3 ms·

Mostly you should assess rule of law by threat to you and people you know and not by what it seems like other people are able to get away with. Yes, a big part

Mostly you should assess rule of law by threat to you and people you know and not by what it seems like other people are able to get away with. Yes, a big part of the idea is that laws are meant to also apply to the powerful, but it's difficult to accurately assess situations that are far away from you.

abduhl 1mo ago
First they came for those that were far away from me and I did not speak out because… I didn’t know them?
- xyzzy123 1mo ago
  The specific complaint of the poster seems to be that certain people are NOT being "come for".
spiderfarmer 1mo ago
What a nonsensical statement. From a distance it’s pretty clear that there is no rule of law anymore in the USA. Yes, it’s partially functioning, but that’s not the rule.
- HeyLaughingBoy 1mo ago
  So I can go out and kill my neighbor without having to worry about consequences, then? I mean, just say the word: he's been pissing me off recently.
  - spacedcowboy 1mo ago
    I dunno. How rich are you ? And do you happen to play college football ? That would help.
    - dpkirchner 1mo ago
      And do you drive a car? Car owners get a (relative) free pass because "accidents happen".
  - phs318u 1mo ago
    Do you work for ICE?
  - Blazara 1mo ago
    If you're a cop, ICE agent, your neighbour is black, you're a US diplomat's wife (one of which murdered a young man here in the UK and ran away with no consequence, and the American state refused to send her murdering arse back), or you have enough money, by the looks of it you could do that without consequence.
  - nativeit 1mo ago
    I’m more inclined to agree with you, but the replies to this did strike me as darkly funny. These exceptions for the chosen in-group are some of the hallmarks of fascism, and this administration has leveraged several other popular tropes as well—fetishizing Greek/Roman mythologies, hobbling academia and the press, ethnic cleansing, Christian Nationalism, revisionist history, idolatry, eugenics, etc.. Fascism is a term I would have called absurdly exaggerated just a few years ago, but to the extent that the President and his administration are the leaders in both policy and diplomacy, I think it’s probably fair to level a judgement that their behavior is the contemporary set standard for the United States. This is a fascist country right now. But I agree with you that nuance-free oversimplifications are likely unhelpful in any meaningful discussion. These things don’t usually happen overnight, and for the vast majority of the public it will never be directly visible. It’s not like someone flips a “Anti-Antifa” switch and a bunch of ultra-starched uniformed troops start goose-stepping through Toledo. It’s a developing series of dynamic events, many of them will seem rational, justified even, but the result is concentrated executive power, a toothless legislature, a complicit judiciary, and a pliant mainstream press. I’m sure there are lots of people who will recognize these for what they are: an alarming number of dominoes falling towards a totalitarian dictatorship. However the United States is a big, complex beast of a country, and the judiciary has not been fully captured, and neither has the legislature. All we need to do to stop this creeping authoritarianism is show up in-force and vote overwhelmingly against it this November. They will obviously try to confuse the issue with any close calls, and use such opportunities to assert dominion over local/state governments. We cannot let that happen. The best way to avoid such a scenario is to show up strong enough to make the results beyond question. That’s the ultimate test that we are still a nation of laws, and I am cautiously optimistic.
  - usern20260720 1mo ago
    you can eat children alive and get away with it if you belong to the élite
AngryData 1mo ago
What? No. Rule of Law should be assessed by how well the law applies to everybody. The wealthy often get away with serious law breaking in the US, the poor are hammered down with the law over petty crimes. That is defying the Rule of Law any way you try to look at it. The whole point of The Rule of Law is to prevent unfair application of the law to benefit the few over the many.

abduhl 1mo ago

First they came for those that were far away from me and I did not speak out because… I didn’t know them?

xyzzy123 1mo ago
The specific complaint of the poster seems to be that certain people are NOT being "come for".

spiderfarmer 1mo ago

What a nonsensical statement. From a distance it’s pretty clear that there is no rule of law anymore in the USA. Yes, it’s partially functioning, but that’s not the rule.

HeyLaughingBoy 1mo ago
So I can go out and kill my neighbor without having to worry about consequences, then? I mean, just say the word: he's been pissing me off recently.
- spacedcowboy 1mo ago
  I dunno. How rich are you ? And do you happen to play college football ? That would help.
  - dpkirchner 1mo ago
    And do you drive a car? Car owners get a (relative) free pass because "accidents happen".
- phs318u 1mo ago
  Do you work for ICE?
- Blazara 1mo ago
  If you're a cop, ICE agent, your neighbour is black, you're a US diplomat's wife (one of which murdered a young man here in the UK and ran away with no consequence, and the American state refused to send her murdering arse back), or you have enough money, by the looks of it you could do that without consequence.
- nativeit 1mo ago
  I’m more inclined to agree with you, but the replies to this did strike me as darkly funny. These exceptions for the chosen in-group are some of the hallmarks of fascism, and this administration has leveraged several other popular tropes as well—fetishizing Greek/Roman mythologies, hobbling academia and the press, ethnic cleansing, Christian Nationalism, revisionist history, idolatry, eugenics, etc.. Fascism is a term I would have called absurdly exaggerated just a few years ago, but to the extent that the President and his administration are the leaders in both policy and diplomacy, I think it’s probably fair to level a judgement that their behavior is the contemporary set standard for the United States. This is a fascist country right now. But I agree with you that nuance-free oversimplifications are likely unhelpful in any meaningful discussion. These things don’t usually happen overnight, and for the vast majority of the public it will never be directly visible. It’s not like someone flips a “Anti-Antifa” switch and a bunch of ultra-starched uniformed troops start goose-stepping through Toledo. It’s a developing series of dynamic events, many of them will seem rational, justified even, but the result is concentrated executive power, a toothless legislature, a complicit judiciary, and a pliant mainstream press. I’m sure there are lots of people who will recognize these for what they are: an alarming number of dominoes falling towards a totalitarian dictatorship. However the United States is a big, complex beast of a country, and the judiciary has not been fully captured, and neither has the legislature. All we need to do to stop this creeping authoritarianism is show up in-force and vote overwhelmingly against it this November. They will obviously try to confuse the issue with any close calls, and use such opportunities to assert dominion over local/state governments. We cannot let that happen. The best way to avoid such a scenario is to show up strong enough to make the results beyond question. That’s the ultimate test that we are still a nation of laws, and I am cautiously optimistic.
- usern20260720 1mo ago
  you can eat children alive and get away with it if you belong to the élite

AngryData 1mo ago

What? No. Rule of Law should be assessed by how well the law applies to everybody. The wealthy often get away with serious law breaking in the US, the poor are hammered down with the law over petty crimes. That is defying the Rule of Law any way you try to look at it. The whole point of The Rule of Law is to prevent unfair application of the law to benefit the few over the many.