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Comment by nickh9000 | Hacker News Reader

What briandear is trying to say is that extreme points of view damage the democracy regardless of whether they are to the left or right.

And your point is extreme, for example. You are claiming that he is unfit. That's your opinion but wasn't the opinion of millions of people.

Personally I think he is extremely unqualified, and should not have been elected. Again, this doesn't matter.

The point is, he is the president, trying to delegitimize him serves no good to this country.

A democracy is built on the losing side acquiescing and letting the majority rule. This is why it was a big deal when Trump stated ahead of the elections that he would dispute them if he lost: it was a threat to the Democratic process. A civil war is the final result of this, when the minority does not want to give up control.

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A democracy is built on the losing side acquiescing and letting the majority rule.

Just because something is "democratic" doesn't mean it's inherently just, good, fair, or noble. Democracies have their own pathologies - see, for example, the "Tyranny of the Majority"[1] problem.

And never forget these words from "Johnny Got His Gun":

    Father: You're gonna make the world safe for democracy!

    Joe Age 10: What is democracy?

    Father: Well it's never bright clear on myself. 
    Like any other kind government it's got something to 
    do with young men killing each other I believe.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

I like that characterization of the man: "a threat to the Democratic process". He's gamed the system, similar to the way Julius Caesar gamed elections once upon a time, without regard to the damage he was doing. Its all about him.

He is not a legitimate president; he's a fool that used transparent car-salesman blather to sway an election. Most of those 'millions' have lived to regret their foolishness.

Many democratic processes have recall ability. Now that the majority despise this fool, its time we used such a route to fix this. "Serves no purpose?" What can that possibly mean. Of course it serves the purpose of not having a child in charge of the entire nation.

Hyperbole and hysteria are no way to go through life. Most people who voted for trump haven't lived to regret their foolishness. That's nonsense. And it is rare for a majority to love a president. Obama had some tough moments himself and that's with newspapers and magazines literally painting him as emperors of past.

We'll survive Trump, just like we survived Obama, and survived Bush, and Clinton, etc etc.

Not 'just like'; maybe not at all. This is where we fundamentally disagree.

There's no way to whitewash this president; comparing him to previous disagreeable presidents does a disservice to everybody. The degree to which things are off the rails is absolutely unprecedented in American history.

Can you offer any examples besides him using naughty words? Foreign relations vis a vis Russia, China, N. Korea, Syria seem to be edging slightly in the US and allies favor. A compromise DACA agreement is imminent. The tax cut will cost a lot less than the ACA did, and stimulate the economy much more.

I'm just not seeing where things are off the rails except for our social and political elitist continued clutching of pearls and running for their fainting couches, exactly 8 years after they marched in the streets with puppets of Bush being lynched. Maybe not how you want, but off the rails is hyperbole.

> You are claiming that he is unfit. That’s your opinion but wasn’t the opinion of millions of people.

Although we embrace democracy that doesn’t mean we embrace relativism.

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