2 ms·

> why bother? Because it’s meant to inflame the population into reacting, further justifying the oppression. You’re right in that there’s no legal need for it

> why bother? Because it’s meant to inflame the population into reacting, further justifying the oppression. You’re right in that there’s no legal need for it, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to create a level of chaos that justifies and solidifies the existence of a totalitarian regime.

dragonwriter 9mo ago
> Because it’s meant to inflame the population into reacting, further justifying the oppression. You only need to justify the oppression if there is meaningful constraint on it without further justification. > You’re right in that there’s no legal need for it, No, I didn't say anything about legal need. What I am said is that there is no practical need because the actions are already far beyond what the law allows and there is nothing, whether through legal institutions, popular resistance, or otherwise, that is meaningfully constraining action, so a formal act that would relieve legal constraints is practically meaningless, because the legal constraints which it relieves have no practical force as it is. I’m saying that will-he-won’t-he about invoking the Insurrection Act, or “declaring martial law”, or any other formal change of legal regime are, at this point, serving as a distraction from the fact that the executive’s substantive actions are not actually constrained by the nominal legal regime, and that changes in what is formally allowed do not matter very much when what is being done without meaningful resistance is already well outside of what is formally allowed.
- sidibe 9mo ago
  There's some GOP legislators it probably makes quietly uncomfortable to see ICE blatantly murdering people on their watch, they could sleep easier with Insurrection Act
  - SilverElfin 9mo ago
    I can’t predict which way this will go but I sort of feel like Trump, Vance, Noem all jumping to conclusions immediately to say the shooting was a justified act of self defense, is a way of making their base believe it from the start - so they don’t form their own opinion. That keeps the other GOP legislators in line. If their base (people who voted for them) support the shooting, what’s the chance they step out of line and challenge their propaganda, even if they know it is wrong?

dragonwriter 9mo ago

> Because it’s meant to inflame the population into reacting, further justifying the oppression. You only need to justify the oppression if there is meaningful constraint on it without further justification. > You’re right in that there’s no legal need for it, No, I didn't say anything about legal need. What I am said is that there is no practical need because the actions are already far beyond what the law allows and there is nothing, whether through legal institutions, popular resistance, or otherwise, that is meaningfully constraining action, so a formal act that would relieve legal constraints is practically meaningless, because the legal constraints which it relieves have no practical force as it is. I’m saying that will-he-won’t-he about invoking the Insurrection Act, or “declaring martial law”, or any other formal change of legal regime are, at this point, serving as a distraction from the fact that the executive’s substantive actions are not actually constrained by the nominal legal regime, and that changes in what is formally allowed do not matter very much when what is being done without meaningful resistance is already well outside of what is formally allowed.

sidibe 9mo ago
There's some GOP legislators it probably makes quietly uncomfortable to see ICE blatantly murdering people on their watch, they could sleep easier with Insurrection Act
- SilverElfin 9mo ago
  I can’t predict which way this will go but I sort of feel like Trump, Vance, Noem all jumping to conclusions immediately to say the shooting was a justified act of self defense, is a way of making their base believe it from the start - so they don’t form their own opinion. That keeps the other GOP legislators in line. If their base (people who voted for them) support the shooting, what’s the chance they step out of line and challenge their propaganda, even if they know it is wrong?