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Supreme Court Justice Kennedy to Retire

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Bulletproof said:
I am currently cheering on team D.

It is important enough for me to full on just want them to win right now. I'll nit pick with the best of them if they do win and end the Trump era and start acting like the people in charge, because I'll always nitpick the people in charge.
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Since when has the democratic party been organized enough to expect them to act like people in charge? Obama was REALLY lucky for democrats since he acted the part. Outside of that, what's there to be enthusiastic about? Look at awful a candidate the democrats put up against someone as awful as Mike Lee.
 
♪alt13 said:
I disagree

The Democrats had contol of all 3 houses early in Obama's Presidency. We weren't worried about our institutions even those of us that disagreed with them on many issues.

The Republicans have since then undermined democracy through intense gerrymandering, adopted bogus conspiracy theories as fact, erased any hint of decency and respect that may have existed, and through the Garland-Kavanaugh event destroyed trust in the most trusted of our branches of government.

The Republicans over the last decade have terrorized America and her institutions. This is what paves the way for fascists. I am more and more worried that Trump may be a mere side note in history. That the worst is still to come. The Republicans have set us on a most dangerous path.

I worry for my children. I worry that they will come of age in a militant fascist society. That guy, that demagogue is out there and our institutions may no longer be strong enough to stop him.

Angry tears
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I had been thinking of finding some words that would allow me to introduce what follows without there being the kind of knee jerk reaction that ensures none of what follows can be taken seriously, and instead assumptions made that are erroneous and diminish the chance that anything can be learned or gained in the effort. And then, I came to this thread tonight and saw this post first, by chance, and realized here was someone talking about the growth of illiberalism in America. I had just finished reading the essay here, for the third time, and your comments were the next words I read this eve. How is that possible? The world works in mysterious ways.

I'm human, after all, and very, very few people can even begin to take such things seriously. Nobody really wants to be known as "oh, he's one of those". Further, as soon as one proffers the name of a certain 20th century dictator as a point of comparison with the situation in America today, the atrocities associated with that dictator are immediately remembered, and "that's nuts" is the expected reply. However, I know I myself never felt that was the point of the comparison at all, or the expected result of the present moment in American history. Rather, at least I thought, this may be how our democracy withers on the vine, and nobody need worry that such atrocities would ever take place here. History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Did Mark Twain say that? I think so. And that's all this really is, a suggestion that if you study history long enough, you find it rhymes. So, I'll take my chances here. This guy is no slouch. I may be, in comparison I certainly am, but this guy is no slouch, and I am glad to see he's had the courage to write this.

This is not a Trump=Hitler argument, it is not a Trumpism=Nazism argument. What it is is the leading American scholar on the subject of the Holocaust, and Germany between the wars, illustrating the similarities in the growth of illiberal democracy in Germany of that earlier time, and the growth of illiberal democracy in early 21st century America.

I want to thank you for your comments. More people need to understand. You gave me the courage to just post this. One has to slog through European history that few Americans are all that familiar with, but the gems of enlightenment therein regarding the current era in America need to be more generally understood, IMHO.


https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy/
 
Red said:
... as soon as one proffers the name of a certain 20th century dictator as a point of comparison...
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Pol Pot? Mao? Castro? Stalin? Kim? I'm sure I am forgetting a few others. Please be more specific.

This is not a Trump=Hitler argument, it is not a Trumpism=Nazism argument.
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Oh, THAT dictator. There's been so many that Marx influenced I can't keep them all straight.
 
Scat said:
Pol Pot? Mao? Castro? Stalin? Kim? I'm sure I am forgetting a few others. Please be more specific.


Oh, THAT dictator. There's been so many that Marx influenced I can't keep them all straight.
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So how did you enjoy Browning's essay? Or is this knee jerk reaction #1? No, that's not fair, but really, unless you're a speed reader, you probably haven't taken the time yet to give it a shot. You might learn something, you know. It doesn't hurt.
 
Scat said:
Pol Pot? Mao? Castro? Stalin? Kim? I'm sure I am forgetting a few others. Please be more specific.


Oh, THAT dictator. There's been so many that Marx influenced I can't keep them all straight.
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Ah yes. We all remember Hitler's famous fondness for Communists.
 
Most importantly what’s the count on the number of times that “Thriller” lunatic bloke has said “partisan hack” the last few weeks ??? I’ve blocked his posts so if someone could give me the count I’d be much appreciative
 
♪alt13 said:
So I saw you changed the post I quoted. (He said "explain?")

Ps @Jason

It is super lame that an edited post gets changed not only in the post but also in a post that quoted it.
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That is lame.

I edited as when I hit “reply” only part of your post was there. So I edited my reply when I saw the rest of yours.
 
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