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The is exactly a move the people in power in those troubled countries will use to maintain control over government. It used to be that the US government had pr

The is exactly a move the people in power in those troubled countries will use to maintain control over government. It used to be that the US government had pride in its own professionalism. The US is now acting like the countries it loves to destabilize.

palata 2y ago
> The US is now acting like the countries it loves to destabilize. Ironically, it's destabilising itself on its own.
- iwontberude 2y ago
  I mean it sorta gave Russia a reason to attack us in the only way they can. Their super power is corruption.
- anonzzzies 2y ago
  Trump & Musk will walk out trillionaires, so they couldn't care less.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > Trump & Musk will walk out trillionaires Or in jail. We’re not at the coup stakes of life and death, but we’re also like two months into this Presidency. (For what it’s worth, Trump isn’t currently being coup-ish. That’s been left to the pretender.)
    - anonzzzies 2y ago
      Which is why they are pushing so hard/fast; they need to destroy the right things to make sure they cannot be stopped.
      - jordanb 2y ago
        It doesn't look like they're targeting the right things, given how much they've put into going after the FAA, NHTSA and NOAA. Not exactly dark-state power centers. Rather, they're people who've pissed of Elon specifically. It seems like they're spending 30% of effort on the areas that are likely to foment a counter-coup and 70% of their time attacking groups they have personal beefs with. But of course they're not just focusing on the powerless, they're also annoying the powerful enough that I don't see how it ends well for them.
        Tadpole9181 2y ago
        Haha, yeah, it's not like the president hasn't put in 3 of the SCOTUS judges who give him a 6/9 majority. Or replaced the chief joint of staff and each respective head of every military branch and each respective judge of each military branch. Or the head of the FBI or the director of the FBI. Or the secretary of defense. It's not like he once ordered protesters to be shot for a photo op and had to be stopped by people in those very positions saying "no". That would be crazy. It's not like he's stopping aid to Ukraine while ruminating on dropping sanctions on our second largest enemy state and repeating word-for-word Kremlin talking points after having a prior relationship with their criminal enterprises for his real estate and an intelligence community espouse the use of foreign power to influence his election outcomes. That would be nuts. It's not like he attempted to overthrow the government when he lost an election 4 years ago, then pardoned the violent criminals who were incarcerated for that act. Or outright saying he will ignore judicial rulings from unfavored judges while making executive orders that change explicitly language in the constitution, with an EO making it illegal for his executive branch employees to oppose his interpretation of law and installing Aparachniks in each agency to report those in non-compliance. That's a loony idea. It's not like he's destroying all trade partnerships with allies and internal infrastructure/manufacturing investments simultaneously. That would be silly.
      - ben_w 2y ago
        "Stopping" can mean many things. Reaching the altitude of space is much, much, easier than reaching orbital velocity. This meant that during the Global War on Terror, people had legitimate questions about if Al Qaida could damage the ISS. The answer then was "no", but amateurs reached the Kármán line in 2004, students in 2019, and the current altitude record holder is 143 km. I suspect that it is well within the capacity of random drug cartels in the US, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica to destroy a Starship during launch, if they so desired. A functioning US government is a reason not to do that. Nobody in any of those countries will want to risk Musk asking Trump for a favour in the form of a USSOCOM operation. Destroy the US federal government, and there may well not be an USSOCOM left afterwards. And so far, DOGE has shown zero regard for the value of who they cut, e.g. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/02/doge-nuclear-worker-firings-musk-trump/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/02/doge-nucl...
    - orwin 2y ago
      The fact that Musk will probably end up like Hugenberg if nothing changes doesn't make me jump in joy. 2 of every 5 people living in the US don't deserve it (the fifth who voted against and the fifth who can't vote), and I'm quite sad that they will have to bear with it for at least a few months (it took 6 months for Hugenberg to lose his empire and power, but I don't see the long knives happening in the US in the future, so it might take longer). At least the week-long pogrom didn't get a pretty name this time and was quite limited thanks to activists and pissed of neighbours. USians are a lot of things, maybe too passive at times, but cowards they are not.
  - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
    Trillionaires over the ashes, worth it I suppose. And one day they'll get into an accident, run into the wrong person, or die of old age and then what? Their legacy will be AI generated gold statues and maybe their name on a building. If they ctually used that wealth to advance the human race (on the ground, not a hypothetical but infeasible future on another planet) that'd be another matter. A percentage of Musk's theoretical wealth can solve every American's financial trouble, give them an education, and make the US great again. But that means giving some of it away and they may need it for... What, anyway? What does Musk use his money for besides buying companies and spawning babies against their will? At least MBS (an autocrat whose wealth and country are one) spends his money on stupidly large building and opulence like The Line and whatnot, which will either make the UAE the center of world wealth and prosperity, or which will be interesting to archeologists in 2000-4000 years.
    - anonzzzies 2y ago
      > And one day they'll get into an accident, run into the wrong person, or die of old age and then what? Their legacy will be AI generated gold statues and maybe their name on a building. But that's the problem of the 'capitalist west' (i'm not sure what is better or what would work); everyone is out for short term gain. Most people care about themselves and some of their close family/friends, but in the end, they couldn't give a flying f if the entire planet implodes when they die. We should be planning on a 2000 year timeline as humanity but instead we plan on 4-8 years instead. So far (but that might be reading the wrong propaganda), China seems to have a plan beyond 4 years and beyond Xi's life and not be in such a neckbreaking hurry of breaking everything over a few years more or less.
  - csomar 2y ago
    If the US collapses, Trump & Musk will be worth 0.
    - palata 2y ago
      Let's hope they go to jail before the US collapses.
- jgilias 2y ago
  That’s what the successful decades long Russian psyop would want you to believe. I’m not talking primarily about agent Krasnov allegation from a top Kazakh ex-spook (though that is an actual possibility), but about the well known Russian influence operations by financing what used to be extremists (both far-right and far-left) across the West.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - palata 2y ago
    Well, Russian psyop has brought the US to destabilise themselves on their own. The people elected Trump.
- sockp0pp3t 2y ago
  [flagged]
hnthrow90348765 2y ago
Well, Russia is destabilizing the US and winning which is why I think we're acting like that. And it seems all of our military and counterintelligence capabilities can't stop it. Too much offense, not enough defense, it seems.
- iwontberude 2y ago
  People like to say that Obamas jokes about Trump got him to run. But I wonder if Obama never helped Ukraine keep their democracy if we still would have ours.
- karmajunkie 2y ago
  the first amendment has become a national security threat, it would seem…
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  They can, but they won't because nobody dares to stick their neck out for fear of losing their job. And that's been going on for decades, the slow dismantling (if there ever was any) of job and income security, to the point where the majority of Americans, including federal workers, are only one or two paychecks away from financial ruin. Nobody wants to lose their job. Of course, if they get fired and there's nothing else for them to do, there will be uprisings.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > Nobody wants to lose their job There is almost zero causality in the U.S. government’s hiring and firing right now. Particularly relating to current conduct. To the extent anyone has received job protection, it’s by getting politically fired and then seeking court protection. So no, this is base cowardice and a lack of patriotism. Not rational action.
    - close04 2y ago
      As a matter of personal character, the people who would be more likely to stand up and shout or protest vigorously in today’s situation are the people which society generally considers obnoxious and disruptive. So in each workplace most were already marginalized or learned to hide these traits for their benefit. There are way more people in the ‘flight’ than the ‘fight’ camp.
egypturnash 2y ago
"Krasnov" is doing exactly what the Russians hired him to do.
lettergram 2y ago
[flagged]
- lokar 2y ago
  Putin was elected Orban was elected
- Volundr 2y ago
  Plenty of dictators were elected. Someone being elected does not make them good. And Musk was not elected.
_heimdall 2y ago
> It used to be that the US government had pride in its own professionalism It used to be that voters actually cared about professionalism, principles, and critical thinking. Campaigning on really any of those doesn't work these days, its not surprising that our government has those same shortcomings.
readthenotes1 2y ago
"It used to be that the US government had pride in its own professionalism. " The phrase "good enough for government work" has never been a positive in my lifetime. But I'm sure the Dulles brothers were proudful...

palata 2y ago

> The US is now acting like the countries it loves to destabilize. Ironically, it's destabilising itself on its own.

iwontberude 2y ago
I mean it sorta gave Russia a reason to attack us in the only way they can. Their super power is corruption.
anonzzzies 2y ago
Trump & Musk will walk out trillionaires, so they couldn't care less.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Trump & Musk will walk out trillionaires Or in jail. We’re not at the coup stakes of life and death, but we’re also like two months into this Presidency. (For what it’s worth, Trump isn’t currently being coup-ish. That’s been left to the pretender.)
  - anonzzzies 2y ago
    Which is why they are pushing so hard/fast; they need to destroy the right things to make sure they cannot be stopped.
    - jordanb 2y ago
      It doesn't look like they're targeting the right things, given how much they've put into going after the FAA, NHTSA and NOAA. Not exactly dark-state power centers. Rather, they're people who've pissed of Elon specifically. It seems like they're spending 30% of effort on the areas that are likely to foment a counter-coup and 70% of their time attacking groups they have personal beefs with. But of course they're not just focusing on the powerless, they're also annoying the powerful enough that I don't see how it ends well for them.
      - Tadpole9181 2y ago
        Haha, yeah, it's not like the president hasn't put in 3 of the SCOTUS judges who give him a 6/9 majority. Or replaced the chief joint of staff and each respective head of every military branch and each respective judge of each military branch. Or the head of the FBI or the director of the FBI. Or the secretary of defense. It's not like he once ordered protesters to be shot for a photo op and had to be stopped by people in those very positions saying "no". That would be crazy. It's not like he's stopping aid to Ukraine while ruminating on dropping sanctions on our second largest enemy state and repeating word-for-word Kremlin talking points after having a prior relationship with their criminal enterprises for his real estate and an intelligence community espouse the use of foreign power to influence his election outcomes. That would be nuts. It's not like he attempted to overthrow the government when he lost an election 4 years ago, then pardoned the violent criminals who were incarcerated for that act. Or outright saying he will ignore judicial rulings from unfavored judges while making executive orders that change explicitly language in the constitution, with an EO making it illegal for his executive branch employees to oppose his interpretation of law and installing Aparachniks in each agency to report those in non-compliance. That's a loony idea. It's not like he's destroying all trade partnerships with allies and internal infrastructure/manufacturing investments simultaneously. That would be silly.
    - ben_w 2y ago
      "Stopping" can mean many things. Reaching the altitude of space is much, much, easier than reaching orbital velocity. This meant that during the Global War on Terror, people had legitimate questions about if Al Qaida could damage the ISS. The answer then was "no", but amateurs reached the Kármán line in 2004, students in 2019, and the current altitude record holder is 143 km. I suspect that it is well within the capacity of random drug cartels in the US, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica to destroy a Starship during launch, if they so desired. A functioning US government is a reason not to do that. Nobody in any of those countries will want to risk Musk asking Trump for a favour in the form of a USSOCOM operation. Destroy the US federal government, and there may well not be an USSOCOM left afterwards. And so far, DOGE has shown zero regard for the value of who they cut, e.g. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/02/doge-nuclear-worker-firings-musk-trump/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/02/doge-nucl...
  - orwin 2y ago
    The fact that Musk will probably end up like Hugenberg if nothing changes doesn't make me jump in joy. 2 of every 5 people living in the US don't deserve it (the fifth who voted against and the fifth who can't vote), and I'm quite sad that they will have to bear with it for at least a few months (it took 6 months for Hugenberg to lose his empire and power, but I don't see the long knives happening in the US in the future, so it might take longer). At least the week-long pogrom didn't get a pretty name this time and was quite limited thanks to activists and pissed of neighbours. USians are a lot of things, maybe too passive at times, but cowards they are not.
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  Trillionaires over the ashes, worth it I suppose. And one day they'll get into an accident, run into the wrong person, or die of old age and then what? Their legacy will be AI generated gold statues and maybe their name on a building. If they ctually used that wealth to advance the human race (on the ground, not a hypothetical but infeasible future on another planet) that'd be another matter. A percentage of Musk's theoretical wealth can solve every American's financial trouble, give them an education, and make the US great again. But that means giving some of it away and they may need it for... What, anyway? What does Musk use his money for besides buying companies and spawning babies against their will? At least MBS (an autocrat whose wealth and country are one) spends his money on stupidly large building and opulence like The Line and whatnot, which will either make the UAE the center of world wealth and prosperity, or which will be interesting to archeologists in 2000-4000 years.
  - anonzzzies 2y ago
    > And one day they'll get into an accident, run into the wrong person, or die of old age and then what? Their legacy will be AI generated gold statues and maybe their name on a building. But that's the problem of the 'capitalist west' (i'm not sure what is better or what would work); everyone is out for short term gain. Most people care about themselves and some of their close family/friends, but in the end, they couldn't give a flying f if the entire planet implodes when they die. We should be planning on a 2000 year timeline as humanity but instead we plan on 4-8 years instead. So far (but that might be reading the wrong propaganda), China seems to have a plan beyond 4 years and beyond Xi's life and not be in such a neckbreaking hurry of breaking everything over a few years more or less.
- csomar 2y ago
  If the US collapses, Trump & Musk will be worth 0.
  - palata 2y ago
    Let's hope they go to jail before the US collapses.
jgilias 2y ago
That’s what the successful decades long Russian psyop would want you to believe. I’m not talking primarily about agent Krasnov allegation from a top Kazakh ex-spook (though that is an actual possibility), but about the well known Russian influence operations by financing what used to be extremists (both far-right and far-left) across the West.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- palata 2y ago
  Well, Russian psyop has brought the US to destabilise themselves on their own. The people elected Trump.
sockp0pp3t 2y ago
[flagged]

hnthrow90348765 2y ago

Well, Russia is destabilizing the US and winning which is why I think we're acting like that. And it seems all of our military and counterintelligence capabilities can't stop it. Too much offense, not enough defense, it seems.

iwontberude 2y ago
People like to say that Obamas jokes about Trump got him to run. But I wonder if Obama never helped Ukraine keep their democracy if we still would have ours.
karmajunkie 2y ago
the first amendment has become a national security threat, it would seem…
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
They can, but they won't because nobody dares to stick their neck out for fear of losing their job. And that's been going on for decades, the slow dismantling (if there ever was any) of job and income security, to the point where the majority of Americans, including federal workers, are only one or two paychecks away from financial ruin. Nobody wants to lose their job. Of course, if they get fired and there's nothing else for them to do, there will be uprisings.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Nobody wants to lose their job There is almost zero causality in the U.S. government’s hiring and firing right now. Particularly relating to current conduct. To the extent anyone has received job protection, it’s by getting politically fired and then seeking court protection. So no, this is base cowardice and a lack of patriotism. Not rational action.
  - close04 2y ago
    As a matter of personal character, the people who would be more likely to stand up and shout or protest vigorously in today’s situation are the people which society generally considers obnoxious and disruptive. So in each workplace most were already marginalized or learned to hide these traits for their benefit. There are way more people in the ‘flight’ than the ‘fight’ camp.

egypturnash 2y ago

"Krasnov" is doing exactly what the Russians hired him to do.

lettergram 2y ago

[flagged]

lokar 2y ago
Putin was elected Orban was elected
Volundr 2y ago
Plenty of dictators were elected. Someone being elected does not make them good. And Musk was not elected.

_heimdall 2y ago

> It used to be that the US government had pride in its own professionalism It used to be that voters actually cared about professionalism, principles, and critical thinking. Campaigning on really any of those doesn't work these days, its not surprising that our government has those same shortcomings.

readthenotes1 2y ago

"It used to be that the US government had pride in its own professionalism. " The phrase "good enough for government work" has never been a positive in my lifetime. But I'm sure the Dulles brothers were proudful...