TheLagerLad wrote:

Just Fred wrote:

Time out!

It's really not about who compares who to Hitler and what it means.

For me, it's about leadership and governing style.  Of all the styles of leadership and governing (and I'm sure someone could identify several), the one leadership style that I can't relate to, work for, or flourish under would be authoritarian.

As far as government, I believe the ones that are most unhealthy would be plutocracy or plutocratic oligarchy.

If you have authoritarian leadership at the head of a plutocracy or plutocratic oligarchy I think the results are deadly and ultimately doomed to failure.  Right now, I view Donald Trump as a plutocratic authoritarian and I think that's a dangerous mix of personal leadership and governing style.  If any of you worked under that leadership style you can relate to what I'm saying, but if not, then consider yourself lucky.

Here's the thing. Running around and espousing the hyperbolic thought that Donald Trump is going to be the next Hitler is just as ridiculous as what we saw in Washington D.C. with those idiots who were spreading the lie that there was a child sex slave shop in the basement of a pizzeria.

Fake news is fake news. Ridiculous opinions are ridiculous opinions. 

Every word written about Trump and the chance he leads us towards some sort of fascist state is time that should be used to figure out how the hell we ended up with Donald Trump to being with.

- Why do Americans across the board tend to distrust our federal government institutions?
- Why couldn't Democrats craft a message for the white working class?
- Why is the Democrat's candidate bench so weak?
- Why have Democrats been losing elections across the country for the last 6 years?
- Why does this country seem to becoming closer to one-party rule?
- What needs to be done to turn that trend around?

So yeah, let's spend more time talking about Hitler and staring at pictures of overpriced baseball caps.

Yea, the rise of nationalist political ideology in Europe and the US, and the ugly scenes at trump rallies were all in my head,
Stupid me.
Thanks Lager for offering the final word.

Rongone wrote:

Since the election this thread, and a couple others on this board, tend to devolve into name calling and hurling insults back and forth. It's kind of a microcosm of the ultra-partisan politically divergent discourse in the country. From my perspective it has become increasingly more hostile, personal, and unapologetic over the last 30 years or so. It has especially come to the surface over the last two presidential administrations and, it appears, the situation will be further exacerbated with this new administration. It's not that I particularly blame whoever is president (although their joining in on the ugliness does indeed pour gas on the fire), I place the blame squarely on the two major political parties whose members, leadership, and political operatives seem to embrace political conflict over national unity. I also place part of the blame on the laziness of the population that buys the crap the talking heads are peddling rather than learning about issues, determining fact from fiction, and exercising the power we possess through communicating our true desires to our elected officials, holding them responsible for their action or inaction on important issues, and finally when we cast our votes in elections. Petty squabbling solves nothing.

Totally agree.