Can a dictatorship be benign?

John condemned Musharraf's rule in Pakistan in 2007 and 2008, and in 2011 called 'benign dictatorship' a bit of an oxymoron. Hank called North Korea's dictatorship above all a threat to its own people in 2013, and in 2021 said Superman ruling Earth would be evil.

Axis: yes, sometimes ... no, a contradiction

Positions by date: 5 records in 5 videos. The position did not change in these records.

John

date	how	position	video
2007-11-07	first on record	John grants Musharraf cooperated with the US on terrorism to an extent but argues his rule caused Pakistan's radicalization.	November 7: Discussing the Political Situation in Pakistan 00:01:42
2008-01-04	restate	John condemns Musharraf's dictatorial rule: he used Bhutto's death to delay elections, took power in a coup and has never stood for election.	Nerdfighting in 2008, Pakistan, and Hillary Clinton 00:01:34
2011-06-15 (said on 2011-06-14, implied)	restate	John says 'benign dictatorship' is a bit of an oxymoron.	Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) 00:02:42

Hank

date	how	position	video
2013-04-05	first on record	Hank: North Korea, a totalitarian hereditary military dictatorship, is above all a threat to its own people: malnourished children and whole families sent to camps for generations.	North Korea: Explained 00:01:27
2021-04-30	restate	Superman declaring himself emperor of Earth would be evil, not just wrong; the Avengers should not be the government: they are good at punching, not leading.	Are We the Baddies?? A Quick Look at a Discourse 00:02:55

Background

date	how	position	video
2009-05-17	background	John says what follows a military coup is generally pretty bad; 47 years of military rule left Burma poor and oppressive. (playful)	Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! 00:00:40

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).