[song]

To be fair, apart from carrying guns (which is a bit of an American specificity), a significant percentage of the population of any country is quite stupid, easily manipulated and tend to vote for populist types that cater to their low intelligence.

For examples in Europe, see Brexit, Berlusconi, the rise of Lepen in France, the Freedom Party of Austria and a lot of examples... The problem is that this time, in the US, those people have actually been able to vote for a candidate that represent their values (and it's not the second time, Bush was already a good example of that)

[guitarbill]

I think you're spot on, it's so dangerous to think this can't happen anywhere else. Stupid laws get ratified in every country. For the US, one difference is the media coverage is good, and the debate is widely publicised. Whereas in e.g. the UK, everybody just shrugs [0]. Apathy is far more dangerous than outrage.

[0] e.g. being compelled to hand over passwords in "terror" or "national security" matters, or be jailed otherwise