[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

I generally agree with most of what you wrote. However, the real danger of Trump and what makes him the potential worst President ever is not the monster he is himself but rather the monster he emboldens or even creates. Trump is all about Trump. He will do whatever is good for him. If it helps Americans that's a bonus. If it helps Americans and the World, that's an even bigger bonus. If it hurts America and/or the World, too bad. He simply doesn't care about other human beings.

But this has been the trajectory of American politics (and particularly the Republican party) for decades. The cult of personality #### has been going for years. The white supremacy has been thinly-veiled but no less potent. Trump was the culmination of what the dorks on the alt+right have been pushing for years. If it wasn't Trump, it would have been someone else. He just represented the best vessel for it.

Trump hasn't started any wars, hasn't been responsible for mass atrocities, political coups or even the genocides of past Presidents. What he is responsible for is the rise of fascism and authoritarianism in America and around the World. Russia, China, Turkey, Brazil, Iran, North Korea and others have been emboldened by Trump whereas, even with a Neo-Con as President, they would have at least been given some pause.

I think that's exaggerated. The rising tide of right-wing populism/nationalism and proto-fascism around the globe had been well-documented prior to Trump's election Putin, Xi, and Erdogan were well-entrenched and enacting authoritarian policies well before Trump came to power. North Korea and Iran were generally rough states who are realists in the IR sphere.

Brazil has flirted off and on with authoritarian right-wing governments since the 60s and Duterte in the Philippines was elected six months before Trump came to power.

The presidency is obviously the most prestigious office in the world, and having someone who share the worldviews of these leaders could potentially have a legitimizing effect on some of those leaders, but I think we tend to overstate the influence of U.S. domestic politics in the domestic politics of other nations (exceptions being when the U.S. directly involves itself in those politics).

That's why it's so important to get rid of Trump and defeat Trumpism as quickly as possible before the roots get even deeper and more tangled.

I agree with this but Trump is the dandelion at the end of the weed. Lopping off the head does nothing to fix the problem. You need to tear the roots out, and the roots.

We need to be all-in on Biden now as enthusiastically as we can muster. When he's in office, then he should be held accountable.

Except history shows us this isn't what happens. It's more likely that criticism of Biden will get deflected with whataboutisms related to Trump, or deemed as they are now as "helping the Republicans" and not being a team players.