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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#168951: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:13:14 PM

The Dakota pipeline is especially bitter to me. AND his cabinet stands to personally profit from it. He still hasn't divested from his business and has no plans to. Week two: dissident crackdown.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#168952: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:16:05 PM

I hope they realize that the GOP and Russia would like nothing better than for California to secede. The rest of the US would lose one of their main bastions of resistance, and it would probably wreak havoc upon the US in general. I mean, the guy behind Calexit lives in Russia. As with seemingly everything else, they're behind this too. Divide and conquer. If California gets so bogged down with infighting and talk of secession that they forget to fight Trump...well, that was a real nice country we had once.

Just gonna point out that we have more than one Calexit party in California.

Also the national average of people who support secession is 22%.

California's just 10% above that at 32%.

AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#168953: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:17:58 PM

Well, there's a group that's suing him specifically over the whole business thing. And it sounds like they're going to keep doing it the entire presidency. There are apparently multiple goals in this: to do things like force Trump to release tax returns and the like. We'll see how that goes.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#168954: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:18:30 PM

If the Dems can get the Voting Rights Act back and strengthened than they should be able destroy the GOP just by allowing people to vote.

However that requires control over Congress, beyond that the other options are things like a general strike, a refusal by state governments to hand over tax money to the Fed or continuous mass protests and the hope that when Trump gives the order for protesters to be shot that the people with the guns will refuse to shoot.

Other options are something that aren't to be discussed here, we know what they are and the mods have made it clear that that rabbit hole is not to be gone down.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:19:36 PM by Silasw

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#168955: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:19:00 PM

Just 4 days in office, and the US is turning into Turkmenistan. At this point, we'll probably have to remove them by force, and good luck with that when a good chunk of the military and the police support them.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:19:17 PM by Bat178

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#168956: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:21:46 PM

As far as I can tell, the only thing the GOP lacks the power to do right now is push through Constitutional amendments.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#168957: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:22:24 PM

Week two: dissident crackdown.

Speaking of which...

Over 200 of the people who protested Trump's inauguration (not to be confused with the Women's March) have been arrested and charged with felonies, in response to the bare handful of incidents of property destruction.

Arrest reports show the department is using the exact same language to describe its reasons for arresting all 200-plus caught in the round-up, without offering specific allegations of individual property destruction.

There is no argument that some marchers near the area on Friday morning smashed windows, and that others lit small fires after police had "kettled" hundreds of reporters and marchers near a downtown park. But Phillips' choice to collectively pursue a much larger group based on their proximity to the action strikes longtime protest legal observer Ria Thompson-Washington of the National Lawyers Guild as a dark turn away from the restraint that law enforcement have shown with protests and unrest in the past.

"The police here always give three warnings to protesters before they give any action. In this case, there was nothing," Thompson-Washington said in an interview. "There was no order of dispersal, no warnings. They just immediately brought out their batons and pepper spray without any warning."

One of the NLG-trained legal observers, who wear bright green hats or shirts so police can distinguish them from protesters, was pepper-sprayed straight in the face, said Thompson-Washington, and several other green-hatted observers were arrested and charged. The kettling tactic meant anyone who'd been inside the initial police perimeter was not allowed to leave as several hours passed before the arrests began.

[...]

Within minutes of President Donald Trump being sworn in, the White House website had posted a note on law enforcement policy which included the line, "Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter." By that time, police had been pepper-spraying and kettling the downtown marchers for over an hour.

This thread provides more insight into what's happening. Basically, a small number of violent protestors destroyed property on inauguration day. So hundreds of them are now being rounded up and charged with felonies, without even much pretense of evidence or due cause. They know that most of them will plead out, despite being innocent.

They're trying to make people too scared to attend protests in future, lest they get snatched up in this way. The crackdown on freedom to protest has begun.

Things are moving even faster than I thought they would.

[up] And they don't even particularly need that power for most of their agenda - although attaining it is still an achievable goal for them. The Constitution is, as Obama himself said, just a piece of parchment unless it's enforced. And right now, who's going to enforce it?

edited 24th Jan '17 12:24:19 PM by RBluefish

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#168958: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:22:44 PM

Also the GOP is in power so no way the voting rights act will be saved, which keeps them in power...it's a cycle. Also, govt officials allegedly state flint's lead poisoning is gone. given the gag order on the EPA, I don't buy it.

[up]Oh my god. Oh my god. Four days. It's only been four fucking days.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:24:24 PM by fruitpork

Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#168959: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:23:32 PM

[up][up]So, um... thanks anarchists?

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#168960: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:24:37 PM

I really REALLY want to hear someone genuinely argue that if HRC were President all of this stupid shit would be happening.

New Survey coming this weekend!
RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#168961: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:26:33 PM

Now take this - a handful of people committing violent crimes, and hundreds of random people being charged - and extrapolate what happens if the GOP are successful in further criminalizing protest. What happens when blocking traffic is a felony, and some guy with a sign wanders into the street? Will they arrest hundreds of people then too?

It's a good way to discourage protest, I'll give them that. Evil bastards.

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#168962: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:27:35 PM

[up] Prisons are already overcrowded enough as it is...

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#168963: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:27:40 PM

[up][up][up] Seriously hating the Bernie bros right now. She would NEVER have done this.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:28:03 PM by fruitpork

FFShinra Since: Jan, 2001
#168964: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:28:09 PM

@Fighteer- You sure? How many house legislatures and governors mansions they got?

EDIT- Wow this thread moves fast.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:28:42 PM by FFShinra

RBluefish Since: Nov, 2013
#168965: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:32:37 PM

[up][up][up] Not a problem if you don't care about having to put prisoners in humane conditions.

Also, I think this got lost in the shuffle some, so - the GOP don't even really need to be able to change the Constitution. It'd be great for them if they could and it's a frighteningly achievable goal, but it's not necessary to their agenda.

As Obama himself said, the Constitution is just a piece of parchment. It's meaningless unless it's enforced. And who's going to enforce it? The GOP? Ha.

And Fighteer is correct - right now, they do not control enough state legislatures to push through Constitutional amendments.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:33:21 PM by RBluefish

"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Balmung Since: Oct, 2011
#168966: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:34:27 PM

I wouldn't even call it an analogy at this point, nor Godwin's Law. We can no longer afford to ignore the parallels, and they are no longer hyperbolic in the least. This is sounding a hell of a lot like history rhyming with itself.
It's worth noting that Godwin's Law only states that the odds of the comparison goes up as a discussion goes on. It says nothing about whether the comparison to Nazis/Hitler/Nazi Germany is wrong.
It's official.

Either the Republican party dies, or the country dies.

This reminds me of the text from a White Rose pamphlet. "Hitler and his regime must fall so that Germany may live." Change two words and it applies to us, now.
Re: Those Fucking Pipelines: Even beyond the Native Americans getting fucked, there are plenty of people who will get fucked along the rest of the way. For example, if you believe in individual property rights, private entities are being given the power to take people's land via eminent domain. And as a Nebraskan, the route of Keystone XL is detrimental to the well-being of my state. It runs over the Oglala Aquifer, any contamination of which would create serious problems for a large portion of the nation's agriculture.

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#168967: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:39:44 PM

Well it's obvious they don't care about laws except when it crushes their opponents. It's clear now that our input is not wanted anymore-this is trump's county now.

Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#168968: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:41:26 PM

[up][up]Keystone XL is particularly interesting because it would be a ''foreign'' private entity, TransCanada, using eminent domain. A company who also sued the US under NAFTA after it was rejected by Obama.

And I guarantee most Trump voters won't give a damn. All that about sovereignty and trade deals? Bah. All is acceptable in the pursuit of greatness.

edited 24th Jan '17 12:43:47 PM by Eschaton

fruitpork Since: Oct, 2010
#168969: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:44:03 PM

It's a cult. He even declared a day of patriotism on his Inauguration Day.

Lanceleoghauni Cyborg Helmsman from Z or R Twice Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: In my bunk
#168970: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:44:46 PM

I still don't get how "bernie bros" caused this and not "Batshit Crazy Republican Fanbase"

Like does any proof of "Bernie Bros" actually exist? I seem to remember it just being a handy knife for hillary to stab him in the back with while rifling through his pockets for useful soundbytes.

"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#168971: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:47:30 PM

[up][up] According to Snopes, Obama did something similar for his inauguration. Though I understand there's a drastic difference in tone

Lanceleoghauni Cyborg Helmsman from Z or R Twice Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: In my bunk
#168972: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:50:02 PM

Not that co-opting his messages did her any good. God I'm still fucking pissed that the democrats tried to coronate her. Her middle name might as well be "Political Expediency".

"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#168973: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:53:28 PM

[up][up][up]To be completely blunt, yes.

Continuously pushing the "they're all the same, full communism or accelerationism" line encouraged voter disillusionment exactly when the opposition was working up its base by making truckloads of promises that couldn't be done without fucking over the exact people voting for them.

[up]Coopting? When you run with the intention of pushing your competitors to the left and succeed, it's coopting? Are you projecting or something?

edited 24th Jan '17 12:55:20 PM by Krieger22

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
IFwanderer use political terms to describe, not insult from Earth Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
use political terms to describe, not insult
#168974: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:57:04 PM

You sure? How many house legislatures and governors mansions they got?
Apparently, just one less than needed for a constitutional amendment, which means... ATTENTION TO ANY TROPERS LIVING IN NEW JERSEY OR VIRGINIA, YOU MUST VOTE DEMOCRAT IN THIS YEAR'S GOVERNOR ELECTION.

1 2 We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. -KV
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#168975: Jan 24th 2017 at 12:57:34 PM

I fucking WISHED they had coronated her, so we wouldn't have had to deal with the far-left being radicalized to the point where we have the very real possibility of a Tea Party movement.

Other countries don't even bother with primaries and have the parties choose, and no one overseas complains.

New Survey coming this weekend!

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