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InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)AL
Posts
1
Comments
360
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • Yeah it doesn't matter - don't listen to drama fiends. .ml is fine. Lots of people decry it as being a tankie instance. The whole point of federation is you aren't limited to the content on your instance - just by which instances yours is federated with.

    If people or your instance bother you, make another account. Otherwise, just ignore the haters

  • Permanently Deleted

    Jump
  • He did a huge amount of harm to our government. Not quite like this time, where most of what he is doing is outright illegal and is essentially a soft coup, but really bad nonetheless - just mostly aimed at making him money and getting/keeping political power instead of destryoying the country. Much of that was outright illegal, but a lot of it was just breaches of "norms" and "decorum".

    I literally can't fit it all into one comment, its so much and such a convoluted web of schemes and lies and crimes and support from other politicians/lawyers/the media. And every day was something new. I followed all the legal cases relating to his admin back in the first term - it was hard to keep up with even while it was all happening. Much of the reason he was never charged or indicted for so much of what he did is that you can't criminally indict a sitting president.

    The Mueller investigation into the Trump administration's conduct with Russian political operatives found that he more than likely illegally colluded with Russia to the detriment of the US and to defraud and disenfranchise voters, but literally couldn't charge Trump since he was a sitting president - hoping instead that someone would pick up the investigation when he could be charged. It is notable that that investigation produced 37 indictments and 7 convictions/guilty pleas, referred 14 more cases to DoJ for prosecution, and recovered like $48M in misappropriated government funds (the investigation cost $32M, so it was actually profitable). So, this investigation couldn't prosecute Trump, but 34 people in his administration were indicted and the findings of the report suggested they would have prosecuted Trump if they were legally allowed to. That says all you need to know, IMO.

  • I don't even think the majority of American conservatives are on board with most of what's happening anymore. Some Like almost half are, but they're especially stupid and usually ideologically oriented to Trump rather than to the traditional brand of US conservatism.

  • Not with that attitude, they're not. Back in my day we had good old-fashioned corn dogs made of every kind of dog you can imagine. German Shepherds. Dachshunds. Labrador Retrievers. Irish Wolfhounds. Greyhounds. Golden Retrievers. Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. Border Collies. Normal Collies. Bull Dogs. Giant Schnauzers. Miniature Schnauzers. Corgis. Poodles. Airedale Terriers. Lhasa Apsos. Shihtzus. Chihuahuas. Xoloitzcuintles. But that was back when men were men and dogs were corn dogs.

  • This isn't quite right. Trump didn't really modify laws. That isn't even something he can claim to do since he is the head of the Executive branch, not the Legislative one. He issued executive orders, many of which were illegal, and he had some cronies who enacted some of them anyway - others did not enact some of these, and others were not really actionable (like when he declared that no one has a gender). He did rescind many policies, but he can't just make laws go away on his own. There are literally hundreds of court cases currently challenging these executive orders - seeing as how the judiciary is the primary check on the executive branch, that is the system working to check presidential power.

    However, I am not a liberal, I am a socialist and do not think this is working well - there are many problems here. The highest levels of the judiciary have been largely captured by far-right judges, many of whom are specifically aligned with Trump's goals and support the unitary executive theory. Also, this method of checking presidential power is extremely slow. For every illegal action Trump's administration takes, a court case has to be crafted, filed, heard, and adjudicated. Every one. And invariably, some will not reach the correct outcome and others will never actually be taken to court - there are just too many.

    Basically, the administration is using the fact that they control every branch of government to dismantle or capture core government agencies and to provide cover for various illegal actions - forcing them through if only temporarily for various political and structural ends. A soft coup, basically. So yeah, the fact that something like this is possible is proof of the flaws inherent in this system of government.

  • It isn't daft. The Republicans since Reagan have pushed a fringe legal theory called the Unitary Executive Theory. Basically, they want the president to fully control the executive branch and military such that theirs is the only voice that matters for much of the government. Not unlike a king, but partially checked by congress and the courts. They have been taking (illegal) actions to try to get sued, and also have been suing others/other branches of government, to try to get the Supreme Court to hear cases that will support this fringe legal theory so that it becomes the law of the land.

    I am not a lawyer, but this is possibly something Trump can legally do since he is Commander in Chief of the armed forces. However, this seems more like an apportionment thing, which is Congress' responsibility. Congress has allocated funds to send military aid to Ukraine. So, even if Trump as Commander in Chief could say "no more weapons to ukraine", it seems doubtful to me that he could (legally) stop weapons shipments currently en route.

    But, by the time whatever government office sues the office of the president to get a judge to enjoin them to send the agreed upon weapons that were already apportioned, it will already have hurt Ukraine somewhat. Trump often weaponizes inefficiency. And these sort of illegal acts aren't crimes per se - they're just procedural breaches - the legal remedy is just to reverse the action.

    So, probably not legal. But Trump gets to weaponize his administration's incompetence (or feigned incompetence) to at least delay aid. More competent people may support these actions, knowing they're illegal, to try and strengthen the president's role even further.

  • Chia cryptocurrency. My dad got into it, and the price was mooning. Gave me an excuse to build a new PC and learn linux, so I thought it was a worthwhile investment. Sunk a decent chunk of change into hard drives that I still have laying around, but I'm using several of them and have a sweet gaming rig that I would've built eventually anyway and had something to talk to my dad about. So basically, just out the cost of some drives. All in all, it was a calculated risk that didn't pay off but was still fun.

  • This is how everyone should handle trump and his ilk at every opportunity. Talk over him, call him out on obvious lies, chuckle at him when he says idiotic things. Just generally treat him with disdain and derision. He has this hero status with his followers that could be chipped away at if he's the subject of serious, casual ridicule. Not the stupid, desperate, "mango mussolini" "lord cheeto" junk, but the stuff that makes him feel self-conscious and lash out like a stupid, bumbling old man. This has been the most successful rhetorical/propaganda strategy whenever people have employed it.