Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 4
Well, we're in a spot where Fed employees are being furloughed, and Trump is threatening to not pay troops. (How does that help him?) And if you're a decision maker, your choice will be "Do as I ask or you're fired." The firing over the Eisenhower sword underscored that, after some firings and resignations previously. So if Trump wants to declare Antifa a terrorist group, he should ultimately be successful. He'll just churn through people until he finds someone who'll compromise. Then, people demonstrating in frog costumes, clown outfits, and normal clothing will be designated Antifa. And if you give out gas masks, face shields, you'll be Antifa Ultra. So we now have pretexts for caging our fellow citizens indefinitely. Will it hold up against a judge? We'll have to have a good test case wind it's lengthy way to the Supremes and they can OK it with the shadow docket, and, Voila! - Where the fuck are we?
Reluctantly, I think we've crossed the line over to fascism. If the above happens, (or a reasonable facsimile) fascism will be confirmed - then the question will be can we turn it around? Have we crossed the Rubicon? And the answer to that is... I don't know.
No. of Recommendations: 8
I know, and the answer is “part way”. We still have a few institutions capable of resisting, including a tiny few elements of the judicial, but otherwise we’re on the often invoked “slippery slope” and on our way.
But fear not. Sometimes fascist regimes return to democracy. Of course sometimes it requires losing a war (Germany, Italy) or a coup (Greece, Portugal), or the death of the head fascist (Spain) and it usually only takes between 20 and 50 years (when it does happen, which is not always), so look up. There are brighter days ahead.
<puke>
No. of Recommendations: 2
I know, and the answer is “part way”.
Goofy, what I described is part way, so you haven't added anything. In fact you and I agree, but I consider that you don't know either.
No. of Recommendations: 3
He'll just churn through people until he finds someone who'll compromise.
We old phartz remember the "Saturday Night Massacre". Nixon ordered AG Elliot Richardson to fire Archie Cox. Richardson refused. *poof* Assistant AG Bill Ruckelshaus was next in line. He refused to fire Cox too. *poof* Next up was the Solicitor General, Bork. Bork did as bidden and fired Cox. In later years, Bork said he did it, because, otherwise, Nixon would keep going down the chain of command, firing everyone, until someone fired Cox, and the DoJ would be crippled by so many honchos being canned, in one evening.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
We old phartz remember the "Saturday Night Massacre".
Yeah, I remember that, but this time they seem to have ready replacements - and we've got over three years left.
