Admit it, Republicans, aren't you, deep down inside, kinda GLAD Trump is gone?

But I don’t know your stance on EVERY issue and would never presume to know. And that is my point.

 

First authoritarian rule by an elected official is not different that a self appointed official. This is a republic not a pure democracy. You didn't vote to do anything except be ruled by your preferred candidate.
Second, you should read the definition of authoritarian because you seem to have your own.

You seem to think that because you voted to have government oppress individuals that it is somehow not authoritarianism. I find that absurd.

Is banning homesexuality not authoritarian if we all voted to do so being homosexual sex is unnecessary for society to function and because sex has additional consequences such as the spread of STDs?

Definition: "favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom."

 

There are some terms which no dictionary entry can adequately address.

"Socialism' is such a term. "Republic" is another. And so is 'authoritarianism'. Each of the words are in encyclopedias, whereupon if you place the entire texts from them and print them onto 8"x11" paper, the entries would occupy hundreds of pages, so to grasp the full nature of these terms, scholarship and nuance must be factored in.

See, it seems that your simplistic definition, and for complex subjects, noting that the only possible definition in a dictionary, given it's nature, is a simplistic definition, your metric for authoritarianism is the limitation of freedom. So, is a stop sign authoritarian? ARe stop signs oppressive to hoodlums and speed freaks? No rational person would agree to that.

Of course not, so 'freedom' is a terrible metric, all by itself. There are more dynamics to add to the equation to arrive at authoritarian. But, is 'oppression' the metric, by itself?

A recent ruling allowing a baker to refuse the business of a gay couple, in my view, is oppressive to gays. Is it authoritarian?

Not in my book, but the gays probably would say so. so, there are shades of grey, and it depends on whom you ask.

Most nudists would love nothing more than to be able to walk around town naked, but it is illegal in most societies.

Are they oppressed? The answer is yes, and no, depending on whom you ask.

So, there are shades of grey here, tons of shades of grey.

But that applies to just about everything, because everywhere we turn, there are limitations on freedom, someone might feel they are oppressed to some degree, might feel they are the victim of authoritarianism.


Authoritarian rule implies rule of men and a reduced reliance on rule of law, or none at all. Some have 'constitutions' and some have the 'vote' as does Russia, but it's a sham. Oppression is strongly associated with it, of course, when you have an authoritarian rule who does not have to answer to constituents, it's predicable that he ir she is going to oppress people. However, he or she doesn't necessarily have to, oppression isn't intrinsic to authoritarianism, it tends to follow it, in tandem, given human nature, so much so that dictionaries include it in the definition. There could be such a thing as a benign monarchy or dictatorship and some have argued that that is the best system ( I wouldn't, for one good reason, that the leader will be killed and a terrible person will inevitably take the dictator's place ).

A republic is a broad term. All it means is a government of appointed or elected leaders, as opposed to a monarchy.

Once you assert 'republic' you must qualify it therefrom, is it, for example, a....

1. Islamic republic?
2. Liberal republic?
3. Calvanist republic?
or perhaps a
4. Democratic republic.

Of course, America is #4.

In my view, for authoritarianism to exist in an elected leader it would require abuse of his power.

That is how I look at it.

Banning homosexuality, of course, is oppressive to homosexuals, but if the public wills it, it's democracy. it was that way, for many millennia, by the way.

If the supreme court removes the ban on homosexuality, it's still democracy because justices are appointed by elected leaders, and they appoint justices to enact justice, they are high minded where the public might not be as enlightened, but it's for the greater good. But now, the very religious are affronted by the Scotus ruling, and so, are they oppressed? IN my view, no, but maybe not so much if you ask them , they feel it is leading to the disintegration of society and that oppresses everyone, collectively. Note that I do not share that view. Again, one man's oppression is another man's 'freedom', and freedom, therefore, is a terrible metric, if using that alone, to measure what is, and what is not, authoritarian.

Immigration is a touchy subject. Many called Obama's DACA EO, 'authoritarian', but not to me, I thought it was just.

So, it depends on the point of view, in many cases.

Where it becomes authoritarian, in my view, is if it is not the will of the people, and a leader acts in ways oppressive to a group.

You are talking about authoritarian tendencies of our democratically elected leaders. An authoritarian society, in general, is one where rule of law is reduced, or it doesn't exist, or it exists selectively, depending on the whim of the authoritarian leader. But, we don't have that degree of authoritarianism in America. But, we could, and do, have leaders with authoritarian tendencies.

Where I disagree is the overuse of the term, where it's tossed around at leaders who do things that you don't like, and this is common in America, so much so that the term is cheapened and no longer has meaning.

That is far more nuanced than just an authoritarian society altogether, such as Russia, the text book definition of an authoritarian society, or North Korea.

There are shades of grey, because no system pleases everyone. one man's oppression is another's freedom -- for example, a baker refusing to bake a cake for a gay marriage, that's oppressive to gays, in that it treats them like second class citizens, but it's freedom for the baker, so what is the better policy? in my view, if a baker chooses to serve the market place, he must treat everyone the same.

So, the argument really bogs down in nuance, and there really is no point in arguing it, if you want to call this or that 'authoritarian' and I want to call it 'being rude', fine.

What I'm suggesting to you is that all of us should only use 'authoritarianism' where it really exists, where it is black and white, where it is totalitarian, like Russia, Like Cuba, like Korea, because that would give more strength to the concept, because it's implication is serious.

But, if everyone is a fascist every time they do something you do not like you are cheapening the word, and desensitizing the public to that word, and in my book, that is not a good thing because fascism, authoritarianism, is serious business. And that is my point.

 

I never liked his brash, egotistical attitude. I called him out on several policy proposals, mainly free speech related, but some foreign policy gripes (though in general I think foreign policy was one of his strongest areas relative to recent Presidents).

I think it's a real shame he couldn't get over his ego - could have been a truly great President in another life. Oh well, let the Biden years commence.

 

Trump did well, despite the constant attacks against him. I predict he will be more popular than Biden after an initial and brief post-election bump.

Final Rasmussen Daily Approval Poll for Trump v Obama. Trump's final day at 51% approval.



Rasmussen will collect three days of polling before starting Biden comparison to Trump.

 

I would imagine they are but I doubt anyone thinks this is going back to business as usual.

 

Rasmussen's methodology is to call landlines and tally online responses.

Landlines are biased towards older people, who tend to vote republican.

Online polls rely on voluntary input, and volunteers are usually more activist types, who tend to be republican.

So, on approval ratings, Rasmussen simply is not an accurate representation of a president's approval rating.

The better poll, which is the poll averaging ALL the polls, is RCP, and Trump's approval ratings are thus:




41%, uh,, no, not very good.

 

If being popular is the amount of attention a person receives then trump will be the most popular man in the world for years to come..

my guess is at this very moment attorneys are filing lawsuits and authorities are filing criminal charges against trump and his family of criminals..

trump is the perfect definition of the word "INFAMOUS"

trump will be more infamous than Richard m Nixon..ole tricky dick..

once the media coins a nickname for trump , the name tricky dick will be the nickname of a choir boy..

who has suggestions for a trump nickname??

I say "Benedict Donald" will be coined once charges start piling up

 

I expect you are correct that the Democrat Party's totalitarian coup will not be complete until Trump is figuratively burned at the stake through some sort of bogus treason charges and/or other lawsuits. High-profile elected officials will also be taken down as public examples that the people are not allowed to criticize or vote against The State. Welcome, the U.S.S.A.

 

Rasmussen has been the most accurate pollster, two elections running.

 

No, if you look at the entirety of their predictions, they rank 12th in the poll accuracy tracker ( below )

So, I'll file your comment in the 'a broken clock is correct twice a day' file.

Now, a word about the poll, below: The ratings are based on 'plus-minus' rating (the blue - red column ) where the more negative that rating is, the more accurate the poll is meaning that the poll in question has had fewer errors than other pollsters in similar races. Rasmussen ranks 12th on the list

It also must be noted that these 'accuracy' ratings can be proven by the results of races from which the chart is based.

This goes to the point, an 'approval' rating doesn't have a 'race' where there is a confirmable point of accuracy. Therefore, the MOST accurate approval rating can only be surmised from the average of ALL the approval ratings, which is to say, the most accurate approval rating is that of RCPs, of which the averaged approval rating of Trump is 41%. I therefore stand by my comment.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-pollsters-to-trust-in-2018/