3 ms·

what is the US exactly currently if not dictatorship? is there a single thing “President” cannot do right now and if so who would be stopping him? so perhaps on

what is the US exactly currently if not dictatorship? is there a single thing “President” cannot do right now and if so who would be stopping him? so perhaps on paper US is not dictatorship much like Russia and China are not… We spend decades trying to fight these regimes and lost so much that now we are worse than them :)

chocoboaus3 11mo ago
The supreme court did just stop him for the moment putting the national guard into chicago
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  bookmark this for a few days and then come back to it… the story is “… for now” :-)
- jibal 11mo ago
  "rare setback"
  - bdangubic 11mo ago
    it is not a setback, they have to play a little game now and again to entertain the masses. scotus as it was before doesn’t exist anymore and won’t for decades, it now just rubberstamps
    - jibal 11mo ago
      I quoted the media. The main point in this context is the "rare" part. I'm well aware of the nature of the GOP operatives on the SCOTUS. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch all voted in Trump's favor. That Beerhead, Ms. IDreamOfGilead, and "Citizens United/I hate the VRA/worst chief justice since Taney" voted to temporarily uphold the stay actually surprised me (Bart O' said he would have given Trump more leeway) but yes, it's theater.
hattmall 11mo ago
It's pretty clear he can barely do anything policy wise. Limited tariffs and immigration / border stuff is pretty much all that he is getting done.
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  you don’t need policy, policy is what his predecessors were doing and are now going “wait, we could have done whatever the F we wanted??! damn!!” :)
- JKCalhoun 11mo ago
  And killing so many sailors in South American waters.
  - andsoitis 11mo ago
    > so many To be exact, CNN reports that for the period Sep - Dec there have been ~30 boats destroyed in ~26 attacks, with at least ~105 deaths in these operations. The US govt is of course claiming narcotics smugglers ("narcoterrorism") while others say they are not. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween, though who knows one which end of the spectrum. What I think is maybe more interesting is the general pressure being applied to Venezuela by the US and the EU.
billy99k 11mo ago
[flagged]
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  I hope you are just trying to be funny cause if you are it is good
  - consz 11mo ago
    Not even believable conspiracy slop for 2023, let alone in almost 2026.
- bigyabai 11mo ago
  > Ukraine jailed all opposing politicians during the war with Russia and stopped having elections. No, they did not jail "all" of the opposition. Fair elections cannot be held during an invasion, especially at the rate Russia frauds votes and candidates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusations_of_Russian_interference_in_the_2024_Romanian_presidential_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusations_of_Russian_interfe...
nothrabannosir 11mo ago
> is there a single thing “President” cannot do right now Stand in the middle of fifth Avenue and shoot someone :) Have political enemies executed Get his face on Mount Rushmore Disband congress Disband the Supreme Court Keep Jimmy Kimmel off air Get Jon Stuart to shut up Get James comey indicted Get a national holiday named after him Etc. Even when we focus on things he tried to do, there is a lot he couldn’t. Let alone when you look at things he didn’t try to do.
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  we are 11 months in, please be patient while the process is taking place, be right with you with your list :) lots of these are of course also just a distraction to discuss at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner vs you know, other things
  - nothrabannosir 11mo ago
    You said "right now". If you want to change to "will be able to do in the near future, before the end of his second term", that's a (slightly?) different list. But it's also a different comment. You said "anything", in the context of dictatorship. I only used items in this list which IMO you can reasonably say Putin, an actual dictator, can do. Right now. Except the first one! Because that was a joke, a reference to something he himself said he could do. If you want to change to "anything which has backroom deal importance, not just bread and games for the masses, but the real things, if you know you know", that's a (slightly) different list. But, it's also a different comment.
- h33t-l4x0r 11mo ago
  Well he did get Ellen Degeneris to self-deport
- exasperaited 11mo ago
  He has functionally neutered Congress. It is almost completely meaningless and it is operating without an independent Speaker. I think he could succeed in principle re: Mount Rushmore, to be honest. I think eventually people will cave in and agree to do it, and then they will just pray to cholesterol that they can wait it out.

chocoboaus3 11mo ago

The supreme court did just stop him for the moment putting the national guard into chicago

bdangubic 11mo ago
bookmark this for a few days and then come back to it… the story is “… for now” :-)
jibal 11mo ago
"rare setback"
- bdangubic 11mo ago
  it is not a setback, they have to play a little game now and again to entertain the masses. scotus as it was before doesn’t exist anymore and won’t for decades, it now just rubberstamps
  - jibal 11mo ago
    I quoted the media. The main point in this context is the "rare" part. I'm well aware of the nature of the GOP operatives on the SCOTUS. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch all voted in Trump's favor. That Beerhead, Ms. IDreamOfGilead, and "Citizens United/I hate the VRA/worst chief justice since Taney" voted to temporarily uphold the stay actually surprised me (Bart O' said he would have given Trump more leeway) but yes, it's theater.

hattmall 11mo ago

It's pretty clear he can barely do anything policy wise. Limited tariffs and immigration / border stuff is pretty much all that he is getting done.

bdangubic 11mo ago
you don’t need policy, policy is what his predecessors were doing and are now going “wait, we could have done whatever the F we wanted??! damn!!” :)
JKCalhoun 11mo ago
And killing so many sailors in South American waters.
- andsoitis 11mo ago
  > so many To be exact, CNN reports that for the period Sep - Dec there have been ~30 boats destroyed in ~26 attacks, with at least ~105 deaths in these operations. The US govt is of course claiming narcotics smugglers ("narcoterrorism") while others say they are not. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween, though who knows one which end of the spectrum. What I think is maybe more interesting is the general pressure being applied to Venezuela by the US and the EU.

billy99k 11mo ago

[flagged]

bdangubic 11mo ago
I hope you are just trying to be funny cause if you are it is good
- consz 11mo ago
  Not even believable conspiracy slop for 2023, let alone in almost 2026.
bigyabai 11mo ago
> Ukraine jailed all opposing politicians during the war with Russia and stopped having elections. No, they did not jail "all" of the opposition. Fair elections cannot be held during an invasion, especially at the rate Russia frauds votes and candidates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusations_of_Russian_interference_in_the_2024_Romanian_presidential_election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusations_of_Russian_interfe...

nothrabannosir 11mo ago

> is there a single thing “President” cannot do right now Stand in the middle of fifth Avenue and shoot someone :) Have political enemies executed Get his face on Mount Rushmore Disband congress Disband the Supreme Court Keep Jimmy Kimmel off air Get Jon Stuart to shut up Get James comey indicted Get a national holiday named after him Etc. Even when we focus on things he tried to do, there is a lot he couldn’t. Let alone when you look at things he didn’t try to do.

bdangubic 11mo ago
we are 11 months in, please be patient while the process is taking place, be right with you with your list :) lots of these are of course also just a distraction to discuss at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner vs you know, other things
- nothrabannosir 11mo ago
  You said "right now". If you want to change to "will be able to do in the near future, before the end of his second term", that's a (slightly?) different list. But it's also a different comment. You said "anything", in the context of dictatorship. I only used items in this list which IMO you can reasonably say Putin, an actual dictator, can do. Right now. Except the first one! Because that was a joke, a reference to something he himself said he could do. If you want to change to "anything which has backroom deal importance, not just bread and games for the masses, but the real things, if you know you know", that's a (slightly) different list. But, it's also a different comment.
h33t-l4x0r 11mo ago
Well he did get Ellen Degeneris to self-deport
exasperaited 11mo ago
He has functionally neutered Congress. It is almost completely meaningless and it is operating without an independent Speaker. I think he could succeed in principle re: Mount Rushmore, to be honest. I think eventually people will cave in and agree to do it, and then they will just pray to cholesterol that they can wait it out.