@tshirtman @count @a @gemelliz to steel man what Trump is saying:
He isn't talking about having a dictatorship in 4 years. His intention is, that the USA will be saved/"made great again" and even when the Democrats win, they will not undo his great achievements.
Since he will have "fixed" the Supreme Court, the voter registration, and so on.

@mxk @count @a @gemelliz i understand, but is it really reasonable to give that much credit to trump? Just because in anyone else's mouth, promising a dictatorship would be ludicrous?

He said before he'd be a "dictator on day one" (which *can* be read as "only day one", but might not mean it).

Even if the democrats might win again, if it doesn't matter because everything will be set in stone, they will be powerless to change anything meaningful, that's quite undemocratic.

@tshirtman @mxk @a @gemelliz totally defend against him tearing down democracy (and always expect the worst from him!)

all I'm cautioning is that attacking him for things he didn't say or do (or changing/removing context) might be used against you, or weaken your position

@mxk @count @a @gemelliz And i believe a politician should be careful about what they say, in the sense that if it can be interpreted (both by their supporter and their opponents) as promising something really dangerous, like permission to act with violence against the state or other people, then they shouldn't say it. Because some people will act on it, whether it's a strictly correct interpretation of what you said or not.

And he and others on his side have promised civil war if he loses.

@tshirtman @count @a @gemelliz " a politician should be careful about what they say" is nothing but wishful thinking by now.
We know how Trump talks and we have to treat his words accordingly.
And yes, I agree, that will include people taking certain parts from him very literally. (Though I think, the civil war part was actually intended to be taken literally, nobody is doing him a disfavour with that)

@tshirtman @count @a @gemelliz I really think trump is dangerous, but interpreting everything that he says through our lens, doesn't grant you any convincing arguments.
His plans are scary enough, without making it worse than what he probably meant.

Also, trump mostly isn't the one with the big coherent plans. His speeches should be seen as what they are, populist ramblings targeting one audience at a time.

@mxk @count @a @gemelliz yes, populist ramblings, but they do convey ideas, still, and people who cheers to it will normalize them, and in this case the idea that they won't have to vote again, because that's the decisive battle their side needs to win, should ring alarm bells in anyone attached to democracy.

I don't think trumps "means" a lot, when he talks, he tries soundbites, to generate emotion, and plays on the usual conservative themes, with his own deviations, but he looks for response.

@mxk @count @a @gemelliz the problem is not thus, what he means to convey, because he doesn't, but what he normalizes as acceptable, in discourse and then in acts.