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The coup is complete. Laws passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court now mean nothing. The sooner people stop talking about it as if the US is still o
by maeil 2y ago
The coup is complete. Laws passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court now mean nothing.
The sooner people stop talking about it as if the US is still only "sliding down the path", and start publicly admitting the reality that they now live in a single-party dictatorship á la Russia and China where the rules are whatever the leader says they are, the better.
I know this isn't easy as it takes time to change decades of reinforcement of the tribal ingroup/outgroup neural pathways where "Russia and China" were seen as contrasts to the US. But y'all can do it. Start by uttering the words out loud to yourself. Break through that first "denial" stage of grief.
- FAAST 2y ago[dead]
- WheatMillington 2y agoThe law specifically allowed for this extension, so I think you may be getting ahead of yourself.
- threeseed 2y agoIt only allowed for the extension if TikTok had plans underway to diverse from ByteDance. Not seen any reporting this is the case so we are relying on Trump's Executive Order to the DOJ to not enforce the ruling. And it's in the context of JD Vance's recent statements that the Supreme Court should have no power to curtail the President's actions.
- ivewonyoung 2y agoThe TikTok law was meant to force divesture to a US company. The Supreme Court ruled on the legality of it at the very last minute, so there is broad bipartisan support for more time to find an acquirer, including Biden saying he won't enforce it on the last day in office. They know a lot of Americans depend on it for both livelihood and entertainment/information. How many people in the general public even want it immediately banned apart from those doing it to score political points?
- threeseed 2y agoByteDance has made it clear they don't want to sell. So we have a situation where Trump is ignoring the will of Congress and the Judiciary. And what the public wants is irrelevant. They elected the Congress who have made a decision on their behalf.
- ripjaygn 2y agoCongress can pass a bill immediately removing the TikTok exception and also criminalizing the App store. Are even Democrats calling for TikTok to be immediately banned? All this feels so bizarre as how something that absolutely no one in real life wants being heavily pushed for talking points.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- paulryanrogers 2y agoI support the ban. Other podcasters I've listened to do as well, or at least understand the rationale light of the leaks and double standard.
- Cody-99 2y ago>so there is broad bipartisan support for more time to find an acquirer, Huh? No such law has passed congress.
- ripjaygn 2y agoCongress can pass a law removing the exception for the extension in the bill they already passed. There is zero appetite for such a law.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y agoThe extension is over. Congress pass the bill they passed not the one you think they passed.
- mandeepj 2y ago> Supreme Court should have no power to curtail the President's actions I read "should" as a mere wish. Now, putting Vance in Pence's place, I don't think he'd have certified that election.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ruilov 2y agoOnly before Jan 19th and if a sale was in progress. After Jan 19th the law went into effect, and whatever Trump said or wrote in executive order became legally irrelevant
- maeil 2y agoBy Jan 19, which has passed, so I think you may not be fully aware of that law.
- scarface_74 2y agoI’ve always thought it was crazy when either side said they were leaving the country based on who won the presidency. Last time between moderate old school Republicans, business interest and the bureaucracy, they were able to keep Trump in check. But it is different this time. Trump is no normal Republican and neither are his flunkies in Congress. I’ve seriously been looking at retiring to Costa Rica or Panama City. It’s stable. It’s relatively easy to become a permanent resident and buy into their health care system.
- forgotoldacc 2y agoAs a person who left the US almost 9 years ago (part of my reason was I saw the writing on the wall and knew a big political mess was coming. Part was similar to you with wanting good health care), one thing that's bothering me about a lot of the nü-emigrants from the US is they're bringing the politics with them that they're claiming to escape from. I've been feeling American politics creep more and more into my life here despite thinking I escaped them nearly a decade ago, and it's due to more Americans moving abroad and not really adapting to the mindset of their new home. There are some good people who leave out there. But it's feeling like the world is becoming more and more uniform with this bizarre political worship and cult of personality all centered on America.
- scarface_74 2y agoAmericans can’t vote in other countries. What would Americans want to bring to other countries? A shitty expensive health care system? I fully plan to learn more than the little Spanish I know if I move.
- forgotoldacc 2y agoThey can take citizenship and vote. What I've encountered is more and more Q style thinking these past few years. Sometimes outright support of it. Sometimes even pro-Q demonstrators in the middle of town. The worst part is these people talk about it at their workplaces, they talk about it with their friends, they teach it to their kids and spouse. The whole line of thinking is a mindvirus. It went from happily being detached from American stuff entirely to random locals saying, "You're American, right? What do you think about (bizarre conspiracy theory originating in the US)? It makes a lot of sense to me and I'm glad (politician) will take care of it. We need a guy like that here." When I ask where they're hearing about this, it's often "This American friend of mine tells me about it and he makes a lot of good points." And this is just the more extreme kind of thinking that's spread. There are various other americanisms creeping in that I wish I could've escaped forever.
- rvz 2y ago> they now live in a single-party dictatorship á la Russia and China where the rules are whatever the leader says they are, the better. "single-party dictatorship" in the US? You need to read your comment again as this is just beyond hysterical. You're telling everyone here that the Democratic Party currently has now ceased to exist and there is no opposition against the current administration.
- duxup 2y ago> and there is no opposition There’s opposition everywhere, including places with single party rule.
- threeseed 2y agoDemocratic Party does not control the Senate or House. They have no ability to oppose anything.
- ivewonyoung 2y agoSenate needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. Democrats have enough votes to stop any bill from passing except budget reconciliation.
- paulryanrogers 2y agoDo bills still matter, whether they pass or not? Apparently it's rule by executive order from here on out.
- ivewonyoung 2y agoYea, I remember the whole Biden forgiving student loans fiasco that bypassed Congress several times and argued in court that the President has extensive powers via executive orders.
- prododev 2y ago[dead]
- yieldcrv 2y agoI'm all for acknowledging that we are at the bottom of the slippery slope and have been for some time but I think people should be focusing on what they can do with it, people put their energy into arguing about it or these semantical distinctions when the reality is that we will have this supreme court, or its rulings, for the next 50 years at least. like, okay, work with that you don't love all federal agencies, only some. so instead of lamenting the ones you find beneficial, focus on the ones you hate and Chevron the shit out of them. sure, go ahead and start with obscure regulations that moderately inconvenience you, but go further and get their entire charter declared unconstitutional, shoot, get the interstate commerce clause interpretation adjusted if that's what you feel like. we know what this supreme court is going to do, stop worrying about whether you agree and worry about how you can use it, for example I don't know why people use their energy any other way, this is the most egalitarian Oligarch-level event in history.
- fckdt 2y ago[dead]
- maeil 2y agoYou still don't get it, and aren't acknowledging the bottom of the slippery slope. You're part of the group I was targeting. Laws have been shown to now be entirely meaningless, yet you continue to suggest energy should be put into going through the courts. That's the whole point, this entire action entirely ignores both Congress and SCOTUS, the law doesn't matter.
- yieldcrv 2y agoI wasn’t referring to this case I was referring to navigating the structure of the country, yourself, not as the president
- mschoch 2y agoseriously dude, it's over, go home.
- 2y ago
- mvdtnz 2y agoHow is it a single party dictatorship? There was JUST an election with multiple parties.
- dpe82 2y agoAnd it was likely the last one that will have mattered.
- rvz 2y ago[flagged]
- ASinclair 2y agoDo elections make it ok that elected officials are just ignoring laws wholesale?
- macinjosh 2y agoGoogle selective enforcement. Happens every day.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y agoThis is not what is normally referred to as "selective enforcement".
- yibg 2y agoThis was true for the lead up to many dictators. By itself, just having an election doesn't really mean much. We'll see if there are future (fair) elections.
- ripjaygn 2y agoOnly 25% of Democrats want TikTok banned vs 38% of republicans, it's the opposite of a coup with the President siding with the opposing party. Politicians of all colors are reading the room. Not hearing Democrat politicians calling for an immediate TikTok ban. Is lack of federal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws a coup too?
- ASinclair 2y agoIf that were truly the case they would pass another law overturning the ban.
- kelnos 2y agoNot sure if the GP was talking about what people want or what Congresspeople want. If the former, that's not really indicative of much. Congress often doesn't pass laws based on what a majority of their constituents want, but based on their own interests (or the interests of their financial backers).
- drdaeman 2y agoThe elections aren't known to be broken yet, so don't panic just yet but rather watch out very carefully and do whatever you realistically can do (aka bug your representatives) so those remain as safe as possible if you notice any attacks on it. The foundation of democracy is term limits and fair elections as means of non-violent change of power. Within the terms, people can elect all sorts of monsters - the key point is that there's a certain end to that, as long as the foundations are upheld and next term new people can come and take over the mess. Unlike Russia, there's no long history of massive election fraud. And that is not broken yet, as long as Democrats don't mess it up too bad and cease to be (turning it into one-party system and then autocracy). Remember, headlines are fighting for views. It is natural that they spread "we're all fucked real real bad" vibes, as they capture attention really well, but also have this side effect of spreading panic. That's not to say I'm happy about the way things are (things are bad), but that it's not as bad as you say it is - so far.
- yibg 2y agoIt's probably more grey than that. There are lots of ways to tilt an election without breaking existing laws, especially if you have all 3 branches of government and an execute that'll selectively enforce laws and out in the open go after political opponents.
- drdaeman 2y agoOf course, I can’t disagree - that’s all true. But this hasn’t happened yet, so rather than panicking (which, surely, doesn’t help, unless I’m missing something, e.g. if it, say, helps to spread more awareness?), it’s probably best to see what can be realistically done about it, try to do our part, and hope that it will be sufficient. At least I’m not aware about any better alternative.
- computerthings 2y agoIt's been happening from day 1 kinda: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5124328-trump-administration-purge-fbi/ https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5124328-trump-ad... > Some of the first actions from the new leadership at the FBI and DOJ have targeted those who worked on President Trump’s two criminal prosecutions as well as agents and lawyers involved in charging the 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, who have since been pardoned by the president. Not even "just" political enemies: also people just doing their job, should that happen to go against the interests of the new regime. Still agree with your point that panic doesn't help, and I love that you insist on it. Not even worrying helps! And especially when things are kinda bad people need to find their strength, and each other.
- mandeepj 2y agoDefinitely in a coup, if not completely taken over. Check this https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/13/politics/danielle-sassoon-eric-adams-us-attorney/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/13/politics/danielle-sassoon-eri...
- kelnos 2y agoWe only live in a single-party dictatorship now if the electoral system has been subverted by Trump as well. It's not clear if that's the case yet; I guess we'll see when November 2026 rolls around. If Democrats retake control of one or both houses of Congress, I think that would be decent evidence that the system is still working, even if it's damaged. Of course, if the GOP retains control, we can't really say much either way, unless there is strong, incontrovertible evidence of enough voter suppression or fraud that would swing the election. So we'll see. I'm not ready to give up on the US just yet, for all its faults.
- insane_dreamer 2y agoIt’s not a single party dictatorship, it’s a single populist leader dictatorship. The original GOP hates Trump but they care more about being re-elected because his fan base is so rabid and he and Musk are so retaliatory. Look what happened to Liz Cheney. The only people who can defy him now are the few about to retire/die and not seeking reelection (McConnell).
- maeil 2y agoIt is a single party dictatorship, and you're already implying it: >The original GOP... Is not the current party in power. Hence why you're making that distinction - the party of 10 years ago doesn't matter anymore, it's irrelevant. If you believe that Trump getting a deadly heart attack tomorrow would bring the coup to a sudden end, I've got bad news for you.