• Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    There would be 2 fewer extreme MAGA judges in supreme court.
    The same level of MAGA corruption and disinformation would not have been possible.
    January 6 would never have happened.
    Trump would not have the same legitimacy and platform to constantly scream his MAGA hate message.
    Trump would likely have been judged much sooner for the crimes that were revealed during his first campaign. So he might actually have been in prison by now.
    The widespread MAGA treasonous behavior to favor Putin and Russia and undermine USA would probably not be a thing.

    So since Trump has been THEE major driver of extremism and treason in USA for the past 8 years, I’d say no. USA would not be nearly as divided as it is now.

    • Delusional@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      There would also be about a million less deaths in America since we would’ve had a competent president who wouldn’t fumble such an easy fucking task.

      • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Not so much that he was incompetent, as it was pure unfiltered corruption.

        He was recorded behind closed doors agreeing that people should mask, and get vacinated, and make sure space between people is adhered to.

        Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, if covid kills in NYC so easily because it’s condensed amount of people in a small space, and if all the major cities vote blue…then that means covid will kill the democrat voters and mostly leave the republican voters unharmed because they all live on farms and such!

        That was his thought process, verbally expressed. Not mine.

        Problem is, democrat voters didn’t fall for his bullshit. I remember one press conference where he would say things like “Covid will go away in the spring, it’s all a hoax” and then a scientist studying the virus since conception IMMEDIATELY followed it up with “Covid is NOT a hoax. Treat it seriously, or you may die”. Then Trump would say something like “We don’t need businesses shut down, we need to get back to work.” And immediately followed up by that same scientist saying “It’s not wise to encourage people to engage in public activities at this time. We must continue the quarantine”.

        Basically Trump would spew some bullshit, and IMMEDIATELY be followed up with this scientist saying the exact opposite of what Trump said. All this while Trump is giving him a look of “WILL YOU SHUT UP??? YOU’RE FACT CHECKING MY BULLSHIT!!!”

        I LOVE a good absurdist moment…but I prefer for the absurdity to be based in fiction. 3rd Rock From the Sun is amazing absurdist humor. John Lithgow is amazing in that role. However when the show ends, my country isn’t on fire with 1 million people dead.

        So, I see this as corruption rather than incompetence.

      • Kalkaline @leminal.space
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        4 months ago

        Don’t forget Trump dismantled the Obama era pandemic response program shortly after taking office. He had a game plan all laid out and he threw it away out of spite and vanity.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    Not at all, Trump’s presidency provided a false air of legitimacy for those fringe beliefs. And his success forced politicians to morph into his sycophants - if he’d failed the GOP would assume that going that extreme was unpalatable to Americans.

  • NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Doubtful. Clinton wouldn’t have focused on division. Sure, it would have simmered like during Obama’s years. But you can name 99 polarizing things Trump did and I can think of few Clinton would have done. Besides, you know, being a woman and continuing Obama’s legacy.

  • SleezyDizasta@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Hillary is pretty divisive herself, and there was bound to be another Trump like candidate in the next election who would makes waves. Trump is a symptom, not the source

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 months ago

      Exactly, without Trump all the bigotry in the US doesn’t just evaporate. It’s still there and there’s still a sizable portion of voters that want that.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        Oh, it’s definitely still there but it’d still be considered fringe. Trump normalized hate groups in a manner we haven’t seen before.

      • SleezyDizasta@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        In my opinion, MAGA officially crossed the line from being a fringe political movement and into a genuine cult after 2020. It was pretty bad starting all the way back during his first campaign in 2015 and it got gradually worse over the years. However, during 2020 MAGA turned into an actual national security threat, not once, but twice. First, during the anti-vaxx shit were they literally denying the existence of the virus, or even worse, they were actively mocking the people who died, and then again after they lost the election and attempted the coup.

        Any sane conservative who didn’t nope out pretty early on in his term distanced themselves after Jan 6th. The only people who still supported Trump after what he did were the ones that worshipped him. Since Jan 6, 2021 Trump’s MAGA consist of people who will follow him no matter what, will listen to whatever he says no matter how false or dangerous, and will unironically want him as a dictator. I think the cult thing became most apparent when supporters were wearing diapers in a show of support for him… that’s so batshit crazy that it leaves me speechless.

  • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    I’d say it’d depend on the specifics of the result.

    Taking the wind out of MAGA’s sails would take a blowout victory and Hillary wasn’t gonna get that without doing some serious full court pressing for the entire general campaign, like well beyond even the “she should have campaigned more in the rust belt!” ideas people have about where she fell short.

  • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Probably. Division is what we are being fed, every day, on every topic with everything.

    We would just be in a different shit show, attacking different groups.

  • 14th_cylon@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    trump is just a symptom of underlying problem in society that manifests itself all over the world.

    populist politicians trying to appeal to nostalgy for “good old times”, ability to weaponize social media and craft customized lies to every minor group, russian bot networks spewing out propaganda… it is something that creates problems everywhere and it will not get better.

    recent eu parliament elections are shining example.

  • Illuminostro@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Absolutely. The Right Wing funded Hate Machine funded by billionaires would have been there, just like now.

  • Delusional@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Yes. Just because trump lost doesn’t mean conservative propaganda hasn’t been spewing hate and lies for decades. Even before obama, I knew people that hated Democrats but could never tell me why. Their propaganda has labeled Democrats enemies for quite a long time now. They started this shit back in the 50s-70s. Republicans have been brainwashed and somehow they’re proud of that fact.

  • j4k3@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Yes, but in a less civil warlike posture. The consequences of the shift to venture capital driving the economy in the 1960’s shifted the need to create more massive scale wars, but unchecked consolidation of wealth destroys the necessary egalitarian framework of a real democracy. All the pieces are in place to enslave the nation, i. e. we all carry tracking devices that can not be turned off, all of our financial means can be controlled, we are surrounded by cameras on most homes and vehicles that are connected to a monitoring system of a few entities. We only have the illusion of autonomy. Real democracies are very rare in history. The blood that bought this one is old money that few value with a thorough understanding. I’d say it was inevitable for unchecked venture capital to destroy the USA, but perhaps it was better than the warhawks destroying the world again in the 1980’s.

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Can’t say for sure, but Hillary is an old-school politician who tries to create consensus. Trump is a fire breather who thrives on controversy.