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OT: American Politics

Wayward DP said:
I don't think I knew that - sorry you've had to go through that, twice.

At least with pre-clearance, if they don't want to let you in, you can just go back home? Maybe I'm being overly optimistic.

Did they ever give you any indication as to why you were being taken for further questioning?
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My last name is a major sinaloa family name....it was on the Mexican narcos series. And my frst and middle name is the most common Spanish names ever.

They asked where I was from and I said Canada...and then he asked if I speak Spanish...to wit I replied yes.... Then he asks me to speak Spanish...and then when he asked where my parents were from..and I answer with my standard answer..dad Uruguay mom Spain.....he tells me I hesitated.
The time.in Vancouver was with my wife and kids. And my Canadian wife starts pulling her inner Karen saying...this is unacceptable. I had to tell her to stfu as they had taken my passport into a back room. 🙃
 
hockeylover said:
Like I don’t see impeachment & removal in senate happening but if it did, I’m wondering if an administration that has declared they will ignore Congress’ power of the purse, and ignore SCOTUS… why wouldn’t they just declare that illegitimate and try to ignore it too? They have the military and federal law enforcement agencies and local police too as we saw at the Institute of Peace.
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I would argue that they would welcome something like this in the future for the same reason they're currently spoiling to tell the Supreme Court to fuck off and try to enforce their rulings. They're not going anywhere without massive and persistent protesting. When I say massive I mean similar to what we just saw in Belgrade, made relative to the difference in population.

But, the sooner that a real resistence to them starts, the less power they'll end up accruing. If a real resistence (political and public protest) started today, they would likely be able to keep the regime from fully capturing the military, fully resisting the courts (which is underway), fully removing the guardrails provided by the administrative state. The longer powerful resistence takes to arrive, the harder it will be to stop them from accruing more power, the longer and harder to resist them and unwind the power they've gained.
 
MindzEye said:
They currently don't see themselves as subjugated. Neither do large populations of people in most authoritarian regimes. Putin is quite popular in Russia, it's taken the EU years of cutting funding to grind Orban down to the low 40's in popularity, etc.

I also think you're over estimating how unpopular an authoritarian has to be before their popularity matters once they have control of the power of the state. Maduro still has strong enough support in Caracas that he was just able to withstand straight out tearing up the results of an election he lost with only 30% support and just stating what he won the election and sending his goons and police into the streets to beat up and/or kill protesters. The other 70% of Venezuelans don't want to be subjugated either, but they don't get a vote, that's kind of the point of being an authoritarian.
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These are fair points but things can change quickly as well. Center right types turned against Bush's War in Iraq eventually and stated pretending they were against it all along. There are people who will go along with this just like they did in Germany, but many will not.

A right-leaning person not that interested in politics voted for Trump because they thought Biden caused the inflation and that Trump would fix it. That doesn't guarantee they will continue to support him after he destroys America's reputation, takes away or reduces their Social Security or orders Gavin Newsom to be shot.

Just saying some of these "live free or die" types will come around eventually. It's fair to question how many, though.
 
Hoss said:
My last name is a major sinaloa family name....it was on the Mexican narcos series. And my frst and middle name is the most common Spanish names ever.

They asked where I was from and I said Canada...and then he asked if I speak Spanish...to wit I replied yes.... Then he asks me to speak Spanish...and then when he asked where my parents were from..and I answer with my standard answer..dad Uruguay mom Spain.....he tells me I hesitated.
The time.in Vancouver was with my wife and kids. And my Canadian wife starts pulling her inner Karen saying...this is unacceptable. I had to tell her to stfu as they had taken my passport into a back room. 🙃
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that sucks man. would be nice if they updated their systems to reflect that you are not a cartel member lol. good luck on your next trip...
 
axlsalinger said:
These are fair points but things can change quickly as well. Center right types turned against Bush's War in Iraq eventually and stated pretending they were against it all along. There are people who will go along with this just like they did in Germany, but many will not.

A right-leaning person not that interested in politics voted for Trump because they thought Biden caused the inflation and that Trump would fix it. That doesn't guarantee they will continue to support him after he destroys America's reputation, takes away or reduces their Social Security or orders Gavin Newsom to be shot.

Just saying some of these "live free or die" types will come around eventually. It's fair to question how many, though.
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eventually is probably too late to save the country though. at least, that's my perspective.
 
axlsalinger said:
These are fair points but things can change quickly as well. Center right types turned against Bush's War in Iraq eventually and stated pretending they were against it all along. There are people who will go along with this just like they did in Germany, but many will not.
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I mean, doesn't the bolded kind of prove my point? It doesn't take 100% societal buy in for a regime to literally be the worst thing humanity has seen since the Mongols. If 30% of the US is bought in to the project, that's 120 million nazis with 240 million people staying quiet because they're afraid of the other 120 million.

axlsalinger said:
Just saying some of these "live free or die" types will come around eventually. It's fair to question how many, though.
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1) I'm pretty sure that the "live free or die" types are a hollywood driven myth
2) "Eventually" is way too late
 
The details around that El Salvador prison story are confirmation that the final nail has already been driven IMO.

It’s an insane humanitarian injustice that generations of Americans would be deeply ashamed to know was in any way associated with their country.

But the overwhelming reaction from the US now is either to shrug or to laugh with evil glee.

They’re beyond fucked.
 
manny said:
The details around that El Salvador prison story are confirmation that the final nail has already been driven IMO.

It’s an insane humanitarian injustice that generations of Americans would be deeply ashamed to know was in any way associated with their country.

But the overwhelming reaction from the US now is either to shrug or to laugh with evil glee.

They’re beyond fucked.
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Fox has been proudly showing the video of them being shorn, stripped, and piled on top of each other in rows.
 
Wayward DP said:
yah, the window to prevent the complete and total descent into authoritarianism is rapidly closing, IMO. hence the histrionics...
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At this point the window doesn't get closed without violence. Lots of it. And once that particular Rubicon is crossed, the country is never the same again no matter who wins. America isn't "headed" to this; it IS this. And by the time it's recognized as an actual real thing, it's already too late to do much about it.

A Special Prosecutor should have been appointed on Day One of the Biden Administration to crack down on those responsible for January 6th; not just the Qanon Shamen or the guy who dropped a deuce on Nonna's desk, but the guys in suits, the guys IN the Trump Administration and Trump himself, who directed it. Merrick Garland should not have been allowed to slow walk things until the clock expired. Trump and his minions should have all been in prison by the end of 2022 at the latest. And the very first time Trump violated a court order his ass should have been put into a cell.

That was the opportunity America had to fix this shit. It's too late now. It's over. America as we once knew it, is over.
 
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