• @[email protected]
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    312 months ago

    The really ugly thing here is, al-Sharaa is the best thing to happen to Syria in decades. Most people have been urging recognition of his government and the relaxation of sanctions because he’s about as good we can expect a leader of Syria to be.

    And he is still bribing Trump.

    This isn’t merely corruption. This is the *normalization * of corruption. Even countries that abide by democratic norms and international law are going to need to grease palms to conduct regular diplomatic relations. The EU and UK and Canada might be able to weather his bullshit until he folds like he always does, but developing nations will be stuck trying to bid for American favor.

    Welcome to the Chinese century.

    • @[email protected]
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      62 months ago

      al-Sharaa is the best thing to happen to Syria in decades

      Could we please stop? He’s a jihadist saying pleasant things to Europeans and Americans with nobody caring whether they are true.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        The louder the west screams about him being a Jihadist, the more I trust him to do the right thing in Syria

        • @[email protected]
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          2 months ago

          Good instincts and all but he always been a hard core salafist. Leftists were calling him that all last year. Its just now that Trump’s in power liberals can pretend that they were always against him.

        • @[email protected]
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          62 months ago

          The west doesn’t scream. The west condemned Alawites for not liking to be massacred.

          And this is stupid. Inverted signal is the same signal, just inverted. It’s not independence of thought.

          • @[email protected]
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            32 months ago

            The west condemned Alawites for not liking to be massacred

            Hmmm, are you sure about that? I feel like there was a notable party using that event as justification for crossing over the Syrian boarder but maybe that was a fever dream

            • @[email protected]
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              12 months ago

              I feel like your last paragraph ignores my last paragraph.

              One of the reasons Israel is so fucking hated by all ME smaller groups is because it casually pretends to maybe this time possibly protect them, and usually does nothing of the sort, causing more ruin.

              • @[email protected]
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                12 months ago

                I feel like your last paragraph ignores my last paragraph.

                Your last paragraph was kind of meaningless

                One of the reasons Israel is so fucking hated by all ME smaller groups is because it casually pretends to maybe this time possibly protect them, and usually does nothing of the sort, causing more ruin.

                … I mean kinda? Israel has been a belligerent anti-arab neighbor since 1948 and has caused nothing but ruin. There’s a hell of a lot more reason for their distrust of Israel than their choices of proxy militant groups.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 months ago

        He’s at least trying to put on a facade of meaning them, which is about as good as Syria has had it in my life time.

        • @[email protected]
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          12 months ago

          No, he isn’t. He’s worse than Assad, the reason nobody says Assad was better is because Assad directly caused this by killing opponents, disarming strong parties (which could have resisted jihadists) and in general destroying the country. So he’s worse than Assad, but a direct consequence of Assad.

          I’m certain he’s more consistent than Assad and eventually this leads to a more stable and economically viable Syria. Note how I’m not saying anything about human rights and civilization.

          • @[email protected]
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            22 months ago

            It’s pretty hard to be worse than the guy whose used nerve has on his own people and turned his country into a major producer for the international drug trade.

            • @[email protected]
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              22 months ago

              You just have to be the guy who turned a half-Sunni, half-Alawi city on the coast into half-Sunni, half-dead. Then after calls for stopping the murders and loads of videos with dead men, women and children he … forbid filming that.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      Ok comment until the random sinophobic punchline. Imagine blaming this on chinese people. jfc.

      • @[email protected]
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        72 months ago

        I believe they meant that China will become the dominant power after the US finishes torpedoing itself.

      • @[email protected]
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        122 months ago

        I’m not. I’m saying this will lead to China becoming the premier world power instead of us.

        Imagine having reading comprehension skills. jfc

      • @[email protected]
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        72 months ago

        I’m not sure if this is blaming it on China, but acknowledging that China might be picking up after the downfall of the USA.

      • @[email protected]
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        172 months ago

        I don’t know if that’s blame, or just acknowledging that USA’s general direction leads to China becoming ‘the’ world power by USA forfeitting their soft power around the world.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      we americans are pathetic. it seems like we fall into one of these categories:

      • christo fascists who voted for him
      • suburban sociopaths who voted for him
      • clueless libertarians who either voted for him or absolve themselves of any responsibility
      • NPR liberals who are basically useless pacifists
      • millennial/gen Z cowards who can’t even drive a manual trans, much less start a revolution

      it’s fucking hopeless and we deserve this. i’m building a bunker. fuck every one of you.-

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        Hey, I’m driving a manual trans don’t be putting that on my whole generation.

        The problem is: nobody wants to die, we all are fed and fat, our education system has been being weakened for 40 years now, did I mention the whole not dying part?

        I’m hopeful that our institutions are strong enough to hold until the midterm elections, Dems will take Congress with a strong majority and we can avoid mass bloodshed and actually impeach the guy and get him convicted. No doubt that may be a long shot and people will suffer but I’m not violent revolution is anywhere in the cards anytime soon.

        Edit: just to be clear, I do wish we were and kind of could do more. This is just my realist take

        • @[email protected]
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          12 months ago

          I’m hopeful that our institutions are strong enough to hold until the midterm elections

          lol. ok.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        If you had all the levers of wealth and power in the world, or if you as an individual had access to just one of them, wouldn’t you do your part to build this kind of passive society too? Otherwise you might have to worry about your access to these levers and therefore your power being usurped. There are many ways to manipulate a person to work against their own interests, which are almost entirely concentrated into the hands of the wealthy owning class.

        This is a problem of class antagonism, not the complicity and/or ignorance of the individually powerless. As a class we have to rise beyond these antagonisms; their manipulation of us into a class that passively allows them to profit from our labor and pays no mind to their corruption; by teaching class consciousness to the other members of our class. That is just as much on you and I as it is on anyone else.

  • BeBopALouie
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    102 months ago

    Americans will just get mad post on Reddit and then go back to watching YouTube, Twitch in the hovel of their choice until ice comes for them and they will say no no not me you said it was the “others”. They are not watching the news. Bills to make furries the bad guys. Bills to make 2SLGBTQIA+ bad guys. Starting to grumble(by grumble I mean “we need to outlaw this stuff” talk) about what should and should not be on Twitch and other platforms. Grumbling about gamers and certain games. The list of buried stuff in the bills that are coming out is staggering.

    They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

    • OBJECTION!
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      62 months ago

      First they came for the sanctions against a country on the opposite side of the world 😔

    • @[email protected]
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      202 months ago

      What do you propose?

      You’re not going to Luigi the guy, security is far tighter and he’s had a couple “attempts”. Protesting is happening and barely accomplishing anything. The judicial system is doing more than i expected but he’s ignoring it in many cases. Congress WILL NOT impeach him unless there’s a switch in party majorities but that’s a ways off.

      • BeBopALouie
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        62 months ago

        I am not an american. All I know is if citizens just keep doing nothing the us will become just like the fascists in Germany did in WWII. It is up to them to do something or nothing. Time will tell.

      • okgurl
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        42 months ago

        I often ask this too non Americans foolishly assume we aren’t doing anything. the problem is that, or system is strategically designed to give us the illusion of a voice. same with the right to bear arms, if the state was ever worried about those arms being aimed at them we wouldn’t have a service amendment.

        there’s nothing really left to do with corruption actually the upper echelon, besides fed posting teir stuff which is unrealistic for many people.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        I mean, his enablers are just as guilty. The entire christofascist movement would have had a hard time getting anywhere if it weren’t for a few key corporations providing the services and technological development required to enforce or at least facilitate the enforcement of this ideology. I am being intentionally vague here.

        All I know is that I go out of my way to discriminate against and fuck over people who support things that fuck me over.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 months ago

    I hate corruption in all forms, but I love the fact that Israel (edit: Israeli government) is freaking the fuck out right now because the Middle East just realized all they have to do is bribe Trump.

    Israeli government is pissed right now, and that’s awesome….

    But also, stop pretending like just about every politician in Washington doesn’t also take legalized bribes

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      This is bad. And these same people the Republicans where trying to find anything on Biden about bribery. But are silent on this stuff that Trump is doing in the open.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      I hate corruption in all forms, but I love the fact that Israel is freaking the fuck out right now because the Middle East just realized all they have to do is bribe Trump.

      Hey, maybe netanyahu being upset will cause democrats to actually oppose something trump is doing.

      • @[email protected]
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        12 months ago

        I don’t have much faith in that he does seem hellbent on being the most bad ass terrorist in the world though?

  • Lorem Ipsum dolor sit amet
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    132 months ago

    The sanctions on Syria should be lifted, but WTF. I mean honestly. It will be interesting to see what Israel does from that as they generally want Syria destabilised. Could further add to the rift between Netanyahu and Trump.

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝
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      132 months ago

      Yeah, this, the Saudis getting closer to him and the Quatari plane gift sounds like he’s slowly realising the Arabs in general have more money while he’s perhaps the one politician in the US who is immune to the AIPAC trying to primary him. And I would guess Israel hasn’t even said thank you.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      It will be interesting to see what Israel does

      Interesting? I’ll predict the future right now: The zios will continue to invade, murder people, and steal land.

  • @[email protected]
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    112 months ago

    All of those January 6th people who were freaking out about losing their country… where are they now? Hmmmm.

    Fucking hypocrites.

    • OBJECTION!
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      172 months ago

      Yes, I’m sure that the thing that will finally get Jan 6’ers to turn on Trump is checks notes lifting sanctions on Syria.

  • @[email protected]
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    12 months ago

    Umm the burden is on the one making the claim. It’s also customary on the net to site the source so… No I didn’t.

  • @[email protected]
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    222 months ago

    Here’s my most optimistic take for Americans. This guy is not as bad as Hitler. He’s out to scam the world, not conquer it militarily. So that’s a plus, for now. If his successor is Vance then the invasion of Canada and Mexico might actually happen.

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      This guy is not as bad as Hitler.

      The jury is still out on that, but it’s not looking good. Hitler took power in 1933, and didn’t start his first euthanasia program until 1936, and it didn’t really get going until after the establishment of the first death facility in Chelmno in 1941. Between those years, Hitler consolidated his power, reconfigured the government, and began rounding up his enemies.

      HitlerPig took power in 2024, and is already making the exact same moves as Hitler. If he sticks with a similar timeline, he starts murdering his enemies in 2027.

      Hitler’s first victims were the mentally and physically handicapped. HitlerPig’s henchman RFK, Jr., has already announced that they’re starting a database of Autistic people, which they want to pretend doesn’t really exist. We’ve already seen that these scientific Neanderthals think that the best way to improve concerning statistics is to get rid of the statistics (Remember how HitlerPig didn’t want a Covid testing program because that would increase the numbers?), and so the most efficient way to win the “war” on autism, is to get rid of all the aughties, and prohibit anyone else to be diagnosed with it. Hurray! MAGA cured autism!

      Hitler ordered the construction of Dachau in his first year in power (1933). HitlerPig has already started building his first American concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay to hold 30,000 people. To provide context, the average maximum security prison in America hold 800-1200 prisoners, with the largest being the prison in Angola, LA, which holds 8300. That means the new concentration camp is almost 4x larger than our largest max security prison, which is already several times larger than the average. They are already sending people to El Salvador, and are negotiating a deal with Rwanda as well. Clearly, they intend to lock up a lot of people.

      It needs to be stressed that HitlerPig’s closest advisor, Stephen “PeeWee Himmler” Miller, is an avowed Nazi. In his mind, the only thing the Nazis did wrong is that they weren’t decisively harsh enough. He has said that he wants to reduce the population of America from 335 million to 100 million white people. That’s 235 million people, about 70% of our current population, far more than the paltry 6 million deaths is assigned to Hitler.

      I think your statement should be amended to read:

      This guy is not as bad as Hitler…

      …YET

      • @[email protected]
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        52 months ago

        if you’ve heard about Alfred Hugenberg you would know that this is currently going exactly the same as Nazi Germany, down the exactly how Musk is influencing the media. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-alfred-hugenberg-the-elon-271993970/

        like it’s almost to the letter the nazi playbook. saying this isn’t as bad as Hitler is just ignoring history.

        “One of the great ironies of how democracies die is that the very defense of democracy is often used as a pretext for its subversion. Would-be autocrats often use economic crises, natural disasters, and especially security threats—wars, armed insurgencies, or terrorist attacks—to justify antidemocratic measures.”

        “Because there is no single moment—no coup, declaration of martial law, or suspension of the constitution—in which the regime obviously “crosses the line” into dictatorship, nothing may set off society’s alarm bells. Those who denounce government abuse may be dismissed as exaggerating or crying wolf. Democracy’s erosion is, for many, almost imperceptible.” ― Steven Levitsky, How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future

        • @[email protected]
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          42 months ago

          So many people have scoffed at my comparisons to the Nazis, saying: “The Nazis killed 6 million people, [HitlerPig] hasn’t done that, you’re out of your mind.”

          Well, 100+ days into Hitler’s administration, and he wasn’t killing either, YET.

          What are we supposed to do? Wait until he has all the physical and political infrastructure in place, and is operating a wholesale killing machine bigger than Nazi Germany’s, and THEN start to make a plan to defeat it? Then we’ll be hearing whiners complaining that somebody should have done something about this BEFORE things got really bad.

          We see what they are doing, and they are CLEARLY following the Nazi playbook. We KNOW where that leads. Americans don’t like to jump the gun and fight preemptively, they like to respond to concrete situations that justify retaliation. Generally, it’s a good policy, especially for the largest, most lethal nation the world has ever seen.

          But in this case, we have literal traitors taking control of our nations wealth and firepower, just so they can leverage it for their own nefarious agenda. We don’t have to wait until the worst-case scenario unfolds, they have already committed crimes far beyond redemption, and we should already be responding with merciless, unforgiving resistance.

          • @[email protected]
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            42 months ago

            Fully agree there. This administration has to be removed from office. While there’s still a congress to do this. What I’m worried about now is a Reichstag fire event that will allow them to enact emergency legislation that will put the Patriot Act to shame. I watched the USA collectively lose its mind in 2001; it wouldn’t take much to do that again.

            I only have one minor pushback. I read The Art of the Deal back in 2016. And having not read Mein Kampf, I can safely say it is no Mein Kampf. When it’s not totally incoherent it reads like a puff piece in a tabloid rag. So I guess I’m just less afraid of Trump than I am of a Hitler-class demagogue, but that says nothing about the MAGA movement as a whole. You don’t need intelligence to be a figurehead for a fascist coup.

            I think it’s time for a general strike. There are rumblings of a reinvigorated labor movement, so for the first time since the 1970s I think it’s within the realm of possibility.

    • Oniononon
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, at least he aint sending anyone he doesn’t like to labour and death camps, replacing everyone with loyalists and doesn’t talk of invading random neighbours

      • @[email protected]
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        22 months ago

        Exactly.

        I said it for many years. Trump only cares about Trump and no one and nothing else. He doesn’t believe in anything other than having his ego stoked and being enriched. The leaders of the world are absolutely laughing at him, but they also want him in power because he is so fucking easy to manipulate.

        • @[email protected]
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          2 months ago

          Don’t forget the heritage foundation wonks and oligarch-adjacent folks that debrief him and write all the orders for him to sign. I see the people directly in his administration having much more influential power than any foreign diplomat.

          • @[email protected]
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            12 months ago

            What’s nuts about the executive orders is that he also signed more of them in one month than he did in the whole of the first year of his first term. This is unprecedented.

    • @[email protected]
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      92 months ago

      What a world we live in, where calling someone not as bad as Hitler is an optimistic take

    • @[email protected]
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      2 months ago

      If his successor is Vance then the invasion of Canada and Mexico might actually happen.

      Is Mexico a major furniture manufacturing country?