead of ā€œshitā€ and come to find out itā€™s an actual word (excluding chitchat) with multiple meanings.

                  Iā€™m intentionally using, ā€œchitā€ā€¦ being that Iā€™m Latino and if you ever heard a boater Latino say shit, it sounds like chit.

                  The more you know!

      • TonyOstrich@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Donā€™t use the time he instigated a coupe attempt as a reason?

        Can you tell me why putting my hand on an electric burner that is red hot is a bad idea? Donā€™t use anyoneā€™s past experiences being burned by hot objects.

        Sure you could technically go into a complex explanation using physics as to why itā€™s a bad idea, but why?

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          My defense is the U.S. Constitution. I donā€™t see it as even a possibility that anyone would attempt to become a dictator in the U.S.

          • slickgoat@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            The constitution is decided by the Supreme Court in the end. The American system of government makes the selection of justices political appointees for life. That is why you have Republican and Democrat justices. Political. So the constitution gets bent into any political shape according to power possession.

            Donā€™t for a second believe that the United States canā€™t sleepwalk into a dictatorship. People are already describing Jan 6 as an ordinary tourist visit. What will it take for the public to see the danger with their own eyes.

          • takeda@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I highly recommend ā€œOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Centuryā€ by historian Timothy Snyder If you canā€™t get a book or audio book the author also reads it on YouTube.

          • Yeller_king@reddthat.com
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            5 months ago

            The Constitution is a piece of paper and says whatever 6 Republicans think it says.

            Regardless, SCOTUS has no actual enforcement mechanism. Whoever can order the guys with guns is in charge just like everywhere else in the world.

          • It can absolutely happen. Nothing stopping a republic from becoming a dictatorship. If it happened once in history, it will happen again. This thing in particular has happened multiple times. The US may show more resilience but in the end, it is a human system run by humans, and it will be broken by humans.

      • Jaderick@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        If inciting an attack on the capital and destabilizing the worlds oldest democracy doesnā€™t immediately discount Trump from your voting decisions then youā€™re braindead lol. Imagine trying to argue past that, despite 9 years of existing with Trump as a political figure.

          • Jaderick@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            You right lmaooo. Thatā€™s funny, I guess I should say oldest democracy with real world power.

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Have you been paying attention to the details of Jan 6th? So far it looks like it was a setup, completely out of Trumpā€™s control.

          Before you respond, have you been paying attention to the details of Jan 6th?

          • Triteer@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            The details like Trump saying he loved the insurrectionists? Yeah, I paid attention to that.

          • Jaderick@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Lmao. Cite them sources or me saying Trump blows maggoty cum all over Melania is literally as true as that statement.

          • takeda@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Yeah, sure. And what prompted trump to show up in DC in January 6th, which before 2021 was day that didnā€™t have any special meaning in US history?

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        So - ignoring the time he sent a mob to try and overthrow the US government, how about we use the fact that he literally said heā€™d be a dictator?

        Or maybe the fact that his legal defense against trying to overthrow the government was that the President is immune from all crimes. His lawyers even literally said he could have his political opponents murdered, and so long as the surviving politicians donā€™t impeach and convict him he canā€™t be held liable for it.

        Theyā€™re arguing a legal framework under which he can murder the opposition, and then kill anyone that tries to remove him from office.

      • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Lol

        ā€œDo not use an incredibly concrete exampleā€

      • Breezy@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago
        1. He has said he plans on being a dictator for day one.
        2. He regularly talks like a dictator jailing and killing his political opponents.
        3. Even if he were to win a second term, he is to egotistical to let it go a second time.
        4. Hes putins little bitch who looks up to him, so of course he would want to be as great as the greatestness of putin.
        • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          I just wanted to add that Iā€™m pretty sure Trump is jealous that Putin has something that he doesnā€™tā€¦ owning an entire country.

          He wants to be like Putin and Kim Jong Un and is playing some warped version of ā€œkeeping up with the Jonesesā€ to the detriment of our entire country. Itā€™s a disgusting display of self absorption I never thought possible.

          Thatā€™s literally it. Heā€™s going to try to become a dictator so he can boost his fucking ego and not be ā€˜outdoneā€™ by someone else.

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          He has said he plans on being a dictator for day one.

          Source?

          He regularly talks like a dictator jailing and killing his political opponents.

          This is literally Biden and Coā€¦ This includes Obama and Hilary. Obviously you have a source for this too, right? Surely you have literal videos of his speeches/rallies where he speaks like a dictator announcing heā€™s going to jail and or kill his political opponents.

          Personally, when Trump wins, I think he should definitely pull a Bukele and have all politicians on all sides investigated for corruption, including the DOJ, the FBI, and the CIA.

          Hes putins little bitch who looks up to him, so of course he would want to be as great as the greatestness of putin.

          Russia-gate is and was all BSā€¦ If youā€™re referring to that. Trumpā€™s commentary of Putin was really no different than Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Also, the cold war is over. Hating Russia today just because politicians do, is mindless drone territory.

          • Apollo42@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            mindless drone territory

            The only part of this you seem qualified to weigh in on.

        • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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          5 months ago

          Like the camelā€™s nose, once you let a little bit of dictatorship into your country, you soon find out there is no room left for democracy.

            • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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              5 months ago

              Voltaire said, ā€œA witty saying proves nothing.ā€ In your case, this only partly applies.

                • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca
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                  5 months ago

                  I wouldnā€™t classify it was witty. Pithy, succinct, a truism, sure, but not particularly notable beyond who said it.

                  If I was looking for a witty saying by Voltaire, I would go with, ā€œI disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.ā€ Note also that itā€™s value is not because it is witty, which I believe it is, but because of the content of the words. Unlike your words, which I can only hope was an attempt to be witty, yet also had no content.

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Ohhā€¦ I thought you meant from day one.

          Yeah, I wish I was God for 1 day. Lots of cleaning up to do.

      • unphazed@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        He told Hannity he would be dictator for one day. No dictator goes one day. One is too many to begin with.

      • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Lol at supposedly asking an open question, while simultaneously stipulating that the open rebellion cannot be mentioned. Thatā€™s not how open questions work.

        • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Persecution of male homosexuals, Jehovahā€™s Witnesses, pacifists, the mentally ill / disabled, and political opponents. Stealing thousands of mostly Slavic children from their parents and having them adopted by ethnic Germans.

      • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        He said he would in exactly those words.

        Donā€™t use Jan 6th

        explain why you think heā€™s authoritarian, but donā€™t talk about that time he instigated a failed fascist coup

        Iā€™ll admit, if you move the goalposts like that it gets a lot harder to score.

    • postgeographix@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Not American, and hate Trump and Biden equally. I say vote Trump. Heā€™s the slim shady of US politics - heā€™s only giving you things you say with your friends inside of your living room, the only difference is heā€™s got the balls to say it in front of you all and donā€™t have to sugar coat it at all.

      So instead of avoiding your discomfort of acknowledging what the US is, just vote trump and let it be clear to everyone

      Or not. It doesnā€™t matter what you do, Trump is winning anyway. You guys are going to have cheetos man for president whether you, or we, like it or not.

      • jprice@kbin.run
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        5 months ago

        Yea the things my family who likes him says in the living room is mostly ignorant compilations of how they think the government works and dumb white trash racist garbage so no thanks.

          • concrete_baby@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            So your logic is that supporting garbage is better than supporting the anti-garbage because it makes clear to everyone that you and everybody else are supporting garbage? Donā€™t you think voting Trump because ā€œhe will winā€ is a self-fulfulling prophecy?

            • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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              5 months ago

              This person lives in London, that pretty much says everything you need to know about whether they should be weighing in on this situation.

            • postgeographix@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Ahh see the fatal flaw there is that you assume Biden is anti-garbage. Thatā€™s your mistake, right there. But your tribalism wonā€™t allow you to admit that. So, feel free to respond if you like, but Iā€™m out.

          • Lightor@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I mean with sweep generalizations like that youā€™d fit right in with the MAGA crowd, no wonder you like trump lol.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        heā€™s only giving you things you say with your friends inside of your living room, the only difference is heā€™s got the balls to say it in front of you all and donā€™t have to sugar coat it at all.

        Things like what, exactly? We must be hanging out in different living rooms.

        • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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          5 months ago

          If Trump was in my living room, Iā€™d spit in his face. Heā€™s so far removed from how I live my life, itā€™s hard for me to even acknowledge people like him exist.

        • postgeographix@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I work in Finance in London, lol, tankie is nice. You will keep saying what you said even after Biden shits his pants live on CNN. Do you fam, I dgaf.

          • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            And theyā€™d still be correct, I would prefer a man who shits himself on live television every single day, over Trump. No contest. Iā€™d vote in a potted cactus before I vote Trump. What the fuck is wrong with you.

            • postgeographix@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I would vote for a cactus before either of them. We had a lettuce outlast a PM over here a short while ago. But you are blind if you see any fucking difference between them, dude.

              Like, I was telling my 2 year old last night he could have the dinosaur Pjā€™s or the elephant Pjā€™s for bed. But it was IMPLICIT that he is going to bed.

              Similarly, it is IMPLICIT that you and all other Americans are going to be exploited, and brown people are going to be killed, but you can pick the red guy to do it, or the blue guy.

              • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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                5 months ago

                Similarly, it is IMPLICIT that you and all other Americans are going to be exploited, and brown people are going to be killed, but you can pick the red guy to do it, or the blue guy.

                And that is no excuse to explicitly support the far more vocal and exploitative of the two, cheering forth the exploitation and murder because ā€œBoTh sIDeS aRe GoiNg tO DO iT!ā€ Fuck that. One side at least has the decency to appear publicly shameful of it. The other revels in it, where the cruelty is the point. If both sides are the same then Iā€™m going to pick the side with a veneer of civility because to do otherwise is to give up entirely on any hope for a future. If both sides arenā€™t the same then we all know which color is going to end up on the right side of history, that isnā€™t even a question. So regardless how IMPLICIT it is that America is fucked up shit creek, itā€™s also EXPLICIT that the average voter doesnā€™t get much of a say in it and we can only either vote for ineffective neoliberalism, or vote to actively set our own faces on fire.

                ā€œI hate the way everything is. Candidate A will make everything mostly stay the same, shitty garbage that Iā€™m used to. Candidate B will make everything that I hate several times worse, as well as present new and novel problems weā€™ve never even known about before now, as well as inventing new non-issues to pad his own pockets with culture war profits. There is no candidate C. You know, Iā€™m seriously considering voting for Candidate B.ā€ is a brain damaged take, end of story.

                Opinions like yours is what brought you BoJo and Brexit. Forgive me if I donā€™t want to entertain them across the pond.

                • postgeographix@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  A ā€œveneer of civilityā€ is all thatā€™s needed to buy your vote? A ā€˜veneer of civilityā€™ over a fucking genocide? Listen to yourself, you sound so proud of that shit. .

                  Fuck that. You KNOW the truth about Biden and about the US political establishment and the only reason you vote for Biden is because you are too much of a coward to look reality in the face. You grab on to this fucking ā€˜veneerā€™ like you are stix2your fingers in your ears and squeezing your eyes shut and shouting ā€œAaah I canā€™t hear you LLALALLALALALAā€, and then you act all sanctimonious like you are better people than Trump supporters. You are not.

                  And no, people believing a bunch of hokum and lies was what bought on Brexit and BoJo. Not very different from the copium you are smoking.

                  • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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                    5 months ago

                    Thatā€™s an awful large wall of text to tell everyone you havenā€™t listened to anything thatā€™s gone on in many years. If you think Trump is about to somehow magically resolve this genocide that heā€™s been actively egging on from the sidelines, please learn to read.

                    I do know the truth about the US political establishment, I fucking live here, you goon. And the truth is that until the civil war starts, we are reduced to voting for the lesser evil. Anything else is causing more active harm to ourselves and our fellow humans for no gain.

                    So yes, I will vote for Biden, because Iā€™m not being presented a better option. Once the blood starts spilling on American soil that may end up a different story. But for right now? This both sides bullshit is actively killing people and making the entire world worse, both here and overseas.

                    I remember when Trump was in office, I remember what he said and did and what heā€™s promised will happen next time. Iā€™m not about to let that happen again. If my options are 40% evil or 99% evil Iā€™m picking the 40% every time, no question, from a purely utilitarian viewpoint.

      • Lightor@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yah fun things to talk about like ā€œhey, isnā€™t it interesting how you have less medical rights now.ā€ Jfc