Never start taking for granted that it’s not completely bat shit crazy that we live in a country where a president could plausibly make multiple criminal cases against him just go away. That is not something that rules-based societies allow. That is not compatible with a democracy, at all. If he gets away with it, never again pretend that the US is a democracy. Never ever pretend that we are guided by things like a constitution or laws. Never pretend that we cherish justice or truth. Never let the rulers, like our new fascist overlords, wrap themselves in the comforting pretense of all these virtues. If they are going to be the bigoted theocratic autocrats that Americans apparently want, then make them at least be open about their evil. Don’t let them dress it up in nonsense and pretend to be good guys. Never let the drooling masses that voted this in forget that every dead kid, every broken family, every polluted stream, every flooded city, and every grinning billionaire criminal, is on them. They wanted this.

Are we still pretending that impeachment in the US is any kind of meaningful threat to a president?

Naturally. I mean, if we’re doing this authoritarian thing now as the electorate has indicated that it wants, might as well be a less racist, less stupid authoritarian.

Are there any historical examples of fascist regimes losing power without a violent takedown?

If the US pulls out of nato, I hope the nations of the world reform into an alliance that properly stands against US hegemony.

Hawaii, because Florida.

Given that the Supreme Court has ruled that presidents can do anything with impunity, I suggest the Biden take this opportunity to execute trump as an official act based on national security and protecting the homeland against fascists.

It is if that leadership consistently refuses to learn from their mistakes and fails to mount any meaningful opposition to fascism as it creeps into more and more control over decades.

Just take a moment to marvel at the naked fiction that is law and order in this country. This is the entrenched oligarchy leaping into action, if full public view, to preserve their insulation from the very laws they use to rule you. The grotesque irony here, of course, is that this is the very “swamp” that maga dupes blab on and on about. Their lord and savior thinks so little of his moronic minions that he has no shame in flaunting his very own participation in that swamp right in front of them. Never pretend that we live in a rules-based society, nor doubt that the vast majority of Americans are among the dumbest motherfuckers to ever grace this earth. Sure assholes, take another swig of that milky self aggrievement from that feudal teet. I could not have more contempt for the reality of this fucked up, corrupt, hypocritical, and thoroughly evil nation.

This is basically the big thing that has been weighing on me. It’s very clear that the culture I thought I was brought up in, the thing that gave me pride, was not really US culture. It’s very clear to me that US culture values justice, democracy, truth, and the general wellbeing of people in no meaningful ways beyond the PR value of pretending to value these things. It’s very clear to me that this culture is way more racist, sexist, and classist than I was led to believe. It’s also very clear that this culture has an active disdain for education. In aggregate we are a gullible, irrationally emotional, entitled and greedy population with a nearly insatiable bloodlust for violence. We are, on the whole, a profoundly evil country made up of willfully ignorant masses that are ruled by duplicitous oligarchs. Now, I know that there are a lot of good people here. But there is nothing intrinsically American about their goodness. If anything they are an aberration from the seething awfulness that is America.

For the record, I’m pro-Tucker’s demon. Good job demon.

At the height of digg, I thought Rose was kind of cool. One of those Silicon Valley success stories that used to inspire tech enthusiasts like me. I watched diggnation and bought in to the culture being presented. But I’ll never forget that when digg 4 released, and bombed, Kevin threw his own employees and developers under the bus instead of taking responsibility for strategic mistakes. It was really eye opening to me about him and many of the other frauds that Silicon Valley hoists up as role models. Since then, he’s done nothing to dissuade me that he’s just another talentless tech-bro asshole that got way more attention and money than he deserved.

I feel so bad for the people being deployed and their families. These people are being positioned to be triggers for a war against Iran. They believe it will be easier to manufacture consent for that war if the administration (whichever one we have) can point to dead Americans. Sick shit.

Please note the momentum shift that started just around the DNC convention. Ask yourself what changed in the Harris campaign at that time.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/iSF0KGsFuI8?si=ZF7KAiSOFYnADzzk

First off, it’s not about majority, it’s about plurality. But that’s just nitpicking.

The disagreement here is about how a party achieves pluralities. They could follow a strategy of running toward the positions in their opposition, or they can do it by attempting to convince members of their opposition about the merits of their principled positions. Some compromises will frequently be practical, but enshrining compromise itself as a core principle, as opposed to policy, is only a strategy for maintaining power for power’s sake. Democracy should be more than team sports IMO.

Again, just look at what happened in the last 40 years. Asymmetrical consensus seeking has fueled the march of American fascism. Unless you want to argue that democracies will always inevitably slide toward fascism, I refuse to accept your characterization of democracy.

This is the strategy that Democrats have followed since 1988. In that time, the Overton window has relentlessly shifted to the right. It is the dynamic that makes it politically practical for Republicans to also relentlessly shift further right. It’s a positive feedback loop that eventually spirals toward fascism. Just examine the last four decades. It’s right there.

It’s not ‘consensus building’ when the other party has a principled opposition to consensus. It’s just a pre-negotiated concession. It is a lack leadership. That is the Democratic Party in a nutshell.

And just think, President Biden is just sorta okay with this.

Israel is a cancer.

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