1. Unlimited government surveillance

  2. Unlimited power to ban leftist non-profits

  3. Banning leftist social media

  4. Sicing cops on students all over the country

  5. Giving $95 billion to fascist regimes all over the world

lmao this shit is nuts and an escalation of fascism we haven’t seen since the early days after 9/11. After months of fear-mongering about the supposed takeover of all facets of government by MAGA fascists if Trump wins, the fuckin dems went and passed everything they warned us would pass if we didn’t bend the knee and back Genocide Joe, I think most leftists (including me) are still too shell shocked at this early stage to realize the full implications of what we’ve just been hit with, seriously wtf

  • emizeko [they/them]
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    13213 days ago

    as Will said on Chapo (paraphrasing) Israel has lost the argument so now all that’s left is coercion

    • SSJ2Marx [he/him]
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      13 days ago

      Chapo? Like the drug dealer?

      But yeah I think that’s basically where we’re at. All of the kids of the current rulling class are being taught the same lesson that the Vietnam war protesters were, that the armed wing of the state will remorselessly crush them, ideals about free speech be damned, and in twenty years they’ll be just as bloodthirsty as their parents about the conflict of the day and all the ones currently pro Israel will be pretending that they were pro Palestine all along.

      • MattsAlt [comrade/them]
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        4913 days ago

        Eh, I’m sure some will become reactionaries later in life, but there was a selfish reason to protest Vietnam in the draft. These students are risking a lot for purely selfless reasons or for their families in Palestine. Pessimism is usually pretty accurate in the imperial core, but I’m hopeful for the next generations

  • halfpipe [they/them]
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    12113 days ago

    We were saying 6 months ago that there would be a crackdown, simply because the US can’t support a genocidal colonial project if the victims can livestream their suffering to the world.

    But what’s really weird here, and I think no one could have predicted, is the mass suppression and arrest of Ivy League student protestors. They’re protesting peacefully, which they’ve been told is the only moral and acceptable way. They’re not making any material demands, and they’re not tied into a workers movement that could strike and threaten capital. Anyone with knowledge of previous college protests and the academic year could have told them that this is harmless, and that it would fizzle out as summer started, but instead they’ve violently cracked down in a way that’s causing the protests to spread, while also radicalizing and blackballing the children of privilege , the people that are supposed to carry on the ideological future of liberalism and sign up to be the next generation of the imperial bureaucracy and the NGOs.

    • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
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      13 days ago

      It’s because the bourgeoise is shutting the door and kicking down the ladder behind them. The student protests will be drawn along class lines. The majority of students protesting in support of Palestine will be those on grants, bursaries and scholarships. So normal people good at academics or sports. The majority of those on the Zionist side will be the rich fail children there because of money, family connections, or both. By cracking down hard on the protests, the bourgeoise are saying that class mobility is dead, unless you fully assimilate to their moral values. In essence, that’s the message here. Class mobility is dead, there will be no way to improve your position without fully selling out, and we are going towards a pseudo caste/feudal system.

      • pastalicious [he/him, undecided]
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        4113 days ago

        This checks out with what I was thinking. They know they’re killing the youth vote and they’re going to be ready with their ideological response when they lose in November. Just spitballing here but maybe they help republicans pass compulsory military service to fix the enlistment problem and the Dems say it’s the youths fault for not bending the knee in spite of them doing everything they could to turn them away. It could be something else but I get the feeling they going to start feeding the youth into the wood chipper even faster and more deliberately and sell it to the radlibs as just desserts for not bending the knee in November despite them doing everything they could to kill the energy of the youth vote.

    • CTHlurker [he/him]
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      5713 days ago

      In typical boomer fashion, the people in charge absolutely categorically refuse to think long term, particularly if the long term is more than 5 years.

      • You think this is an accident…?

        This is just a race to the bottom, and every time, one of these sides early on scream about moral authority so-true

        Immediately, the one with ‘moral authority’ races down to the bottom with the wrong-doer…

    • JayTwo [any]
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      3613 days ago

      They’re protesting peacefully, which they’ve been told is the only moral and acceptable way

      “Peaceful” was always this (intentionally) malleable concept. Nonviolent is better as there’s a more solid definition of what counts as violence than what counts as “peaceful” being that it can also mean quiet and easy to ignore.

      Anything objectionable to them can cause a protest to not be “peaceful”. Not having the proper permits, not dispersing when ordered to, slowing down traffic, being an eyesore, being too loud, etc.

      Take this NYT editorial for example: sure they’re nonviolent but because of those drums they keep beating their protest isn’t “peaceful” because their racket is disturbing the peace.

      It tends to be used as a stealth euphemism for “ineffective” as to libs and reactionaries (inb4 “why did you call out the same people twice?”) anything they don’t like that they’re made to notice will harm their believed right to “peace and quiet” and therefore not be “peaceful.”
      It’s also very motte and bailey, changing definition depending on the opinion’s popularity with a certain crowd because the MAGA types who yell about the left never abiding by “peaceful” assembly will then claim 1/6 was “peaceful” overall.

      • FunkyStuff [he/him]
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        3013 days ago

        It’s all a wash anyway, you can’t do nonviolent protests. They’ll eventually send in the police and inevitably start violent conflict regardless. Anyone who splits hairs over protests needing to be nonviolent is probably not gonna change their mind on the issue and isn’t our ally.

        • JayTwo [any]
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          2413 days ago

          Fair. And your point has been salient since before we were all born.
          Just that “peaceful assembly” is even fuckier a concept since something as anodyne as a drum bullhorn or loudspeaker can apparently break it.

  • FunkyStuff [he/him]
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    11513 days ago

    We’re stuck in a demented good cop bad cop routine and the dems have upped the ante. Their line is effectively now, “vote for us so Trump doesn’t use the tools we specifically gave him because we knew how scared you’d be.” Except the dems are using those tools right now, to defend their genocide. Bleak.

  • Adkml [he/him]
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    10613 days ago

    Also we saw an entire political party collude to expell everybody that wasn’t ideologically in lock step with them.

    It was the 2016 and 2020 primaries, the head of the DCCC resigned over it, and liberals to this day insist it didn’t happen.

  • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
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    10213 days ago

    the parmesantarian revealed that the powers of the presidency can only be used to do bad things, sorry sweaty Biden doesn’t have the power to make sweeping changes for good only for bad

    • Adkml [he/him]
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      13 days ago

      “Look I hate to be the one to tell you this but the president isn’t God, he can’t just do whatever he wants”

      *Biden announces he’s sending more arms to Isreal with or without congressional approval

      “Maybe some day you’ll understand that politics is about compromise, also fuck you, were not going to stop doing a genocide and you better still vote for us”

        • Adkml [he/him]
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          6513 days ago

          R/politicalhumor unironically had thisnpist today where it was the trolley problem but the democratic side was one person labeled Palestine and the republican side had like 4 or 5 people.

          At least they’ve moved on from trying to say they aren’t genocidal maniacs and are just tryng to brow beat other people into agreeing to also support genocide.

          • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
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            6013 days ago

            at this point Reddit is just various private influence campaigns plus the CIA influence campaign that is Reddit management sort of smashing up against each other

          • tripartitegraph [comrade/them]
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            4213 days ago

            “Vote for our genocide or the other team will genocide even more people you care about” literally just a threat to frame it like that

            • Adkml [he/him]
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              5313 days ago

              Saw a comment in the thread (which was heavily downvoted obviously) that I’m stealing

              “You have to vote for biden or else Trump might bomb the rubble and mass graves”

      • Sons_of_Ferrix [he/him]
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        2513 days ago

        Look I hate to be the one to tell you this but the president isn’t God

        “Then how is Trump going to become Supreme Dictator if he’s elected?”

        “…”

        • Adkml [he/him]
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          1713 days ago

          “Because he doesn’t limit himself with the rules we invented as excuses for why we can’t do anything, and if we also stopped making excuses for why we can’t do good things we’d be no different from people who do bad things.”

          • Sons_of_Ferrix [he/him]
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            1113 days ago

            “Even that being the case, wouldn’t he need massive support from the military and upper echelons of the intelligence community? Which he doesn’t have. Also I think the ruling class of this country are pretty happy with the current neoliberal order and wouldn’t support Trump going full dictator.”

    • @goferking0@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3513 days ago

      vote for people who seem good

      they flip to terrible people immediately

      get told should have voted harder to get anything helpful done

      • Adkml [he/him]
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        4413 days ago

        I wish.

        The people aren’t even making the effort to seem good.

        The literal current message of the democratic party is “fuck you were going to keep doing whatever the fuck we want. We know you don’t like it but what are you going to do, let trump win?”

        Trump is a massive asset for the democrats because they’re literally using him as a gun to take their own voters hostage.

        • bleepbloopbop [they/them]
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          3913 days ago

          yeah. fetterman was the last one to get a big media push like “hey look at this guy he’s progressive or whatever” and even with him it was a pretty thin veneer. Now he’s one of the worst

          • Adkml [he/him]
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            3113 days ago

            Honestly Fetterman is about the one person I can think of recently (Sinema last election cycle) that actually did try to pretend to be halfway decent before doing a heel turn and literally telling his voters to go fuck themselves.

            Hopefully it works as well for him as it did for her and hes a pariah for a couple years before being primaried by 40 points.

      • Egon [they/them]
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        1813 days ago

        If you say it enough times it becomes true! Don’t you want it to be true? Why aren’t you saying it then?

  • Weedian [he/him]
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    9413 days ago

    The Supreme Court is about to let cities and states make homelessness illegal too

    • Adkml [he/him]
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      8313 days ago

      It really is crazy they’ve gotten bold enough to try the play off “Nobody is entitled to a living wage and also if you don’t make a living wage that’s illegal”

      The more depressing thing is the vast majority of Americans are so selfish and cruel they side with the government while being one medical procedure or missed paycheck away from homelessness.

  • Cummunism [they/them, he/him]
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    7613 days ago

    looking forward to Genocide Joe losing and leftists, who have no real power outside of the glorified scam of voting, getting the blame.

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]
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    6613 days ago

    Everyone paying attention knows the Democrats will make the evil shit even worse. They always have but liberals hate hearing that and will angrily shoot you down for pointing it out.

  • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
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    6013 days ago

    It’s wild because I actually saw some polls recently that showed them to be regaining the lead, then they do this. Like yeah polls are flawed, but it is maddening to see them do this.

    • queermunist she/her
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      8313 days ago

      It’s pretty clear that the polls merely tell them how far they’re allowed to push. Voter support is just currency to them, whenever they creep up in the polls it means they’ve built up enough spending power to implement something horrible.

    • MaxOS [he/him, any]
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      13 days ago

      He is literally turning a big dial that says “Racism” on it and constantly looking back at the audience for approval like a contestant on the price is right.
      dril

    • Adkml [he/him]
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      4313 days ago

      Libs keep falling for general approval polls and seem to be very determined to not mention that the dem candidate has to win by 5% to 7% to overcome the EC advantage of empty land in the Dakotas and Wyoming being very pro Trump.

      Exactly like they did in 2016.

  • EstraDoll [she/her]
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    5413 days ago

    At this point, if there is a “lesser evil” party, I don’t even know which one it is

    • Ildsaye [they/them]
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      212 days ago

      say-the-line-bart-2 But your ad says “the lesser evil”
      maybe-later-honey Oh, they’ve got this all screwed up. It’s meant to say “the laser evil” biden-harbinger