Pellaeon started as Rukh brushed silently past him; he hadn't realized the Noghri had followed them down. Thrawn waited until Rukh was standing at his side, then turned back to Colclazure. "Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake, Ensign?"
The entire bridge had gone deathly still. Colclazure swallowed again, his face starting to go pale. "No, sir."
"Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." He raised a finger-
And, almost lazily, pointed.
Pellaeon never even saw Rukh move. Pieterson certainly never had time to scream.
No. "Normal" for the US was the result of you being the only major industrial power that wasn't flattened during World War II. You maintained your power since then by using the leverage you'd acquired during the postwar years. Now that that leverage is gone, it's staying gone, since the rest of the world has rebuilt itself.
"We have been called 'fake socialists,' 'Liberal pawns,' 'paid by the Liberal Party,' and 'undemocratic.' These are not just insults. They are attempts to discredit our values and isolate us from the communities we care deeply about," Laeknir said.
And hundreds of congresspeople to support his actions, and a previous string of spoiled rich assholes long enough to appoint a supermajority of spoiled rich assholes to your supreme court.
This shit-show has been a long time in the making.
Hail to the Sun God!
We know he's a fun god!
Ra! Ra! Ra!