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What an absolute embarrassment to be American at this time. We have the most vain & corrupt president that only cares for his personal gain. It's unfortunate he

by pogue 9mo ago

What an absolute embarrassment to be American at this time. We have the most vain & corrupt president that only cares for his personal gain. It's unfortunate he's in control of the largest military in history. I don't know how horrible it must be for the people of Greenland right now, but as an American I would like to apologize to Europe and other nations right now and to let you know that while probably a large majority of Americans disagree with our leadership, there is not much we can do in a police state against our current circumstances. Our elected leaders on the opposition side are weak and spineless and still trying to comprehend that their ideas of how our democracy presently operates are no longer valid if they are merely ignored by the executive branch. Now is definingly the time to disengage from America as an ally, as unfortunate as that is. The voting populace has been fed decades of bad education, a media of nationalistic propaganda and finds itself in the same position many pre-authoritarian nation states have found themselves in prior to great conflicts - brainwashed, lied to, but mostly apathetic about the situation. I hope in 2028 we're able to vote ourselves out of this mess, but just the mere fact that all of this can happen without repercussion should make it evident that it's just a matter of time before someone else takes Trump's examples and puts them back into practice another four to eight years after that.

alpineman 9mo ago
Agree, except I disagree that there is not much you can do. You write "there is not much we can do in a police state against our current circumstances" and then you state "Our elected leaders on the opposition side are weak and spineless". I would argue it's not just elected leaders that are being weak at the moment. Civil society too.
- netsharc 9mo ago
  It's like saying sanctions will make N. Koreans or Russians rebel against their governments, and then wondering why none of them has done so, "are they cowards?". As if rebelling is so simple and not a life-changing thing...
  - testing22321 9mo ago
    Your life is already changing in drastic ways that will be very bad for your life. Do want want to have a day in those changes and maybe shape their direction, or sit back and just let it happen?
  - alpineman 9mo ago
    You don't live in North Korea, not even anywhere close. If you don't want to live in a state like North Korea, you need to use the democratic means you still have to make your voice heard. I am tired of this lazy defeatism
    - netsharc 9mo ago
      Luckily since USA is close to N. Korea your statement holds true. Glad to be not American. Curiously enough if you do a survey of who of Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump would be more likely to throw a world-threatening tantrum.. I don't think Kim Jong-Un is going to win that survey.
  - ivell 9mo ago
    There is a small window of opportunity to make this right. That window will be gone soon and then we would be in the N. Korean situation. Rebellion must be done early and enthusiastically. Each passing month makes it more and more difficult, in part due to boiling frog situation.
aebtebeten 9mo ago
Have you called your members of congress yet?
- gsf_emergency_6 9mo ago
  https://archive.ph/PfNAo https://archive.ph/PfNAo
  - aebtebeten 9mo ago
    > Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) predicted [a Greenland war powers bill] would easily pass if an invasion was imminent I wonder what "imminent" might mean to Tillis? Anchorage to Nuuk is only ~5 hours by air (Newburgh to Nuuk, ~3h15). (using https://nuclearsecrecy.com/missilemap/ https://nuclearsecrecy.com/missilemap/ for distances and assuming ~900 km/h for a C-17 — although it would require multiple C-17s [which Anchorage has] to significantly outnumber the allied OOB [per wikipedia]) ---- the standard bureaucrats' response to crises, according to Sir Humphrey Appleby GCB KBE MVO: - Nothing is going to happen. - Something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it. - Maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do. - Maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now. EDIT: we also know Tillis can be less than completely candid; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551849
    - gsf_emergency_6 9mo ago
      Ah! Having randos call congressmen is generally a great idea for urgent+important+bipartisan issues (tech or fiscal), which at the moment I can think of 3 a)AI (in particular, regulation on the mil/statedept use of "private AI"). b)independence of the fed c)tariffs Imho
- oenton 9mo ago
  Yes and despite how demoralizing it can feel, I encourage everyone to do the same: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member In the past we have hit critical mass, where so many people were calling in to Congress to complain (when Trump initially started with his arbitrary tariffs) that the Congressional phone system began to fail under load, and that made headlines that managed to break through the 24/7 firehose of bullshit.
UncleMeat 9mo ago
I hope in 2028 the electeds take a different path than Biden did in his administration. Currently, dem leadership seems to think this ends with them just getting elected. But it doesn't. Just taking power back and pretending that everything is normal again won't do it. We need meaningful punishments for the people committing crimes within the Trump administration and we need systems in place to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.
- jeppester 9mo ago
  The US has to limit the power of the president and to remove the "the winner takes it all" principle from its "democracy". Maybe the next election is the right moment to do something about it. I can't believe there will be a time where it's more obvious that the system is broken - other than after it's too late.
  - thunky 9mo ago
    I agree wholeheartedly but there's zero chance they make changes that limit their own power. After all, predecessors from both parties got us to where we are now.
throw0101d 9mo ago
Have you contacted your Representative about drawing up articles of impeachment? Have you contacted your Senator about voting to convict on impeachment? Have you donated and/or volunteered to Democratic party efforts for the mid-terms?
- oenton 9mo ago
  Yes, yes, and yes. I live in a "blue state" and their response is the same every time. To quote Bill Burr: "Nobody can help but everybody understands." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JN5GdMqb8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JN5GdMqb8
- kahrl 9mo ago
  You think continuing with the good cop bad cop routine is going to change anything about who $$$$$ influences policy in this country?

by pogue 9mo ago

alpineman 9mo ago

Agree, except I disagree that there is not much you can do. You write "there is not much we can do in a police state against our current circumstances" and then you state "Our elected leaders on the opposition side are weak and spineless". I would argue it's not just elected leaders that are being weak at the moment. Civil society too.

netsharc 9mo ago
It's like saying sanctions will make N. Koreans or Russians rebel against their governments, and then wondering why none of them has done so, "are they cowards?". As if rebelling is so simple and not a life-changing thing...
- testing22321 9mo ago
  Your life is already changing in drastic ways that will be very bad for your life. Do want want to have a day in those changes and maybe shape their direction, or sit back and just let it happen?
- alpineman 9mo ago
  You don't live in North Korea, not even anywhere close. If you don't want to live in a state like North Korea, you need to use the democratic means you still have to make your voice heard. I am tired of this lazy defeatism
  - netsharc 9mo ago
    Luckily since USA is close to N. Korea your statement holds true. Glad to be not American. Curiously enough if you do a survey of who of Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump would be more likely to throw a world-threatening tantrum.. I don't think Kim Jong-Un is going to win that survey.
- ivell 9mo ago
  There is a small window of opportunity to make this right. That window will be gone soon and then we would be in the N. Korean situation. Rebellion must be done early and enthusiastically. Each passing month makes it more and more difficult, in part due to boiling frog situation.

aebtebeten 9mo ago

Have you called your members of congress yet?

gsf_emergency_6 9mo ago
https://archive.ph/PfNAo https://archive.ph/PfNAo
- aebtebeten 9mo ago
  > Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) predicted [a Greenland war powers bill] would easily pass if an invasion was imminent I wonder what "imminent" might mean to Tillis? Anchorage to Nuuk is only ~5 hours by air (Newburgh to Nuuk, ~3h15). (using https://nuclearsecrecy.com/missilemap/ https://nuclearsecrecy.com/missilemap/ for distances and assuming ~900 km/h for a C-17 — although it would require multiple C-17s [which Anchorage has] to significantly outnumber the allied OOB [per wikipedia]) ---- the standard bureaucrats' response to crises, according to Sir Humphrey Appleby GCB KBE MVO: - Nothing is going to happen. - Something may be about to happen, but we should do nothing about it. - Maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do. - Maybe there was something we could have done, but it's too late now. EDIT: we also know Tillis can be less than completely candid; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551849
  - gsf_emergency_6 9mo ago
    Ah! Having randos call congressmen is generally a great idea for urgent+important+bipartisan issues (tech or fiscal), which at the moment I can think of 3 a)AI (in particular, regulation on the mil/statedept use of "private AI"). b)independence of the fed c)tariffs Imho
oenton 9mo ago
Yes and despite how demoralizing it can feel, I encourage everyone to do the same: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member In the past we have hit critical mass, where so many people were calling in to Congress to complain (when Trump initially started with his arbitrary tariffs) that the Congressional phone system began to fail under load, and that made headlines that managed to break through the 24/7 firehose of bullshit.

UncleMeat 9mo ago

I hope in 2028 the electeds take a different path than Biden did in his administration. Currently, dem leadership seems to think this ends with them just getting elected. But it doesn't. Just taking power back and pretending that everything is normal again won't do it. We need meaningful punishments for the people committing crimes within the Trump administration and we need systems in place to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.

jeppester 9mo ago
The US has to limit the power of the president and to remove the "the winner takes it all" principle from its "democracy". Maybe the next election is the right moment to do something about it. I can't believe there will be a time where it's more obvious that the system is broken - other than after it's too late.
- thunky 9mo ago
  I agree wholeheartedly but there's zero chance they make changes that limit their own power. After all, predecessors from both parties got us to where we are now.

throw0101d 9mo ago

Have you contacted your Representative about drawing up articles of impeachment? Have you contacted your Senator about voting to convict on impeachment? Have you donated and/or volunteered to Democratic party efforts for the mid-terms?

oenton 9mo ago
Yes, yes, and yes. I live in a "blue state" and their response is the same every time. To quote Bill Burr: "Nobody can help but everybody understands." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JN5GdMqb8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89JN5GdMqb8
kahrl 9mo ago
You think continuing with the good cop bad cop routine is going to change anything about who $$$$$ influences policy in this country?