American Politics

[xi0]

Sure, but what you are saying is still basically speculation. Nothing has happened yet that suggests trump or even his supporters have an appetite for jailing 30 million migrants on taxpayer dollars.

The privatization of the prison system combo'd with the war on drugs means a huge boon for the wealthy. Ratcheting up the imprisonment of people who are undocumented just means more profits. This is already happening with people whose main crime is selling weed, what is stopping people who are undocumented from being added to the "labor force"?

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 22, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 22, 2025 ---

I'm not talking about utopia, I'm talking about the Civil Rights Movement's effect. It did a lot, but it also forced racism to be subtle and appear in other ways. I fear we may be too far gone now, given the way right have been behaving.

I think most people would take subtle racism over not being able to attend the school they want, or job they want, or go to any place of business they want, or ensured their voting rights.... wth are you even saying really lol

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 22, 2025 ---

Most countries in the world simply deport people who enter illegally or overstay what they are legally allowed. Which, you know, is normal and sane. The US is one of the few places in the world where this is controversial. The issue the US has now is that half the country has already gone mad over the issue after decades of ineffective policy making. That said, I don't think trump's policy is adequate or sufficient (I've talked about how sane policy would remove very real incentives to illegal immigration while it would encourage legal migration which the US absolutely needs) but I won't hold it against them to simply swiftly deport people.

The issue is not the incentive for illegal immigration, the issue is the incentive is there for companies who want cheap labor. Until that is not the case no amount of policy changes will make a real and lasting difference.

This entire situation is very much people fleeing destabilized places due to the actions of the American government and its agencies, them serving a very essential part in the production of several key industries here, and then racist morons running on the mindless fearmongering and otherization of our neighbors despite them paying taxes and having a lower incidence of violent crime compared to the general population.

Somehow Bush Jr was smarter than the current Republican party when it came to the DREAM act and amnesty. It's like the modern day Republican party will die if they can't be "blood and soil" nazis, meanwhile unless they themselves advocate for labor reform (they would sooner all "trans" themselves), this issue will never be adequately addressed.

 

[ninjabot]

But it is clear tho that Trump moves to take all legal security from non-US-citizens to be able to jail or deport any of them any time he pleases, no matter the circumstances.

Sounds pretty tyrannical to me.

Sure, but what you are saying is still basically speculation. Nothing has happened yet that suggests trump or even his supporters have an appetite for jailing 30 million migrants on taxpayer dollars.

Did you see how many likes and retweets that fucking twitter video got of "Deportation ASMR"? What about the video of people cheering for immigrants being shaved before being deported? Or the overseas prison he's talking about sending actual American citizens to?

Better yet, how many conservative or Republican media outlets, or even civilians tweeting or making tiktok videos, have you seen denouncing what Trump's doing? Where's this newfound benefit of the doubt for conservatives come from?

What does Trump have to do before people stop thinking he's not willing to do worse?

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 22, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 22, 2025 ---

 

[M3J]

I think most people would take subtle racism over not being able to attend the school they want, or job they want, or go to any place of business they want, or ensured their voting rights.... wth are you even saying really lol

That racism never went away, and that people of color can still get denied for jobs and schools, just in more subtle ways.

 

[ninjabot]

It's not about merit.

 

[shionoro]

I really do not think it is alarmist to call Trump a tyrant or say that he is pushing America into fascism. He sure as hell tries his best.

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5208333-columbia-university-trump-funding-cut-campus-protests-antisemitism-khalil/

Columbia University said Friday it has agreed to a list of demands from the Trump administration as it seeks to begin talks to restore $400 million in federal funding.

After the administration cut off the funds over what it called failure to protect students from antisemitism, the federal government outlined steps the university would have to take to even begin discussions of getting the money back. Columbia has agreed to all of them, even the most controversial ones, such as putting certain academic departments in receivership.

The school will hire dozens of campus police officers and give them more power to arrest students; update its disciplinary policies; clarify policies on acceptable times, place and manner for protests; and move its University Judicial Board to the Office of the Provost.

Face masks were also banned except for religious or medical reasons, in which case a person would have to present their Columbia ID if requested.

The university will also adopt an updated definition of antisemitism and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee its Center for Palestine Studies and the departments of Middle East, South Asian and African studies.

The letter the Trump administration sent with its demands said concession is only a “precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.”

This step means he successfully forced the university to shut down all protest under the guide of fighting antisemitism. And this is just a precondition for formal negotiations. It is so easy to do that, there is little backlash. And like that, obviously, any student who does not obey will have to fear that he is expelled or even might get his degree revoked.

How Columbia gave in to Trump’s demands to get its $400m funding back

The New York university's federal funding was revoked last month over allegations of 'antisemitic harassment' on campus.

www.aljazeera.com

On March 10, US authorities sent a letter to 60 academic institutions, including Columbia, informing them they were under investigation for “antisemitic harassment and discrimination” and warning them of potential law enforcement actions if they do not “protect Jewish students”. The letter also threatened further funding cuts. In response, Columbia said it had expelled, suspended or revoked the degrees of students involved in the Hamilton Hall occupation

So, by now, we have: If you protest against Trump and are not a US citizen, you might get jailed or deported. If you protest against Trump and are a student, you might get expelled or have your degree revoked.

I think nobody can, in good faith, say that Trump is not a fascist who uses authoritarian matters and the state apparatus to destroy the opposition to him.

By now, it is not unlikely that there won't be somewhat fair midterms. You might look at a reality in which Trump changes a lot of the election rules or outright refuses to respect court judgements.

 

[ninjabot]

Trigger Warning for this vid. Russian drones striking civilians repairing their roof.

https://packaged-media.redd.it/qc5kssb21gqe1/pb/m2-res_720p.mp4?m=DASHPlaylist.mpd&v=1&e=1742767200&s=d473b5b6dc53ee113c9802c2ee7611b134084c11

Russians working overtime now that they've got American support.

@shionoro: Yeah, so now that we agree what Trump's doing is tyrannical, now we need to motivate the people with the "means" to "respond" to this tyranny. Unfortunately, this is the demographic that votes for Trump in the first place.

So we need some brave, patriotic Democrats to... enact their constitutional right to "defend" against tyranny.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 23, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 23, 2025 ---

Former US Attorney Jessica Aber found dead in Virginia at 43

Former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber was found dead Saturday morning, in Alexandria, Virginia, according to police.

abcnews.go.com

I don't want to jump to conclusions. I don't WANT to. But I can't help it. Fuck.

 

[shionoro]

@shionoro: Yeah, so now that we agree what Trump's doing is tyrannical, now we need to motivate the people with the "means" to "respond" to this tyranny. Unfortunately, this is the demographic that votes for Trump in the first place.

So we need some brave, patriotic Democrats to... enact their constitutional right to "defend" against tyranny.

Did we ever disagree on that? Saying that citizens have any right to defend against tyranny is definitely my view. The very thing that makes me afraid is that the US civil society seems to just accept it for the most part, even tho everything is so absurd and outrageous. It is nothing less than the death of american democracy as it existed before that is at stake here.

I can see huge turnout for Bernie rallies and I can see more and more people joining unions. So, I think there are enough people who WANT to fight back. But they need someone to help them with the means, to organize it and to really channel that anger.

Democrats could play a huge role in that, but then they need to find a common voice. It isn't enough that most democrats did not vote with chuck schumer. Right now, the parts of the democrat party that want to fight back need to put all pressure they can on people like Schumer and Fetterman. They might not be able to force them to resign outright, but that fight would at least put a signal out there to the people who are (rightfully) scared that they have nobody to support them against fascism.

 

[ninjabot]

Did we ever disagree on that?

No. I just assumed you were as against political violence as I am. So I wanted to tiptoe towards asserting that Trump needs to be brained by a sniper round from an LGBTQ+ POC until I knew you guys wouldn't think I'd gone insane. I was testing the waters. Don't wanna get permabanned for advocating for lethal violence.

Saying that citizens have any right to defend against tyranny is definitely my view. The very thing that makes me afraid is that the US civil society seems to just accept it for the most part, even tho everything is so absurd and outrageous. It is nothing less than the death of american democracy as it existed before that is at stake here.

Agreed.

I can see huge turnout for Bernie rallies and I can see more and more people joining unions. So, I think there are enough people who WANT to fight back. But they need someone to help them with the means, to organize it and to really channel that anger.

Yeah... I just don't want too much of the anger to be dealt with, because it's a powerful motivator. I feel like it's easier to pull the trigger against someone you hate. Metaphorically and literally.

Democrats could play a huge role in that, but then they need to find a common voice. It isn't enough that most democrats did not vote with chuck schumer. Right now, the parts of the democrat party that want to fight back need to put all pressure they can on people like Schumer and Fetterman. They might not be able to force them to resign outright, but that fight would at least put a signal out there to the people who are (rightfully) scared that they have nobody to support them against fascism.

Yeah, so guns could help someone feel sufficiently protected from fascism. I recommend guns. Lots of them.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 23, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 23, 2025 ---

Two Russian Nationals Charged in Connection with Operating Billion Dollar Money Laundering Services - DataBreaches.Net

A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice: The Justice Department today announced actions coordinated with the Department of State, Department of the

databreaches.net

Aber investigated Russian money laundering and other Russian corruption. Now I really, really don't think her death is a coincidence.

 

[shionoro]

Aber investigated Russian money laundering and other Russian corruption. Now I really, really don't think her death is a coincidence.

Absolutely possible. I do not want to jump to conclusions tho before there is some more evidence.

No. I just assumed you were as against political violence as I am. So I wanted to tiptoe towards asserting that Trump needs to be brained by a sniper round from an LGBTQ+ POC until I knew you guys wouldn't think I'd gone insane. I was testing the waters. Don't wanna get permabanned for advocating for lethal violence.

Political violence is a very tricky issue because its legitimacy very much depends on the circumstance. Would it have been retroactively been okay to use violence against the Nazis when they took over? I think most people would say yes. But that does not tell us whether it is warranted for or useful right now. (but i also do not think you are crazy).

I definitely would not commit it and I am also not sure that the situation wouldnt get worse if people started to shoot republicans. Because if Republicans are then viewed as the victims, they have any precedent to use draconic measures without it creating an outrage. Burning Teslas however and causing property damage? I can definitely understand that. There are a lot of nonlegal nonviolent methods that would be warranted for right now and that are in my opinion more useful than violence.

The key imo is to have enough active people that understand the situation. For example, looking at the midterms, Turkey is a good example (even tho it recently took a turn for the worse) of what to do. Turkish elections are not fair, but they can (in the past) still potentially be won by the opposition (for example in Ankara and Istanbul). The reason the opposition could win there was because the opposition parties deployed observers and even lawyers in as many polling stations as possible to prevent most of the steal. So, if Erdogan wanted to overstep that, he would have to openly become a dictator (a step he seems willing to commit right now by jailing the opopsition). And that would be the step where so many people are so angry that they go on street and do whatever they think they must do. But America is not there yet (and hopefully does not get there).

So I'd say gunning up is fine, but more importantly, the American opposition needs achievable plans and measures that counter the current steps and get people active. And part of it is to really highlight that this isn't about Trump pushing bad policies but about him ending American democracy, period.

 

[M3J]

Even if you are a US citizen, you can still get deported or jailed, it's scary

 

[ninjabot]

Even if you are a US citizen, you can still get deported or jailed, it's scary

Sounds like tyranny to me. Hence what I've been saying. Get familiar with firearms and hope you don't have to use one. But make sure you can if you have to.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 24, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 24, 2025 ---

AOC and Bernie's Fight Oligarchy rally.

I definitely would not commit it and I am also not sure that the situation wouldnt get worse if people started to shoot republicans. Because if Republicans are then viewed as the victims, they have any precedent to use draconic measures without it creating an outrage. Burning Teslas however and causing property damage? I can definitely understand that. There are a lot of nonlegal nonviolent methods that would be warranted for right now and that are in my opinion more useful than violence.

Sure, same.

BUT... I'm only talking about one Republican in particular catching a bullet with his frontal lobe.

 

[Franckie]

In the long run, the future is bright for the world. All of American politics now is 100% way too focused on one guy who will be dead in a few years anyway, which means he’s not that important to America long-term. Trump is almost 80 years old, obese, doesn't take care of himself, and is constantly on stimulants. It'll be a miracle if he makes it past 85, and yes, you can quote me on that.

 

[Newkerzy]

In the long run, the future is bright for the world. All of American politics now is 100% way too focused on one guy who will be dead in a few years anyway, which means he’s not that important to America long-term. Trump is almost 80 years old, obese, doesn't take care of himself, and is constantly on stimulants. It'll be a miracle if he makes it past 85, and yes, you can quote me on that.

The only question is, how much damage he’ll inflict before he does and how many years it will take to undo them.

 

[shionoro]

In the long run, the future is bright for the world. All of American politics now is 100% way too focused on one guy who will be dead in a few years anyway, which means he’s not that important to America long-term. Trump is almost 80 years old, obese, doesn't take care of himself, and is constantly on stimulants. It'll be a miracle if he makes it past 85, and yes, you can quote me on that.

Why do you think this is over when Trump is dead? This is not a Trump powergrab, it is a tech billionaire and a fascist powergrab, supported by different factions that will still be there when Trump is dead.

The longterm consequences will be the worst about it.

 

[ninjabot]

In the long run, the future is bright for the world. All of American politics now is 100% way too focused on one guy who will be dead in a few years anyway, which means he’s not that important to America long-term. Trump is almost 80 years old, obese, doesn't take care of himself, and is constantly on stimulants. It'll be a miracle if he makes it past 85, and yes, you can quote me on that.

That's not justice though. The idea that he got away with... well... everything.

I don't believe in Hell. I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't think he'll be made to suffer for anything he's done to anyone if we don't seek vindication ourselves. Because Trump is now the blueprint for how to destroy the Western world. No one has taken the steps to say "No, we're not going to put up with this." So the next guy will be emboldened with not just a blueprint, but confidence that no one will dome him if he tries it.

It's not too late to send that message.

Also, undoing what Trump has done most likely requires unraveling a spaghetti ball of intertwined schemes meant to preserve conservative power far into the future. The longer we wait, the more convoluted they make things. I don't have faith it'll be as simple as having a Democrat president use executive orders to wish things back to normal.

He may not make it past 85. I'd prefer he didn't make it past tomorrow.

 

[kkck]

Sounds pretty tyrannical to me.



Did you see how many likes and retweets that fucking twitter video got of "Deportation ASMR"? What about the video of people cheering for immigrants being shaved before being deported? Or the overseas prison he's talking about sending actual American citizens to?

Better yet, how many conservative or Republican media outlets, or even civilians tweeting or making tiktok videos, have you seen denouncing what Trump's doing? Where's this newfound benefit of the doubt for conservatives come from?

What does Trump have to do before people stop thinking he's not willing to do worse?

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 22, 2025, Original Post Date: Mar 22, 2025 ---

Wait, I am not saying trump doesn't have it in him to be more cruel. I am saying that for now the stuff in question is not based on anything. Heck, what trump is doing is already having the effect he desired. Putting people in prisons for fun for fun is in direct conflict with his agenda of simply deporting people. I suppose trump shooting his own foot is fairly in character.

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 24, 2025 ---

The privatization of the prison system combo'd with the war on drugs means a huge boon for the wealthy. Ratcheting up the imprisonment of people who are undocumented just means more profits. This is already happening with people whose main crime is selling weed, what is stopping people who are undocumented from being added to the "labor force"?

Ok but... what has happened that suggests this is actually in the cards? Why this and not trump kicking illegal immigrant babies off a cliff like footballs?

The issue is not the incentive for illegal immigration, the issue is the incentive is there for companies who want cheap labor. Until that is not the case no amount of policy changes will make a real and lasting difference.

This entire situation is very much people fleeing destabilized places due to the actions of the American government and its agencies, them serving a very essential part in the production of several key industries here, and then racist morons running on the mindless fearmongering and otherization of our neighbors despite them paying taxes and having a lower incidence of violent crime compared to the general population.

Somehow Bush Jr was smarter than the current Republican party when it came to the DREAM act and amnesty. It's like the modern day Republican party will die if they can't be "blood and soil" nazis, meanwhile unless they themselves advocate for labor reform (they would sooner all "trans" themselves), this issue will never be adequately addressed.

Sure, companies being willing and able to pay illegal immigrants under the table, or at all is at the heart of the problem here. My stance is not and has never been no migration.

Except that, most of the places people migrate from are not actually destabilized in any way relevant to what went on in the middle east. Most countries just have regular old poverty, not persecution, famine or war. Even as corrupt as most governments in central and south america are the amount of people who are actually persecuted is relatively small even compared to the number of folk who try to get to the US border by foot. Add to that, those that are actually persecuted by either governments or organized crime get their own requests for asylum buried among tens of thousands that simply cannot qualify for it (and who still end up staying at the US anyways).

And if we get on the topic of destabilizing countries... you know that migration like this is a fundamentally destabilizing factor through all countries where these folk cross? Or is that plain irrelevant to the issue? The Darien path is pretty much just a stretch of wilderness people jump into. Neither Colombia or Panama have that much influence there or even that much capacity to act, let alone that substantial chunks of it are under the control of dangerous guerrillas with a history of not giving a crap about human rights. Then you have the impact of these folk moving through all the countries in between the path and the US... Hundreds or thousands of people disappear. A lot of those because they were people with no skills who just up and walked into the wilderness. The less lucky ones get brutally exploited by gangs or cartels. Let alone the recruiting potential of exceptionally vulnerable groups by these groups which at this point are basically ruthless armies that number in the tens of thousands. And this isn't even just a central america thing, it works in the other direction as well. You can look at venezuelan migration south and all through that it's a similar story, vulnerable folk primed for recruiting by gangs (note that I am not saying a majority is being recruited or anything like that).

 

[ninjabot]

Wait, I am not saying trump doesn't have it in him to be more cruel. I am saying that for now the stuff in question is not based on anything. Heck, what trump is doing is already having the effect he desired. Putting people in prisons for fun for fun is in direct conflict with his agenda of simply deporting people. I suppose trump shooting his own foot is fairly in character.

It's based on project 2025. It's according to plan, it's not him acting on a whim. And he's not putting people in prisons for fun, he's doing it to crush descent and to appeal to his racist base.

Also, you claimed it's antithetical to what his base wants, so I was showing you how all of them were cheering for what he's been doing. They want him throwing protestors and political enemies into prison.

 

[shionoro]

Yes. The point is being cruel, not being effective. Deporting people who are not criminal or otherwise unwanted is a desired effect, not a side effect Republicans are willing to accept. Because Project 2025 is not about making money (at least not first and foremost).

It is:

The Mandate for Leadership outlines four main aims: restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life; dismantling the administrative state; defending the nation's sovereignty and borders; and securing God-given individual rights to live freely.[108] Roberts writes in the Mandate's foreword: "The long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before."

about taking control. It is a radical "christian" (in the American sense of the word) ideology that goes far beyond just having a stricter immigration policy.

The immigration policy looks like this:

Project 2025 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Stephen Miller, a key architect of immigration policy during the Trump presidency, is a major figure in Project 2025.[72] In November 2023, Miller told Project 2025 participant Charlie Kirk that the operation would rival the scale and complexity of "building the Panama Canal". He said it would include deputizing the National Guard in red states as immigration enforcement officers under Trump's command. These forces would then be deployed in blue states.[182]

Miller considered[when?] deputizing local police and sheriffs for the undertaking, as well as agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration. He said these forces would "go around the country arresting illegal immigrants in large-scale raids" who would then be taken to "large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas", to be held in internment camps before deportation. Trump has also spoken of rounding up homeless people in blue cities and detaining them in camps.[182] Funding for the Mexico–United States border wall would increase.[108]

Project 2025 encourages the president to withhold federal disaster relief funds granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should state or local governments refuse to abide by federal immigration laws, by, for example, not sharing information with law enforcement.[180]

Jailing people into internment camps is part of the plan. Rounding up homeless people might be the next step (as i said before, unemployed people are next in line imo).

This is what they want and Trump follows that playbook so far.

I do not understand the logic of looking at how he is taking all the first steps of this project but him actually intending to follow it completely is somehow absurd.

 

[ninjabot]

Dive into TRANS WORLD: 8 Days of All-Trans Streaming for TDOV

Something to distract from the non-stop bombardment of bad news. This week will have a streamathon of trans streamers in honor of trans visibility. 8 days of 24 hours straight of streams from trans creators where they're taking donations for a trans charity (Trans World).

I'm sharing here cause we all seem to be Left-leaning and identify as trans allies. Share with your trans friends (or other allies) that may be interested int he content, or may want to donate to help.

 

[catagon87]

Full link to the Signal text chain obtained by The Atlantic's Chief Editor.

This is really insane. I occasionally go browse the conservative subreddit to see how they are responding to certain events, and it's crazy to me how many call this a "nothing burger" and continue to bring up "Hillary's email server." Heads should be rolling fast for this but who knows if they will given the current crazy climate. Trump spent yesterday trying to claim Waltz just made a simple mistake, but with the full release it should be a good test of his ability to double down. Michael Flynn lasted 23 days. Let's see about Hegseth, Tulsi, Waltz, and Ratclife.