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Would you have believed a few months ago that the US government would be trying to strong-arm foreign nations who are nominally allies into compliance with its

Would you have believed a few months ago that the US government would be trying to strong-arm foreign nations who are nominally allies into compliance with its policy preferences? Here's another recent example of that: https://www.dw.com/en/france-voices-shock-at-us-calls-to-drop-dei-programs/a-72094764 https://www.dw.com/en/france-voices-shock-at-us-calls-to-dro... I have been warning for years (often here on HN) that the US risks tilting into a failed state due to political extremism, and its generally been dismissed as an impossibility - there is no way, people insisted, that an extreme fringe could reshape the American polity because of the Constitutional guardrails, the rock-solid institutions, the societal norms. Well it's happening right in front of us now. Just this week we're seeing the National Science Foundation dismantled, the nonpartisan Librarian of Congress arbitarily fired, the President demurring on TV when asked about his duty to uphold Constitutional guarantees of due process. You identify a bunch of looming electoral problems yourself. The problem is that it doesn't require a great deal of electoral corruption to sway the outcome. Some states will cheerfully go along with the executive's agenda, those that don't will be denounced as having rigged their own elections. The whole hysteria about illegal immigrants is based on the specious claim that one party is importing them wholesale and somehow converting them into voters to steal elections from conservatives forever. The right has been selling that argument for over 30 years, going back to Newt Gingrich.

Ray20 2y ago
>Would you have believed a few months ago that the US government would be trying to strong-arm foreign nations who are nominally allies into compliance with its policy preferences? What do you mean? Hasn't the USA pretty much ALWAYS done this? >The whole hysteria about illegal immigrants is based on the specious claim that one party is importing them wholesale and somehow converting them into voters to steal elections from conservatives forever. In fact, the whole hysteria is based on the existence of tens of millions of illegal immigrants who are committing huge numbers of crimes and are systematically discriminated against because of their illegal status. And when your political opponents so loudly try to deny such an obvious for everyone problem, it is stupid not to take advantage of it. I don't know, maybe I don't understand American politics, but from the outside everything seems pretty clear to me.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  The USA has not always done this. It has historically thrown its weight around (see any history book) but has historically maintained a far greater emphasis on diplomacy and international comity rather than the outright bullying we see now. You will note that I specifically referred to the US' behavior toward nominal allies. If you disagree, please provide some examples. > millions of illegal immigrants who are committing huge numbers of crimes A trope wholly ungrounded in fact, which has been debunked any number of times. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU01/20250122/117827/HHRG-119-JU01-20250122-SD004.pdf https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU01/20250122/117827/HHRG... https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0 https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-c... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6241529/#S14 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6241529/#S14
  - Ray20 2y ago
    >historically maintained a far greater emphasis on diplomacy and international comity rather than the outright bullying we see now. What are you even talking about? The US military budget is bigger than the next nine countries’ military budgets combined. It's always been outright bullying. Or do you seriously think that such a budget was just for a beauty?
- rad_gruchalski 1y ago
  > based on the existence of tens of millions of illegal immigrants Oh, hello Trumpist Number. Like apparent “millions” who died in the Ukraine war.
  - Ray20 1y ago
    >Oh, hello Trumpist Number. Like apparent “millions” who died in the Ukraine war. And this kind of reaction is the main reason why the Democrats lost even the popular vote. Nice work.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]

Ray20 2y ago

>Would you have believed a few months ago that the US government would be trying to strong-arm foreign nations who are nominally allies into compliance with its policy preferences? What do you mean? Hasn't the USA pretty much ALWAYS done this? >The whole hysteria about illegal immigrants is based on the specious claim that one party is importing them wholesale and somehow converting them into voters to steal elections from conservatives forever. In fact, the whole hysteria is based on the existence of tens of millions of illegal immigrants who are committing huge numbers of crimes and are systematically discriminated against because of their illegal status. And when your political opponents so loudly try to deny such an obvious for everyone problem, it is stupid not to take advantage of it. I don't know, maybe I don't understand American politics, but from the outside everything seems pretty clear to me.

anigbrowl 2y ago
The USA has not always done this. It has historically thrown its weight around (see any history book) but has historically maintained a far greater emphasis on diplomacy and international comity rather than the outright bullying we see now. You will note that I specifically referred to the US' behavior toward nominal allies. If you disagree, please provide some examples. > millions of illegal immigrants who are committing huge numbers of crimes A trope wholly ungrounded in fact, which has been debunked any number of times. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU01/20250122/117827/HHRG-119-JU01-20250122-SD004.pdf https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU01/20250122/117827/HHRG... https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0 https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-c... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6241529/#S14 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6241529/#S14
- Ray20 2y ago
  >historically maintained a far greater emphasis on diplomacy and international comity rather than the outright bullying we see now. What are you even talking about? The US military budget is bigger than the next nine countries’ military budgets combined. It's always been outright bullying. Or do you seriously think that such a budget was just for a beauty?
rad_gruchalski 1y ago
> based on the existence of tens of millions of illegal immigrants Oh, hello Trumpist Number. Like apparent “millions” who died in the Ukraine war.
- Ray20 1y ago
  >Oh, hello Trumpist Number. Like apparent “millions” who died in the Ukraine war. And this kind of reaction is the main reason why the Democrats lost even the popular vote. Nice work.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]