"Do you have any Republican friends?"

[Tanasi]

Please define "Liberal democracy."

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Sorry, I was away for work.

The definition is:

Liberal democracy is a liberal political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of classical liberalism. Also called western democracy, it is characterised by fair, free and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society and the equal protection of human rights, civil rights, civil liberties and political freedoms for all people.

It's not a political term. It's a classification. The United States from conception is a liberal democracy. Hell, conservatives are the largest proponents of economic liberalism. I'll admit, it's one of the reasons I was laughing my ass off listening to AM radio on my trip back where colloquially it appears at this point Conservatives as a group are just fine with "liberal" as some terrible thing. I'm thinking.... "well fuck... unless you're looking for the divine right of kings and feudalism... you're liberal dude."

Trump, who cannot with any credibility claim he has an interest in separation of powers OR equal protection (which is true both in how he's behaved AND his business dealings prior which were prejudial along racial lines) is NOT a liberal democratic president.

He was elected by a liberal democracy though. So was Erdogan in Turkey. The question is what happens next.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Addendum

On my trip I got to listen to this "expert" rail on the Trump investigation and how the Republican appointee and Republican special investigator had gone off the map. It took 'em about 2 minutes to "what about Obama?" to which I thought...

"Well I dunno, Jeff Sessions hasn't recused himself from that. Maybe if that's a real thing you could... investigate or something."

Conservative talking points on this investigation truly smack of the ugliest kind of group think. The one where rule of law stops applying. Like literally guys. You own the governers, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court AND the people leading the investigations are Republicans who have been doing this for 2 years.

So if you can't start with all those advantages AND respect the process you controlled from the start, can't it just maybe be that this is what it looks like when the most litigious candidate in history with a record of making screwball statements and playing fast and loose with facts runs a campaign? If you can't deal with that, is there any way the other half of the country not represented by this government can actually get a fair legal shake from you? Is it just truth is lies at this point?

[mjr]

I'm thinking.... "well fuck... unless you're looking for the divine right of kings and feudalism... you're liberal dude."

Except that "classical liberalism" is WAY different from "modern" liberalism.

And if "liberal" isn't such a bad word, why did many of them replace it with "progressive"?

Progress is fine -- as long as it's the right kind of progress.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Except that "classical liberalism" is WAY different from "modern" liberalism.

And if "liberal" isn't such a bad word, why did many of them replace it with "progressive"?

Progress is fine -- as long as it's the right kind of progress.

Because right wing radio has been a thing since the 80's? Please don't tarnish a word into obscurity and then feign ignorance as to why it was rebranded. I mean I'm watching them do the same thing to the word progressive, so this act isn't new. And the term "liberal" used by Conservatives isn't accurate anyway - it's a boogeyman (or most of the posts by my conservative friends about that demographic would indicate.)