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stickly

@ stickly @lemmy.world

Posts
1
Comments
290
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • Ok, can a judge freeze a tank or a drone cruising at 50,000 feet? You're banking on every single judge to agree to play civil war chicken? Not even a few of them (such as his personal appointments to the SCOTUS) will back Trump in this?

    The judicial system just hemmed and hawwed for 4 years, refusing to lock him up for blatant crimes. Now they're going to grow a spine when he has access to the nuclear launch codes?

    If the judicial branch wanted to stop him they could have done it any time on the last 8 years. So either they can't or won't...

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • Tell me where the buck stops, because we could go back and forth all day. The only people who can remove Trump from office are the legislative branch, and they already consent to what he's doing. He could just cut federal funding to any state that causes too much of a ruckus.

    If they won't hold him accountable for any blatantly unconstitutional activity then nothing can change. Sure, I guess you could imagine a scenario where all of America collectively decides that the states have a right to intercede and remove elected federal officials, but that's no longer playing by the rules of the game.

    The judicial branch alone cannot save you, suits can go back and forth and injunctions be ignored in perpetuity. If it causes any real annoyance there's a million levers to pull (pulling funding, national emergencies, the insurrection act, targeted coercion, etc...)

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • Genuine question because I'm not a lawyer, but why would a state judge specifically need to issue the warrant? And could it come from any red state maga judge?

    And yes, the government would absolutely abandon them. But all a dictator (or his public propaganda) needs to say is "unfortunate violence, but that judge got what was coming to him" and the lap dogs will eat it up. There are way more willing martyrs than judges.

    Will the chief of police stop the feds from finding a hard-drive full of CP in the judges office, sourced back to some international investigation the feds have jurisdiction over?

    Your phrasing keeps implying that naked unconstitutional acts would be met with armed resistance, but that's not what I'm trying to get across. A state judge could pretty fairly label Trump an outlaw today, giving judicial sanction for violent arrest. That doesn't put a bunch of state police on par with Trump engaging the national guard. All he needs is some thin veil of imagined legitimacy and he has the power to "defend" America from any threat.

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • You do know who appoints the judges, right?

    And you think the federal government doesn't have the resources to pull off those crimes without plausible deniability? Or that the right wing militias aren't perfectly constructed to take their own initiative, fight and die for their dear leader anyway?

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • Ok, the judge gets swept up in a military tribunal or they just say anyone collaborating with this judge is also guilty of treason. This is all putting aside brownshirts straight up burning down their house and the FBI regrettably failing to catch the culprits.

  • Democrats finally sue Trump for trying to control elections

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  • Ok now the judge is in jail for treason or has all their personal assets liquidated into the Sovereign Wealth fund. What next? A new judge is hand picked and installed, is he going to put his neck out like the last guy?

  • Musk’s purges suddenly take a horrific turn—and wreck an ugly MAGA lie

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  • I never said that, I just want people to be honest about what they're getting into as they ramp up resistance. It's a very different mindset, you have to be expecting the nuclear option and plan accordingly

  • Musk’s purges suddenly take a horrific turn—and wreck an ugly MAGA lie

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  • Would that stop them from causing damage unopposed right now? Sure. But how do you think that would end? Are there any meaningful demands that could be conceded to save what's left of the constitution? Trump was pushing for live fire on protesters in his last administration, and the cooler heads that kept that from happening are gone.

    The cat's out of the bag. The executive branch has been purged of anyone disloyal; there are private military contractors wandering DC who have been unilaterally deputized; career military officials who could be threats are getting tossed. The last opportunity to keep peaceful continuity with the first 248 years of America ended on January 19th.

    Fascist dictators don't get to step down and return to a private life. We've never seen one leave office alive.

    Will resistance to this oppression end well for the American people? Will foreign intervention topple the cult of personality? Or will our grandchildren be watching the coronation of President Trump III either way?

    Who knows? But it's inconceivable that we'll be back to normal in 2/4/8 years. This election was a seminal moment, there will be a definite before and after. The question is how stark the difference will be.

  • Musk’s purges suddenly take a horrific turn—and wreck an ugly MAGA lie

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  • Appreciate that it's getting through to some people. Its frustrating to think about but even more frustrating that people can't call a spade a spade. The writing has been on the wall for years and our paralyzed inertia has taken us over the cliff. Willing that inertia to take us back is less than pointless.

    It's scary but also liberating in a way. We're as close right now to restoring the Roman Republic as we are the American Republic. Whatever comes out will be a blank skate and you get to write your own part onto it, whatever that may be.

    Crazy things do happen, nobody really knows how any story ends. Trump was a few inches from having this timeline dissolve in pink mist less than a year ago. Maybe some important people will explode in a Tesla fireball accident.

    Keep your head up 🍻

  • Musk’s purges suddenly take a horrific turn—and wreck an ugly MAGA lie

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  • It's shocking to me that people have this notion of the judicial branch being magical wizards that can issue a sacred ruling that teleports bad guys to prison. That's not even in their job description.

    They interpret the law and the executive enforces it. If the executive doesn't care to enforce their rulings then they might as well be running legal theory channels on YouTube

  • Musk’s purges suddenly take a horrific turn—and wreck an ugly MAGA lie

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  • There's nothing within the established American political framework that can be done to stop this dismantling by any number of citizens. There's literally no legal way to get Trump out of office that doesn't involve the GOP turning on him now. And I'm not holding out hope that they spontaneously grow a conscience.

    There's no ability to recall your representative from congress, no petition that can force the dissolution of the executive branch. The constitution is an ancient, flawed basis of governance that's showing its age. By design, you have to wait 2 years for the next election to change leadership. That's it. And God help you if those elections are stolen.

    If you're arguing in favor of a civil war to purge bad actors or the Balkanization of the country then be honest. But to pretend any number of peaceful (or violent) protests will get America back to normal is naive. The only way to recall these officials is with a guillotine, and you're entering entirely new waters there.

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • Very well answered, thanks.

    I think there's generally poor discourse around protests. I appreciate the long form opinions that you and others have put together, but a lot of commentary is very reductive.

    I get the "net negative" sentiment, but the only thing worse than feeling like you didn't make an impact is feeling that while being berated as naive. For something as low stakes as a one day boycott, not much is lost if you use it as a case study to teach from. Here's why it didn't work and what we can do better. The important part of the discussion should be on building goals and organizing, and detaching those from the endorphins of political action.

    I'm of the opinion that the only truly performative and useless protests are digital. If you went somewhere or did something (or changed plans to avoid either) you're infinitely closer to making a change than putting a hashtag into the digital void.

    The truth is we're in uncharted territory. What does or doesn't work may be unintuitive. Protests haven't really happened:

    • in the 21st century western world
    • & against the massively expanded tools of surveillance
    • & the highest wealth disparity in history
    • & most communication channels and social spaces replaced by digital corporate platforms
    • & the rapid fascist takeover of a government looking for their Reichstag Fire

    The George Floyd protests in 2020 were the closest thing we've seen but today is different beast.

    As an example, I get the feeling that organizing at your workplace won't work for long. The administration would smash your legal right to unionize without hesitation. Similarly, signing up with the DSA might have been effective political action 4 years ago but put you on the no-fly list today. Maybe clandestine but highly visible protests (vandalism, sabotage, etc...) will have more impact than marching on Washington DC out of the gate? Time will tell...

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • Would it be wrong to view this as economic accelerationism? Even if businesses can adjust to consumption cycles, not all consumption needs on one day translate to the next.

    Skipping lunch at the diner might mean you increase demand for pb&j sandwiches, but you're putting the waitress and cook out of a job. Maybe that's just freeing up their labor to be put to more... productive endeavors.

    Honest question, what's your stance on hunger strikes or other protests outside the workplace? I'm of the opinion that, in 2025, any disruption is good disruption.

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • Save yourself the trouble, this isn't going anywhere

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • I agree! So let's all stop spending today to get people on board and save a few bucks, then use that momentum to pool that money the next day.

    People seem to dislike this protest because inaction is seen as ineffective and opposed to active protest. Its "too easy", which puts a bad taste in their mouth.

    But on the other hand:

    • its dead easy
    • has no barrier to entry
    • has no regressive downside on those unable to spend
    • even partial participation can add up
    • is simple to communicate and organize
    • doing it for one day makes it easy to see how you could do it for longer. The hardest part of any diet is when you just start out

    If anything, I see putting the economic brakes on as allowing for more leverage and room to organize. If work is slow maybe you have more time to attend that protest; maybe you're not in a rush to get back to the shop if it's closed early.

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • What if my actionable goal is crashing the broken economy that's burning our planet?

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • Brother: restaurant no get money, money no come next day.

    That's not making any assumption. This type of protest hasn't been tried in America at scale, how can I possibly present data. Who knows what the impact will be, why don't we find out before we lable it pointless?

    Do you have any data showing that me standing in front of my city hall on Tuesday with a sign makes a difference? Because it's been tried quite a few times since Occupy and nothing has improved. Or is that also operating off of "trust me bro"?

    This is coming from a person who wants to do both. Is your argument that we should do nothing?

  • Devils Panties 02/28/2025

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  • I just gave one, please continue to ignore it 👌