4 ms·

The US Has Invoked Alien Enemies Act

40 points by _kava 2y ago

duxup 2y ago
The Trump loves looking like they’re doing things more than actually accomplishing them.
tomohelix 2y ago
Before flagging, please consider how this act has not been invoked since WW2. Therefore it is a novel and worthy of discussion, regardless of how "not technology related" it is.
- pvg 2y ago
  These don’t get flagged because they aren’t “technology related”
  - tomohelix 2y ago
    I think the common reasons are: Not worthy of HN discussion; (claimed to) likely to devolve into unrelated/heated arguments, and against HN rules. Just that I don't agree this topic fit in any of those categories, so just want to state it first.
    - suraci 2y ago
      From my observation, the only topic that will definitely be flagged before any discussions is genocide in Gaza…
    - clipsy 2y ago
      I think you're being very generous in your beliefs about why people flag these sort of stories.
    - pvg 2y ago
      I mean, it trivially fits a number of them but a really big one is 'repetition'. Various political and other not-entirely-HN-on-topic stories end up on the front page and have threads but these are exceptions for particularly unusual or big ones. An administration that engages in daily shitposting-through-executive-order gets a couple of these for novelty but the novelty has long worn off - you'd have to fill HN with them if they all counted as exceptional. Of course, if you think this one deserves special treatment, the thing to do is email hn@ycombinator.com and ask for flags to be taken off. I think in this case it's a little uphill (as another toplevel comment points out - the news has already overtaken this thing) and you'd probably need to find some sort of third party reporting rather than the government press release.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
p_ing 2y ago
This has already been effectively stayed by a fed judge. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-invokes-alien-enemies-act-target-venezuelan-gang-rcna196598 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-...
- tomohelix 2y ago
  The fact that it was officially invoked at all is already a point of discussion. This is an act that can suspend the constitution as the executive branch see fit. Nobody has ever tried to use it since WW2, and even then it was a controversial act. It has only been 2 months. How much further can it go in one year? In 4 years? At what point would there be real consequences? I think these questions are important enough to warrant some serious discussion.
  - p_ing 2y ago
    This already feels like a reddit discussion. You made points all outlined in the article I linked. I'm not qualified to speak to hypotheticals and likely neither is anyone else here. However, the only consequences are either Congress removing him, the cabinet removing him via Article 25, an armed uprising, or potentially a Big Mac. Until any of those happen, there are no consequences for the duration.
    - bediger4000 2y ago
      No consequences for Trump. For the rest of us, the non-oligarchs, this could mean the end of representative democracy.
    - totallynothoney 2y ago
      > This already feels like a reddit discussion. You made points all outlined in the article I linked. You seemed to say (implicitly) that this isn't too dire because the judiciary stopped it. They in response made the point that even if this isn't effective now, the rapid escalation of the use executive power is a big deal that points to further escalation that might not be stopped. Yes, they mentioned facts that appear in the article to support the point but nowhere this point is made, or furthermore, it doesn't even matter if it was. Expressing a similar opinion like one in an article quote makes his reply superfluous? Saying "reddit" and "nobody is qualified to speak hypotheticals" seems more like you don't wish to engage with his point. The act that's been used to put innocent people in to concentration camps was invoked, more discussion should exist beyond dryly mentioning the mechanisms for ousting the US president. I'm not assuming your opinions on the matter, the refusal to approach the question just seemed weird to me, so I wanted to note it.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
fewdaysto2025 2y ago
[dead]

40 points by _kava 2y ago

The Trump loves looking like they’re doing things more than actually accomplishing them.

Before flagging, please consider how this act has not been invoked since WW2. Therefore it is a novel and worthy of discussion, regardless of how "not technology related" it is.

pvg 2y ago
These don’t get flagged because they aren’t “technology related”
- tomohelix 2y ago
  I think the common reasons are: Not worthy of HN discussion; (claimed to) likely to devolve into unrelated/heated arguments, and against HN rules. Just that I don't agree this topic fit in any of those categories, so just want to state it first.
  - suraci 2y ago
    From my observation, the only topic that will definitely be flagged before any discussions is genocide in Gaza…
  - clipsy 2y ago
    I think you're being very generous in your beliefs about why people flag these sort of stories.
  - pvg 2y ago
    I mean, it trivially fits a number of them but a really big one is 'repetition'. Various political and other not-entirely-HN-on-topic stories end up on the front page and have threads but these are exceptions for particularly unusual or big ones. An administration that engages in daily shitposting-through-executive-order gets a couple of these for novelty but the novelty has long worn off - you'd have to fill HN with them if they all counted as exceptional. Of course, if you think this one deserves special treatment, the thing to do is email hn@ycombinator.com and ask for flags to be taken off. I think in this case it's a little uphill (as another toplevel comment points out - the news has already overtaken this thing) and you'd probably need to find some sort of third party reporting rather than the government press release.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

p_ing 2y ago

This has already been effectively stayed by a fed judge. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-invokes-alien-enemies-act-target-venezuelan-gang-rcna196598 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-...

tomohelix 2y ago
The fact that it was officially invoked at all is already a point of discussion. This is an act that can suspend the constitution as the executive branch see fit. Nobody has ever tried to use it since WW2, and even then it was a controversial act. It has only been 2 months. How much further can it go in one year? In 4 years? At what point would there be real consequences? I think these questions are important enough to warrant some serious discussion.
- p_ing 2y ago
  This already feels like a reddit discussion. You made points all outlined in the article I linked. I'm not qualified to speak to hypotheticals and likely neither is anyone else here. However, the only consequences are either Congress removing him, the cabinet removing him via Article 25, an armed uprising, or potentially a Big Mac. Until any of those happen, there are no consequences for the duration.
  - bediger4000 2y ago
    No consequences for Trump. For the rest of us, the non-oligarchs, this could mean the end of representative democracy.
  - totallynothoney 2y ago
    > This already feels like a reddit discussion. You made points all outlined in the article I linked. You seemed to say (implicitly) that this isn't too dire because the judiciary stopped it. They in response made the point that even if this isn't effective now, the rapid escalation of the use executive power is a big deal that points to further escalation that might not be stopped. Yes, they mentioned facts that appear in the article to support the point but nowhere this point is made, or furthermore, it doesn't even matter if it was. Expressing a similar opinion like one in an article quote makes his reply superfluous? Saying "reddit" and "nobody is qualified to speak hypotheticals" seems more like you don't wish to engage with his point. The act that's been used to put innocent people in to concentration camps was invoked, more discussion should exist beyond dryly mentioning the mechanisms for ousting the US president. I'm not assuming your opinions on the matter, the refusal to approach the question just seemed weird to me, so I wanted to note it.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

fewdaysto2025 2y ago

[dead]